Riley Adams's Blog, page 89

Creating Distractions for A Protagonist

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Larry Brooks of StoryFix frequently offers helpful posts for writers. He wrote a post recently for the Kill Zone blog called “Three Quick and Easy Tips that Will Make Your Novel Better.”  One of the tips he listed was to “give your hero a distracting personal relationship.”

This is one element that can be used in a lot of different helpful ways in your story. It helps make your protagonist seem real and helps create reader empathy for the protagonist. It also can make for a nice subplot to weave through the course of the story to help keep readers reading to see how it will resolve (sometimes as a reader, I’ve found myself more interested in the subplot of a book than the main plot).

It’s especially helpful as a continuing arc in your series, if your series is to be read in order. It can be one thing that remains a constant in the series as crises and supporting characters and settings change.

The distraction could be a lot of different things. I think it makes it especially good if it’s something that resonates with readers because it’s a typical problem: helping aging parents, being a single mom or dad,  struggling with an addiction,  trying to balance work and a relationship, dealing with a difficult manager, handling a health issue for yourself or a family member.

Is your distraction any good? You can test it by asking yourself a series of questions: writer Janice Hardy has created a nice list to check your subplot (which is what your distraction is) against.  They include “does it explore a new problem and raise the stakes?”

You can even take this distraction a step farther. One of the posts I’ve got saved on my Evernote is Allen Palmer’s post on Cracking Yarn: “The One Subplot You Really Need.”  He’s a screenwriter, but his advice works well for novelists. He points out that:

“Emotionally powerful movies tend to have those 3 narrative elements:

The want that’s about external achievement
Subplots that complicate the quest for the want
A need subplot that’s at odds with the want ” 

Your protagonist’s distraction could both complicate his quest (and I think most distractions would do this…some more than most) and provide the ‘need’ that conflicts with the ‘want.’

Palmer offers concrete examples of how to pull this off well.

What distractions do your protagonists have in their lives while they’re saving the world?

Why distractions are important for our protagonist:
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Photo via Visualhunt

 

The post Creating Distractions for A Protagonist appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

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. 

I’ll be away tomorrow in observance of Memorial Day, but back on the blog on Friday. 

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

London Book Fair’s Virtual Conference: 9 Markets in 9 Hours @Porter_Anderson @ornaob
The Authors Guild Honors Morrison, Patterson, and…IngramSpark @Porter_Anderson @rcutlerSpark

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

5 Books About Achieving Immortality: @nealasher @tordotcom
The Greatest Resurrections in Literature: @ElectricLit
Flowchart Connects the Entire Stephen King Universe: @FreddyInSpace

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

How to kill your procrastination by quitting: @beprolifiko
3 Habits of Prolific Writers: @WritersAfterDrk

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

Fast Drafting Tips: @sona_c

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

3 Elements of a Good book: @MichelleGriep @NovelRocket
Writing for Your Readers: @Lindasclare
New Novelist: Write A Selling Novel With One Simple Strategy: @angee
The 7 Differences Between Professionals and Amateurs: @JeffGoins

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

When your life goes off the rails: @Janet_Reid
“What I Didn’t Know Before Becoming a Writer”: @FinishedPages
3 Ways to Deal With the Feeling of Loss after Finishing a Highly Inspired Creative Project: by Pekoe Blaze
How to Write a Journal: 6 Tips: @hodgeswriter
A simple email trick for better organization: @mayorjenni
3 Benefits of Accountability Groups for Writers: @lornafaith

Genres / Miscellaneous

In Support of New-Adult Fiction: @MegWestfield @WomenWriters

Genres / Mystery

The murkiness between childhood and adulthood in crime fiction: @mkinberg
The Detective’s Sidekick: 3 Character Types: @woodwardkaren

Genres / Picture Books

Advice for illustrators: @pinocastellano
Writing Children’s Books With Readaloud Potential: @Kid_Lit

Genres / Romance

Writing Romance: the Alpha Hero: @JaxMHunter @RMFWriters

Genres / Science Fiction

How to create maps for SF/F: @Brianna_daSilva

Genres / Screenwriting

How To Assign A Character’s Race In A Screenplay: @Bang2write
Learning Screenwriting by studying The Bourne Identity: @CockeyedCaravan

Genres / Short Stories

5 Semi-Pro Markets for Short Stories: @jasonbougger

Promo / Book Reviews

Getting a Top Reviewer to Read Your Book: @TLCBookDesign
A plea for reviewers: can we open up a dialogue about self-published books? @Roz_Morris

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Confidently Plan and Execute a Successful Book Launch: @KimberleyGrabas
The Importance Of Time For Selling Books And Building An Author Career: @bryancohenbooks @thecreativepenn
Writing Short While Going Long: @Lindasclare

