Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 178

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
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Have a great week.
The 1st literary interactive book app: http://bit.ly/HylhXa @Porter_Anderson @MirabilisDave @joningold


MS Word Trick: Combining Changes and Comments: http://bit.ly/HHKHq1 @jamigold
Agent Contract Expiration: http://bit.ly/HylYzv


Freelance Writing: 10 Tips to Better Interviews: http://bit.ly/Hym4qR @writersdigest


How to Finish Your Novel: http://bit.ly/Hym5v4 @write_practice


Write Your Book Even When You Feel Clueless: http://bit.ly/HHKVNI @originalimpulse


Potential blog content problems and how to fix them: http://bit.ly/HHL2ZL @problogger


Leading into a Scene vs. Including Backstory: http://bit.ly/Jcng20 @juliettewade


What Would "Insert YA Heroine Here" Do? http://bit.ly/HHLpU3 @mittenstrings


Add details to ground readers in your scene: http://bit.ly/HHLtTQ @juliemusil


A useful resource for describing settings, emotions, shapes, textures, and more: http://bit.ly/eIGRMO @AngelaAckerman #writetip


Mini-ebooks--a home for articles that need a little room: http://bit.ly/IyB5we @annabaddeley


Will Hachette Be The First Big-6 Publisher To Drop DRM On E-Books? http://bit.ly/IyBgYs @laurahazardowen


5 things writers should know about being knocked out: http://bit.ly/HGiWII @ajackwriting


Write to Universal Acclaim? Not Likely: http://bit.ly/HGiZnZ @noveleditor


How to Write a Book When You're Really, Really Busy: http://bit.ly/HGj7Uw @chucksambuchino


8 things 1 writer learned analyzing her yearly freelance writing expenses: http://bit.ly/HGjj66 @michellerafter


How to Scan Your Site for Free: http://bit.ly/HGjo9X @jasonboog


Why we should attend conferences and a list of upcoming US cons: http://bit.ly/HGjFK7 @msheatherwebb


Tips for hooks in book openings: http://bit.ly/HGupMY @PegEditors


Do Big Publishers Need Recognizable Consumer Brand Names? http://bit.ly/HGuvEv @passivevoiceblg

How to Fix a Flat (Novel Scene) in 3 Easy Steps: http://bit.ly/IKNHNv @JulieWuAuthor

A Quiz About Compressing Accordion Sentences: http://bit.ly/IKOfTD @writing_tips

The Savvy Writer's Guide to Simultaneous Submissions: http://bit.ly/IKOP3A @BTMargins

Identify your novel's genre: http://bit.ly/IKOSfQ @rachellegardner

Discoverability and the New World of Book PR: http://bit.ly/IKPjaa @barbarahenricks @RustyShelton

The rejection resubmission: http://bit.ly/IKPEcJ @nicolamorgan

Art of the Genre: Top 10 Literary Sci-Fi/Fantasy Covers of the 1970s: http://bit.ly/IKPPoA

Adding a musical element to your worldbuilding: http://bit.ly/IKQ8j5 @fantasyfaction

Little Fixes to Improve Your Book: http://bit.ly/IKQhTN @maryannwrites


Creating Reality: The Pleasant Psychosis of Writing: http://bit.ly/IWICkn @BTMargins

Learning the writing craft over time: http://bit.ly/HJG4v7 @bob_mayer

Seeing the World through Your Character's Eyes: http://bit.ly/HJG7Y7 @livewritethrive

Author Blogging 101: Widgets, Sidebars and You: http://bit.ly/IWIVvr @jfbookman

Movies about writers: http://bit.ly/IWIZLP @BTMargins

The Illusion of Writing: http://bit.ly/IWJmpE @Ravenrequiem13

Keep Your Unwavering Passion to Write: http://bit.ly/HJGtxN @evemariemont @4kidlit

Are your characters making misleading assumptions? http://bit.ly/HJGIsE @Janice_Hardy

Show, Don't Tell: How Much of Your Story Is Implied? http://bit.ly/HJGL7P

Tips for A Better Book Presentation: http://bit.ly/HJGOAC @BTMargins

5 Principles for Using Facebook: http://bit.ly/HTkNMU @janefriedman

Women's Fiction Format: http://bit.ly/HKlGu1 @pprmint777

Self-Editing Tips to Make Your Manuscript Ready For Publication: http://bit.ly/HEsYcY @WritersCoach

The fully-developed book premise: http://bit.ly/HKlT04 @donmaass

Tips for reading novel excerpts: http://bit.ly/HLzPaJ @beth_barany

Overwriting--areas to edit: http://bit.ly/INXUJ3 @TaliaVance

Is Pinterest Traffic Worthless? http://bit.ly/HLA2uk @nestguy

Tips for finding an agent, from an agent: http://bit.ly/HLAfh5 @luciennediver

Signs Your Character Is Wasting His Potential: http://bit.ly/IOlkOx @KMWeiland

8 tips for guest posting: http://bit.ly/HJdZDr @duolit

Crushes and chemistry: http://bit.ly/HJe9uu @Kid_Lit

An agent asks, "Bitter or Misunderstood?" http://bit.ly/HJerl6 @bookendsjessica

Why Writing Through Resistance is Essential: http://bit.ly/IVJESj @ava_jae

16 Kindle Lending Library Titles Were Bestsellers In March: http://bit.ly/IVJKt6 @ebooknewser

Turning Your Twitter Followers into Readers: http://bit.ly/IVKsqs @pushingsocial

Profanity in worldbuilding: http://bit.ly/IVKzCn @juliettewade

When Books Mattered: http://nyti.ms/IE0J2S @NYTMetro

16 of the Top 100 Best-Selling Paid Kindle Books in March Are Exclusive to the Kindle Store: http://bit.ly/HF0m3s @PassiveVoiceBlg

Why Small Publishers Fail: http://bit.ly/IE10CN @victoriastrauss

Meditate, don't caffeinate: http://bit.ly/IE1bhi @misfitsmascara

Tips for writing effective dialogue: http://bit.ly/HF0Ia5 @writersdigest

Success in fiction writing is 50% practice and 50% persistence. Talent is optional: http://bit.ly/IN8oNE @Yeomanis

Where to Find Ideas For Novels Or Short Stories: http://bit.ly/HL1MhU @writersdigest

11 Revision Questions: http://bit.ly/HL1W95 @fictionnotes

9 ways to upset an editor: http://bit.ly/HL2eMU @jameslsutter

Being a tax-wise author, parts 1 & 2 (for US writers, but possible deductions for others): http://bit.ly/HL2njx , http://bit.ly/HL2prK

Plan the Story, Meet Your Characters. http://bit.ly/J1YWFe @christi_craig

Reading in Public: 3 Steps to Captivate Your Audience: http://bit.ly/J1Zg6Z @DIYMFA

Tips for writing suspense: http://bit.ly/J1ZyL1 @stacygreen26 @nicolebasaraba

Tips for writing convincing male characters: http://bit.ly/J20oYh @BooksForABuck

Inspiration from a cryptic text: http://bit.ly/J20I9o @GeneLempp

20 Rules About Subject-Verb Agreement: http://bit.ly/IWD9xk @writing_tips

Writing Lessons from the Newsroom: http://bit.ly/IWDHn1 @torcon

Writing for the YA market--writing what's hot: http://bit.ly/IWEcNR

Scrivener review: http://bit.ly/IWEnZA @ajackwriting

Balancing story and prose: http://bit.ly/IWEJzl @katieganshert @rachellegardner

Write Because You Love It: http://bit.ly/IWER1L @jodyhedlund

How To Balance Dialogue and Description: http://bit.ly/IWF84T @serbaughman

Tips for submitting short stories (especially for SF/F writers): http://bit.ly/IWFM29 @amsmibert

What beta readers are and ideas for finding them: http://bit.ly/HYkyPk @jamigold

An agent says you can't turn one genre into another to try and sell the story: http://bit.ly/HYmpDT @greyhausagency

Explaining show, don't tell: http://bit.ly/HYmAiB @V_Rossibooks

What booksellers really mean when asked for recommendations: http://bit.ly/HYmXcW @deadwhiteguys

