Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 179

Top Tips for Cozy Mystery Writing and a Crazy Cozy Blogfest

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Today I thought I'd move into mystery writing territory for a while and include some of my top tips for cozy mystery writing (some of which will work well with other types of mysteries.)

Today's post comes a little less than two months before the release of a new cozy series for me and the debut of a new cozy series from my friend Hart Johnson. We thought we'd band together and make a fun blog hop on June 5th) to celebrate our releases and host a giveaway. More information is at the bottom of the post.

What's a cozy mystery? Cozies, sometimes called traditional mysteries, are a subgenre in a large field of mystery subgenres. They're primarily defined by their use of an amateur sleuth, lack of gore and profanity, offstage murder, and focus on the whodunit puzzle. These mysteries are frequently (not always) humorous, character-focused, set in small-towns, and are part of a series.

Tips for cozy writing:

The sleuth will be a gifted amateur, but you'll want to have a police source. Make sure your sleuth has access to some of the same information that the police has—time of death and the potential weapon, for example.

Make sure you're leaving several clues to the murderer's identity, but aren't making them too obvious. The clues need to be scattered throughout the book, but the reader doesn't need the equivalent of a neon sign pointing out that a clue happened. Find a way to lay the clue but to distract attention from it—maybe another suspect arriving on stage? A sudden argument between the sleuth and another character? Something that seems like a more important clue?

Give the reader a reason to care about the case. Is the victim someone very likeable and innocent and they want to avenge her death? Is one of the suspects wrongly accused and needs to be vindicated? Is the sleuth somehow personally involved or emotionally connected to the case?

Be careful with your number of suspects. Suspect numbers can get a little tricky. You want enough suspects to ensure that the killer's identity is a surprise, but not so many that the reader forgets who they are. I usually like five suspects, killing one in the middle of the book. One of my editors actually prefers fewer.

Have suspects tell both lies and truths. The sleuth and reader will try to discern which is which. If everyone has something to hide or someone to protect, it creates a lot more conflict in the story.

Consider eliminating the most promising suspect. It can shake up a story in the middle of a book.

Crazy Cozy Blogfest

Now, to help Hart and me with our upcoming releases (and have the chance to win signed books) you can create your own cozy mystery. Except it will be a lot shorter and you don't have to use any of the tips I included above. :)

Sign up with the Linky tool below, adding your blog to our list of June 5th participants.

Include:
1) Sleuth (age, occupation, maybe a little family info)
2) Sidekick (either friend or foil, but someone who always seems to be around)
3) Setting (town, city, or other sort of place)
4) Theme (go nuts)
5) Twist (be as creative as you like)

Write it up in 150-250 words (keeping things short for the blog hop).
Please include either our book descriptions or a promo mention or a link to our sites or for buying books.

Click
here to enter
This list will close in 61 days, 3 hrs, 54 min (6/5/2012 11:59 PM CST

The Azalea Assault
Cam Harris loves her job as public relations manager for the Roanoke Garden Society. It allows her to combine her three loves, spinning the press, showing off her favorite town, and promoting her favorite activity. She's just achieved a huge coup by enlisting Garden Delights, the country's premiere gardening magazine, to feature the exquisite garden of RGS founder, Neil Patrick. She's even managed to enlist world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges. Unfortunately, Jean-Jacques is a first-rate cad—insulting the RGS members and gardening, goosing every woman in the room, and drinking like a lush. It is hardly a surprise when he turns up dead. But when Cam's brother-in-law is accused and her sister begs her to solve the crime, that is when things really get prickly.

Alyse Carlson: Alyse Carlson is the pen name for Hart Johnson who writes books from her bathtub. By day she is an academic researcher at a large Midwestern university. She lives with her husband, two teenage children and two fur balls. The dust bunnies don't count. This will be her first published book.

Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Confessions of a Watery Tart

Prizes: Hart/Alyse and I will pick our our favorite entries and both winners will get signed copies of both books.

Please help us promote the blogfest by taking the button and banner (thanks to artist Joris Ammerlaan for the buttons) and/or share the Linky Tool below for the blog hop.

Quilt or Innocence
Beatrice has a lot of gossip to catch up on—especially with the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop about to close. It seems that Judith, the landlord everyone loves to hate, wants to raise the rent, despite being a quilter herself… But when Judith is found dead, the harmless gossip becomes an intricate patchwork of mischievous motives. And it's up to Beatrice's expert eye to decipher the pattern and catch the killer, before her life gets sewn up for good.

Elizabeth Spann Craig: Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer's Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010, 2011, 2011.