Promo / Newsletters

Is Your Author Mailing List Effective? 5 Ways To Find Out: @clarewhitmell
This Is Why You Should Do Newsletter Surveys: @ADStarrling

Promo / Social Media Tips

10 Great New Social Media Tools for Indie Authors: @Bookgal @_theverbs
Repeat After Me: “Goodreads Is My Friend”: @SonjaYoerg
10 Ideas for Social Media Posts: @WriteOnOnline

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Publishing’s Digital Transformation: ‘What the Readers and Users Want’: @Porter_Anderson
How to Write a Book: Everything You Need to Know in 20 Steps @JerryBJenkins
Co-Writing Dark Fantasy In New Orleans With 4 Authors: @thecreativepenn

Publishing / News / Amazon

A Closer Look at “Amazon Charts”, Which Tracks What’s Hot at the Retailer: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / News / International Publishing

60% growth in ebook sales in Russia last year: By Eugene Gerden @pubperspectives
Historian Margaret MacMillan Chairs $75,000 Cundill Prize: @Porter_Anderson
A Rights Agent’s View: Szylvia Molnar on Making True Crime Travel @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

When you don’t want to follow an agent’s editorial suggestions: @Janet_Reid

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Pitches

Are you ready to Pitch? The Pro Check: @jennienash

Publishing / Process / Book Design

How to Create a Book Cover That Connects with Readers: @erikaliodice
7 Essential Tips To Ensure Your Book Cover Is A Winner: @kj_bags

Publishing / Process / Formatting

Some Fun CSS Tricks for Ebooks: @dkudler

Publishing / Process / Legalities

How can you register the copyright for your book? Follow 8 simple steps: @ReedsyHQ

Publishing / Process / Translation

American Literary Translators’ Mentorship Program Applications Are Open: @Porter_Anderson

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Writing Chapter One: Tips: @Dwallacepeach

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

‘Hearing’ your characters: @GoIntoTheStory
Deepening Characterization: @WritingOnBoard @NovelRocket
Writing character flaws: @MisoMiss
How to Build an Interesting Character: 10 Questions: @woodwardkaren

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

3 Common Mistakes Writers Make (And How to Avoid Them): by Blake Powell @write_practice
Why Readers Stop Reading: @beccapuglisi

Writing Craft / Conflict

Conflict, Plot Lines, and The Devil Wears Prada: @maryhorner @womenonwriting

Writing Craft / Dialogue

The Dos and Don’ts of Dialogue Tags: @KelsieEngen
The Dos and Don’ts of Dialogue Tags: @TheRyanLanz

Writing Craft / Drafts

Embrace your own process: @reallucyflint

Writing Craft / Endings

How Not to Crash-land an Ending: @SonjaYoerg
How to Write Better Endings: @WritersCoach

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

Piano Man’s Unexpected Writing Lesson: @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Foreshadowing — When and Where to Use It: by S.C. Sharman @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Kindred Spirits: In Praise of Online Classes: by Ann V. Klotz
Better Use of Verbs in Your Writing: @JerryBJenkins
6 Reasons to use Chapter Titles: @WritersAfterDrk by Raymond Esposito
10 Tips for Successful Ghostwriters: m by John Peragine

Writing Craft / Pacing

Pacing: What Plot and Poker Have in Common: by Codey Amprim @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Plot Holes

How Trust Affects Mysteries and Plot Holes: @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Story Structure: The Magic Bullet that Nearly Killed Me: @mquirk
Classic Story Structures and What They Teach Us About Novel Plotting: @jesslourey @JaneFriedman
The “And then!” Plot @JaneLebak
Pets: Ways to Include Animals to Enhance Your Fictional World: @SueColetta1

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

3 Cases of Superfluous Wording: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

5 Questions to Ask When Editing Your First Novel: @lornafaith

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

5 Tips for Surviving a Writing Workshop: @YourTrustyAlibi @BookRiot
How to Spot Toxic Feedback: 7 Signs: @manzanitafire @JaneFriedman
To Share Your Work Now or Later: When Is The Best Time? @10MinNovelists

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

Imagery: Create Strong Mental Pictures for Your Reader: @ZoeMMcCarthy
Description: Letting Readers Fill in the Gaps:

Writing Craft / Tension

Adding Tension to Your Story: @johnbriggsbooks

Writing Tools / Apps

Making A Story/Series Bible In Scrivener: @KhaosFoxe

Writing Tools / Services for Writers

A closer look at @ReedsyHQ ‘s resources for writers: @TheIWSG

Uncategorized

‘A German Life’ Memoir Finds Strong International Rights Interest: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
Congratulations to @JFbookman for being a top website on the WKB!
Congratulations to @TheCreativePenn for being a top WKB website for writers!
Congratulations to https://t.co/IYpL4pZnWS for being a top WKB website for writers! @write_practice
Congratulations to @writing_tips for being a top WKB website for writers! https://t.co/3Ajv1BeZr3
Congratulations to @WritersDigest : a top WKB website and resource for writers: https://t.co/iPNEgaAbUq
Congratulations to @pubperspectives for being a top WKB website for writers! https://t.co/t1bSF8wUTP
Congratulations to @Janice_Hardy for being a top WKB website for writers! https://t.co/XM0M6JvVCC
Industry Notes: A Milestone at Dutch Sweek; Facebook Live at BookExpo @Porter_Anderson

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Description: Letting Readers Fill in the Gaps

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I read a nice post by Nils Ödlund, “Don’t Show, Don’t Tell — How to Leave Room for the Reader’s Imagination ” on the Mythic Scribes blog.

As he says in the post: “…I’d like to explain why the reader’s mind is so strong: it’s because they put something of themselves into it. They use their own experiences, expectations, and associations to create the image, and this make it theirs. It becomes more personal; making it easier to understand and to believe in.”

Twice recently, I’ve been surprised by readers with compliments on my character descriptions.

One woman said, “I could see her perfectly. She was just like my Aunt May.”

I strongly suspect that the woman simply filled in the gaps of my description of the character herself. That something in the character’s dialogue or manner revealed itself to be similar to her aunt.

I don’t like to over-describe…anything, really. I was prompted for more detailed description in the Southern Quilting series because that was part of the cozy brand for Penguin’s craft cozies.

I’ve written on this subject before, but the reason I want to again is because writers can worry a lot about descriptions. They can overthink them.

I’m not saying there aren’t books that are better served with a lot more description than mine have. But with a few telling details or broad brushstrokes, you can give the readers more than enough to go on. And you don’t have to stress yourself out in the process.

A couple of telling details are helpful. A sour expression, hooded eyes, a condescending smile, a galloping gait, a braying laugh.

You can also describe characters indirectly, letting readers draw their own conclusions based on character dialogue and other characters’ observations about him. Or by describing the character’s house or car, letting readers know how tidy he is, or whether he owns expensive things, or doesn’t have enough food in the house.

As a reader, I tend to skim over extra character or setting description. I’m not looking for a dump of physical characteristics that I won’t remember.  I’m looking for insight into the character or at least some sort of quirk or detail that will help me to remember him while he’s offstage.

I like this article from writer Ali Luke: “How to Write Character Descriptions that Work” (she also agrees with the minimal approach).  She gives a helpful list of description dos and don’ts, including “try describing one character through another character’s eyes” and “with any kind of description, word choices matter a lot.”

You can find more resources for writing description in the WKB “settings and description” entries.  Or sign up to receive articles on the subject via email.

What’s your view on description as a reader and writer?

Tips for writing minimal character description:
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Photo via Visualhunt

The post Description: Letting Readers Fill in the Gaps appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Expanding into Hardcover

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig,o9

I’ve recently been interested in expanding my books into every format that I can.  Who knows how someone might want to read my books? I’m in digital, print (paperback), and audio. I’ve made my books accessible to an international audience and now the Myrtle books are being translated into Spanish (more on that in a later post).

But I’d never really thought about hardcover. It seemed like a very expensive option to buy. I know that, aside from gifts for family, I haven’t bought a hardcover book in ages.

As part of my expansion into other formats and to other markets, however, I realized that my books (through PublishDrive) are doing very well on the OverDrive platform.  That’s a major distributor of digital materials to libraries. (More on OverDrive in this post.)

If my books were doing that well at libraries, I figured that it would make sense to have them also available in hardcover. Perhaps an acquisition librarian would note that my digital books were circulating to readers and decide to purchase a hardcover for the stacks.

Things to consider: 

If you’re on Ingram, you’ll need to have ISBNs for your books (not the free ones from CreateSpace or Smashwords…which actually show CS and SW as the publisher). And, even if you have your own ISBNs, because this is a different format, you’ll need new ISBNs for the books for this particular format. I’m buying ISBNs from Bowker in bulk.

Obviously, your covers will need to be adjusted. I asked my cover designer to adapt the existing covers for hardcover dust jackets. You could also choose a case binding cover, but I wanted the cloth bound hardcover with the dust jacket.  (More about hardcover choices in this post from Ingram Spark.)  You’ll need a good deal more copy than you’re used to: there’s a back cover and front cover, but there’s also an inside front cover and an inside back cover to consider.