3 Reasons to Write Stream of Consciousness Narrative: http://bit.ly/HYnbkd

Why editors won't be excited if you want to write "a little of this and a little of that": http://bit.ly/HHY2dd @behlerpublish

Google wants to mobilize your Web site – for free: http://bit.ly/HHYk3O @kfitchard

Discipline of Writing. Writing as a Discipline. http://bit.ly/HHYE2w @LavChintapalli @womenwriters

Elements of a Great Suspense Story: http://bit.ly/HHYU1j @ChynnaLaird

Crime fiction--when sleuths must work with government employees for info: http://bit.ly/J0u8pl @mkinberg

The power of manipulation in crime fiction: http://bit.ly/I6GMjv @mkinberg

Inspiration from a cryptic text: http://bit.ly/J20I9o @GeneLempp

Why Small Publishers Fail: http://bit.ly/IE10CN @victoriastrauss

When Books Mattered: http://nyti.ms/IE0J2S

Is Pinterest Traffic Worthless? http://bit.ly/HLA2uk @nestguy

5 Principles for Using Facebook: http://bit.ly/HTkNMU @janefriedman

20 Verbs Smothered by "Be"s: http://bit.ly/IQWifN @writing_tips

An agent says you can't turn one genre into another to try and sell the story: http://bit.ly/HYmpDT @greyhausagency

Who and whom: http://bit.ly/IYFNnp @missedperiods

How to purchase ISBNs in the USA: http://bit.ly/IYG35I @woodwardkaren

The taxman and the artist: http://bit.ly/IYGnl4

How 1 author handled writing an emotionally troubled protagonist: http://bit.ly/IYGU6j @kcraftwriter

Amazon Lets Authors Spy on Readers: http://bit.ly/IYHb9y @writersdigest

Tips for writing a synopsis: http://bit.ly/IYHr8r @nicolamorgan

How 1 writer reworked a 1st chapter: http://bit.ly/IYHNfj @DaveThomeWriter

How to Create Characters that Fascinate: http://bit.ly/IarQko @WriterThesaurus

4 Tips on Adding a New Twist to an Old Plot: http://bit.ly/IarXN0 @janice_hardy

Social Networking—Take Time to get Your Feet Wet: http://bit.ly/Ias4Im @novelrocket

3 Possibilities for Defeating Writer's Block: http://bit.ly/IasgaB @CDRosales

Answers to Book Discount Questions: http://bit.ly/HW7quT @jfbookman

4 Important Character Concerns: http://bit.ly/HW7zhS @vigorio

5 Effective Book Marketing Strategies: http://bit.ly/JbYnVN @KarinaFabian

The Writer's Life is Full of Second Chances: http://bit.ly/JbYCQq @RLLaFevers

Combating Confusion: http://bit.ly/JbYJLX @BretBallou

Patience Is a Writer's Most Important Virtue: http://bit.ly/JbYVL4 @jeffgoins

Writing Advice from C.S. Lewis: http://bit.ly/HXlOTy @passivevoiceblg

Being habitually creative requires far more than original thinking: http://bit.ly/HXlWCp @JeffreyDavis108

Does One Book a Writer Make? http://bit.ly/HXm3hm @bob_brooke

21% Of Adults Have Read An eBook In The Last Year: Pew Research: http://bit.ly/HXm8lf @ebooknewser

Top 5 Tips to Maximize Your Writing Conference: http://bit.ly/HXmpEH @kristenlambTX

Grammar Today: Rigid Rules or Rhetorical Choices? http://bit.ly/HXmvMz @pubperspectives

How The Wall Street Journal Uses Pinterest: http://bit.ly/HXmCI4 @10000words

Plot Fixer – Part I: Your Premise Isn't Compelling: http://bit.ly/HXmIPR @karalennox

How to boost the number of your friends on Goodreads: http://bit.ly/IFBPwF @PublicityHound

DRM is crushing indie booksellers online: http://bit.ly/Jlm81j

The Importance of Persistence: http://bit.ly/Jlpmlt @thecreativepenn

Don't Just Create "On Demand," Create For You: http://bit.ly/Jlptxl

Industry in collapse: The strain is showing: http://bit.ly/IAQFVc @Porter_Anderson @RachelleGardner

How much lead-in time do you really need before your story's inciting incident? http://bit.ly/JWpmmZ

Traditional mystery writing--tips for delaying the body's discovery: http://bit.ly/IcSpEt
@camillelaguire

Guidelines for story length: http://bit.ly/IcTtpG @noveleditor

Get to your inciting incident or call to action as soon as possible: http://bit.ly/IcTCcB @AlexSokoloff

Common logical mistakes to avoid: http://bit.ly/IcTLwH @readingape

Why Poetry Should Be More Playful: http://bit.ly/IcTUjI @hoodedu @theatlantic

How To Properly Harvest Your Very Best Ideas: http://bit.ly/IcTXfu @write_practice

Open Letter to Friends of Authors: http://bit.ly/IcU0YL @fictionnotes

Thoughts on using flashbacks: http://bit.ly/Idxzqk

Writing religion into speculative fiction: http://bit.ly/IdxJxZ @sarahahoyt

12 Myths About Being a Writer: http://bit.ly/IdxP8P @annerallen

Story structure--the midpoint: http://bit.ly/IdxUcD @KMWeiland

How Much Lead-In Time do You Really Need?

[image error]Right now I’m writing the fourth Memphis Barbeque mystery.  I’m still working on the first draft and, like all first drafts, I’m realizing I’ve got some issues.

The biggest one I’ve got right now is that I’ll need to move the discovery of the victim’s body up.  Right now, the body is found around page 32 and that’s going to be a bit too far back for my editor (and readers.)

I’ve read posts where writers have fussed about having to put the inciting incident so close to the front of the book—but, to me, that’s just the modern reality. Unfortunately, we’re not only competing with books that have that early hook, we’re also competing with short attention spans and readers hooked on TV, computers, and game systems.

I think late inciting incidents presents a recurring issue for most writers and for many genres.  It’s easy to write in a long lead-in time while we’re setting up the story’s big event.  (For a nice review on a inciting incident, take a look at writer K.M. Weiland’s posts:  one on maximizing your inciting incident and one on the difference between the inciting incident and the key event.)

As an example, here’s an overview of what’s going on with my current story (and I’m not addressing this until I’m done writing the first draft):

First of all, I’ve introduced several of the main characters in the story—my protagonist and two important supporting characters. 

The characters are introduced through a scene where a ticking time bomb element is in place (and no—I write cozy mysteries, so this isn’t an actual bomb, but it’s a stressful event with a stated deadline.)  So there’s some tension—but it’s not the inciting incident.  It’s not the murder.

Then I started setting up the murder.  I introduced another of the supporting cast and wrote a scene to show how the future murder victim is making certain people unhappy….two characters talking about the future victim.  One person he’s making unhappy is close to my protagonist, introduced in the opening scene.

But a murder needs at least 3-5 suspects just to keep the reader guessing.  So I’ve got an additional, tense scene with the future victim and some future suspects—people that the protagonist and supporting cast don’t really know, but who play important roles in this book.

Then I’ve got the setting to work in—and this setting is important for this particular murder.  I write in a scene at the festival, bringing in the elements of the setting that are important to the murder.

Finally—the body is discovered. 

Now I know that I’ve kept things moving along in those 30-odd pages.  I’ve set up the murder so it’s not just some out-of-context, out-of-the-blue body being thrown at the reader.  I’ve had tension and conflict and humor and necessary character introductions.

But I know that my editor will want me to move the body’s discovery up.

This means that when I’m done with this draft, I’m going to probably cut out some of those scenes.  There was a time when I’d have dumped the body in a prologue (you’ll see that in a couple of my first books) and then proceeded on with the story exactly as I just explained it above.  I’d crossed off the body’s discovery by putting it on the first page of the book, then moved back to my usual set-up.

I’m not as crazy about doing that anymore.  It worked all right, but now I get the feeling that the whole time the reader is reading the set-up, they’re wanting to get back to the body they’d heard about in the prologue.  I just don’t like it as much as I used to.

