Riley Adams's Blog, page 83

Outlining a Cozy Mystery

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I realized recently that the most common question I’m asked in podcast interviews, during writer’s conferences, and via email is: “What does your cozy mystery outline look like?”

I’ve always kind of blown my answer to this question, I think, because I’m surprised to get it. I never even thought of myself as an outliner until six years ago (I was a pantster until that point).

My outline has been a work in progress.  But I’ve tweaked it a lot over the years until now it’s the basic tool that I need to jump quickly into a new story.

I’m posting a link to it in this post so that now I can actually have an answer to the question I’ve never answered well before.  :)   Hopefully, someone will find it useful.  You can find the template here on Google Docs and can copy it or download it there.

A few notes about the outline:

I do start with the back cover copy.  For one thing,  I have the cover made before I even write the book, and I need that cover copy right away.  For another, I like having it at the top of the outline to help keep me focused on the big picture of the story.

My suspect descriptions are short and sweet.   My main purpose is to assign them names (making sure that none of the names are too similar as to be confusing) and to give me something to work with when I pick the story up (for me, months later since I alternate writing two series).  An example from a recent outline:

Barton Perry: He’s running for the state senate. He’s married to Pearl, but is having a secret affair with Mae.  He’s desperate to protect his government run. He’s a good-looking, if smarmy, man in his late-fifties. He wears lots of colorful bowties and is always dressy.  He attends Wyatt’s church and is an elder there.  Blustery. Cheerful. Flushed cheeks. Drinks a bit.

Interviews:  Each of my suspects, to keep readers guessing, tells a lie and a truth. They also point the finger at another suspect. This helps me develop suspects in a more natural way (so the amateur sleuth doesn’t have to be clairvoyant to figure out who might be to blame).  In the second round of interviews (after the second murder), the suspects can also defend themselves against allegations by the other suspects in the original round of interviews.

Subplots/Memes/Series Tropes:  These are the extras. This might be the series hook (quilting, cooking, animals, etc.), this might be non-mystery-related character growth in a supporting character (or even the sleuth), etc.  My Myrtle series, for example, includes things like Myrtle’s disastrous cooking, Elaine’s hopeless hobbies, book club, etc.

I think everything else is pretty self-explanatory, but feel free to shoot me questions if it’s confusing.

Again, this is something I use as a tool to more quickly jump into my book.  I’ll deviate from it frequently, but it sure can make it easier to write.  This is a starting point for your book.

Do you use templates for your outlining?  Do you outline at all?

An Outline Template for a Cozy Mystery:
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Photo via VisualHunt

 

The post Outlining a Cozy Mystery appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Draft2Digital’s Free Templates

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

As an indie author, I have a good team for all the things I don’t do well or need help with:  cover design, editing, and formatting.  But I also like to know about tools that help me to fill in the gaps in areas that I can work on.

Draft2Digital has been a big help to me in a variety of different ways (I’m not affiliated with them in any way, except as an author-user).  I especially needed ways that I could update my books’ back matter easily and inexpensively (more on their free conversion tool in a later post).

When I was a traditionally published author, interior design was very important to the total book package.  Section breaks in my Memphis Barbeque series, for instance, had little pigs as scene dividers.  When I became an indie author, at first I sought out more elaborate interior design for my ebooks.  Years later, this became a problem when one of Amazon’s devices didn’t display the design correctly…this issue included the title page, chapter headings,  dedication, and drop-cap. 

I shifted to a very basic design and to another formatter.

I’m still a little ambivalent about interior design for ebooks.  If someone is reading on a phone, would they want all the curlicues, or would they want just a nicely formatted story?  But for print, I’m now looking for something a little more elaborate than I’d been using.

There are a variety of different templates out there that writers can use for free or pay a small fee for.  But today I wanted to cover one of them in particular: Draft2Digital.  To me, they have one of the easiest templates to use.  And you may use their template (and download your files in epub, mobi, and PDF) whether or not you ultimately decide to use them for distribution.

I use Chrome, but D2D states that you can use any web browser.   The nice thing is that we can upload a simple Word file (it helps if your Word file has page breaks at the ends of chapters and chapter headings that are larger/bolder, so that their converter can more accurately detect chapters).

Create an account there (free), add your book details (cover, interior file–in Word), and choose whether you need various front and back matter pages (title, dedication, about the author, etc.).

Check the chapter layout pane to make sure that the software has accurately detected your chapters and front and back matter.

The next screen allows you to choose a style for your book.  It’s easy to ‘try on’ different styles and preview them in the preview pane.

Once you’ve decided on a style, download your book files in epub, mobi (Kindle), and PDF (for print).

There are more advanced print options if you click the “other formats” link.  There, you can input the dimensions of the book you’re planning to publish.

You can find out more information through Draft2Digital.   There is also a YouTube video with a walkthrough  by Emma Right TV.

How do you handle book formatting?  Have you tried different styles through Draft2Digital or other companies?