Your cover designer will need the ISBNs for the books in order to pull up a template from Ingram. And, of course, this means that your book needs to be at least partially set-up on Ingram to begin with. You’ll put in your book’s metadata as usual (I like to fill the fields out as completely as possible, not just focus on the required fields), set the international prices (this is hardcover, so you’ll want to go higher to see at least a little profit. Additionally, I set the book trade discount a bit lower, to either 30% or 35%), and upload the interior PDF. I used the same PDF that I uploaded for my trade paperback listing, and Ingram adapted it (it wasn’t a size-specific PDF to begin with). Depending on your file, you may need to upload an updated interior PDF.  Then the cover designer will pull a template from Ingram.

The trim sizes for hardcover are here on Ingram’s site.  I chose the closest size to my paperback size.

There’s is also a cost for Ingram’s set-up for the books at $49 a book.  I’ve never paid the full fee since I’m a member of The Alliance of Independent Authors and they frequently have discounts for Ingram services.

My total cost ended up being the ISBNs and the cover adaptation.  If you’re cleverer with design than I am, you could avoid that cover modification fee.

What I settled on: 

I chose a gray cloth cover with a matte laminate.

I looked at books at my local library for copy inspiration for the dust jacket.  I decided to go with:

Inside front cover of all books:

Description at top.

Series description (following) below that

Inside back cover of all books:

Author picture

Author bio

Website/contact info

Back Cover:

Testimonials for all three series

Each book ended up looking like this:

Some writers have mentioned that Amazon will discount the hardcovers as loss leaders…and must still pay full royalties to the author since the discount was on their side.

Will I make a lot of profit off these books this year?  Most certainly not at a margin of $2-$3 a book. Will they always be in hardcover and always available to print? Yes. It’s the long-tail in the publishing game, as everyone has overstated. I’m willing to have modest returns in the short term and write off my costs for this project on my taxes next year. In addition to the library market, these could be draws for avid fans (see “Why Hardcover is the New Vinyl” by Yahdon Israel), and can be used as special promotional giveaways.

Have you thought about hardcover editions of your books?

Tips and reasons for making your books available in hardcover:
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Photo credit: Abee5 via VisualHunt.com / CC BY

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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

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

On BEA Wednesday: Pre-Show Programming Highlights: @Porter_Anderson

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

J.K. Rowling’s Latest Advice Will Inspire You To Pick Up Your Pen And Write: @emmaoulton @bustle
Don’t Let Logic Eclipse Your Creative Writing: @RosanneBane

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

50 Fictional Days Immortalized in Literature: @knownemily @lithub
How to read more books: @ellekaplan
The Best Bookstore in Every State: @lizsteelman @realsimple

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

When ignoring advice makes sense: @pubcoach

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How 1 Writer Went From Scared Witless to Being a Published Author: @LauraJTong
Reveal Hidden Writer’s Anxiety to Restore Creativity: @colleen_m_story
Your Story Has Hit a Wall—What Now? @KristenLambTX

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

7 Focus-Enhancing Tips for Better Productivity: @emi1y_morgan

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

5 Tips for Turning Pro for Writers as Inspired by @SPressfield @lornafaith
Is Your Fiction Big Enough? @jamesscottbell @WriterUnboxed

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

“Ways I Learned to Love My Novel Again”: @CaitlinEJones
Is an MFA in Creative Writing Worthwhile? 7 Writers Weigh In: @decorcione
A 7-part podcast comedy on writing a novel: @Porter_Anderson @TheStoryPlant
Including People in Your Writing Process: @Writestream
Treating Your Writing Like A Full-Time Job: @Jen_328

Genres / Fantasy

5 Elements All Urban Fantasy Novels Must Have: @mishellbaker

Genres / Mystery

Unnamed main characters in crime fiction: @mkinberg
Crime Writers: 9 Key Steps for a Successful Crime Scene Investigation: @JChaseNovelist
Crime Writing: A Murder-Scene Checklist: @LeeLofland
Open vs closed murder mysteries: @woodwardkaren

Genres / Picture Books

How 1 Writer Hired and Collaborated with Illustrators: @caroleproman
How 1 Indie Author Created Her Kids Book Series: @caroleproman

Genres / Poetry

How to Write a Limerick Infographic: @lwlindquist @tspoetry
10 Essential Terms for Poets (and Everyone Else): by Edward Hirsch @lithub

Genres / Romance

Want to Write Romance? Layer Your Scenes for Success: @CSLakin @AngelaAckerman

Genres / Science Fiction

Defining Speculative Fiction: @MelanieMarttila

Genres / Screenwriting

10 Ingredients for Successful Screenwriting: Understanding Marketing Skills: @marilynhorowitz @scriptmag

Genres / Young Adult

4 Tips for Changing Genres Within Young Adult: @BrigidKemmerer

Promo / Back matter

Why you should have more than 1 bio: @SophieMasson1

Promo / Blogging

Content Creation for Bloggers: 3 Questions: @JFbookman
Why Every Author Needs A Blog: @SukhiJutla

