Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 124

Observations from Years of Curating Content for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Since 2009, I’ve been adding blogs to my RSS reader and curating and sharing the best content that I could find for writers. That content resides on the Writers Knowledge Base (which is a free and searchable resource for writers with over 30,000 links on it).

In that time, I’ve seen a lot of blog posts. A lot of things have puzzled me, delighted me, and frustrated me. Some of this is random but I’m sharing it in the hopes that it can help some writers here or that maybe I could hear y’all’s take on these things too. Am I the only one who’s seen or experienced this stuff?

White letters and black backgrounds hurt middle aged eyes. The number of sites…even professional publishing sites and highly-regarded authors…that use this theme is extraordinary.   Unfortunately, fellow mystery writers are especially fond of white on black. For some, though, white letters on black isn’t mysterious…it’s painful. Because one blog’s content is ordinarily sound, I take the time to copy-paste it onto Word docs so that I can read it before curating it. But I regret the extra time it takes out of my day.

Tumblr posts aren’t fun to share. I have both a profound respect for the content on Tumblr and a profound dislike of Tumblr’s interface and platform. I can list a dozen examples of anonymous or semi-anonymous (first name only) writers there. This makes attributing credit for the writers’ work difficult… actually, I dislike LiveJournal for the same reasons.  Hootlet doesn’t pick up blog titles there and I use Hootlet as a tool to share links. Google + won’t show any of Tumblr’s images because of some formatting glitch.  It’s difficult to navigate within a site there. It would be wonderful if all these excellent writers would move to a more professional, better-formatted platform…perhaps one that showcases them, their writing, their names, and their covers.

Twitter traffic picks up over the holidays.  I always schedule heavily during Easter, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, and Christmas, in particular.  Are people lonely?  Stressed from family visits?  It seems they tend to turn to apps. This makes me a little sad. One year (2010 maybe?) I scheduled a break for myself on Twitter for much of December. My announcement was met by angry emails and DMs on Twitter… and not from folks who simply didn’t celebrate the holidays…from people who somehow relied on links as an important part of their day. The realization of the number of people who needed some form of distraction around that time of year has made me change my approach.  Now I tweet more during the holidays.

Partial RSS feeds make reading blog posts much more time consuming and frustrating. And RSS feeds with poor titles and poor lead sentences mean that I don’t click over. Basically, if a reader is interested enough in our blog to subscribe to its feed, they’re saying that they’d like to read our content and would prefer to read it through an RSS feed reader (like Feedly). Creating an extra step is inconvenient for subscribers. If the worth of the content isn’t obvious, it’s too much of a time gamble to open it to skim it.  Summary/partial views can be changed to full view through the WordPress admin window under settings/reading or through Feedburner).  The only reason I can think of why a blogger might want a partial is if their site contains ads (because RSS means decreased page views).  If we really want RSS subscribers to visit our site, we could give them incentives in our posts to drop by—by linking to other content on our site, for instance.  Some people seem concerned that full views mean their content will be scraped by pirate sites.  This may happen. But, to me, it’s worth the risk instead of potentially alienating subscribers. If you want the best of both worlds,  “Partial RSS Feed vs. Full Feed”  on the Blog Maven blog by Jeni Elliott has helpful suggestions at the end of the post.

Group bloggers and attribution. Many group bloggers may have no idea how they’re cheating themselves out of recognition or potential sales.  Every week I’ll see a post on a group blog that has no byline and no link to the author’s online home base.

Repetitive Titles. Most popular title for blog posts I’ve seen: “What’s in a Name?”  I’m trying to come up with an estimate and I want to say that I’ve seen at least a hundred or more blog posts with that title (all, obviously, on naming characters).  Many blog post titles, in general, don’t adequately hook potential readers or hint at worthy content to follow.

Self pub may rule, but trad pub draws more eyeballs. Most popular tweets of the year…they’re always on agents. No matter what’s changed, no matter how independent the author population has become…agents still apparently have the power to fascinate somehow. I know that whenever I schedule a tweet with the word “agent” in it, the tweet will have the most click-through traffic for the day.

Blogs without author names are surprisingly frequent. There are many sites where the authors don’t provide their last names.  To me, this seems to indicate the insecurity of so many writers.  How will they sell their books when the time comes to sell?  Maybe it’s best to pick a pen name and then have the full pen name on the site. After all, blogging is branding, ultimately, for many of us.

Disappearing blogs. An oddly recurring event—when a writer suddenly moves to another website or changes the design of their existing website…the site frequently goes dormant in two months. So exhausted with dealing with design or so intimidated by the professional appearance of their site that they can’t produce content for it any longer?

Some takeaways:

When creating a blog, consider readability as a factor for its design.

Consider the blogging platform itself and whether sharing content is easy for our readers.  Consider whether attribution is even possible (is our name or pen name prominently displayed?  Can a reader easily find us online…Twitter? Facebook? An email address?)

Consider allowing our RSS feed to include the entire text of the post instead of a portion. Or, if we only allow a portion to show, make sure our titles and the first couple of post sentences are stellar.

This, to me, is so important that I’m going to say it again, even though I’m repeating myself. If the purpose of the blog is for branding or as a platform, make sure your name or your pen name is easy to locate. A full name. Or a full pseudonym. Some sort of name.

When participating in a group blog or as a guest poster, make sure our contributions count.  Put a short bio with links in the post footer or at least make sure we have a byline under the post title.

Consider using titles that accurately describe our content.

Have you noticed any of these issues online…or do you notice them but they don’t bother you much?  Have you done any checkups on your blog to see if you could improve it in basic ways (blog titles, your bio, etc?)

The post Observations from Years of Curating Content for Writers 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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

How to Amp Up Tension and Drama:  http://ow.ly/GoiSr @writersdigest

More New Year’s Resolutions for Writers:  http://ow.ly/GoiSu  @KeithCronin

Track Changes – Advanced:  http://ow.ly/GoiSx  @Savage_Woman    

For writers with disabilities: chrome extensions:  http://ow.ly/GoiSB from Fix Your Writing Habits

What Your Writer’s Resume Says About Your Chances for Recognition:  http://ow.ly/GoiSE  @SharonBially

On Trunking Novels:  http://ow.ly/GoiSI @ava_jae

10 Things to Consider Before Writing a Novel:  http://ow.ly/GoiSM @rogerdcolby

Writing Dystopian Fiction: 7 Tips:  http://ow.ly/GoiSR @R_D_Vincent

Crime Fiction: Fingerprinting in Adverse Conditions:  http://ow.ly/GoiSV from Dick Warrington

Do You Need an MFA? 3 Important Elements to Replicate On Your Own:  http://ow.ly/GoiDO @inkhat

Pros/Cons of Writing NA Contemporary Romance:  http://ow.ly/GoiSX @ava_jae

5 Ways to Help Writers Show and Not Tell:  http://ow.ly/GoiT0 @writers_write

Myth:  I Have To Sell Books Quickly | http://ow.ly/Guece @deanwesleysmith

8 “Moments” to Deliver to Your Readers… And 1 to Hope For: http://ow.ly/Guech @storyfix

10 Anti-Screenwriting Tips for Beginners:  http://ow.ly/Guecj @TheScriptLab

Helpful writing tools: http://ow.ly/Guecl @angelaackerman

10 Ways to Promote Your Book on Your Blog:  http://ow.ly/Guecn @writetodone

Integrating Libraries and Bookstores:  http://ow.ly/Guecr @deminlit

3 Simple Steps to Becoming a Writer:  http://ow.ly/Gl0l4 @joebunting

A publicist answers questions for writers:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kZ @McKinneyPR