So what I’ll do at the end of this draft is to ramp things up. I’ll move the discovery of the body about 10 pages up.  I’m going to have some of my character development and introduction in response  to my inciting incident.  After all, it’s going to be a stressful event for these characters—their response to it will show a lot about them to the readers.

I’ve also realized that I disclose a few things in my book’s beginning that I could hold off explaining until later.  There’s, I think, a tendency for writers to want to loop the reader in.  I know I have that tendency.  It’s good not to want the reader confused, but if we’re just holding off on revealing a connection between characters or a character’s secret—there’s no reason not to let that  extra element of tension spice up the story.  Why not?  

Working in the inciting incident:

Have it be your opening hook.  The characters’ reaction to the events will be the readers’ introduction to them.

If you’re trying to delay the inciting incident but hint at it (to keep readers hooked), use flashbacks and flashforwards with caution.  These can either backfire or intrigue.  The ones I read seem to backfire more often than not.

If you just can’t think of a way to move the inciting incident closer to the front of the book, make sure that you’ve got a good amount of tension and conflict in your lead-in to that point.  If the first part of your story is all backstory and set-up, the reader might not stick with it.

Remember that we don’t have to tell everything upfront.  We can raise questions and delay answering these questions until later in the book…even at the end of the book.  As long as it’s not confusing or unduly frustrating, this delayed revelation adds tension to a story. See if some of that explanatory lead-in material can be put off until later in the book.

When do you usually include your story’s inciting incident? Do you ever have to push it up?  As a reader, when do you find yourself losing interest in a book—and is it related to the placement of the inciting incident?

 

The Excitement of What’s Coming Around the Bend in Publishing

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I visited my parents a couple of weeks ago during my children’s spring break. We also helped them to clean out their attic. (It’s hard not to take advantage of having a hale and hearty 15 year old boy in the house.)

One of the things that was uncovered up there was my father’s electric typewriter. He was an English teacher and typed quite a bit, so it was a pretty nice model. My daughter was completely enchanted by it and asked if we could take it home (she’d been asking about my typewriter, but it’s definitely gotten buried somewhere in a closet or our own attic.)

Amazingly, my parents still had an ink cartridge for the typewriter in a desk and headed right to it, and handed it over to my daughter. (My head exploded just a bit at this….had to wonder what else they’ve held onto!) We drove back home to North Carolina and my daughter immediately asked for me to show her how to work the typewriter….but I was already busy unpacking us and cooking supper.

The next day she asked me again to show it to her…..but I was cooking Easter dinner (seems to have been a good deal of cooking lately.) I was a little impatient, I’ll admit, and told her I was sure she could figure it out. This is a ten year old who spends a great deal of time on the computer, understands social media, and is a fair little typist at 45 wpm.

And she had, y’all, no clue.

She couldn’t figure out where to roll the paper in on the roller, where to line it up on the little silver ruler on the typewriter, where to stick the ink cartridge in. That she had to hit return for the thing to go to the next line (no word wrap on typewriters). And---there was no way for her to correct her mistakes, either.

But put her with any cell phone and she intuitively interacts with the device—enlarging pictures and text on the screen by that reverse-pinch that this generation has down perfectly.

The fact that I thought the typewriter would be intuitive to a lifelong, very experienced computer user (a computer native) who’d never seen a typewriter and the fact that it really wasn’t to someone born in 2001, just goes to show how fast and far and quickly everything has changed. It illustrated to me how fast the world changed. At 41, my life is evenly divided between life on a typewriter and life on a computer.

What does the computer revolution mean for writers? It means that we can write faster. That writing is easier. It means we have the luxury of creating horrible first drafts…deleting or rearranging text is easy. It was the first step toward today’s proliferation of writers and the large number of books that many writers have written.

Recently, I’ve noticed amazing changes in both the television and music industries (which have also been impacted by the changes in technology.)

HBO now offers an online subscription service to provide online viewing. They’ve enhanced older episodes to identify in the sidebar each new character who comes onstage--giving their picture and a paragraph explaining their connection to the protagonist and the storyline.

In the music industry, independent musicians who previously would never have been able to attract a following without signing with a major label are now able to reach audiences directly. Their singles are sold through venues like Amazon and have the potential of reaching the millions that songs by the mainstream artists do.

General wisdom states that writers should simply keep writing as much as their schedule allows and focus on writing the best books possible. I think this is still the best approach. But I think we need to also start mulling over a little bit some out-of-the-box approaches that can be better utilized by the new technology…as we start moving into the future.

Things like extras (enhanced books)

Alternate endings for books is something I’m seeing more of lately. I actually love the idea of having different killers for a mystery. I change my murderer enough for this to be an easy thing to write.

Casts of characters could provide a useful reader reference if we’ve written in a large cast.

Interviews with the authors can provide readers with a behind the scenes look at the novel’s creation.

Chapter teasers from upcoming releases—this makes a tremendous amount of sense from a marketing perspective and provides the author with a firm deadline that he might not otherwise have with a self-published book.

Down the road (honestly, probably not too much farther down the road) we’ll have to think about other aspects of these extras—maybe music, mp3 clips (recorded interview, for instance), forums (social commentary on our books—while actually reading our books), picture slideshows/video, related articles…

I’m not mentioning this to scare anyone. But I think that the more open we are to this change, the better we might adapt (and ultimately profit) as these changes start happening.

When I was busily striking the keys of my typewriter while writing essays in high school, I’d have been overwhelmed if you’d talked to me about Skype and Facebook and Twitter. I’d have been overwhelmed even at basic word processing — icons for underlining and bolding? Font choices and font size? Things that are intuitive now were once completely confusing.

What I think this means to me is that I’m going to try to change my still old-fashioned notions of what a book is. It means I’ll be adjusting my parameters for “creative.” It means realizing that, in this new age of reading, writers will have to not only be creative with words but with marketing and effects.

But the most important thing, as always, will be the story we give our readers. The packaging can be slick and interactive, but it won’t mean a thing if the readers don’t care about our story.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

To me, the future seems full of promise and excitement for writers. We just have to be open to it. What do you see, though, when you look ahead?

Want to Write a Best Seller? It’s All In Your Genes by Dr. John Yeoman

by Dr. John Yeoman, @Yeomanis

“Brace yourself,” my doctor said. “This won’t come easy” he fiddled with his pen “for either of us.” He averted his eyes. I braced myself.

“You eat junk food,” he muttered. “You smoke and drink in industrial quantities. You take no exercise.”

I protested. “I go jogging with my tortoise!”

“Yet by every test known to medical science, you are in perfect health.” He glared at me. “People like you put doctors out of work.”

Some authors are like that. They consume junk fiction, take no exercise in their craft, and have the work ethic of a sloth. Yet they can scamp out a novel in three months. Then they trip over a literary agent at a cocktail party and - lo! - next day they get a contract from Random House. It happens. And it isn’t fair.

Worse, it fools every would-be author that they can do the same. After 100 rejection slips and a fling with clinical depression they discover the truth. Success in fiction writing is 50% practice and 50% persistence.

Talent is optional.

Or so I tell my students at the creative writing classes I teach at a UK university. They don’t believe me, especially when one of their number goes on to sign a three-book contract after one term’s work. It’s all in the genes, I say. Some authors are lucky, like that, but most have rotten genes.

It took Agatha Christie 20 attempts to get The Mysterious Affair at Styles into print. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was rejected 121 times. Joanne Harris broke into print with Chocolat only after 15 years in the wilderness. And The Lord of the Flies was published by the purest accident.

“So what are we doing here?” some students moan.

“Learning to write stories,” I tell them “in the event that you have rotten genes. It might take you just three years, with practice, to write a story that works. Then you can embark on a novel. The rest is persistence.”

Earn while you learn

Better still, I say, you can earn while you learn.

Write a story every week, enter it in a story contest, and you might soon be winning a cash sum from every three in five contests you enter. What’s more (I add, returning reluctantly to the syllabus), each story is a five finger exercise in craft technique. Focus on exploring a new skill in every story. One week it’s characterisation, the next could be body language. In time, you might even explore emblematic resonance!