A closer look at the free style templates from @Draft2Digital:
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Photo credit: ROSS HONG KONG via Visual Hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

The post Draft2Digital’s Free Templates appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous


4 Easy Ways to Backup Your Writing: @batwood


Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


As France is Fêted at Frankfurt, French Agents Take Stock: @Porter_Anderson @linwoodmessina


London Book Fair Adds Audiobooks to International Excellence Awards: @Porter_Anderson @jacksthomas

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo


Prepping for NaNoWriMo 2017: by A.P. McKinney


To NaNo or Not to NaNo? @ramonadef


“What I Learned from Failing NaNoWriMo”: @emi1y_morgan


Preparing for NaNoWriMo: Setting a Realistic Schedule @jkolin27 @OpAwesome6


41 Insider Tips for Winning #NaNoWriMo 2017: @ReedsyHQ


Is #NaNoWriMo a good idea for you? @pubcoach


Scrambling before #NaNoWriMo: @JJ_Burry


How to Rock #NaNoWriMo: @kristen_kieffer


#NaNoWriMo Need-to-Knows: Your Characters: @MishaMFB


#Nanowrimo Prep Tips: the Outline is Key: @sona_c


How to be a #NaNoWriMo Rebel:


Doing #NaNoWriMo? Nail it with this resource kit: @Roz_Morris


Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting


How to Build Systems so You Can Reach Your Writing Goals: @StephMorrill


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


Using Writing Prompts to Spark Creativity: @10MinNovelists


Preparing for #NaNoWriMo with bullet journals: @BohoBerry


Out of Inspiration? Turn to Writing Prompts: @EmmanuelNataf @LitReactor


Persistence, Perspective, and Fun: Working Through Writing Challenges: @10MinNovelists


Using Tarot For Your Writing: @thedharmadiva @sierragodfrey


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers


5 Essential Linked Story Collections That Are Better Than Novels: by Baird Harper @lithub


Google search results for books now include listings at your local library: @thDigitalReader


10 Books That Were Written on a Bet: @p_okuniewska @ElectricLit


How to Analyze Poetry: @WritingForward


7 Writers Who Were Also Editors (And the Books They Edited): @knownemily


An Alchemy of Their Own: 5 Books About Magic: @NotBradAbraham


Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation


How to Actually Finish the Writing Projects You Start: @colleen_m_story


7 Big Reasons to Finish Writing Your Novel: @lornafaith


Tips and Techniques for Training Your Writing Brain: @BJoycePatterson


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block


How to Survive a Confidence Crisis: @PBRWriter


Keys to the Craft: Write Pages: @GoIntoTheStory


Creativity and Inspiration / Success


How Inexperienced Writers Can Supercharge Their Growth: @annkroeker


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


Well-known authors’ tips for inspiration and the creative process (via @joefassler and @sam_raim ):


Picking up the Pieces: returning to an abandoned book: @TheMerryWriter


Edgar Allan Poe, Broke Freelancer: @Greedzilla1 @The_Millions


4 Smartphone-Free Tips to Help Sustain Your Writing Life: by Charity Singleton Craig @tspoetry


Cats as an impediment to writing: @inkyelbows


You are a Writer(Choose Yourself): @lornafaith


Genres / Horror


The Horror of Stephen King’s “IT” Explained: @josh_millican


Genres / Mystery


Cozy Mysteries: Sleuths Running Family Businesses,& Villages Within Cities: @ArtConnectsUs @LeslieBudewitz


Loyalty as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Genres / Romance


Writing Romance? Avoid These 5 Mistakes When Crafting Relationships @BellaRosePope


Genres / Screenwriting


How To Write A Web Series: @jacobkrueger


Great Scene: “Psycho”: @GoIntoTheStory


Promo / Ads


7 New Trends In Digital Book Ads for Authors #IndieAuthorFringe : @pbackwriter @IndieAuthorALLI


Promo / Blogging


3 Reasons Why Your Blog Isn’t Growing – and What to Do about It: @kikimojo


Promo / Book Reviews


Diary of a Book Marketing Plan: -Reviews and More: @ZoeMMcCarthy


Promo / Book Signings and Launch parties


Author Signings: A Reader’s Viewpoint (podcast): @WritersAfterDrk


13 Lessons From an Epic Book Tour: @JWhiteAuthor


Promo / Miscellaneous


119 Book Marketing Ideas That Can Help Authors Increase Sales: @DianaUrban @BookBub


10 Book Marketing Lies Every Author Tells Themselves: @Bookgal


NetGalley Launches BookishFirst, a Discovery and Recommendation Site: @Porter_Anderson @NetGalley


5 Tips for Working Amazon Pre-Order into Your Book Marketing: @Bookgal


7 Insider Tips You Need to Learn from Self-Pub Pros: @sarahannjuckes


Promo / Newsletters


How To Build Your Email List For Free: @KarenBanes


Promo / Social Media Tips


How to Win Instagram If You Are a Writer: @LesleyVos


Hosting a Book Launch Party on Facebook: @K_Mayfield


Why Your Social Media Isn’t Growing and How to Fix It: @kikimojo


Social Media for Authors: The Toughest Topic to Advise On: @JaneFriedman


5 Easy Ways to Launch Your Writing into the Twittersphere: @CathyTurneyLafs


Promo / Speaking


A Creative Way to Get Paid for Talking: @hopeclark


Promo / Websites


10 Most Useful Plugins For Your Author Website: @thecreativepenn @thDigitalReader


What’s More Important: Author Websites or Social Media? @JaneFriedman


Publishing / Miscellaneous


FutureBook Award Shortlists Reflect Diversity in Publishing Innovation: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Why social media will drive the nascent ebook markets: by Mark Williams @TNPS10


OverDrive leads the way with dyslexia-friendly ebooks: by Mark Williams @TNPS10


5 Tips for Validating Your Ebook: @dkudler


Publishing / News / International Publishing


The Intl. Outlook for Indie Authors: @KingaJentetics @IndieAuthorALLI #IndieAuthorFringe


Man Booker Juror Colin Thubron: ‘The Prize Is Important’: @Porter_Anderson


American George Saunders Wins @ManBookerPrize : ‘Lincoln in the Bardo’: @Porter_Anderson