5 Writing Lessons from a Vocal Coach:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kV  @kcraftwriter

Strategic Daydreaming in 3 Easy Steps:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kR @pepperbasham

8 Words to Seek and Destroy in Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kN from Late Night Novel Writing

Crime writing: all about sealed files:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kK @writingpiazza @FionaQuinnBooks

Tricky Prepositions:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kG @writers_write

Talents and Skills Thesaurus Entry: Knowledge of Explosives:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kB @beccapuglisi

5 Ways To Improve Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/Gl0kz from LuAnn Schindler

Words that describe a voice: http://ow.ly/Gl0ku @writers_write

What Dungeons and Dragons Teaches About Story Conflict:  http://ow.ly/Gl0ks @lanceschaubert

Why We Should Read Our Work Out Loud:  http://ow.ly/Gl0ko @womenonwriting from Sue Bradford Edwards

5 Writing Resolutions to Avoid in 2015:  http://ow.ly/Gl5WC @NathanielTower

The 2 Most Common Templates for Developing Characters:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wx @plotwhisperer

Do an End of Year Wrap Up:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Ws @djeanquarles

Self-Pub Books Can Create Multiple Streams of Revenue:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wm @kathleengage

Imagining Your Finished Book:  http://ow.ly/Gl5Wg @writeabook

Principles of Story Structure using “Gone Girl” as a Lab: http://ow.ly/Gl5W8 @storyfix

The graying of mystery readers and connecting with a younger demographic:  http://ow.ly/GFMnD @Porter_Anderson @thoughtcatalog

7 Questions to Transform Your Writing in the New Year:  http://ow.ly/Gl5W2 @jennienash

The Lost Art of Free Time: http://ow.ly/Gl5eG @RealLifeE

47 percent of mystery readers are 55 and older: http://ow.ly/GFu6j @ThoughtCatalog @Porter_Anderson

6 Ways to Resuscitate Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VV @ZZoccolante

Why We Shouldn’t Bother with Resolutions This Year:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VG @jeffgoins

How to reach readers via your library:  http://ow.ly/Gl5VA @IndieAuthorALLi

Music For Writers: Donnacha Dennehys New Chapbook: http://ow.ly/GvoLJ @Porter_Anderson

Simplify the New Year’s Resolution Process: Reflect, Select, Remove: http://ow.ly/Gl5VM @jkglei

If Strangers Talked to Everybody like They Talk to Writers: http://ow.ly/GdWgz @ElectricLit @TheLincoln #TopTweets2014

Presence on the Page: What It Is, and What It Isn’t: http://ow.ly/GdWgy @manzanitafire #TopTweets2014

Top 10 Storytelling Cliches Writers Should Stop Using: http://ow.ly/GdWgu @robwhart #TopTweets2014

36 writing tips from Stephen King: http://ow.ly/GdWgt @whynotbooks #TopTweets2014

5 Ways to Create Conflict in Your Story: http://ow.ly/GdWgs @screencrafting #TopTweets2014

10 rules for writers: http://ow.ly/GdWgp @latimes #TopTweets2014

Listen to Your Readers: http://ow.ly/GdWgl @birgitte_rasine #TopTweets2014

How to Fail at Being a Writer http://ow.ly/GdWgk @Kelsye #TopTweets2014

10 Things You Don’t Need (To Be A Writer): http://ow.ly/GdWgi @DelilahSDawson #TopTweets2014

Ebook Pricing: Why 99 Cents Might Be a Mistake: http://ow.ly/GdWgh @GoblinWriter #TopTweets2014

7 Questions to Ask Before Choosing a Self-Publishing Company: http://ow.ly/GdWga @HelenSedwick #TopTweets2014

5 Essential Questions to Ask When Writing Your Protagonist: http://ow.ly/GdWg6 @bridgetmcnulty #TopTweets2014

How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show:  http://ow.ly/GdWgf  @angelaackerman #TopTweets2014

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language: http://ow.ly/GdVAY @Writers_Write #TopTweets2014

How 1 Agent Reads Slush: 3 Lessons for Writers: http://ow.ly/GdVAX @carlywatters #TopTweets2014

7 Lessons Learned from Half a Year of Writing Every Day: http://ow.ly/GdVAV @jamietr #TopTweets2014

10 Famous Writers Who Hated Writing: http://ow.ly/GdVAT @huffpost #TopTweets2014

Plotting With Yes or No Questions: http://ow.ly/GdVAR @Janice_Hardy #TopTweets2014

5 Tips for Running a Writers’ Circle: http://ow.ly/GdVAQ @standoutbooks @btmargins #TopTweets2014

Writing a Strong Book Description: http://ow.ly/GdVAN @sabsky #TopTweets2014

What Do Agents Like to See When They Google Writers? http://ow.ly/GdVAK @carlywatters #TopTweets2014

8 Most Common Editing Errors In Self-Published Books: http://ow.ly/GdVAD @selfpubreview #TopTweets2014

How to Write a Novel Synopsis: 5 Tips: http://ow.ly/GdVyt@ChuckSambuchino #TopTweets2014

Scriptwriting–Christopher Nolan on Memento: http://ow.ly/GdVAy @LaFamiliaFilm #TopTweets2014

Michael Crichton’s Method for Plotting Out a Story: http://ow.ly/GdVAF #TopTweets2014

What If Literary Agents Don’t Want Your Novel? http://ow.ly/GdVys @EmilyWenstrom #TopTweets2014

#FutureChat recap: 2015 Digital Publishing Predictions:  http://ow.ly/Gug1C @Porter_Anderson @TheFutureBook

How to Make Book Reviews Work Harder:  http://ow.ly/Ghrj1 @wherewriterswin

Write What You’re Willing To Learn:  http://ow.ly/GhriU @TamaraGirardi

100 Words for Facial Expressions:  http://ow.ly/GhriP @writing_tips

Persistence in Selling Your Manuscript:  http://ow.ly/GhriL @carynmcgill

9 Must-Haves for a High-Performing Book Launch Page: http://ow.ly/GhriG @writerplatform

Connect with Your Creative Writer:  http://ow.ly/GhriA @thinksimplenow

How to Scare the Heck Out of Your Readers:  http://ow.ly/Ghriu @PhilAthans

Personal essays–what the ‘personal’ should be:  http://ow.ly/Ghriq @MeredithResnick

The role of supporting characters:  http://ow.ly/GhoTM @writers_write

The Art of Writing Snappy Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/GhpCj @raynehall

Self-Promotion: About As Fun As Bathing In Hot Wax:  http://ow.ly/Ghrij @ChristaDesir

How to Avoid Writing an Unnecessary Scene:  http://ow.ly/Ghrie @KMWeiland

HarperCollins’ Holiday Pop-Up Bookstore: An Innovation-Driven Environment  http://ow.ly/Gug0K @Porter_Anderson

Tailoring Your Cast of Characters To Your Protagonist:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5B @woodwardkaren

11 Things To Do As A Writer In 2015:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5z @bang2write

Plotting the Non-Plot-Driven Novel:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5y  @DonMaass

The 12 Question Fiction Writing Conflict Test:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5x @writers_write

Character Writing Prompts:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5u  @Margo_L_Dill

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

Creating a Production Plan for the Year—Some Thoughts

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Happy 2015!  Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays.  I’m back into the swing of things and have been working on this year’s production plan for my books.

I’m not so much a fan of resolutions.  I’d rather see my goals laid out on a to-do list or on a calendar as deadlines. That’s why I use a very simple production plan each year. If you’d like to do the same, here are my tips for getting started or for honing your list.