“You’re only saying that because you run a story competition,” they protest, cheekily.

“True,” I sulk “yet it’s true.”

To punish them, I then assign them an exercise - to rewrite the top news story of the day in the styles of James Patterson, Proust and Annie Proulx, successively. (The latter is a punishment very cruel.) To do that, they have to read the authors first. Blatant imitation is another way to learn one’s craft, and quickly. I tell them. And it’s true.

Of course, I already know which of my students will get a solid B+ - the ones who practise most. But I shall have no option but to grant, as always, a sparkling A- to those who practise least, rarely turn up to classes and cheek me when they do. But who were born with lucky genes.

I hate such people. They put doctors out of work.

Dr John Yeoman, PhD Creative Writing, judges the Writers’ Village story competition and is a tutor in creative writing at a UK university. His free course in winning story competitions for profit can be found at: http://www.writers-village.org/contest-success.php

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

All the links below, and over 15,000 others are found in the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by Mike Fleming—where you can search on any topic for free. Like us on Facebook or sign up for our free monthly newsletter for the web’s best links on writing.

Don't' forget the new release blogfest that Hart Johnson and I are hosting on June 5th—find more information and sign up here. The best entries get signed copies of our new releases!

Pew Research's numbers on the rise of ereading: http://bit.ly/HZTdPy @Porter_Anderson @PewInternet

6 Core Storytelling Competencies: Good… Better… Best. http://bit.ly/Ho0oC5 @storyfix

How to successfully launch a YA print novel: http://bit.ly/Ho0OZk @laurapauling

Making a living as a writer--challenges: http://bit.ly/Ho1azf @rachellegardner

How To Get Book Reviews Without Spending (Too Much) Money: http://bit.ly/Ho1qhD @KenBrosky @thecreativepenn

Farther vs. Further: http://bit.ly/HruM8A @writing_tips

The Long Distance Landscape of a Writing Career: http://bit.ly/Ho1Jca @barbaraoneal

The Power of What If: http://bit.ly/Ho1Og8 @bookemdonna

Crime fiction--killers who don't take responsibility: http://bit.ly/IGODXU @mkinberg

Amazon book reviews--democracy in action, ignorance, or bullying? http://bit.ly/Ho1YE9 @Bob_Mayer

7 Military Ranks Common in Popular Culture: http://bit.ly/Ho23Yx @writing_tips

There Are No Writers Without Readers: http://bit.ly/Ho27aE @JLeaLopez

The True Essence of Character: http://bit.ly/Ho2bHo @livewritethrive

Piracy and Rowling--a few questions: http://bit.ly/Hm2Msl @thefuturebook @agentpete

Important elements for a riveting story: http://bit.ly/Hm2TEi @PAShortt

Different types of paranormal elements in fiction: http://bit.ly/Hm38is @kaitnolan @nicolebasaraba

6 fiction writing tips when planning a novel: http://bit.ly/Hm3nKl @AdriennedeWolfe

The hybrid author: http://bit.ly/IgW5TU @eMergentPublish

The qualities and the effects of despair for writers: http://bit.ly/IgWhSS @sarahahoyt

Ebooks going global: http://bit.ly/Hm3Lsz @thefuturebook

Writers are doing everything backwards: http://bit.ly/IgWvtf @speechwriterguy

Kindle Fire & the Nook Tablet's popularity prevents Android from real competition with the iPad: http://bit.ly/Hm4JF0 @PCMag

The Lady Or The Tiger – Publishing Choices: http://bit.ly/Hm5ldU @SusanSpann

Using archaeology and myth to unearth the stories of tomorrow--dead reckoning: http://bit.ly/IgYsWx @GeneLempp

Agent shopping while still under contract? http://bit.ly/IgYCxj @bookendsjessica

When Not to Tell Your Character's Backstory: http://bit.ly/Hm63I0 @KMWeiland

Maps: Why to use them, and how to create them in Excel: http://bit.ly/Hm7tSY @juliettewade

Tips for crying characters: http://bit.ly/Hm8w56 @Artzicarol

Writing Fantasy Songs: Part 2: http://bit.ly/HZlcA4 @fantasyfaction

7 Reasons Your Muse Isn't Talking to You: http://bit.ly/I4sJsQ @write_practice

Creativity is the Key Skill for the 21st Century: http://bit.ly/I4tfah @markbatey

Understanding Author Platform–All the World Wide Web's a Stage: http://bit.ly/I4tnXu @kristenlambTX

3 Steps to Reading With Purpose: http://bit.ly/I4tsdu @diymfa

1 writer's plotting process: http://bit.ly/I4tuSQ @beth_barany

Plotting and The Premise: http://bit.ly/I4twdx

Free Your Inner Process Slave: http://bit.ly/I4tRge @JulieAnnePeters

Blogging, Splogging, & Syndication: http://bit.ly/I4tVww @cherylrwrites

5 reasons to keep writing: http://bit.ly/I4tZfJ @jammer0501

Tips for dealing with backstory in your novel: http://bit.ly/HStgyT @Janice_hardy

Formatting tips for authors: http://bit.ly/HStnuh @curiosityquills

A closer look at first lines and what makes them work: http://bit.ly/HStt59

Writing Tools: Cool Finds: http://bit.ly/HStxC4 @cherylrwrites

How Amazon made self-pub cool: http://bit.ly/I8p9h5

Is Fan Fiction Ready to Go Mainstream Thanks to Fifty Shades of Grey? http://bit.ly/I8pgt8 @tordotcom

What's the greater fear for publishers? Amazon or piracy? http://bit.ly/I8pqk6 @MikeShatzkin

Character Archetypes: http://bit.ly/I8puQM @woodwardkaren

Exploiting Our Brand: Is There a "Right" Way? http://bit.ly/HwEVF5 @jamigold

How to Create a Cover Photo for Your Facebook Timeline: http://bit.ly/HwEYAK @copyblogger

Amanda Hocking: 'A lot of authors tend to over market': http://bit.ly/I8pFvq @galleycat

Lost Sight of the Game? Find it Again. http://bit.ly/I8pKiN @victoriamixon

Open Letter to An Author: http://bit.ly/HwF7Er @kimthedork

Different types of editors and various editing responsibilities: http://bit.ly/I8q0yk

10 Misconceptions About Writing Books For Children: http://bit.ly/IbUNwK @writersdigest

How 1 writer failed his way into a book deal: http://bit.ly/HTPvod

Beware of name dropping: http://bit.ly/HTPDEc @behlerpublish

An explanation of the starbust method of writing: http://bit.ly/HTPRv0 @woodwardkaren

7 Reasons You May Be Losing International Readers: http://bit.ly/HTPUqQ @PYOEbooks

105 Author Blog Prompts: http://bit.ly/IrDS68 @duolit

Goals: Does Every Character Need the Same One? http://bit.ly/IrEpEX @Janice_Hardy

What to do if your book has been rejected by everyone: http://bit.ly/IAS4cl @greyhausagency

How to save your MS Word italics when formatting an ebook: http://bit.ly/IASqQ8 @howtowriteshop

Write truthfully in imaginary circumstances: http://bit.ly/IAT1Bz @NakedEditor

When Arguments Are a Good Thing: Conflict in Dialogue: http://bit.ly/IATcMY @KMWeiland

Too Many Subplots? 3 Tips for Cutting: http://bit.ly/IcfQjN @fictionnotes

When To Bring Backstory Out of the Shadows: http://bit.ly/IcgWvV @noveleditor

Sex in fantasy: http://bit.ly/HqWOS6 @fantasyfaction

Cover Art: Tips for the Do-It-Yourselfer: http://bit.ly/HqWYsQ @IndiaDrummond

Publishers Struggle with iBooks vs. App Problem: http://bit.ly/HqX97r @galleycat

Writers--Ditching the Dread…of Success: http://bit.ly/HqXfMp @RealLifeE

Different methods to apply discipline to your writing life: http://bit.ly/HqXy9P @bob_brooke