Italian Publishers Association: Low Readership is The ‘Problem of Problems’: @Porter_Anderson


Tencent moves on Wattpad as Wattpad hits 60 million users. Could Nook be next? @TNPS10


Publishing / Options / Self-Publishing


Indie authors: Your Pub Date is Not As Important as You Think: @tlordauthor @WriterUnboxed


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing


3 Keys to Avoid the Rejection Pile: @hodgeswriter


Publishing / Process / Book Design


When Your Favorite Writer Does Not Like Your Initial Cover Designs: by Na Kim @lithub


The perils of book cover design: @pubcoach


Writing Craft / Beginnings


The Right Character to Open Your Story: @jillkemerer


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Uncovering Your Character’s Driving Motivation: @brevitymag @NaNoWriMo


6 Ways to Make Readers Fall in Love With Your Characters: @LMacNaughton


Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters


3 Major Roles of Minor Characters: @A_K_Perry


Writing Craft / Common Mistakes


9 Writing “Rules” Examined: @KathySteinemann


Writing Craft / Dialogue


Realistic Dialogue: 5 Missteps to Avoid: @nownovel


Let Your Characters Speak: 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue: @FredBobJohn


Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film


10 Stephen King Stories That May Be Too Weird for Adaptation: @MikeFugere


Hear Moby Dick Read by Benedict Cumberbatch, Tilda Swinton, John Waters, & More: @PlymUni@openculture


5 Ways J.K. Rowling Can Help You Improve Your Writing: @FredBobJohn


Cliffhanger: @AuthorDanBrown at Frankfurt Book Fair on the ‘Origin’ of His Work: @Porter_Anderson


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


Let Us Guess From a Character’s Introduction How Important He or She is Going to Be: @CockeyedCaravan


Why to Use a Variety of Sentence Lengths: @writingthrulife


Honoring the Ordinary: @sarahrcallender


Say A Little Less, Mean a Little More: @kcraftwriter


How Long Should A Chapter Be? Your Guide To Chapters: @ReedsyHQ


Character Tags: What They Are and How to Use Them: @_HannahHeath


Correctly using Author Intrusion (corrected link): @ml_keller


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting


How to Create a Plot From Nothing in 5 Steps: by Jonathan Vars


How to Make a Storyboard on Pinterest: by A. P. McKinney


Act 2 Plotting in 5 Easy Questions: @SusanMayWarren @NovelRocket


The Art of Story Seduction—From Spark to Romance, Climax to Commitment: @KristenLambTX


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Beats


Writing to the Beat: Translating Story Beats to Any Genre: @JamiGold


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


3 Examples of How a Comma Can Change Meaning: @writing_tips


Writing Craft / Revision


An Author’s Checklist: 9 Techniques For Crisp, Powerful Revisions: @EbooksAndKids


Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques


Critique Group Etiquette: Mind Your Ps and Qs: @CRainsWriter @theiwsg


Quick Tips: How to Find Beta Readers: by Chris Fox


Writing Craft / Settings and Description


Setting as Catalyst and Mirror: @Bibliogato


Writing Craft / Special Needs


Dyscalculia and ADHD: A View From the Inside: by David Howard


Writing Craft / Voice


Improving your voice: @agentsaba @Tiff_Liao @whimsicallyours


Writing Craft / Word Crafting


Writing with Clarity: @KarenCV


10 Infographics To Help You Pick The Right Words: @Bang2write


Writing Tools / Apps


How Google Docs Improves Writing: @WordDreams


Writing Tools / Miscellaneous


Writing Saga, Series, and Just Plain Long Books: @Kit_Kerr @tordotcom


Writing Tools / Resources


Writing journal worksheet: interpretations: @EvaDeverell


Uncategorized


4 Questions to Ask Yourself After You Write a Scene: @MichelleGriep

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

How to be a #NaNoWriMo Rebel

Elizabeth Spann Craig.

On Inspiration and Delivery: The Creative Process

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Writers sometimes joke that the worst question to get from readers (and one of the most common) is “where do you get your ideas from?”

I recently read Light the Dark, edited by Joe Fassler, (I received a complimentary copy from Penguin editor Sam Raim). One of the cool things about this book is the fact that it has lots of different writers’ thoughts on where they ‘get their ideas from’…and it doesn’t only cover inspiration, but creativity and the artistic process itself.

Inspiration is a tough subject.  It varies from writer to writer. Sometimes, I think, we don’t even realize exactly what inspires or influences us. In Neil Gaiman’s essay, “Random Joy” for the collection, he talks about this:

“It’s like when you put the scraps onto your compost heap: eggshells, and it’s half-eaten turnips, and it’s apple cores, and the like. A year later, it’s black mulch that you can grow stuff in…Trying to figure out what’s influenced you is as difficult as taking the black mulch, and saying this used to be half an apple.”

How can you be sure to collect scraps for your creative compost heap? Although popular advice is to get out of the house and experience life and people, I think we can also get our creative scraps from other books, films, and art–or reading about or watching other people talk about making art.

And we can gather inspiration by slowing down, in general. I remember, as a child, the two characters who fascinated and disturbed me the most were Mr. McFeely from Mr. Rogers Neighborhood (speedy delivery! Always too much in a rush to really visit) and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland. The faster the two characters hurried, the more I longed for them to slow down and really experience life. David Mitchell’s essay in the book, “Neglect Everything Else” covers this concept. He receives inspiration from a poem placed above his desk (James Wright’s “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota”.)  The message Mitchell gets from the poem is:

“Stop! Just stop. Calm down, be quiet, and look around. It’s an homage to, and an exhortation of, the act of seeing.“

Jane Smiley in her essay “Nobody Asked You to Write That Novel” says much the same thing about inspiration:

“Dickens was extremely observant…He was observant not just visually, but aurally–he was a practiced eavesdropper. Many moments that the rest of us might pass over, he would note and they would filter into his work.”