Keep the plan visible.  I use the free Google calendar for my plan.  That means that it’s on my phone, which, as a mom, is always on my person.  My calendar is set up to email me my daily agenda.  Not only will I have the item itself on the calendar (deadline for finishing mystery, e.g.), but I’ll also have the rest of the year’s deadlines in the event description so that I can always see the big picture. Not be overwhelmed by the big picture, though, because I know it’s all meted out on the calendar.

Output: First of all, I keep my yearly goal attainable.  There’s nothing like setting the bar too high.  So know yourself, know your output. If it’s completely reasonable to expect yourself to write a page a day, then set your goal for a finished book in 2015.  If it’s reasonable to expect several pages a day, set it higher.

Know your abilities. Know what you want or need to outsource. I completely understand the desire to keep costs down for a self-published project.  But it’s also important to know our limitations.  Do we have a design background and can learn how to make great covers that will help sell our books?  Great. But if we don’t, that research time might be better spent in finding a good cover designer. Which leads me to…

Know what you need to learn.  If you need to research book designers or formatters (I do maintain a free list, if you need help getting started), or website design, or even research extensively for the book you’re writing…add those things onto your calendar.  Break tasks into smaller steps to make them less intimidating.

Know your order of events for production.  Mine runs like this:  Contact book designer and have a date for a cover conference (this is first because my cover artist gets booked very quickly). Write book by X deadline. Write cover copy, in case the book designer conference date is prior to my completion of the book.   Edit.  Send book to beta reader while I’m editing.   Make sure I’m on freelance editor’s calendar, if it’s a self-pub book.  Edit using revision suggestions from beta and editor.  Contact formatter and send him text file and cover files and book extras.  Your order of events might need to be slightly different.  Maybe it’s your editor who is hard to book and you need to reserve him or her before you even finish your first draft.  Maybe you have several beta readers or you format your own copy.

Know what you want to do/have time to do for promo.  I used to be on every platform there was (although I never really could get the hang of Tumblr…).  Now I’ve realized that it’s best to limit myself to the platforms I enjoy most so that I’ll actually stay engaged.  Whatever you want or feel you need to do for promo, stick it on your production schedule in manageable bites.  This might be have a Goodreads giveaway or this might be send out a newsletter when book launches.

The production plan helps me in three ways.  One, it reminds me that this is a business.  I have a plan and I’m sticking to it as much as I can.  Second, it keeps me from being completely overwhelmed by the upcoming year.  Third, it keeps me from forgetting any part of the process…and believe me, I’ve forgotten parts before.  If you forget, for instance, to contact your cover designer, your launch could be delayed by a month or more, if your designer stays booked.

The point of a production plan is definitely not to create more stress.  This would be primarily for writers who feel the need to impose more order and possibly more personal accountability, into the process.  It’s really to make the goals manageable and actionable by its simplicity. It has the added benefit of making us plan and figure out what we want from ourselves and our writing for the year.

Have you thought about your goals for 2015?  Do you ever write up production plans?

The post Creating a Production Plan for the Year—Some Thoughts 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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Hope everyone has enjoyed their holidays so far.  I know I said I wouldn’t be blogging, but I couldn’t resist posting the last Twitterific for 2014.  See you again in 2015. 

How To Keep Pace After NaNo:  http://ow.ly/GdiSD @novelpublicity

Reactive and proactive protagonists:  http://ow.ly/GdiSF from Fix Your Writing Habits

7 Ways to Write Better (That Have Nothing to Do With Writing):  http://ow.ly/GdiSH @NanciPanuccio

Unwrap The Truth For Your Creative Loved Ones:  http://ow.ly/GufPP @Porter_Anderson @ThoughtCatalog

Tips for Critiquing Other Writers’ Work:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5l @WritingForward

Amazon’s No. 1 reviewer:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5o  @billy_baker

Developing a Writing Plan:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5p @writersdigest

5 Ways to Make the Most of Your Writing Time: http://ow.ly/GdZ5s @kellyjamesenger

Farther versus Further:  http://ow.ly/GdYLk  @Savage_Woman

4 Fatal Flaws of a Romantic Hero:  http://ow.ly/GdZ5t @jassydejong

Character Development in Storytelling:  http://ow.ly/GdiSB @scriptmag  @paulalandry

How To Choose A Main Character:  http://ow.ly/GdiSy @HeatherJacksonW

Preview up the upcoming #DBW15 conference:  http://ow.ly/Gugeh @Porter_Anderson

Nonfiction Writing: How to Make More Money: http://ow.ly/GdiSw @ninaamir

Things Writers Do to Irritate Readers:  http://ow.ly/GdiSt @brrbach

Dialogue practice and revision:  http://ow.ly/GdiSq from the Commander Scribbles blog

The Melodrama Dilemma:  http://ow.ly/GdiSm @kid_lit

Is 3rd-Person the Right Point of View for You? http://ow.ly/GdiSk @monicamclark

Tips for Catching Typos in Your Own Work:  http://ow.ly/GdiSi @JodieRennerEd

Social Media the Second Time Around: Tips:  http://ow.ly/GdiSg @jaelmchenry

Character Skills and Talents: Organization:  http://ow.ly/Gco92 @angelaackerman

22 Commonly Confused Adjectives:  http://ow.ly/Gco8W @writers_write

Cool Tools for Writers:  http://ow.ly/Gco8U  @Diana_Hurwitz

Tropes Vs. Cliches: A Storyteller’s Guide:  http://ow.ly/Gco8S @bang2write

How to Start in the Middle:  http://ow.ly/GcnNB @lindasclare

Taking responsibility for knowing language well:  http://ow.ly/Gco8O @Porter_Anderson

How To Use The Senses To Show And Not Tell:  http://ow.ly/Gco8M @writers_write

Must Your Hero Have A Story-Level Goal? http://ow.ly/Gco8J @scriptmag  @IvoRaza

7 Effective Ways to Grow Your Email List: http://ow.ly/Gco8G @blogherald

Want to Launch Your Book With a Bang?  You Need This. http://ow.ly/Gco8E  @writerplatform

How to Write an Amazing Short Story:  http://ow.ly/Gco8C

8 Ways to Mentally Squash Rejection Letters:  http://ow.ly/Gco8y @lekicn

4 Secrets Writers Won’t Tell You About Themselves:  http://ow.ly/Gco8Z @LoriHatcher2

The art of the metaphor:  http://ow.ly/GaaL5 @TED_ED and Jane Hirshfield

6 ways to create satisfying scene endings:  http://ow.ly/GaaX7 @writers_write

Writing or Wrestling?  http://ow.ly/GaaX5  @BigChiefTablet

Build Your Author Platform: 7 Ways to Start From Scratch:  http://ow.ly/Ga8Qu @brooke_warner

Creative prompts and other tips to help start a story:  http://ow.ly/GaaX3 from WriteWorld

Can you write scenes that feel the fear?  http://ow.ly/GaaX2  @RayneHall

Protagonist’s Personality Considerations:  http://ow.ly/GaaX1 @glencstrathy

Characters of Color and Urban Fantasy Roles:  http://ow.ly/GaaWY from Writing With Color

15 Things Successful Writers Never Say:  http://ow.ly/GaaWW @EdieMelson

How to Get 90% of Your Work Done Before Lunch:  http://ow.ly/GaaWV @99u @AllisonStadd

Should a pantser really outline a novel?  http://ow.ly/GaaWT @JoelDCanfield @SueColetta1

The One Twitter List You Should Be Keeping: http://ow.ly/GaaWQ @Catrambo

Never Visited a Place? You Can Still Write About It:  http://ow.ly/G8fJO @fictionnotes