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

How to Create a Back Book Cover Blurb that Sells: @DaveChesson

Promo / Book Reviews

What If They Hate My Book? Coping with Negative Reviews: @Bookgal
Do reviews impact sales? @rxena77

Promo / Miscellaneous

Guide to Creating an Author Media Kit: @BuildYourBrandA
Reasons Your Books Are Not Selling: @cksyme
3 Steps To Creating A Winning Sell Sheet For Your Book: @jckunzjr
The art of the anti-blurb: @nevalalee
Ways to support an author or illustrator (besides buying a book): @inkyelbows

Promo / Newsletters

7 Ways You Can Use Your Mailing List to Drive Sales: @PublishingSpark@clarewhitmell

Promo / Platforms

Comparing and Calculating IngramSpark and Amazon CreateSpace Author Royalty: @carlaking
Your Author Strategy: 3 Steps to Launch Your Writing Career: @CarmenConnects @annerallen

Promo / Pricing

How to determine your price point when self-publishing: @NathanBransford

Promo / Social Media Tips

Feeling Invisible on Facebook? How’s Your Organic Reach? @KristenLambTX
4 Tips for Successful Social Media Contests: @JDScherer @SMExaminer
Social media is a long-term investment for your writing career: @Roz_Morris
Streamline Your Social Media Life With These 9 Tips: @EdieMelson
How to Write the Perfect Pinterest Bio: @MarshaIngrao

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Why Novellas are Making a Comeback (and 5 Posts for Novella-Writers): @aliventures
Email Newsletters: A Writer’s Best Friend: @chris_shultz81

Publishing / News / International Publishing

The UK’s Publishers Association Takes Its Stand: ‘No Tax on Books’ @stevelotinga @Porter_Anderson
2017 Global Ebook Report: As Many Stories as Markets: @Porter_Anderson @wischenbart
Palestine Festival of Literature Marks Its First Decade: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives
China Reading Launches Qidian Platform for an International Audience: @Porter_Anderson
A Publisher Is France’s Minister of Culture: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing

Winning The Waiting Game: @PatPDonovan @womenonwriting

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Are good writers rejected? An agent answers: @Janet_Reid

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Rejections

Rejection and Failure: There’s a Difference, and Neither Means You Should Quit: @RuthHarrisBooks

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Covers Matter. A Lot. @MaryGillgannon @RMFWriters

Publishing / Process / ISBNs

Indie Authors, Buy Your Own ISBNs! @NewShelvesBooks

Publishing / Process / Legalities

Hiring Freelancers (Editors, Designers, Formatters): the Legal Nitty-Gritty: @HelenSedwick @BookWorksNYC

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

The “Unlikable” Characters We Love: @booksabound @BNSciFi
7 Tips to Creating Likable Characters: @Brianna_daSilva

Writing Craft / Characters / Emotion

Falling in Love With Your Manuscript: Why an Emotional Connection is Vital: @jkolin27

Writing Craft / Characters / Protagonists

The 9 Things Your Main Character Needs From You: @10MinNovelists
Dynamic Character: How to Write a Compelling Protagonist: @ReedsyHQ

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

12 Quick Tips To Improve Your Writing Right Now: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Humor

Increasing Your Funny Quotient: @AnnetteLyon
Tips and resources for tackling humor in your writing:

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Co-Writing a Novel: @JasonMHough
Middles and Scenes: @JAHuss
Writing Captivity Scenes: @RayneHall
How Exposition Breaks Empathy: @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / POV

13 More Mistakes You Could Make When Creating Narrative Voice: @10MinNovelists

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

5 ways to get your characters (and you) through adversity: by Fae Rowen
Elevate Your “Genre” Book or Screenplay: @patverducci
Using Story Structure to Plot: @Janice_Hardy
4 Methods for Developing Any Idea Into a Great Story: @ESimsAuthor @JaneFriedman

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Gender-Neutral Pronouns: Singular ‘They’: @GrammarGirl

Writing Craft / Revision

Options for Approaching Self-Editing: @katiemccoach
7 Strategies for Revising Your Novel: by Lisa Preston @WritersDigest
4 Common Copy Editing Issues to Watch For: @Julie_Glover

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

The Complex Power of Mapping the World of Your Novel: @barbaraoneal @WriterUnboxed

Writing Craft / Special Needs

Encouraging Reluctant/Dyslexic Readers: @ela_lourenco
5 Signs Your Story Is Ableist: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Tension