So inspiration can be all around us, influencing us all the time and in ways that maybe we don’t even realize. Frequently, I’m drawing on past inspiration to power through my own writing sessions. I rarely sit down to write, filled with the muse’s voice. Most of the time I sit down and it’s more like muscle memory–this is what I do in this very spot every day at this time.  And that works for me 99% of the time.  That’s how I deliver.  It sounded like Angela Flournay also worked this way (this is from her essay, “A Place to Call My Own”):

“I’ve found that, if I focus on doing the work every day, the imagination part starts to take care of itself. The beautiful thing about imagination is how it keeps opening doors for your characters to walk through.”

But what if your delivery process needs some help? David Mitchell also has some tips for that.  His method of making time to write is:

“Part One: Neglect everything else. Part Two: Get Disciplined. Part Three: Keep the Apple homepage, because it’s rather boring.” (Don’t get distracted by the internet.)

Where do you find inspiration? What’s the hardest part for you…the inspiration or the delivery (completing the project)? Have you read “Light the Dark?”

 

Photo via Visualhunt

 

 

The post On Inspiration and Delivery: The Creative Process appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


Frankfurt’s International Self Publishing Program: Updates, Guidance: @Porter_Anderson @OrnaRoss


Pakistan Publishers and Karachi Book Fair Makes a Case at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson


Tuesday at Frankfurter Buchmesse: The Markets in Time of Change: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Publishing Perspectives Talks: Translation, Copyright, Content Strategy: @Porter_Anderson


Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo


A beginner’s guide to entering NaNoWriMo 2017: @bethanyrscott @beprolifiko


Why Do NaNoWriMo? @Wordfoolery


“How NaNoWriMo changed my life by novelist”: @thatjuliacrouch @beprolifiko


How to keep writing after NaNoWriMo 2017: by Bec Evans @beprolifiko

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


Fortified by Gratitude: @VaughnRoycroft


Creativity and Inspiration / Miscellaneous


How To Save Your Story From The Sunk Cost Fallacy: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks


Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation


Rebooting Your Writing When You’ve Stopped for too Long: @ElisabethStaab


12 Tips on How to Create a New Habit: @woodwardkaren


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing


Increasing Your Writing Productivity: @colleen_m_story


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block


The Virtues of Non-Linear Writing: @GoIntoTheStory


Creativity and Inspiration / Success


How to Make Your Life Story Life-Changing: @dianaraab


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


Cryptomnesia Can Kill Your Writing Career – Here’s How To Avoid It: by Robert Wood @standoutbooks


Staying Focused as a Creative, and When You Maybe Shouldn’t: @StephMorrill @GoTeenWriters


Swearing as a meditation: @sonia__harris


Making a Strong Body to Support a Lively Brain: @elisehooper


Using the Novel Journal for Writing Breakthroughs: @jamesscottbell


Why Writers Are Not Always The Best Judge Of Storytelling: @Bang2write


A Difficult Balance: Am I a Writer or a Teacher? @noMORIpunish


The “Real Life” Guide to Writing: @Chris_Mentzer


Top 5 Reasons Cruising is the Perfect Writing Vacation: @LH_Writes


How Academics Survive the Writing Grind: by Helen Sword


Genres / Horror


How Modern Horror Franchises Have Embraced Creepypasta to Stay Relevant: @nataliezutter


Keep to the Path: Horror Fiction and Little Red Riding Hood: by Stephen Graham @tordotcom


Genres / Memoir


7 Top Tips on Memoirs of Moving House: @writerjeangill


Genres / Miscellaneous


Choose Your Genre, Change Your World: @jesslourey


Genres / Mystery


The public’s horrible fascination with crime as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg


The diversity of fictional PIs’ backgrounds as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg


6 Tips For Conducting A Solid Crime Scene Investigation: @LeeLofland


Viewpoint Jumps and Pacing in Mysteries: @p2p_editor


50 Mystery Plot Ideas and Writing Prompts: @BrynDonovan


Writer @Mike54Martin on the importance of setting in mysteries:


Genres / Non-Fiction


Developing the Best Title for Your Nonfiction Book: by Jody Rein with Michael Larsen @JaneFriedman


Genres / Romance


Putting Meat on the Bones of your Heroes: @TessaShapcott


Genres / Science Fiction


5 Myths About Writing Science Fiction: @RogerDColby


Genres / Women’s Fiction


5 Tips on Writing Women’s Fiction: @AnneLParrish @WritersDigest


Promo / Miscellaneous


Tips for Podcast Guests:


6 Marketing Tips for Debut Authors: @carlywatters @OpenBookON


Book Marketing: The Basics: @mollygreene


Promo / Social Media Tips


5 Ways to Get Views and Reach People on YouTube: by Kallie Branciforte @teachable


7 Social Media Tips For Writers Who Want to Get Noticed: @easystartmkg @thewritelife


Promo / Websites


How writers can best optimize their About Me page: @Skytale_Writer


Publishing / Miscellaneous


Should You Ever Write For Free? @theladygreer


A 6-Step Guide to Breaking into the Sports Writing Business: @Kristen_E_Pope


How to win at writing competitions: @bethanyrscott@beprolifiko


“The tech that powers Bitcoin (could) transform…other industries” (including publishing): @Porter_Anderson