Tools for writing: Microsoft Surface Pro 3 first impressions:  http://ow.ly/G8fJK @mstibbe

3 Ways to Turn Email Subscribers Into Social Fans: http://ow.ly/G8fJI @smexaminer

7 Email Marketing Secrets Every Fiction Writer Should Know:  http://ow.ly/G8fJG @storyrally

Midwifing A Story: The Trusted Reader:  http://ow.ly/G8fJC @DeborahJRoss

Benefits to outlining:  http://ow.ly/G8fJw @KMWeiland

Essentials For the Writer’s Skill-Toolbox:  http://ow.ly/G8fJs  @MaryVeeWriter

3 anti-social skills to improve your writing (TED Talk):  http://ow.ly/G8fJp

11 steps to writing a scene:  http://ow.ly/G8fJn from WriteWorld

7 Essentials Every Author Needs to Know About Twitter: http://ow.ly/G8fJg @kristenlambtx

Edit Your Self-Published Book In 8 Steps:  http://ow.ly/G8fJd  @selfpubreview

Author Skype Visit: What 1 Writer Learned, What She’d Do Differently Next Time:  http://ow.ly/G8fJk @inkyelbows

Using OneNote Like It Was 1987:  http://ow.ly/G84sr @JennyHansenCA

When The Action Goes Too Far:  http://ow.ly/G84sm  @Peculiar

Book Cover Design And Entrepreneurship: http://ow.ly/G84sj  @creativindie

7 ways to write a plot outline:  http://ow.ly/G84sh @nownovel

10 Dollar Store Gift Ideas for The Writer on Your List:  http://ow.ly/G84sf  @AineGreaney

Using the Novel Journal for Writing Breakthroughs:  http://ow.ly/G84sc @jamesscottbell

Bring the Hero’s Journey / Monomyth to Life with these Storyboards: http://ow.ly/G84sa  @StoryboardThat

Small Publishers: 3 Steps to Finding the Perfect One For You:  http://ow.ly/G84s6 @JulieMusil

3 simple ways to market your published fiction: http://ow.ly/G84s4 @netraptor01

3 Tricks to Surviving a Public Speaking Event:  http://ow.ly/G84rY  @RachelAmphlett

7 Practical Gifts for the Starving Artist:  http://ow.ly/Gl0oZ @HeatherJacksonW

What To Do Once The Screenplay Is Written:  http://ow.ly/G84rU @raindance

A Writer’s Guide To Holiday Travel:  http://ow.ly/G84rQ  @SarahAllenBooks

“…the book and the web page are converging.”  http://ow.ly/GhdVo @Porter_Anderson @MirabilisDave  and  Sherisse Hawkins”

Character Development Checklist – 13 Points To Consider:  http://ow.ly/G4oxj @writers_write

Why Amazon Reviews Just Aren’t Enough:  http://ow.ly/G4oxf @selfpubreview

Preparing for Release Month:  http://ow.ly/G4ox9 @KateBrauning

5 Tips for Editing Literary Works in Translation:  http://ow.ly/G4ox5 @pubperspectives

22 Tricks That Can Make Anyone A Keyboard Ninja http://ow.ly/G4owZ from Lifehack

How Good is Your Story’s Title? http://ow.ly/G4owU @shalvatzis

How To Write A Compelling Underdog in Your Screenplay:  http://ow.ly/G4owP @TheScriptLab

How’s your blog doing? Top 5 things to measure and why:  http://ow.ly/GhowR @RobinHoughton

How to Remain True to the Art of Writing and Still Be in the Business: http://ow.ly/G2kgK @MarthaRCarr

Holiday treats should be handled with caution in the world of crime fiction: http://ow.ly/GhdIZ @mkinberg

Create Interest on Your Website With a Protagonist Resume: http://ow.ly/G4owt  @SouthrnWritrMag

5 Ways to Vet a Publication: http://ow.ly/G4owE  @AineGreaney

Living the stuff of novels: the ghostwriter’s lot:  http://ow.ly/G4owL @Roz_Morris

What Makes a Story’s Black Moment a Black Moment?  http://ow.ly/G4owz @jamigold

When Writing Doesn’t Make You Bleed:  http://ow.ly/FZtfx @Laura_the_Wise

How Authors Can Work Together to Achieve Success:  http://ow.ly/FZtfu @MarcyKennedy

5 Tips for Editing Literary Works in Translation:  http://ow.ly/FZtfo @pubperspectives

Use Daily Rewards to Break Creative Blocks:  http://ow.ly/FZtfg @99u

Broaden your Color Vocabulary: http://ow.ly/FZtf7 @ingridsundberg @yapip19

Twitter Etiquette:  http://ow.ly/FZtf1 @sueannedunlevie

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

Blogging Break Until January 1

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays.   I’m taking a break from blogging until January 1 to allow me time to visit with family and friends.

Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!

The post Blogging Break Until January 1 appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

How’s your blog doing? Top 5 things to measure and why

by Robin Houghton, @RobinHoughton

Are you a blogger who likes to stay on top of blog statistics? Do you regularly check which sites are sending you traffic, or which posts are the most popular? Do the stats affect the decisions you make about your blog?

For professional bloggers, monitoring the numbers is crucial – they need to know what’s working in order to do more of the same, and not waste time on blog posts and blog content that isn’t ultimately earning them money.

However, not everyone takes a systematic approach to measuring their blog’s performance.  Most of us get excited to see visitor numbers rise, or a particular post get a lot of comments. Positive statistics can be encouraging. But monitoring the stats can easily become either addictive (checking too often and stressing about it) or overwhelming (what to do with all these numbers, and what do they mean?)

Blogging platforms come with their own proprietary stats. And if you have Google Analytics installed, you could spend all day crunching the numbers and building pie charts. But it’s good to remember that “not everything that can be counted, counts”. If you’re a blogger who wants to build and maintain a readership, but would rather not spend too long analyzing the stats, it pays to know which numbers are worth monitoring, and which are less significant.

1) Visitor numbers

Most blog stats packages will tell you numbers of both Views and Visitors. The one to take note of is Visitors, which corresponds to unique visits. Don’t feel you have to measure up to some perfect number. The thing to do is to monitor these numbers over time. You want them to be rising generally, month on month or year on year. If you have a spike in numbers, look to see what caused it – maybe your blog post was shared by someone influential on social media and generated a load of clicks, or maybe your blog was mentioned on a big media site or in the national press. Quiet days or even weeks are normal. But if Visitor numbers are trending down, that’s when you might wonder why. Have you been blogging less frequently? Gone off topic? How could your blog be more engaging?

 

 

The new style WordPress stats page separates Views from Visitors on different tabs, whereas in the old style shows them together, which I think is actually clearer.

 

2) Referrers

When visitors arrive at your blog via a link from another blog or website those sites are recorded as ‘Referrers’. Look for any patterns. Does Facebook or Twitter send a lot of traffic? It’s a sign your blog posts are being shared there, which in itself is a sign of endorsement. It’s also a good indicator of where your readers (and potential readers) hang out. If you see another blog or site regularly referring visitors, find out more about that site – it could be a blog you should read or comment on. It may even be a potential blogging buddy.

3) Top Posts & Pages

This tells you what content people are attracted to. If you notice particular types of blog posts always do well,  for example, ‘how to’ posts with lots of screen shots, you might want to produce more like that. However, this isn’t the same as ‘most commented on’. Just because a page or post gets a high number of visitors, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s your most engaging content.