7 Hitchcockian Secrets To Writing Amazing Suspense: @TonyLeeMoral
Show, Don’t Tell: How to Inject Drama Into Your Writing: @sarahannjuckes
Time Check: A Way to Build Story Tension: @Chris_Kokoski

Writing Craft / Transitions

How to Handle Time Skips in Your Novel: @p2p_editor

Writing Craft / World-Building

5 Worldbuilding Mistakes Even Enthusiasts Make: by Chris Winkle @mythcreants
Why ‘worldbuilding’ is the most overrated and overused concept in fiction: @TheLincoln

Uncategorized

@ShadowAuthor @LawrenceBlock Like you, I don’t have any info on that. Is this for self-pub or querying? You could h…
@ShadowAuthor @LawrenceBlock I’d probably skip footnotes for fiction (although House of Leaves used them effectivel…
@ShadowAuthor @LawrenceBlock Sorry! It was the ‘novel’ that threw https://t.co/B5RvwggFvz could skip it or not (I’v…
A top resource/blog for writers: @JodyHedlund ‘s blog: https://t.co/n0eQauj2RL https://t.co/3nPqFye7k6

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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Writing Humor

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One thing that I love about writing cozy mysteries is the ability to integrate humor into the stories.

The amount of humor varies. I still somewhat regret writing A Body at Book Club which has a scene in which I actually laughed out loud while writing (startling the cats and dog around me). Since then, almost every book has at least one customer review that says: “It’s okay. Not as funny as A Body at Book Club.”

I’ve noticed that humor comes easier as a series continues and I know the characters better and better. I think that’s because my humor is all character-based and the set-up for a humorous scene becomes easy when the readers and I know the characters very well. Running gags can be particularly effective over the course of a series.

The easiest is putting characters in situations where the reader knows the character is uncomfortable. Situational humor (similar to the idea behind sitcoms, or situational comedies). I’ll put my hypochondriac character around someone with a terrible cold and have him anguish over that in the background as my sleuth is questioning the sick suspect. Or I’ll put my former English teacher sleuth on the spot at a book club meeting when she hasn’t read the book (and doesn’t want to own up to the fact).

I’ve always loved the classic clown and straight-man type of set-up evident in shows like I Love Lucy. Modeling that, I’ve got one sidekick whose dry sense of humor acts as a nice foil for my unpredictable sleuth.

I’m not afraid to delve into farce or screwball comedy every once and a while (notably, A Body at Book Club).

But my books are gentle books and the humor is gentle, too. Your books might be darker or edgier, but there’s definitely a style of humor that will fit your writing. Don’t think that your serious novel doesn’t need humor. There’s an interesting post by Dean Gloster to refute that notion: “7 Reasons Writers of Serious Novels Should Use Humor in Their Fiction” (including reader identification and assigning positive traits to characters).

There are posts that I’ve bookmarked on Evernote for repeated reading.  Specifically to incorporating the style of humor we want to focus on (with the right tone for our genre and books), I’d look at a couple of posts from writer Darcy Pattison: “Five More Ways to Add Humor” and “Running Gags“.  September C. Fawkes offers “15+Tactics for Writing Humor“.  Margie Lawson does a nice job with concrete examples in “Humor Hits Hook Readers.”  Jordan Dane’s “Five Ways to Stand Out With Humor in Your Writing” has some good tips.  I also like “How to Mix Humor Into Your Writing” by Leigh Anne Jasheway.

Do you use humor in your books?  How much do you use?

Tips and resources for writing humor:
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Mirroring a Book’s Beginning at its Ending

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Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

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 see the character and location name generators!  Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here. 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.  :)

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

7 Reasons To Attend a Writer’s Conference: @AlyciaMorales
Planning a Writer’s Conference? Here’s What’s Really Involved: @ascamacho @TheIWSG

Creativity and Inspiration / Goal setting

3 Steps to Start Tiny Habits that Help You Reach Your Goals: @lornafaith

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Why You Need to Invest In Yourself First: @SukhiJutla
How Free Writing Helps You Find Your True Creative Voice: @JamesPrescott77

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

Addictive Sci-Fi: 5 Books with Fictional Drugs: by Chris Howard @tordotcom

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Don’t wait to follow your dreams: @SiakChinYoke

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Are You Too Nice To Say “No?” @CarolAnneMalone
5 Ways to Manage Multiple Creative Passions: by Linda Bernadette Burgess @DIYMFA

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / When to write

Writing Routines: Rethinking What Works:

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

10 Writing Prompts To Help You Unstick Your First Draft: @10MinNovelists
Sometimes Instinct Should Take Over the Story: @Margo_L_Dill @womenonwriting