Why 1 Writer Unpublished His Old Work: by Topher Burk @IndieAuthorALLI


IngramSpark waives set-up fees through to end November: @TNPS10


Publishing / News / International Publishing


Frankfurt CEO Talk: Defending Freedom to Publish and Role of Publishers: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing


Should You Self-Publish or Try to Get an Agent? 4 Questions Can Help you Decide: @ChuckSambuchino @TheIWSG


Publishing / Process / Formatting


Formatting Print Books with Word: @IanAndrewAuthor @IndieAuthorALLI


Publishing / Process / Legalities


A Copyright Mistake on ‘Night of the Living Dead’ Impacted the Zombie Genre for 50 Years: @kaptainkristian





To Pen Name or Not to Pen Name: @lidywilks


Pen Names: 5 Reasons they are a Bad Idea in the Digital Age: @annerallen


Publishing / Process / Translation


AmazonCrossing Translation Expands Submission Site to 14 Languages: @Porter_Anderson


Writing Craft / Arc


A Deep Dive Into the Hero’s Journey: @MelanieMarttila


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Authentic Female Characters vs Gender-Swaps: @JoEberhardt


Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists


Is Your Protagonist Too Lucky? @Janice_Hardy @MidGradeMafia


Writing Craft / Common Mistakes


How to Use Showing vs. Telling Effectively: @RMNSediting @10MinNovelists


The 7 Deadly Sins of Struggling Writers: @ChristophPaul_


How Writers Screw Up: @SPressfield


Writing Craft / Conflict


Literary Crisis: Why a Crisis Will Make Your Good Story Great: @joebunting


Why Your Story Conflict Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It): @Janice_Hardy


Depicting Internal Conflicts: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants


Writing Craft / Dialogue


Oversharing in Dialogue and Why It’s Not Good for Fiction Either: @Margo_L_Dill


Writing Craft / Diversity


Writing x Characters When You Aren’t x: @plotlinehotline


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


Setting the Stakes in Storytelling: @sethjdickinson


What Cliffhangers Reveal About Impact: @p2p_editor


Plot vs. Character? by Josh Langston


Hiding What the Main Character Knows from the Reader: @SeptCFawkes


Is lack of reflection sabotaging your writing? @pubcoach


How to Dredge up the Memories You Want to Write About: @annkroeker


How to be a good writing workshop participant: by Meredith Quinn @TheWriterMag


The Innovative, Intuitive Way to Organize Your Novel’s Scenes: @CSLakin


3 Easy Ways to Write More Concisely: @writing_tips


5 Injustices in Superhero Stories: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants


Writing Craft / Pacing


Writing: How to Pace a Scene: @Lindasclare


Writing Craft / POV


What is point of view in fiction writing? @LouiseHarnby


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research


Injury Plots: The Inciting Injury: @scriptmedic


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


12 Words Ending in -logue (or Is It -log?): @writing_tips


3 Examples of Mismatched Inflectional Endings: @writing_tips


Writing Craft / Revision


How to Kill Your Darlings (And What to Do with Them When They’re Dead): @NathanielTower


Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques


How to create your Author “Pit Crew”: Beta Readers: @LoriKingBooks


Writing Craft / Tension


Grip-Lit: 5 Elements Your Story Must Include If You’re Writing the Next Gone Girl: @Jo_Furniss


Writing Craft / World-Building


Worldbuilding and the Labor of Food: by Joe M. McDermott @tordotcom


Writing Tools / Apps


Using Scrivener to revise your novel: @jasonbougger

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
Click To Tweet

The post Twitterific Writing Links appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Setting the Scene for Mystery

by Mike Martin, @mike54martin

The setting for the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries is not just a prop or a way to entice the reader to enter the realm of these books, although I certainly hope that it does. It is much more than that. For me the setting is the story, at least the beginning of the adventure. It is the only part of the story that I control. I get to start the story by setting the scene. Once I begin the journey the characters come and tell me the rest of the story and I just write it down.

It’s been like that from the very first time I sat down on the wharf in Grand Bank, Newfoundland on the easternmost tip of Canada and gazed out into the fog at the blinking lighthouse. Sgt. Winston Windflower almost walked out of that fog and introduced himself to me and started telling me his story. Sure, I get to limit some character’s voices from time to time and maybe I have a little say over the moral lines that I will allow the characters to play within. But once I have the setting, that opening scene, the story flows on its own.

So, for me, the bigger question is not how the setting affects the story, but rather why an author would choose a particular setting. Because once that choice has been made a lot of things flow from that including the physical environment, the weather and what the characters can actually do during the progression of the story line. I chose the Grand Bank area of Canada because it is located in my home province and I wanted to describe the physical beauty of the natural surroundings and tell some of the history of the area.

I have tried to capture the beauty of the ever-moving ocean and banks of fog that linger on the horizon, but words can barely touch the canvas that creation has revealed to us. That’s why I always put a picture on the front cover that illustrates it far better than my words ever could. Like the lighthouse in Grand Bank on The Walker in the Cape and the boardwalk in Burin on The Body on the T. Or the fishermen’s wharf and fishing stages or rooms in Fortune on A Twist of Fortune. All real places that I have visited and that a reader can too by looking at the cover or reading the book.