Knowing which of your posts are the most commented on can help identify popular topics. You might also want to highlight your most popular posts as ‘sticky’, as a way of guiding new visitors to your best content.

4) Most-Commented-on Posts or Pages

In WordPress, go to ‘Comments – By Posts & Pages’ to see a list of your most commented-on content. High numbers of comments is a good indication of content that readers enjoy (or maybe find contentious) and discussions they want to participate in. Commenting requires time and energy, more so than just ‘liking’ a post. Plus, motivated commenters often become subscribers. Knowing which posts are generating the most interest and discussion helps you decide what to blog about, if you ever have that problem!

5) Subscribers

Of course, we all want blog subscribers, because it makes it all feel worthwhile. But, as with visitor numbers, look at this over time and don’t worry about reaching unrealistic goals. Quality counts, not quantity. From the point of view of capturing the genuinely interested folks, you’d do better to monitor the growth of your email list. Unlike a blog, email allows you to ‘push’ messages to your fans, should you wish to do that occasionally.

Once you’re focused on the stats that are the most meaningful, you might want to set yourself a schedule for monitoring, so that you don’t spend too long on it. If you’re posting once or twice a week, there shouldn’t be any need to check the stats more than once a week, maybe even less often. The trick is to enjoy your blogging, learn from the numbers but not become a slave to them.

 

Robin Houghton has over two decades of experience in marketing and communications, formerly with Nike, then running her own business Eggbox Marketing since 2002 specialising in online. She now works primarily with writers and publishing industry professionals to help them make the best use of social media. Robin writes blogs on social media and poetry and has been a guest blogger for a number of sites including Social Media Today and MarketingProfs. She is a published poet and a commercial copywriter for web and print, and an experienced trainer and conference speaker. Her first book ‘Blogging for Creatives’ was a best-seller and resulted in two more commissions, ‘Blogging for Writers’ and forthcoming in 2015 ‘The Rules of Blogging (and How to Break Them)’, both published by Ilex in the UK and Writers Digest Books in the US.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/robinhoughton

LinkedIn:  http://uk.linkedin.com/in/robinhoughton

Social Media for Writers (blog and email newsletter) http://www.socialmediaforwriters.co.uk

Blogging for Writers – http://bloggingforwriters.info

Buy the book in the Writers Digest Shop:

http://www.writersdigestshop.com/blogging-for-writers-group

or on Amazon UK:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blogging-Writers-Authors-Build-Successful/dp/1781572135/

The post How’s your blog doing? Top 5 things to measure and why 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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

How 1 writer outlines:  http://ow.ly/FUzlE from Nova Zero

Plot Driven or Character Driven? http://ow.ly/FUzlH by Shawn Coyne

5 Ways to Stay a Writer:  http://ow.ly/FUzlL @rogerdcolby

Pacing Tips: http://ow.ly/FUzlT @beccapuglisi               

An agent or editor who doesn’t love your book isn’t the right agent or editor for you:  http://ow.ly/FUzlZ @ava_jae

4 times to research:  http://ow.ly/FUzm4 from Kris Noel

Living the Creative Writing Lifestyle: http://ow.ly/FVsxl @melissadonovan

How to Avoid Alienating Readers:  http://ow.ly/FVsxo @Sarah_Nicolas

Keep it Consistent:  http://ow.ly/FVsxr @Shay_Goodman

5 Ways to Spot and Avoid Sketchy Editors and Publications:  http://ow.ly/FVsxu @AineGreaney

3 Tricks to Surviving a Public Speaking Event:  http://ow.ly/FVsxA @RachelAmphlett

What distinguishes pulp storytelling:  http://ow.ly/FVsxF @BishsBeat

Unlikely Sources of Writing Inspiration: Architecture Edition: http://ow.ly/FVsxI @Write_Tomorrow

4 Approaches for the First Chapter of Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/FVsxM @JeffGerke

10 Writing Tips from Ursula Le Guin:  http://ow.ly/FVsxP @joebunting

Using reversals in our novels: http://ow.ly/FVsxR @shalvatzis

The 5 “Bones” of Characterization:  http://ow.ly/FVsxT from The Writing Pirate

5 Lessons From Journalism School That Will Make You a Better Writer: http://ow.ly/FVsxY @tannernemkov

Avoid opening queries with hypothetical questions:  http://ow.ly/FZteF @behlerpublish

Neil Gaiman on the meaning of fairy tales:  http://ow.ly/FZteJ @woodgaby

The Secrets Behind Buried Dialogue:  http://ow.ly/FZteO  @lynnettelabelle

Tips and Tricks for Distraction-Free Writing:  http://ow.ly/FZteQ from Lifehack

Audiobooks For Indies:  http://ow.ly/FZteR @RSPPodcast

12 staples of modern sci-fi (with very old origins): http://ow.ly/FZteY  @EvanHoovler

The top 10 words invented by writers: http://ow.ly/FUzlu @Newdefiner

Tips for Pruning Your Novel:  http://ow.ly/GbxRj from Jack Smith

What is Really Necessary to Do Online? Authors Have Surprising Freedom: http://ow.ly/FUzln @fictionnotes

Conquering the Cliche:  http://ow.ly/FUzli @ashkrafton

2015 publishing predictions on #FutureChat at 11 ET, 4 GMT (now).  @Porter_Anderson

Cut back on character sighing:  http://ow.ly/FUzl8 @RayneHall

Narrowing Your Focus as a Writer:  http://ow.ly/FUzl4 from Terri Forehand

5 Creativity Myths:  http://ow.ly/FUzkX @Psych_Writer

5 Literary Gifts:  http://ow.ly/Ga8j7 @FinishedPages

What Every Author Website Needs: http://ow.ly/FSeoV@patricksamphire

A New Way To Find An Editor:  http://ow.ly/G8kfi @RicardoFayet @ReedsyHQ

How to Become a Micro-Pub, Step 1: Build a Website:  http://ow.ly/FSeoT @byondpapr

5 Digital Publishing Questions for Industry Insider @Janefriedman http://ow.ly/G8fVd

Indie Authors Lost In The Haystack?  http://ow.ly/FSeoS @roncallari

If You Don’t Own The Platform, You Don’t Control It Either: http://ow.ly/FSeoO @thDigitalReader

One Book In Which Gender Doesn’t Matter:  http://ow.ly/FSeoM @CassandraNeace

Children’s Books Should Be Scary:  http://ow.ly/FSeoK @shirklesxp

The Ultimate Gift Guide for Writers:  http://ow.ly/G8aO7 @jamigold

If you write nonfiction, when to think about self-pub: http://ow.ly/FSeoJ @thDigitalReader

12 Digital Publishing Tools the Experts Recommend:  http://ow.ly/FSdVR @DeniseWakeman

Best Non-Writing Tools for Writers:  http://ow.ly/FSeoH from Robert Morris

Why Writers Are Often Blind to Their Own Faults:  http://ow.ly/FSeoG @jodyhedlund

Creating an ePub file Using Scrivener + Dreamweaver + Sigil + Kindle Previewer:  http://ow.ly/FSeoE @angelaquarles

10 Elements of the Caper Mystery:  http://ow.ly/FSeoD from Sharon Arthur Moore

How to stop research becoming procrastination: http://ow.ly/FRwIZ  @chasharris

Book Promotion: Networking for Introverts:  http://ow.ly/FRvJQ  @novelexperienc3

How many Beta Readers do you need?  http://ow.ly/FRwIY @marthamconway

6 ways to write your title:  http://ow.ly/FRwIV @Amabaie

Adding More White Space To Your Life:  http://ow.ly/FRwIR @DanBlank

Tips for becoming an Amazon bestseller:  http://ow.ly/FRwIO @RobCubbon

Promo: Face to Face? Or Face to Screen? http://ow.ly/FRwIJ @hopeclark

Writing Faster… and keeping it good  http://ow.ly/FRwIH @jenniferlellis

Things to Know When Writing About Guns: http://ow.ly/FRwID @ChuckWendig

A Writer’s Cheat sheet to Plot and Structure:  http://ow.ly/FRwIP @mgherron

Report on Using Amazon’s Pre-Orders for a Debut Author: http://ow.ly/FRwfu @angelaquarles