Creativity and Inspiration / Success

How 1 Writer Landed a Book Contract at 16: @tessaemilyhall @authorsjournal
The Second Act Novelist: 6 Ways to Prepare: @joneslepidas @JaneFriedman

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

For writers who are recent graduates, broke, in between things, or living at home: @austinkleon
Writer Struggles: Isolation & Loneliness: @HeatherJacksonW
Stress and Burnout: Writers can suffer from both. Learn the signs and how to cope: @RuthHarrisBooks
Can Your Distractions Make You a Better Writer? @charityscraig @tspoetry
Envy, Perfection, and the Work of Writing: @JoEberhardt @WriterUnboxed
How to Create a “Writer Productivity Diet”: @CSLakin
Spectral Awareness: 8 Quotes From Authors With Autism: @TomBlunt @SignatureReads

Genres / Horror

Horror and Crime: A Writer’s Education: @Gabino_Iglesias
Surviving Horror Films Is A Breeze If You Follow These Rules: @IanFortey @cracked

Genres / Literary Fiction

When Literary Plots Get Mysterious: @TobiasCarroll @lithub

Genres / Mystery

Suburban life as an element in crime fiction: @mkinberg
How to Write Suspense Like Hitchcock: @TonyLeeMoral
Writing a Murder Mystery, Character Creation: The Murderer: @woodwardkaren
Crime Writing: Behind the Scenes: What Happens After The Cuffs Go On? @LeeLofland

Genres / Poetry

15 Tips for Writing Poetry: @WordDreams
10 Short Poetic Forms: @robertleebrewer
10 Reasons Why Poetry is the Manliest of Genres: @Gabino_Iglesias

Genres / Screenwriting

Thinking of Writing a Short Film? Ask These Questions First: @scriptmag
6 Things To NOT Do When Submitting Your Script: @Bang2write

Genres / Young Adult

The Ultimate Guide to YA Fiction: by Emma Johnson @WritersEdit
How To Write Young People That Are Actually Realistic: @Bang2write

Promo / Ads

Are Facebook Collection Ads Good for Selling Books? @cksyme

Promo / Back matter

Using Back Matter to Sell More Books: @DianaUrban @BookBub

Promo / Book Descriptions and Copywriting

Writing the Perfect Blurb: @RayneHall
Optimizing your Online Book Description: @ml_keller
How To Chose Your Book Title: @SukhiJutla

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Get Attention for Your Book on Amazon: @CaballoFrances
A Recipe for a Non-Traditional Marketing Plan: @mbhide
10 Myths About Marketing Your Book: @diannmills
How to Develop a Street Team for Your Book: @jenniferprobst
10 Sure-Fire Ways to Help a Writer: @CalebPirtle
5 Reasons to Submit Your Work to Anthologies: @PStoltey @RMFWriters

Promo / Podcasts

Podcasting Tips And Tricks: @JerodMorris

Promo / Social Media Tips

10 Ways First-Time Writers Can Get Noticed on Social Media: @ParkLiterary @WritersDigest
Busy Authors Should Simplify Social Media Efforts: @CeceliaMecca

Publishing / Miscellaneous

A Potentially Pivotal Case: Louisiana State University and Elsevier: @Porter_Anderson @AndrewRichard
SELF-e Indie Awards 2017 – Just another Self-e Libraries Create Sites site @libraryself_e
This is the #1 Reason an Expert Will Hire a Ghostwriter: @granthony

Publishing / News / Amazon

Warnings on Amazon’s Changed Buy-Button Book Sales Policy: @Porter_Anderson @AuthorsGuild

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Hay Festival Announces Bogotá39-2017 Anthology’s Latin American Authors: @Porter_Anderson
Industry Notes: Publishing Scotland Opens Translation Grants, Wiley’s Mark Allin Resigns: @Porter_Anderson
British Book Awards 2017: The ‘Nibbies’ Honor Literature and Industry @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

10 Ways to Make Your Submission Stand Out in the Slush Pile: @MegLaTorre
How to Use LinkedIn and Twitter to Find an Agent: @evans_writer @RMFWriters

Publishing / Process / Contracts

How to Request A Reversion of Publishing Rights: @SusanSpann

Publishing / Process / Formatting

20 Pro Tips to Prepare Your Ebook for Conversion: @CatherineDunn8

Writing Craft / Beginnings

8 1/2 Tips for How to Write Opening and Closing Lines: @KMWeiland
Starting a Novel With Setting Description: @Kid_Lit
3 Tips From Being a Failure As An Author: @KelsieEngen
How to Introduce Characters Memorably: 6 Ways: @nownovel