The setting by the Atlantic Ocean also makes the weather a real character in all of the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries. It is almost always windy and the potential for some form of precipitation is high at any time of day or in any season. Both of those force people inside, sometimes for a meal, sometimes for coffee, sometimes just for shelter from a storm. It allows me to show people in close quarters where their interactions reveal more of themselves, their true selves and their intentions. Maybe even their motives…. Plus, it’s always a great opportunity to show off the delicious cuisine of the local area and maybe even a chance for Windflower to get a piece of his favorite chocolate peanut butter cheesecake.

For me, I simply couldn’t set the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries anywhere but in Newfoundland. It gives it the touch, texture, smell and feel of the ocean breeze blowing in my hair. The salt air wind whipping the bedsheets drying on the clothesline. It makes the characters come alive and hopefully makes them real to the readers as well. Come back to Grand Bank and experience it yourself in the latest adventure, A Tangled Web.

A Tangled Web  is the latest book in the Sgt. Windflower Mystery series set on the East Coast of Canada. The previous book in the Series A Long Ways from Home was shortlisted for the Bony Blithe Award as the “Best Light Mystery of the year”.


“Life is good for Sgt. Wind­flower in Grand Bank, Newfoundland. But something’s missing from the Mountie’s life. Actually, a lot of things go missing, including a little girl and supplies from the new factory. It’s Windflower’s job to unravel the tangled web of murder, deceit and an accidental kidnapping that threatens to engulf this sleepy little town and destroy those closest to him. But there’s always good food, good friends and the love of a great woman to make everything better in the end.”
Find it on Amazon 
Amazon UK 

Writer @Mike54Martin on the importance of setting in mysteries:
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Tips for Podcast Guests

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Podcasts have become very popular as both a promotional tool and an informational/networking tool for writers.

I know I don’t have the time to host podcasts, but I usually have the time to appear as a guest.  On average, I’ve been a guest on 2-3 podcasts each year (some of them audio-only, some of them with video).  I’m being interviewed this afternoon, too.  That’s because hosts need guests!  :)

Over the years, I’ve put more thought into my appearances (which are sometimes on video and sometimes audio only).  Here are some of my tips for being a better guest: 

Equipment (I have a PC):

I like my Dell laptop.  But I hate the fact that the webcam is located in the bottom-left of the lid.  It gives a very awkward, odd angle to the transmitted picture.  To fix this (and for a better webcam picture altogether), I purchased a standalone webcam.  The Microsoft LifeCam was only $45 and had excellent ratings.   When I set up for a Skype interview, I plug the webcam into my USB port and make sure that Skype has the LifeCam listed as the device it’s using for video.

Another issue with the Dell laptop is that apparently the sound quality from the built-in microphone isn’t very good (I didn’t seem to have this problem on my elderly Lenovo).  At the suggestion of one of the podcast hosts, I purchased an external microphone.   The one I chose, Fifine Plug-and-Play,  is under $25 and is well-reviewed.  I plug the microphone into another USB port, adjust the tripod that comes with it, and make sure, again, that Skype lists the microphone as the default device.

Other Tips:

I make sure the room is well-lit.  I turn on all the lights and make sure there aren’t any weird shadows where I’m sitting.

I pick a non-distracting background.

For women middle-aged and older, I’d recommend wearing a lot more makeup than you’d ordinarily wear. These HD cameras aren’t kind.  I can’t even tell that I’m wearing a lot of makeup when I look at the footage later.

You’ll want to make sure that your internet connection is a strong one.  If it isn’t, move closer to the router or connect your laptop to the router via an Ethernet cable.

I make the house as quiet as I can by alerting any errant family members, confining the dog and cats, muting my cell phone, taking the house phone off the hook, and turning off any noisy computer notifications.

I have a glass of water nearby, just in case.

I feel as if the best interviews I’ve done are the ones in which I’ve known the questions in advance. This allows me to prepare the most thoughtful responses. Those interviews are few and far between, however.  If I don’t know the questions, I’d like a very good idea of the  general direction the interview will be taking: is it on writing routines? Writing mysteries? Promo?

I try to sit still and not wave my hands around a lot. This is tough for me–apparently I have a hard time sitting still. Next time I may sit on my hands.

Sometimes hosts will recommend guests wear earbuds to reduce audio feedback/echoes.  This hasn’t been a problem for me before, but I always have a pair nearby in case it becomes an issue.

I’m ready with a coherent signoff for the interview that lists where I can be found online and the name of my latest release.

Have any other tips for being a guest on a podcast?  Or any questions?

Tips for being a better podcast guest:
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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately?  Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous


What makes a good fiction editor? @LouiseHarnby


Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous


Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron To Open Frankfurt Book Fair: @Porter_Anderson


Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo


You Do You – 5 Tips for Making the Most of NaNoWriMo: @MaggieWells1


How to Write Your NaNo Novel Like a Banned Book: @lidywilks

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration


How to Make the Most of Your Time as a Teen Writer: @tessaemilyhall


Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers


Too Smart or Too Pretty? The Anne of Green Gables Paradox: @egabbert @lithub


5 Books Where the Hero Doesn’t Save the Day: @Artfulskeptic @tordotcom


10 of the Best Alien Books: @Keith_Rice1 @SignatureReads


5 Amazing Prequels To Great Fantasy Series: @shawnspeakman


13 Tips on Plowing Through ‘IT’ (or any long book) In A Few Days: @helpfulsnowman


Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation


Why You Should Work With a Writing Mentor: @beckorio @scottishbktrust


11 Pieces of Encouragement Writers Need to Hear: @_HannahHeath


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing


How to Write a Book When You’re Too Busy: @Chris_Kokoski


5 Tips For Writing A Novel While Working Full-Time: @rsmollisonread


Tips for Making Time to Write Our Books: @NChristie_OH


When Writing Takes a Backseat: @JJ_Burry


The Cheap Retreat: More Writing, Less Money, Too Much Ice Cream: @cbramkamp


Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly


5 Tips To Write A Novella Fast: @angee


Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life


3 Things People Think About Writers: @SiouxR


7 Journaling Prompts for Taking Care of Yourself During Stressful Times: @writingthrulife


15 Famous Writers on the Perils of a Formal Education: @knownemily


Cringe-worthy Reader Questions: @ellajoyolsen


8 Ways Writers Can Keep Their Health in Balance: @tessaemilyhall


How to Avoid the Dangerous Trap of the “Perfect Writing Life”: @colleen_m_story @RMFWriters