How to Keep Writing Even When Life Is Tough–—3 Tips:  http://ow.ly/FRwIE @KMWeiland

@LondonBookFair’s April #DigiConf15 looking for multilingual  coverage: http://ow.ly/G0sYM  @Porter_Anderson

Simple Tricks to Unstick Your Story: The Domino Effect: http://ow.ly/FRmMM  @stdennard

Use Hangouts On Air to Grow Your Author Platform:  http://ow.ly/FRmMK @DeniseWakeman

Making a murder weapon vanish in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/FRmMI @mkinberg

How Can Stillness Help Writers? http://ow.ly/FRmMG from Maryann Yin @galleycat

Show versus Tell: Macro-, Micro-, and When to Use It http://ow.ly/FRmME  @stdennard

Crime fiction stats–disguising the murder as something else:  http://ow.ly/FRmMD @mkinberg

Screenwriting Like a Cinematographer:  http://ow.ly/FRmMB @scottwsmith_com

12 Top Writing Tips for Beginners: http://ow.ly/FRmMz @AlisonJack66 @IndieAuthorALLi

Consider Growing Your Platform with a Podcast:  http://ow.ly/FRmMx @THEJeffBrown

5 Writing Hacks Every Writer Must Know:  http://ow.ly/FRmMw @TomJCharles

Blind dates in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/FTKWz @mkinberg

The worst mistakes you can make in your story’s climax:  http://ow.ly/FRmMu @KMWeiland

If You’re Not Writing Persuasively, You’re Not Writing:  http://ow.ly/FRmMC @birgitte_rasine

Ranking eBook Publishers:  http://ow.ly/FRlMf @CCEkeke

3 Ways to Use Dramatic Irony:  http://ow.ly/FRlMd @galleycat

3 Vital Steps to Creating Your Protagonist: http://ow.ly/FRlMc @victoriamixon

Ebooks will outsell print by 2018, predicts PricewaterhouseCoopers:  http://ow.ly/FRlMb @chrisrobley

We All Need Mentors At Different Points In The Journey: http://ow.ly/FRlMa @thecreativepenn

On swag as a way to boost pre-sales:  http://ow.ly/FRlM9 @Wiseink

Crime fiction–does knowing a character will be a victim reduce reader investment? http://ow.ly/FRlM8 @mkinberg

Balancing Description and Avoiding Infodump:  http://ow.ly/FRlM6 @stdennard

Tips for Writing a Convincing Culprit:  http://ow.ly/FUilz  @HDemchick

On Working With a Writing Coach:  http://ow.ly/FRlM4 @cherylrwrites

5 Facts About KU and Making it Work for Us:  http://ow.ly/FRlM2 @bookgal

Where to Find a Great Book Cover Artist http://ow.ly/FTIk2 @alexjcavanaugh

Choosing Which Thoughts to Italicize:  http://ow.ly/FRlM1 @janice_hardy

Positive and Negative Motivation:  http://ow.ly/FRlLZ  @Kid_Lit

Story Openings: Tags, Traits and Tropes:  http://ow.ly/FQHTd @woodwardkaren

Don’t Do This: Wrong Ways to Try and Escape Your Deadbeat Publisher http://ow.ly/FQHP5 @victoriastrauss

How To Approach a Bookstore: Tips for Authors:  http://ow.ly/FQHJT @HollyBrady

‘Concept’ in story development:  http://ow.ly/FQHFc @ozzywood

The World of Stephen King, A to Z:  http://ow.ly/FQHFb @RollingStone @ZachDionne

On turning points: http://ow.ly/FQHFa from The Writing Cafe©

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

Pruning Your Novel

Guest Post by Jack Smith

Revising a novel often calls for a bit of pruning.  Some material must undoubtedly go, anything that doesn’t contribute pretty directly to the plot and your protagonist’s overall arc.  If it’s material you feel pretty ho-hum about, good—it’s gone.  You’re happy to see it go.  But if you feel really invested in it, and you’ve done a lot of work on it, then cutting it can be something of a heart-breaker.  You hesitate.  Should you?

What kinds of material?   The following are some candidates for pruning:

Characters who are rather peripheral to the plot, or to your protagonist’s overall arc. These characters might be quite compelling, with interesting links to other characters.  Their dialogue might be scintillating.  They might contribute in some way to a particular setting.  All to the good.  But . . . however interesting they are, however much time you spent in trying to make them interesting, however much you worked and re-worked the descriptive details that make them alive in word and gesture, they’ve got to go.  Unless you can broaden the scope of your novel.  That’s, of course, a possibility, but ask yourself:  What is the new unifying principle?  What is my plot now?  How long is this going to make my novel?


Scenes that are overlong, cause repetition, or they’re too tangential. These scenes might do all a scene should do:  include lively dialogue, spark conflict, relate to key conflicts in the work, and introduce or advance a thematic idea or two.  The setting details might be quite vivid.  But as it is, they’re rather repetitive of other scenes, and a few of them are a bit off track, plot-wise.  They get your novel in the weeds a bit.  Summary would probably work better instead of these scenes—perhaps summary with a few half-scenes to pull the reader in.    But it’s going to be painful to part with these splendid scenes.  Must you really?  You’ve spent hours and hours at refining them.  Perhaps the reader won’t even notice the repetition . . . the only thing is, you are beginning to notice the repetition yourself.  And so . . .


Certain subplots. Perhaps these plot threads thicken things up.  But, as with other candidates for the shears, they seem to sidetrack the reader too much.  Maybe if you were to write a considerably longer novel, they would work.  But that might mean going way over 100,000 words, and that’s not too advisable if you seek publication.  Well . . . and so . . .

When you get into the thick of novel revision, you’ll probably face a bit of necessary pruning, perhaps cutting some very good stuff.  But don’t just dump it; save it for future novels.   And it is possible that once you’ve done the pruning, you’ll actually be glad you did it.  It’s no fun to snuff out good characters, of course.  You’ve come to know them like real people.  It’s also hard to scrap scenes that feel vibrant and alive.  And interesting subplots—who wouldn’t hate to give them up?  They could be intriguing to pursue.  But any material that takes your novel off course, save it for another novel to save your present novel.

Jack Smith is author of the novel Hog to Hog, which won the George Garrett FictionPrize (Texas Review Press. 2008), and is also the author of Write and Revise for Publication: A 6-Month Plan for Crafting an Exceptional Novel and Other Works of Fiction, published earlier this year by Writer’s Digest. His novel ICON  was published in June by Serving House Books.

Over the years, Smith’s short stories have appeared in North American Review, Night Train, Texas Review, and Southern Review, to name a few. He has also written some 20 articles for Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, as well as a dozen or so pieces for The Writer. He has published reviews in numerous literary journals, including Ploughshares, Georgia Review, Missouri Review, Prairie Schooner, American Review, Mid-American Review, and the Iowa Review.

 

The post Pruning Your Novel appeared first on Elizabeth Spann Craig.

Writing a Convincing Culprit

by Harrison Demchick, @HDemchick

Have you ever read a mystery where the culprit’s motivations made no sense at all?