(A Writer's) Age Is Just A Number: http://bit.ly/HqXI1a @mincontro

5 Classic Creative Challenges: http://bit.ly/HHtDtu @the99percent

19 Essential WordPress Plugins for Your Blog: http://bit.ly/HHtPJl @problogger

How to get ideas for stories – be gullible: http://bit.ly/HHu1bA @byrozmorris

The Secrets of Story Structure--The First Half of the Second Act: http://bit.ly/HHu5rK @KMWeiland

Tips for approaching a short story draft: http://bit.ly/HHucDI

Placement of cliffhangers: http://bit.ly/HHuoTm @glencstrathy

What 1 writer learned from writing a 2nd book: http://bit.ly/HHuHh0

Showing–and Telling–Emotion in Fiction: http://bit.ly/HHwsed

Write for Your Audience--Not Your English Teacher: http://bit.ly/HHwPWi @Eliz_Humphrey

Why We Should All Be Writing Short Fiction: http://bit.ly/HHxgjg @annerallen

How to Read a Book Contract – For Avoidance of Doubt: http://bit.ly/HHxEy6 @PassiveVoiceBlg

Are Short Story Openings Different From Novels? (A diagnosis of an opening): http://bit.ly/HEv6oC @Janice_Hardy

6 Ways Bloggers Can Avoid a Visit from The Grammar Police: http://bit.ly/HAG2Wr @writeitsideways @thecreativepenn

4 Key Elements Every Pitch Needs: http://bit.ly/HAG54I

8 Copyediting Tips For Writers: http://bit.ly/HAGsMF @BryanThomasS

Backstory Delayed Gratification: http://bit.ly/HAGELL @mooderino

Wandering eyes... and other body parts: http://bit.ly/HAGHaj

Writing is a Muscle, Flex it: http://bit.ly/Ih5dsQ @WordServeLit

Sonnet Building--Step 1= Ideas: http://bit.ly/Ih7bcB @AnnieNeugebauer

Writers should struggle against style: http://bit.ly/Ih7jc3

Writing for an Audience Can Be Dangerous: http://bit.ly/Ih7moc @livewritethrive

What 1 writer wishes she'd known before reading her first bad review: http://bit.ly/Ih7uEk @wisebird2009

Characterization & Location: What 1 Writer Learned Watching Reruns: http://bit.ly/Ih7zrI

5 Favorite Fonts with Hidden Type Ornaments: http://bit.ly/Ih7CUj @JFBookman

Kurt Vonnegut's letter to a book-banning school board chairman: http://bit.ly/Ih7LqO @LettersOfNote

How do you keep elements fresh in your fiction? 1 writer uses her hometown for inspiration: http://exm.nr/I5Dtbi @cleocoyle

Everything you need to know about the e-book lawsuit: http://bit.ly/HO3Ccg @LauraHazardOwen

Women's fiction--poor packaging leads to the genre's devaluation? http://bit.ly/HO55zd @porter_anderson @MegWolitzer @ruth_franklin

The monsters we create--agency pricing: http://bit.ly/HOatCi @Porter_Anderson @ljndawson @jeffjohnroberts

Elves In Mythology and Fantasy: http://bit.ly/HEjBwf @fantasyfaction

Ways to be a More Productive Writer: http://bit.ly/HEjLnh @janice_hardy

Tips for writing back cover copy: http://bit.ly/HEk956 @SharlaWrites

Emotion Sells Books: http://bit.ly/IqQ8YV @AdriennedeWolfe

Agents and queries: compiled DOs: http://bit.ly/HiMY42 @rebeccaberto

How to Make Your Readers Believe Anything: http://bit.ly/HEklBv @ava_jae

Distinguishing between Plot and Premise: http://bit.ly/J0F5AR

Are More Authors Than You Think Making a Living Self-Publishing? http://bit.ly/J0FJOQ @goblinwriter

Facing a Critique or Editorial Letter: 2 Destructive Attitudes: http://bit.ly/J0FRxN @fictionnotes

When to hit send? http://bit.ly/J0G1Fx

How Copyright Protection Makes Books Vanish: http://bit.ly/J0Gk38 @passivevoiceblg

Ideas for YA author visits: http://bit.ly/J0GYO0

1 writer's draft system: http://bit.ly/J0H8Vv @JillKemerer

Is There Such a Thing as an American Novel? http://bit.ly/J0HDiu @EddMcCracken

Write What You Don't Know: http://bit.ly/J0HRGh @jaelmchenry

Writers and taxes: http://bit.ly/IA6X2I @rachellegardner

3 Things to Know About Exposition & Telling: http://bit.ly/IA76TM @victoriamixon

8 Things 1 Writer Learned About Public Reading from Playing Violin: http://bit.ly/HFqbEm @diymfa

1 self-published writer shares his March sales results: http://bit.ly/HFqjnl @davidgaughran

Self-Publishers: Don't Think Content, Think Problem-Solving: http://bit.ly/HTkrpu @jfbookman

French Editor's Jump to Agenting "Akin to Treachery": http://bit.ly/HTkwcZ @pubperspectives

Support Other Writers: 10 Great Ways: http://bit.ly/HTkxO7 @cherylrwrites

E-Book Formatting For Beginners: http://bit.ly/HTkFx1 @talliroland

5 Principles for Using Facebook: http://bit.ly/HTkNMU @janefriedman

Coincidence Is Part Of Storytelling: http://bit.ly/HTkSjH @mooderino

Writing Animal Fantasy: http://bit.ly/Ib1T3e @janice_hardy

3 Reminders about eBooks Versus Paper Books: http://bit.ly/Ib1VZ9 @jodyhedlund

Is making books social a good thing or a bad thing? http://bit.ly/HHHvdX @mathewi

Mixing the 36 Dramatic Situations to Create Something Fresh: http://bit.ly/HHHA1k @4kidlit

The authorial smirk: http://bit.ly/HHHJ4G @sarahahoyt

7 Similar but Distinct Word Pairs: http://bit.ly/HHHKpg @writing_tips

The 7 virtues: http://bit.ly/HHHO8w @mistymassey

The Headline Breath Test: http://bit.ly/HHHTJw

Should I Add [fill in the blank] To My Story? http://bit.ly/HHIgUn @greyhausagency

9 ways to use Meetup.com in a publicity campaign: http://bit.ly/HHJ2ki @PublicityHound

2 Hours to Write (And Why it Works): http://bit.ly/IRYCEl @serbaughman

Teacher's Guide for your Children's Books: http://bit.ly/HHJcIl

Using setting to create mood: http://bit.ly/IRZ6tY

Making Readers Turn the Page: http://bit.ly/HHJm2n @novelrocket

The Action / Tension / Emotion Ratio: http://bit.ly/HHJqiy @michellediener

Another reason why experience is important for writers: http://bit.ly/HHJuix

The Funds for Writers resource of grants, markets, and contest listings for writers: http://bit.ly/HHJAGO @hopeclark

This week's Writing on the Ether from @Porter_Anderson features @ljndawson @mathewi @draccah @MegWolitzer @nickbilton: http://bit.ly/HHKfrT

For literary inspiration follow @AdviceToWriters. Jon Winokur dispenses writerly wisdom of the ages.

Add the Writer's Knowledge Base as a search engine in all browsers: http://bit.ly/xQl51h

A useful resource for describing settings, emotions, shapes, textures, and more: http://bit.ly/eIGRMO @AngelaAckerman

Have a great week!

A Resource for Writers and a Review of “Lowcountry Bribe”

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve got an extra post for y’all this week—a slightly different one than usual, since I’m profiling a particular writer. I wanted to mention both a resource for writers and a recently released novel by the author behind the resource.

C. Hope Clark has been editing the award-winning Funds for Writers website for years, listing grants, contests, and markets for writers. She sends out an informative free newsletter with featured writing opportunities (there’s also a larger version that’s a paid subscription).

Hope’s blog is also a great resource for writers.

If you’re considering freelancing for a living or looking for ways to make extra income as a writer, consider visiting Hope’s site for leads.

I’ve met Hope in person (she’s a fellow Carolinian) at at least one conference and found her just as organized and informed as she seems on her blog.