How to Enter the Writer’s Trance: @RosanneBane


How to Write a Book With Traumatic Brain Injury: @AlicePoet @lithub


Genres / Fantasy


A Century of Fantasy: How the Genre’s Changed Since the 1920s: @ReedsyHQ


Genres / Historical


A First Look at Writing Historical Fiction: by Linda Wilson


Genres / Middle-Grade


5 Lessons Learned Writing a First Middle Grade Novel: @gmyrthilbooks @DIYMFA


Genres / Miscellaneous


The Pros and Cons of Cross Genre Fiction: @IsabellaMayBks @WomenWriters


Genres / Mystery


Casinos as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Crime fiction elements: unforgivable sins in different professional fields: @mkinberg


Modern conveniences as elements in crime fiction: @mkinberg


Hazards to Avoid in a Cozy Mystery:


Genres / Non-Fiction


How to Become an Author Even If You’re Just a Blogger: @savilleneuve


Nonfiction Objects of Desire: @SPressfield


Genres / Paranormal


How to Write a Paranormal Romance Novel: The Ultimate Guide: by Georgina Roy @writingtipsoasi


Genres / Poetry


Writing Poetry for Beginners: @dianaraab @WomenWriters


Promo / Ads


Is It Ever Okay to Lose Money on Advertising? @MarcyKennedy


Promo / Back matter


Brainstorming Your Book’s Support Materials: @Book_Arch


Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting


Power-charge your blurb with hooks: @janetlaneauthor @RMFWriters


Promo / Book Reviews


7 Clever Ways to Leverage Reviews in Your Book Marketing: @EmilyWenstrom


Promo / Connecting with Readers


Your Author Platform: 4 Key Strategies: @LThompsonBooks


5 Tips for Marketing your Books in Person: @mariadismondy @thecreativepenn


Promo / Metadata


Keywords and Search Engines (The Bare-Bottom Basics Every Author Should Know): @KarenCV


Promo / Miscellaneous


Overcoming the Shame of Self-Promotion: @manzanitafire


Promo / Social Media Tips


3 Ways to Use Hashtags as Authors: @CaballoFrances


Promo / Websites


How Landing Page Frustration Lands You in the Dump: @MarshaIngrao


Publishing / Miscellaneous


US Ebook Revenue Up in May; Sourcebooks Signs With Gotham for Film: @Porter_Anderson


4 Tips to Meet Deadlines by @sarahsundin on @NovelRocket :


US National Book Award’s 20 Finalists Are Named: Four Categories: @Porter_Anderson


Publishing / News / International Publishing


Italian Frankfurt Rights Update: Piergiorgio Nicolazzini Highlights: @Porter_Anderson


Turkey’s Burhan Sönmez wins the Vaclav Havel Library Foundation award: @Porter_Anderson


Distribution Expansion: Germany’s Bookwire Acquires Brazil’s DLD: @Porter_Anderson


Canada’s Entertainment One Is Wattpad’s Newest Content Partner: @Porter_Anderson


Christmas In October: UK Rights Rustler Matt Haig Sleighs to Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @matthaig1


Kalimat Foundation at Göteborg Book Fair: Arabic Books for Children: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Turkish Literature Abroad at Frankfurt; Hungary Stages Five Authors: @Porter_Anderson


‘I Didn’t Believe It’: Kazuo Ishiguro Wins 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives


Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying


Switching From Querying Agents to Querying Publishers: @KristenBrakeman @WomenWriters


Surviving the Querying Trenches: @sebastian_lk


Matching voice in query and sample pages: @ml_keller


Publishing / Process / Translation


Why We Need to Translate More Women Writers: by David Brookshaw @lithub


Writing Craft / Arc


The Series Arc: @Book_Arch


Writing Craft / Beginnings


Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Horror Opening Work? @Janice_Hardy


Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists


Villain Clichés That Work: 4 Lessons From The Dark Tower Movie: @sacha_black


Writing Craft / Characters / Development


Indirect Characterization: How to Reveal Character Subtly: @nownovel


5 Moral Dilemmas That Make Characters and Stories Even Better: by Nicolas Rossmiller


Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists


How and Why to Write an Anti Hero: @Je55ieMullin5


Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters


Making Characters Stuck in the Background Pop Out: @SeptCFawkes


Writing Craft / Common Mistakes


Do You Really Know How to “Show, Don’t Tell”? @CSLakin


Give Your Reader A Chance To Fill In The Rest: @Bang2write


5 Ways To Instantly Improve Your Story: @Chris_Kokoski


When Yay Becomes Yuck: by Josh Langston


Writing Craft / Conflict


5 Ways to Create Strong Internal Conflict: @Janice_Hardy


What’s Driving Your Plot? @Janice_Hardy @Ava_Jae


Writing Craft / Diversity


Reading Jane Eyre While Black: @tylachelleco @lithub


How White Writers Can Be Better Allies to Writers of Color: @NataliaSylv @WriterUnboxed