Or how about one where the culprit is caught because he did something he would never plausibly do?

I’ve seen quite a lot of this in the mysteries I’ve edited. Mystery is a genre of logic, and a good mystery is a puzzle waiting to be solved, but where that puzzle so often falls apart, particularly in early drafts (and even for very talented writers), is with the culprit. And the reason is that, very often, the actions of the culprit serve the story rather than the character.

There’s a reason for that. In most fiction, we develop our story around the protagonist. It’s the protagonist with whom we spend most of our time, and if there’s a character arc, it’s usually hers. The experience of the novel is defined by her actions and experience.

But mystery is a little different, and the reason it’s different is that it’s the antagonist’s actions that really drive the story. The culprit commits the crime, and the detective reacts. That’s not to say that the detective is inactive—she’s certainly trying to solve the mystery, and ultimately both characters are reacting to one another (even before we know who the culprit is)—but fundamentally, the detective’s story is unraveling the culprit’s story. And that means that you, as author, need to know the culprit’s story as well and as clearly as the detective’s.

Moreover, that story, and the character who lives it, need to make sense.

Question #1: Who is this guy, and what’s with the bunny ears?

Think it’s a cool idea for your killer to wear bunny ears and sunglasses? Fair enough—but you’ve got to know why. Childhood love of bunnies? Ardent Bugs Bunny fan? Or is it just that he loves the look of confusion in the eyes of the people he kills? Any of it can be valid, but you need to be careful not to bind yourself to a cool image without understanding the character underneath it.

I edited a novel once that featured a killer who dressed as a priest. It was a compelling visual, but it was never really explained, and in the end it didn’t seem to fit the character in any way, so it didn’t work.

The culprit is a character like any other. He has wants and needs that define his goals, and the actions he takes, consciously or unconsciously, are in service of those goals.

Question #2: So what does he do about it?

Simple answer: Whatever he wants to do.

The central problem with a lot of culprits in a lot of mysteries is that their actions are designed to push the story in the direction in which the author wants it to go. A killer spends most of the story eluding the police with astounding intelligence and care, but then, because it’s time for the story to end, strolls by the police station wearing a T-shirt that says “I killed all those people.”

Okay, that’s an exaggeration. But consider that mystery I edited. Priest costume aside, the killer always struck at night and always used poison—until the last third of the story, where the killer suddenly struck during the day with a gun. In the climax, the killer used poison again, but this time in broad daylight at a crowded party. Why? Because we were getting near the end and the author wanted the detective to catch the killer.

A culprit is not going to kill just to give the detective another murder to consider (unless, of course, he’s intentionally playing a game with the detective). He’s not going to change his modus operandi in order to leave that crucial bit of evidence that had otherwise been eluding the detective—the break in the case the story demands. He’s going to serve his own needs. He’s going to kill, or steal, or whatever he does because he wants to—because it helps him cleanse society of those he deems sinners, or take over his family’s business, or repeat the psychologically ingrained murder of his wife.

This doesn’t mean that your culprit is an unchanging monolith. The culprit is a character, and as such, he reacts to things. He reacts to the detective getting close. He reacts to extraneous circumstances. He’s human. But it’s got to make sense within the context of his own story.

Question #3: So does that mean all mysteries should be written from both characters’ points of view?

Not at all. I’m not saying you need to write your mystery from the culprit’s perspective. But you need to know it. Readers may never see that parallel narrative, but they do need to see a culprit who is living it—one who is the protagonist of his own story, as most characters are. The culprit’s story may not be your story, but it is the logical foundation of your story, and you can’t craft a compelling mystery without knowing, at all times, who your culprit is and why they do what they do.

In other words, the culprit doesn’t serve your story. He is your story. Understand him and good things will follow.

Harrison Demchick came up in the world of small press publishing, working along the way on more than three dozen published novels and memoirs, several of which have been optioned for film. An expert in manuscripts as diverse as young adult, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, literary fiction, women’s fiction, memoir, and everything in-between, Harrison is known for quite possibly the most detailed and informative editorial letters in the industry—if not the entire universe.

Harrison is also an award-winning, twice-optioned screenwriter, and the author of literary horror novel The Listeners (Bancroft Press, 2012). He’s currently accepting new clients in fiction and memoir at Ambitious Enterprises (http://ambitiousenterprises.com).

 

The post Writing a Convincing Culprit 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 30,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

How To Write Your First Book:  http://ow.ly/FQHEZ @sealin

11 best practices for working with an editor:  http://ow.ly/FQHF0 @awsamuel

Querying Theme: http://ow.ly/FQHF1  @notjustanyboggs

5 Reasons To Hire A Professional Proofreader: http://ow.ly/FQHF4  @Jen_328

The Top 3 Misconceptions about Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/FQHF6 @HollyBrady

Ebook Publishing Gets More Difficult from Here – Here’s How to Succeed:  http://ow.ly/FQHF8 @markcoker

Literary Fiction and Self-Publishing:  http://ow.ly/FNNqV @jamesscottbell

Story Goal/Goals in Plot:  http://ow.ly/FNNqY @glencstrathy

The 1st Step to Writing a Nonfiction Book:  http://ow.ly/FNNr4  @WritersCoach

Has Your eBook Been Pirated? What To Do: http://ow.ly/FNNr9 @mollygreene

Literary Genre Wars’ Secret Truce:  http://ow.ly/FNNre @asap_jonathon

19 Examples of Redundancy:  http://ow.ly/FNNrj @writers_write

10 Questions to Find Your Unique Writing Voice:  http://ow.ly/FNNrn @joebunting

Format Your Book for CreateSpace: http://ow.ly/FNNrq @roxannesmolen

Bookish Millennials Make Memes Worth Reading Into :  http://ow.ly/FNMBW @AJEvancie

3 Ways to a Better Nonfiction Book with Macros http://ow.ly/FNNrs @CarlaDouglas

How to take charge of your plot, writing a story from beginning to end: http://ow.ly/FNNqQ @nownovel

Building Deep Conflict into Novel Structure:  http://ow.ly/FNNqM @MartinaABoone

7 Tips for Revising a Novel:  http://ow.ly/FIQKv @writersdigest

Query Question: Enthusiastic Silence:  http://ow.ly/FIQKt @Janet_Reid

Character Cards–Enhance Your Storyboard (and Story) http://ow.ly/FIQKr @writeabook

5 Tips: A Miscellany of Writing Advice:  http://ow.ly/FIQKp @woodwardkaren

Plot Wheels And The Tarot:  http://ow.ly/FIQKj @woodwardkaren

Diversity in Writing: Researching Characters:  http://ow.ly/FIQKh @MMPrimrose

Collecting Data On Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/FIQKe @Figures

The importance of a series bible:  http://ow.ly/FIPKj  @MermaidHel

How to Choreograph a Great Action Scene:  http://ow.ly/FIQKd @fictionnotes

Why Writers Should Conceal Their Research:  http://ow.ly/FIQKc @drewchial

How to Boost Your Book with Amazon’s Pre-Order: http://ow.ly/FIQKn @bookgal

3 Tips for Creating Evocative Prose:  http://ow.ly/FEWp5 @Janice_Hardy

Poets’ holiday greetings cards: an intimate glimpse into genius:  http://ow.ly/FEWp1 @life_savour

Perils of Parodying Parody:  http://ow.ly/FEWoX @mernitman

On privilege, the AWP-industrial complex and why poetry doesn’t seem to matter:  http://ow.ly/FEWoV @jaswinderbolina