I also recently had the opportunity to read Hope’s new release, a fast- paced mystery, Lowcountry Bribe.

The protagonist, Carolina Slade, is a civil servant for the Department of Agriculture and makes loans to farmers for a living. This somewhat dry, bureaucratic job suddenly becomes more interesting when a hog farmer client offers her a bribe. When she reports his actions to her superiors, she’s shocked when the Feds become involved.

We learn that the Department of Agriculture office has recently had both a suspicious death and a disappearance. As the Feds set up a sting to arrest the corrupt farmer, Slade realizes that the investigators aren’t giving her the whole story on their interest in her office and the bribe. And now there are threats to both her own life, and her children’s.

Hope’s love for the region is evident in her loving and accurate portrayal of Southern life in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Her own background in agriculture lends the story real authenticity.

I thought her characters were deftly drawn, particularly her strong protagonist. And I also enjoyed the humor and lighter moments in the book—it’s tough to juggle both action and humor, but Hope did it well.

Now it’s your turn. Read any good mysteries lately? Located any great sites or resources for writers?

FTC Full Disclosure - The author sent me a copy of the book, hoping I would review it. This didn’t influence my review.

Another Reason Experience is Important for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

[image error]I spent the other morning at the DMV. The DMV, for my non-US readers, is the Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s one of those dreaded places here in the States—full of high counters and long lines.

My son was with me to get his driving permit. We’d arrived 45 minutes before the office opened and were already 5th in line. By the time it opened, the line wrapped around the corner of the squatty government building. It was freezing outside—a shock after such a balmy winte--and my son and I were moving around, swinging our arms, as we waited. His bouncing was probably nerves and mine was a futile attempt to keep warm.

We finally navigated through the different stations after a bad moment where we’d sat in “the wrong set of chairs” for what we were in line for. The DMV has always reminded me a little of Dickens’ Circumlocution Office. We quickly sat in the right set of chairs and my son took his test.

And, thankfully, passed it. But he wasn’t completely satisfied because he’d missed several questions and he’s a typical Type-A firstborn.

“Mom, I missed the stupidest questions!”

“I’m sure they weren’t stupid.”

“They were. One of them asked when roads are the slickest. I chose ‘after three hours of raining’ because of all the cars that hydroplane—the roads have got to be really slick then. But they said the right answer was ‘within the first 15 minutes of raining’,” he said.

“Ohh. Well, yes. They’re right. That’s because the oil rises up to the road surface and you skid on all the old oil puddles on the road,” I explained.

This didn’t cheer him up. “See! Even you knew it and you haven’t even studied the book.”

“But I’ve been driving for 26 years. I know it completely through experience.”

I think that’s one thing that sometimes gets missed when writers recommend frequent writing as a way to improve. What tends to get mentioned is the skill you acquire.

What I think practice and experience gets you are personal strategies for advancing a story and the confidence to complete one.

If you hit a roadblock, you’ll know the best way for you to handle it. For me, that means marking the scene with asterisks and coming back to it later.

You’ll know what to do when you’re stuck on a scene and you aren’t in the right mind-frame to write it. For me, this means skipping the scene and writing another one that’s better suited to my mood.

You’ll find the easiest method for you, yourself, to write a book…you’ll learn if you should outline, wing it, write in the mornings, write in the evenings, write during your commute. You’ll learn shortcuts, your strengths and your weaknesses. You’ll learn how to keep yourself motivated.

You’ll gain confidence that you can finish a book, submit it, and stomach the reviews, good or bad.

Experience is the only way to figure out what works best for us. It’s the only way to know how to make it through the obstacle course that each book presents. It’s the only way to deal with the end result of being published and having that book in the hands of the readers.

You can read manuals on driving and manuals on writing. But experience counts more. (And, I’d add, experience reading the genre that you write.)

It’s true that our writing improves each time we sit down to write and with each book that we finish. I know my books have stronger verbs, better dialogue, rounder characters, and more literary elements than they did when I started out.

That improvement is more intangible and murky, though, unless it’s directly compared side by side with other examples of my writing. What motivates me, usually, are tangible results. Motivation is a stack of finished books and my level of confidence— things I can easily see, easily feel.

It’s the knowledge of what to do at an intersection full of oil slicks when it starts to rain.

What does your regular writing habit help you gain?

Constructing and Weaving in Subplots

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

My last post was about my layering approach to writing books, and I got a question from a blog reader about how to create subplots and then how to weave the subplot layer into a finished draft.

Subplots are sometimes my favorite part of a book. In fact, occasionally the main plot of a novel will leave me cold as a reader and I'll flip ahead in the book just to find out how the subplot ends up.

My subplots are almost always humor-based and end up tying into the book's ending. Your subplot could involve a budding romance, or the protagonist's teenager's gradual descent into drug use…really, any plot smaller than the main one that can enhance the main plot (through conflict or character development or by adding complications) in some way.

*****Since I don't like to write spoilers for anyone else's books, I'll do a couple for mine (in books that are older releases) as examples… they're minor spoilers. But heads up if you're one of my readers!*****

What I do is come up with complete, small episodes…almost short stories. Then I create scenes with each installment of the subplot story, to create what will end up being a running serial throughout the main plot. For me, it could even be on the level of a running joke that suddenly has more significance at the end of the book.

Most of my books have more than one subplot. The subplots vary in length and complexity. I'll use two for examples…a very short one and a longer one.

One of my subplots involved two men who were friends with each other and also friends with my sleuth. One of the men was bragging about a prized bottle of expensive and rare wine that he'd acquired. The other man kept dropping hints or outright begging to come over and share a glass of this wine. He found opportunities to celebrate and eagerly asked his friend if he'd open the bottle. But the friend always refused.

I started this subplot fairly early in the book—and dropped in the dialogue mentioning it following a regular scene in the book. So I had a first mention of the subplot with the man bragging about the wine. Then I continued with it at intervals throughout the story….again, each mention was like a mini-episode or the next installment of the mini-serial. So I wrote in a couple of other mentions, escalating the friend's frustration and his requests to participate in a wine tasting.

Then, at the end of the book, I had the friend completely give up on the chance that he'd ever sample the wine. He decides to go to the wine store and purchase a bottle himself. On the way back with the wine, he comes across the sleuth in a perilous situation near the wine store, and drops the bottle to come to her aid.

This is really, the briefest of subplots. It adds a little humor to the story when things get serious with the murders. It gives the opportunity for bits of character development as my protagonist reacts to the friends' battle over the wine. It gives a change of pace. And then the subplot makes a surprise appearance again at the end of the story and lends a feeling of continuity and completion at the finish.

Another subplot I wrote into a different series was a little longer and a bit more involved. My protagonist for that series, Myrtle, is a crotchety elderly woman who has a reputation for being prickly. A feral cat takes up with her and she genuinely becomes charmed with it…although the cat attacks visitors to her home. She admires its toughness.

Again, I wrote the subplot straight through on a separate document—the whole story of the subplot in episodes. Then I wove those little episodic scenes into the main plot and tied it into the ending.

Throughout the story the subplot developed: Myrtle becomes acquainted with the cat, the cat acts out with various visitors to the home. The cat develops a true fondness for Myrtle and decides to bring her gifts—sometimes gifts that aren't dead. Myrtle receives bunnies and other creatures from her determined cat friend. I interspersed these episodes throughout the book. This particular subplot helped develop Myrtle as a character—and showed another, softer, side to her.

At the end, when Myrtle is confronted by the killer, a separate subplot comes back into play (Myrtle's horrible cooking that plagues the series) which leads into the cat's intrusion during Myrtle's confrontation with the murderer….which creates enough of a distraction for Myrtle to take control of the situation.

So….that's it in a nutshell. I do want my subplots to end up impacting the main plot, develop my characters a bit, and relieve tension in my books. I write them as complete stories, then chop them up into scenes and intersperse them through the main story. Then I tie the subplot into the ending of my book (which also helps me with writing endings…never my favorite thing to write.)

Hope this helps instead of being completely confusing. Now it's your turn—how do you write in subplot layers to your book? I'd love to hear some other ideas (especially since, when I find something that works for me, I stop thinking of other approaches!)