“American Girls” Taught 1 Writer That Diversity Is The Most Beautiful Thing: @KarisRogerson @LitReactor


Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story


Weaving Backstory Into Frontstory: @jamesscottbell


Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film


12 Literary Writers on Stephen King’s Influence: @knownemily


Learning To Write Dialogue From ‘The Wire’ And ‘Anne of Green Gables’: @Spencimus


13 Writing Lessons From 13 Reasons Why: @jennienash


5 Stories That End With Bizarre Reveals: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants


The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Beat Sheet: @RubioSalva @savethecat


Writing Craft / Miscellaneous


2 Questions about Story: by Art Holcomb @storyfix


Insights into Your Midpoint Scene: @CSLakin


The Trouble With Action: @VaughnRoycroft


The Structure of an Injury Plot: @scriptmedic


How to Empower Your Writing With a Brilliant Epigraph: by John MacIlroy @write_practice


Writing Craft / POV


Alternate POVs: @iamagemcrystal


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting


5 Quick Fixes for a Sagging Middle: @WriteToSell


Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research


Injury Analysis: Misery: @scriptmedic


Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar


Punctuation Quiz: Capitalization: @writing_tips


Writing Craft / Revision


You Can’t Edit Your Own Book and Here are 7 Reasons Why: @batwood


10 Easy Edits to Improve Your Manuscript Right Now: @repokempt @LitReactor


Shakespeare and the art of revision: @nevalalee


Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques


4 Tips for Translating Critique-Speak: @kcraftwriter


Writing Craft / Series


The Art of Writing (and Ending) a Serie (podcast): @decastell @DIYMFA


Writing Craft / Series / Series Bible


How to Create a Series Bible For Your Fiction: @lornafaith


Writing Craft / Settings and Description


Developing Themes In Your Stories: The Setting: @SaraL_Writer


How to use the 5 senses for thrilling descriptions: @RidethePen


6 Ways Setting Can Create Conflict: @Janice_Hardy


Writing Craft / Tropes


PubCrawl Podcast: Coming of Age Stories: @PubCrawlBlog


Writing Craft / Word Crafting


100+ Ways to Say “Sad”: A Word List for Writers: @KathySteinemann


Writing Craft / World-Building


3 Steps to Building Your Story World: @Janice_Hardy


Worldbuilding For Urban Fantasy: @KhaosFoxe


Writing Tools / Books


25 Must-Read Books About Writing: @thewritelife


Uncategorized


Stop comparing yourself to other writers: @PatHatt24 @TheIWSG @PatHatt24

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Things to Avoid in a Cozy Mystery

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Believe it or not, there are ways to make cozy mystery writing complex.  And I think cozies are fairly easy books to write.

At first I titled this post “Cozy Mystery Mistakes,” but I don’t think these things are all necessarily mistakes–they’re just elements that could make for potential problems.

Looking at my list, I’ve done nearly all of them at least once.

Too many characters:  This is a very easy problem to have. Cozy mystery series can be rife with characters: you have 5(ish) suspects in each book, a sleuth, a sidekick, plus recurring series characters (sleuth’s family, co-workers, etc.) .  Cozies are all about the quirky characters, and quirky characters have a way of multiplying.

The fix:  Anytime that one of the characters has been ‘off-stage’ for a while, apply a tag or a short reminder in dialogue to help readers remember who the character is.  Or, obviously, include fewer characters (although sometimes readers will ask after a  recurring supporting character if they’re not part of a story).

Too much hook.  The hook (quilting, knitting, cooking, horseback riding, birdwatching , gardening, antiquing) is definitely important in a cozy mystery.  It can help the sleuth more naturally meet up with suspects for interviews. It can help the reader connect with the sleuth. It can help create interesting settings and subplots. But if the hook is overshadowing the mystery, there’s too much hook.

The fix:  Look at your story and see if it’s a gardening book with a mystery or a mystery with some gardening.  The mystery has to come first.

Too much mystery.  The mystery has to come first, but there can’t be just mystery, either. If it’s straight mystery, it’s probably not a cozy.

The fix:  Highlight the mystery in your text one color and highlight the subplots, hook, and other non-mystery parts of the story another. Aim for more of a balance.

Too short: Again, this is super-easy to do.  Cozies are, by nature, pretty short.  But if your book is getting into novella territory (and you’re shooting for a full-priced book), there’s a problem.

The fix: Usually for me, the culprit is the subplot.  Or, rather, subplots.  If there aren’t any relatively healthy subplots, you’ll probably find the book is too mystery-focused and too short.

Too dark: This is, obviously, a big no-no for cozy mysteries. Of all of these issues, this is the most problematic.

The fix:  Is the murder method too gory? Too well-described? Are the potential motives for the suspects too dark?  Is there enough humor in the story? Should you consider labeling this a different genre?  Maybe the story should be a police procedural or more of a traditional mystery instead of a cozy.

Supporting characters that steal the show. With all the natural quirkiness of cozy characters, it’s almost inevitable that one of them will end up being a stage hog.

The fix:  They’re going to need to tone it down a little if they’re not the sleuth.  In  dialogue with your sleuth, who’s leading the conversation? Who’s putting two-and-two together? If it’s the secondary character, switch it around as much as you need to in order to put the sleuth back in the driver’s seat again.

Looking back over my list, there are a couple of things that might work for other genres, too.  What kinds of problem areas have you run into with your own writing?

6 potential problems to avoid when writing a cozy mystery:
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