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

Creating the Perfect Villain-Author Toolbox: @ml_keller

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Character Motivation Entry: Protecting One’s Home or Property: @AngelaAckerman
Women Are People, Too: 6 Ways to Write Better Female Characters: @cameron_chapman @scriptmag
Character Motivation Thesaurus Entry: Escaping a Widespread Disaster: @beccapuglisi
3 Fiction Writing Tips For Beginners: Build Your Characters: @angee

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

12 Mistakes You Could Make When Creating Narrative Voice: @10MinNovelists
“Writing Career Mistakes I Made So You Don’t Have To”: @annerallen
Don’t Show, Don’t Tell — How to Leave Room for the Reader’s Imagination: by Nils Odlund @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Dialogue

How to Write Dialogue That Works: @JerryBJenkins
Tips for better dialogue: @teaganberry

Writing Craft / Endings

An Unhappy Ending Is Just A Happy Ending That Gets Yanked Away: @CockeyedCaravan

Writing Craft / Flashback and Back Story

4 Ways to Handle Backstory: @AndreaWriterlea

Writing Craft / Lessons from Books and Film

On the Accidental Origins of Beloved Books: @knownemily

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Why Literature and Pop Culture Still Can’t Get the Midwest Right: @aMandolinz @lithub
5 Tips for Creating First Dates for Your Characters: @lisajordan
Things Your Writing Teacher Never Told You: 9 Aspects of Story Promise: by Tina L. Jens @BlackGateDotCom

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

4 Part Story Structure for Fiction: @lornafaith
A Fun Way to Brainstorm Story Ideas: @Janice_Hardy
7 Ways You’re Treating Your Novel Like A Screenplay (And How To Stop): by Hannah Collins

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

How to Research and Write in a Way Your Fact-Checker Will Appreciate: by Megan Jones @maisonneuvemag
Stop Researching & Get Writing: by Lisa Lepki @ProWritingAid

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

AP Stylebook Updates: Singular ‘They’ Now Acceptable: @GrammarGirl
5 Errors in Noun-Verb Agreement: @writing_tips

Writing Craft / Revision

How to Edit Your Story Like a New York Publisher: @hodgeswriter
Editing Tips: 7 Smart Ways to Tighten Your Writing: @LisaTener

Writing Craft / Tension

How Do Authors Create Suspense in Writing? @AGHackney
5 Ways You Can Source Great Character Ideas: @Bang2write

Writing Craft / Tropes

5 Bad Tropes to Drop: by Oren Ashkenazi @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

10 Ways To Make Your Words More Beautiful: @10MinNovelists

Writing Tools / Apps

15 Productivity Apps to Help Keep Your Writing Goals on Track: by Wendy Dessler @ProWritingAid

Writing Tools / Resources

A tool for using the appropriate vocabulary in your novel: @GaiaBAmman
The 110 Best Apps, Tools and Resources for Writers in 2017: @geediting

The top writing links of last week are on Twitterific:
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How I Came To Follow My Dream: A Personal Journey

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Writing Routines: Rethinking What Works

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Routines are wonderful–until they’re not.

I’m a very routine-driven writer. Actually, I’m routine-driven, period.  I’m a lot more productive when I can keep my malfunctioning brain out of my process…if I run on automatic pilot.

I think my changing routines will resonate with any writing parents.

When I had small children, my routine was to write while my son was in elementary school and my daughter was either watching Elmo’s World (she’d only watch 5 minutes of television) or napping.  I’d get my daughter settled and then open up my laptop.

This worked well–until it didn’t.  My daughter stopped taking naps, but she started with preschool. I could write (and do a million other things) while she was in school.

That, naturally, didn’t stay the routine for very long.  Before I knew it, both of my children were in school and I was fitting in writing and editing and building an online platform for myself in between carpools and errands and other things.

Soon they were in different schools with different hours of operation. This meant a couple of different carpools.  I learned to write while in carpool lines.

When they grew older and got up very early for school (the high school late bell is 7:20), I got up an hour before they did to work while the day was still fresh and full of possibilities.  I found that, sometimes, days could be knocked dramatically off-course as the day went on.

We got a new corgi puppy on Friday. :)  I have a feeling that, once again, my morning routines are going to be changing.

Finn

The point is that it’s good to evaluate what works every now and then. I used to think very self-limiting things: I can only work well in the mornings. But then I found the more flexible I could be with my schedule and my writing, the more I could get accomplished.

Over the years, I’ve asked myself:

Besides first thing in the morning (which always works for me), when else can I fit in writing time?

Am I too distracted at home?  If so, is the library or a coffee shop better?

If I write later in the day, how does it go? Is it a good or a bad draft?

Do you ever change up what works? Has anyone else had dramatic changes in what works for them?

Writing routines: re-evaluating what works:
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