Lists and Layers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Recently I was at an event where I spoke with aspiring authors after my talk.

They asked about the number of books I'd written, then they looked both amazed and discouraged at the same time. "How do you get through a book? There's just so much to think about when you're writing."

I told them that I try not to think about the big picture (plowing through 275 pages, editing it, submitting it to my editor, and worried waiting for reviews) as much as possible. It just makes me feel overwhelmed. If I approach the book as simply advancing the story a day at a time (with an idea of where I'm heading and keeping in mind what readers might enjoy most), then it seems like a much smaller project.

Another trick is that I'm not trying to keep everything in mind as I'm writing a book (except reader enjoyment.) I love reading books about writing, magazine articles on writing, and blog posts on writing, but I can't focus on character arc, story structure, engaging descriptions, and all the other elements that these resources recommend for a good story.

I use layering and lists as tools to make sure I round out my story later. I write my books straight through (without pausing for chapter breaks) and end up with about 55,000 words. This is the bare-bones story. Then I start layering in other elements. This is what I'm doing right now to put the finishing touches on a book I'm turning in at the end of this month.

Layers

Parts of the book that I add in layers for 2nd and 3rd drafts:

Setting descriptions Character descriptions Character last names and place names (I'll mark as *** on the draft so I can find my spots later.) Any scenes I was stuck on. I just make a couple of notes about what I wanted to accomplish with the scene and move on to the next scene. Subplots can be included perfectly as a separate layer. In fact, it's almost easier that way because you can just gradually weave them in to the story that's already on the page.

I do the same thing with revising. If you think to yourself that you're editing a whole book, the thought of it can be just as overwhelming as writing the book was.

These are issues that I address in layers for the revision (and for a longer list of things I look for during revision, click this post)

Typos/grammar Crutch words that I use too frequently Conflict—I make a pass through to make sure each scene either forwards the plot or adds to the conflict Continuity (is the character wearing the same outfit on page 20 that she's wearing on page 21?) Subplots—did they resolve? Did they tie into the main plot? Loose ends—is everything resolved at the end of the book?

Lists

Somehow, it's easier for me to come up with lots of different ideas if I make them into bullet points and put them in list form. These lists could include:

My protagonist's catch-phrases.
My protagonist's features. Different physical traits of my protagonist.
My protagonist's facial expressions.
*5 possible endings for this book.
*5 twists.
*5 possible subplots.
*5 ways the subplots could tie into the main plot.
Or you could do it for character growth:
*5 ways the character could grow.
*5 surprising things that we could learn about a character.
*Top 10 list of things that bother the protagonist (then 10 things that would drive the character crazy that I could write into the book.)
*10 things this character loves more than anything.
You could find other uses for lists, too:
*5 ways to add some unexpected elements to the book (humor, suspense, sadness, fear.)
*5 ways to describe the setting.

The best results are woven into the story or used to inspire dialogue that develops my characters more.

These are the tools I use for every book to make sure that I keep things fresh and keep from feeling overwhelmed. How do you keep focused and keep moving ahead with your story?

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

All the links below, and over 15,000 others are found in the Writer's Knowledge Base search engine—where you can search on any topic for free. Like us on Facebook or sign up for our free monthly newsletter for the web's best links on writing.

Don't' forget the new release blogfest that Hart Johnson and I are hosting on June 5th—find more information and sign up here. The best entries get signed copies of our new releases!

5 Ways to Get Past Writer's Block: http://bit.ly/Huvrsk @fictionnotes

Fight scene basics: http://bit.ly/HuvSTs @jamesagard

You're agented? Cool! But can she sell you? http://bit.ly/Hadtg9 @behlerpublish

PublishAmerica, Literary Agent: An Inside Look: http://bit.ly/H4IDHa @victoriastrauss

5 Ways to Liven Up a Description: http://bit.ly/H4IH9Y @DiYMfa

Making Platform our Art: http://bit.ly/H4IYcV @KristenLambTX

How Screenplay Structure Can Help Plotting & Pace In Your Novels: http://bit.ly/H4J6cp @BryanThomasS

Taking the Mystery Out of Writing Mysteries: http://bit.ly/H4Jc3K @DPLyleMD

Trust your instincts: http://bit.ly/H4JkQT @anna_elliott

Is creativity going the way of the collective? http://bit.ly/HxI34t @creativitypost

6 Benefits of Blogging: http://bit.ly/HxIuM8 @LyndaRYoung

Advice for writers on GoodReads: http://bit.ly/H3KAEJ @WriterCrys

4 tips for writing humor: http://bit.ly/H3J2ux @write_practice

Character Development Questions: http://bit.ly/HxJjom @HeatherMcCorkle

The Rise of Indie Authors and How This Helps Publishing: http://bit.ly/HxJos9 @thecreativepenn

Startup Costs Of Freelancing: http://bit.ly/HxJwb6 @writertank

5 Tricks To Adapting A Well Known Story For Fiction: http://bit.ly/Hr4p8w @BryanThomasS

3 Writing "Cheats" for Making Dialogue Work Harder & Ring True: http://bit.ly/Hr4Dg7 @MuseInks

A TV Guide Approach to Hooking Your Reader: http://bit.ly/H2zFFY @writerashley

Turning your ebook into a free ad: http://bit.ly/H86irr @curiosityquills

When Characters Change (or Don't): http://bit.ly/H86ruX @beth_barany

Read Your Way to Better Writing: http://bit.ly/H86xTi @writeitsideways

Should You Write the Whole Trilogy Before You Query? http://bit.ly/H86Cq1 @Janice_Hardy

An Agent Defines "Unsolicited Manuscripts": http://bit.ly/H86Ld3 @bookendsjessica

What If Our Story Idea Has Already Been Done? http://bit.ly/H86RBo @JamiGold

Precise story summaries are key to queries: http://bit.ly/H86Xcr @greyhausagency

How to do Social Media Right: http://bit.ly/H870F1 @AskATechTeacher

A helpful look at the Wordpress dashboard: http://bit.ly/H874ol @jhansenwrites

Why We Need to Put Our Books to Bed: http://bit.ly/H878Eq @jodyhedlund

Goodreads' guide to dystopian novels (infographic): http://bit.ly/H87lHD

Outside the box marketing: http://bit.ly/H87qLH

The Next Self-Publishing Frontier: E-Books In Translation: http://bit.ly/HEPvbu @laurahazardowen

The Write It Forward Author Marketing Plan: http://bit.ly/HEPYKY @jentalty

The New iPad Reviewed For Authors: http://bit.ly/HEQgkY

Making Sure Your Agent Can Sell You – Part 2: Description vs. Specifics: http://bit.ly/HEQybB @behlerpublish

Symbols in The Hunger Games: (series spoilers): http://bit.ly/HEQSae @tordotcom

How Honesty Compels Readers to Comment: http://bit.ly/HER0GA @problogger

The Marketing Paradox: Start Small to Get Big: http://bit.ly/HERQmS @janefriedman

That Final Manuscript Cleanup: http://bit.ly/HaPlIm @noveleditor

Narrative, Plot, and Story: http://bit.ly/HaPmMm @writing_tips

Scene endings and sub-genres: http://bit.ly/HaPv2v

The Potential of Social Media in Driving Book Sales: http://bit.ly/HQkzmw @digibookworld

What Authors and Publishers Can Learn from the Hunger Games Marketing Campaign, Part 2: http://bit.ly/HQkSOo @syntactics

A Dialogue Comparison of Twilight and Harry Potter: http://bit.ly/HQmdEO

Moving Beyond Self-Publishing: How are Locke, Hocking, and James selling? http://bit.ly/HFBNGD @PublishersWkly

PublishAmerica, Literary Agent: An Inside Look: http://bit.ly/H4IDHa @victoriastrauss

Tips for a non-fiction proposal: http://bit.ly/HRaO7I @nicolamorgan

Thoughts on being a hybrid author: http://bit.ly/HRb8U2 @KristenLambTX

Writer @ChuckWendig on rejection: http://bit.ly/HRbAS4

Recommending Books for the Characters of "Mad Men:" http://bit.ly/HRbJVC @bookriot