The Christian Publishing Market: http://ow.ly/FEWoS @bouma

Video for Authors:  http://ow.ly/FEWoP @JFBookman

Verb Mistakes #1: Didn’t With Conditional:  http://ow.ly/FEWoM @writing_tips

How to Handle Query Letter Rejection: 6 Suggestions: http://ow.ly/FEWoK @JulieeJohnsonn

Everything Is Your Resume:  http://ow.ly/FEWoG @bookgal

10 tips for being a successful poet:  http://ow.ly/FEWoB @motionandrew

In defense of the super villain:  http://ow.ly/FEWoy @PiersTorday

Blurbs that need to stop:  http://ow.ly/FEWou  @jenforbus

Pad Your Resume, and Wallets, by Writing for Small Markets:  http://ow.ly/FGiln @SylviaNey

Adverbs are their function, not their ending:  http://ow.ly/FAW2T @johnaugust

5 Tips for Submitting Your Writing:  http://ow.ly/FAW2R @jchenwriter

The one attitude that completely turns a literary agent off:  http://ow.ly/FAW2N @wendylawton

10 Paying Jobs for Writers:  http://ow.ly/FAW2G  @QuipsAndTips

Getting rid of the weapon in crime fiction:  http://ow.ly/FAW2B @mkinberg

Are book publishers blockbustering themselves into oblivion? http://ow.ly/FAW2y @globeandmail

Why the notion of branding is fraught with peril:  http://ow.ly/FAW2s @nicolaz

On the benefits of free writing:  http://ow.ly/FAW2p @copyblogger

Small Publishers: Myths Busted Here:  http://ow.ly/FGgNz @JulieMusil

6 Ways to Make Money as an Author: http://ow.ly/FAW2o @goblinwriter

Notes on Likeability in Fiction:  http://ow.ly/FAW2k  @EdanL

6 Steps to Researching a Story:  http://ow.ly/FAW2i @TracyWardAuthor

Fanfiction and Fandoms: A Primer:  http://ow.ly/FAW2d  @publishingtrend

7 Tropes of Science Fiction:  http://ow.ly/FzfIu @bob_mayer

The Fine Art of Story Resonance:  http://ow.ly/FzefL @stdennard

Teaching Young Writers: Are We Winning the Battle but Losing the War?  http://ow.ly/FzfIr @juliettefay

3 Steps to Taking Your Character Further and Deeper With Anger: http://ow.ly/FzeyS @writingeekery

Self-Publishing Questions & Answers:  http://ow.ly/FzfIn @JFBookman

Characters in Action-Driven Novels and Those in Character-Driven Stories: http://ow.ly/FzfIj @plotwhisperer

Stay Motivated With Writing Goals:  http://ow.ly/FzfIe @Janice_Hardy

Pros and Cons Of Writing Steampunk:  http://ow.ly/FzfIb @misterkristoff

Is the honeymoon over? KU comes between Amazon and its self-publishers:  http://ow.ly/FzhqF @Porter_Anderson @hmward

How To Survive Writing Through The Holiday Season:  http://ow.ly/FzfI6 @StinaLL

3 Reasons We Are Not Our Writing:  http://ow.ly/FzfI3 @bang2write

How to understand your characters’ motivations:  http://ow.ly/FzfHZ @nownovel

The Bookseller’s 1st Independent Author Preview: http://ow.ly/FzhjG @TheBookseller @Porter_Anderson

Battling Cliches & Tired, Old Tropes:  http://ow.ly/FzfHW  @stdennard

Music For Writers: @NYPolyphony ‘s 4 Naked Voices Singing:  http://ow.ly/FzhVh @Porter_Anderson

A good editor helps you to be yourself:  http://ow.ly/FuAPh @Roz_Morris

42 Writing Resources:  http://ow.ly/FuAPe  @NickThacker

In Goodreads’ 2014 Choice Awards, Women Authors Win 2-To-1:  http://ow.ly/Fzh40 @Porter_Anderson

10 Essential Website Housekeeping Tasks:  http://ow.ly/FuAPb @mollygreene

Why Science Fiction Likes To Look 50 Years Into The Future:  http://ow.ly/FuAP7 @io9

Self-Pub And ‘The Quality Question': It’s Called Rigor:  http://ow.ly/FzgIl @CaroSanderson @Porter_Anderson

On Silence and Singularity and the Romance Novel:  http://ow.ly/FuAP4 @jtabooks

How to choose a main character:  http://ow.ly/FuAP0 @glencstrathy

Act One questions and prompts:  http://ow.ly/FuAOU @AlexSokoloff

Tips for Creating Your Production Plan for 2015:  http://ow.ly/FwL6h @SteveCampbellFL

Should ebook reading be more social?  http://ow.ly/FuAOR @BetaNews

How to Query a Book Publicist:  http://ow.ly/FuAOP @PaulaMargulies

A Definition Of Author Platform:  http://ow.ly/Fwz5C @mishy1727

What to Do with Your Edit Letter: http://ow.ly/FuAON  @katiemccoach

A writer’s group with 4 ways to connect and learn:  http://ow.ly/Fwtzs @alexjcavanaugh

Tips on Landing a Publishing Internship:  http://ow.ly/FuAOM @torilowes

Structure Advice for Wordsmiths:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9v @writeabook

50 Reasons Not To Date A Poet:  http://ow.ly/FuAOL @BettyGeneric

Writers on the Titling Process:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9u @chloekbenjamin

Pros and Cons of Switching Genres:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9t  @SummeritaRhayne

Promotion: details are your friend:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9q @Janet_Reid

Whatever happened to cyberpunk?  http://ow.ly/Ftw9n @guardianbooks @damiengwalter

What Not to Do in a Radio Interview:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9m @katrinschumann

Why lists work for readers:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9j @Kathy_Crowley

Revision strategies:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9i  @holly_schindler

Interview with a Book Publicist:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9h @slicemagazine

The links I shared last week:  http://ow.ly/Futs2 . The links (over 30K) I’ve ever shared, free and searchable: writerskb.com .

10 tips for keeping your script fast-paced:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9f @scriptmag

What to consider before applying to an MFA program:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9d @elizmccracken

The Case for Morning Writing:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9b @ingridsundberg

BookBub Explained:  http://ow.ly/Ftw9a @nancyjcohen

What Game Design Reveals about the Deliberate Tensions of Great Writing:  http://ow.ly/FrloU @brainpicker

In Praise of Secret Writers:  http://ow.ly/FrloS @write_track

Overheard Haiku http://ow.ly/FrloP  @parisreview

Plotting the Non-Plot-Driven Novel:  http://ow.ly/FrloL @DonMaass

Free 7 day online writer workshop on Dec. 29:  http://ow.ly/FrloI @fran_booth

5 times to use a prologue: http://ow.ly/FrloF @writers_write

6 Must-Know Tricks for Getting to Know Your Characters:  http://ow.ly/FrloB @KMWeiland

3 Writing ‘Cheats’ for Making Dialogue Work Harder & Ring True | MuseInks http://ow.ly/Frlox

12 habits of highly productive writers:  http://ow.ly/Frloq @racheltoor

Neil Gaiman Shares 4 Tips For Reading Stories to Kids:  http://ow.ly/Frlom @galleycat

What Makes a Good Story? Slush Pile Lessons:  http://ow.ly/Frlog @JeriWB

The Creative Person’s Guide to Time Management http://ow.ly/Frlo9 @judypchristie

Writing crutches: gestures:  http://ow.ly/FnPi3  @JordanMcCollum

9 Qualities Writers Should Look for in a Co-Blogger: http://ow.ly/FnPhZ @wherewriterswin

 

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