A Reader's Drinking Game, First Edition: http://bit.ly/HRbTMF @NewDorkReview

6 Tips For Hiring The Right Freelance Editor: http://bit.ly/HRcy0D @meghancward

Does Your Character Wear Purple Converses? http://bit.ly/HRcHkJ

Humor Writing for People Who Aren't Funny: http://bit.ly/HRcNcg @jeffgoins for @write_practice

12 Steps to Blog Tour Success: http://bit.ly/HRcSN4

Creative Writing Prompts: Secrets and Lies for Your Characters: http://bit.ly/HRcZYY @howtowriteshop

Believing We Have a Story to Tell: http://bit.ly/HRdjad @AReasonToWrite

Tips on Showing Character Motivations: http://bit.ly/HRdmmk @Janice_Hardy

Worldbuilding--measurements: http://bit.ly/HH1jdu @JulietteWade

How writers can flourish when confronted with story restrictions: http://bit.ly/HH1Dsx @storyfix

Freelancer Advice from NYT Magazine Culture Editor: http://bit.ly/HH1Snu @jasonboog

Traditional Publishing: The Query And The Funnel: http://bit.ly/HH1ZPV @thecreativepenn

60 Synonyms for "Trip": http://bit.ly/HH2cCK @writing_tips

Patient Sues Doctor for Using Her in a Book: http://bit.ly/HH2h9B @passivevoiceblg

How Much Should You Write Every Day? http://bit.ly/HKGq0O

Does comedy have to be cruel? http://bit.ly/HKGBJz @salon

Elements of Fantasy: Brownies: http://bit.ly/HKGD4i @fantasyfaction

Why The Hunger Games Is the Future of Writing: http://bit.ly/HKGL3I @jeffgoins

11 things to know about blogging: http://bit.ly/HKHxO9 @victoriamixon

Finding the Story in Nonfiction: http://bit.ly/HKHHoI

Tips for Writing the Small Town Romance: http://bit.ly/HKHNwC @ktlane3

A tip for making a living as a writer: http://bit.ly/HKHS3n @rachellegardner

Amazon's Author Central: Keeping Track of Your Books: http://bit.ly/HKHZvO @fictionnotes

Story Structure--Inciting Event and Key Event: http://bit.ly/HKI0Qj @KMWeiland

How Writing against the Grain Creates a Niche: http://bit.ly/HKI82l @hopeclark

The Writing Life: The Value of Tenacity: http://bit.ly/HKIciv

Quirks and legs matter more than talent and perfection: http://bit.ly/HKIeHh @speechwriterguy

Feeling stuck? 7 "block" busters for writers: http://bit.ly/HKIl5H @RuthHarrisBooks for @annerallen

Writing Tips: Guns, Bullets And Shooting: http://bit.ly/HKIqX2 @dsawyer for @thecreativepenn

The Chicago Manual of Style isn't the only guide, reminds one editor: http://bit.ly/HKIwhl

Steps to take when preparing to write a novel: http://bit.ly/HKINRk @lisagailgreen

Trends in Publishing: Android Apps for Writing: http://bit.ly/HKIOEW @chicklitgurrl

Give Your Writing A Case of Spring Fever: http://bit.ly/HKIXrS @serbaughman for @writeitsideways

Basic Plot Brainstorming: http://bit.ly/HKJ1ba @eMergentPublish

Persistence Often Leads to Publication: http://bit.ly/HKJ2vT @livewritethrive

Why 1 Writer is Considering Deleting Her Facebook Account: http://bit.ly/HKJ9aP @janice_hardy

The use of gossip and rumors in crime fiction: http://bit.ly/HhJfZ4 @mkinberg

When worldbuilding becomes too much: http://bit.ly/HhK4kF @greyhausagency

5 blogging lessons inspired by parenting: http://bit.ly/HhKaZk @rzive

Celebrating the Complicated Girl: http://bit.ly/HhKjMz @yahighway

10 tips for conferences: http://bit.ly/HhKAyU @msheatherwebb

Scrap"irregardless": http://bit.ly/HhKDe2 @howtowriteshop

5 SEO Blog Tips to Increase Traffic to Your Site: http://bit.ly/HhMG1W @karencv

3 Pieces of Advice For Aspiring Authors: http://bit.ly/HhMRtV @ChuckSambuchino

Tips for ending chapters: http://bit.ly/HhMYFV @Kid_Lit

The Seattle Times--no fan of Amazon: http://bit.ly/HhOeZE @Porter_Anderson @LauraHazardOwen

Writers--self-pub moonlighting is serious business: http://bit.ly/HZSqhL @Porter_Anderson @CFSaller @jamesscottbell

Completion, and Resonance: why the first chapter is like the last: http://bit.ly/Hruwqb @juliettewade

3 ideas for developing voice: http://bit.ly/HruGOc @KristenLambTX

Farther vs. Further: http://bit.ly/HruM8A @writing_tips

13 Ways to Develop a Story That's Too Short: http://bit.ly/HruQoF

Life is Short. Read with Purpose. http://bit.ly/Hrv0MU @diymfa

Story structure tips: http://bit.ly/Hrv53j

Story endings and resolution of conflicts: http://bit.ly/HrvaDW

How To Pitch Your Book to Online Outlets: http://bit.ly/Hrvhzo @galleycat

Simple tips for keeping a journal: http://bit.ly/HrwLd7

Training The Writer: http://bit.ly/HrwS8z @sarahahoyt

Do-It-Yourself Publishing: http://bit.ly/HrxpqX @passivevoiceblg @Occupy_Pub

5 Ways to Get Your Book into Bookstores: http://bit.ly/HqoASf @jkairys for @JFBookman

Defining literary fiction: http://bit.ly/HqoJoH @janefriedman @sanjidaoconnell

7 Dialog Basics That Can Help Tighten Our Stories: http://bit.ly/HqoLgz @jodyhedlund

You Must Engage Your Creative Side: http://bit.ly/HqoSsi @jeffgoins

7 deadly sins: http://bit.ly/HqoTwv

Keep Your Characters True To Themselves: http://bit.ly/Hqp231 @SharlaWrites

The Dos and Don'ts of Novel Endings: http://bit.ly/Hqp3Uz @writersdigest

10 Blogging Fears Worth Chasing Down: http://bit.ly/Hqp8HZ @catseyewriter

Selling Ebooks Direct: How To Set Up A Simple E-Bookstore: http://bit.ly/HqpbDF @DavidGaughran

Who to Trust When Writing Your Book? http://bit.ly/Hqpjmt @originalimpulse

Writing lessons learned from Heist Society: http://bit.ly/Hqpoqg @juliemusil

When query letters mention professional editing: http://bit.ly/Hqprm7 @behlerpublish

Microsoft OneNote – An Author's Best Friend: http://bit.ly/HqpwWT @selfpubreview

Twitter Tips: How to Keep Your Followers: http://bit.ly/Id1Jce @AnnieNeugebauer

The Power Of Diligence: http://bit.ly/Id1VbI @BryanThomasS

7 Blogging Mistakes Authors Make: http://bit.ly/HlZQuM @goblinwriter

8 Reasons Your Story Might Not Be Selling: http://bit.ly/HPHQXZ

1 writer's typical process for writing a chapter: http://bit.ly/Hm06Kf @fictionnotes

2 Tips to Accelerate Completion of Your Writing Projects: http://bit.ly/Hm0dWf

Use music as motivation to write: http://bit.ly/Hm0k40 @byrozmorris @jamesscottbell

How to start a blog: http://bit.ly/Hm0p7S @woodwardkaren

Top tips for cozy mystery writing: http://bit.ly/Hm0tEB

Story structure--the reversal: http://bit.ly/Ho03zx @Mommy_Authors

Is your book a Fence-Sitter? Consider finishing your book! http://bit.ly/Ho0g5I @behlerpublish

6 Core Storytelling Competencies: Good… Better… Best. http://bit.ly/Ho0oC5 @storyfix

How to successfully launch a YA print novel: http://bit.ly/Ho0OZk @laurapauling