Links:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
Indie Bound
Mystery Writing is Murder

Thanks, everybody!

Internal Dialogue

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One of the hardest things for me, starting out as a novelist, was internal dialogue.

Mysteries require the sleuth to mull things over. I really struggled over how to make these passages work. I tried putting thoughts in italics. I tried writing in first person. I tried showing thoughts through the character's actions and dialogue with other characters.

I must have scrapped fifty or more pages of rotten internal dialogue. It all seemed like it would jerk a reader right out of the book.

I think this is one of those areas where the more we write, the more we get comfortable (and maybe different approaches work with different writers.) I thought I'd share what works for me now:

Deep POV: Deep point-of-view puts readers inside the character's head for an intimate view of his world. While you're in this character's head, you can look at the world through his eyes (noting the kinds of things he would find striking or interesting or irritating or disconcerting and remark on them in that character's voice and using his vocabulary.) In deep POV, you can also get rid of words like thought, wondered, and knew since the reader understands that they're reading from that character's perspective. The reader sees, hears, and notices only what that character would. It's also a great way to show instead of tell (Her heart pounded instead of Judy was frightened, etc.)

I like fantasy writer Juliette Wade's checklist for Deep POV. And writer Terry Odell has a quick trick for making sure you're staying in deep POV:

To "test" yourself: Substitute "I" for "he" (or the character's name) in a scene. Is there anyone else sneaking in there?

Sidekicks: Too much straight narrative usually makes me want to skim, so I try to interrupt it with dialogue when I'm writing. One way to know what a character is thinking is by having that character bounce ideas off of another character…a sidekick. In mysteries, this sidekick can be a Dr. Watson or a Captain Hastings type who actually helps with solving the case, but in your genre, this could be a best friend, spouse, parent, child—you get the idea.

How do you handle internal dialogue? Do you use much of it in your books?

Character-Based Humor

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Recently I was asked for tips on writing humor.  My books are billed as humorous cozies and the person emailing me asked if I could share some techniques.

I think that's a tough subject to tackle, actually.  In person, I have a more dry sense of humor—I'm definitely not that much of a funny person unless I'm telling a story.  When I'm writing, I'm usually working with a particular type of humor…character based.  Let me use Saturday as an example (and we all have days like this.)

I've mentioned before that my ten year old daughter is absolutely obsessed with horses.  I don't share the obsession, but I'm happy to facilitate her horse fixes (to a point!  My husband and I keep insisting we won't become horse owners.)

She was set on going to the Carolina Cup steeplechase race on Saturday, so I bought a couple of tickets and packed a lunch and we were off.

I knew, though, that the entire situation was fraught with danger.  She was so determined to watch the horses.  This meant that the universe would conspire for her not to see the horses.

And, sure enough, problems arose right away.  The website directions from Charlotte to Camden, SC weren't clear and took us off in the wrong direction.  I finally turned on my GPS and got us heading in the right direction.  And we ended up getting there fairly late and ended up having to park with the college kids who'd come with their kegs.

Because we'd parked so far away, it was about 3/4 of a mile to reach the main course.  We had to cross the infield and stamp through the tall grass.  As we got closer to the course, the spectators grew older and banquets were laid out with fine silver.  This was all ignored by my daughter, intent on the horses. 

We got as close as we possibly could.  I squinted at the grandstand and asked a staff member, "Can we sit there?  I see seats.  My daughter wants to see the horses."

"If you have $650 a person."

I decided we would just get as close as we could aside from being in the grandstand.

Of course, I'd forgotten to bring the folding chairs from the trunk.  I told her to stay put and not to talk to strangers and I trotted back the 3/4 mile to the car.  As I was returning, still running, with the chairs, they closed off the gates to the infield I needed to cross…because the horses were running through.  This, naturally, added another 20 minutes to my trip back…and when I returned she told me in exasperation that a crowd of people had come up to ask her if she'd "lost her mommy."  They wouldn't stop worrying over her and coddling her and she'd had a difficult time craning her head to see the course.

Between the bacchanalian shenanigans of the college students who occasionally staggered up to see the horses and blocked our view, friendly and well-meaning spectators who tried striking up conversation with my doll-like-diminutive and grimly focused daughter, I was hiding a smile most of the day.  If I'd been writing a book, these would have been the basic components for a humorous scene: the serious little girl, ferociously intent on the horses and the world working against her.

Character based humor is my favorite kind of humor.  It's easy to write and doesn't only create humor—it also makes for conflict (a gentler sort) and character development, too.

Even easier is a comic foil for the protagonist—someone who will put the character in these humorous situations on a regular basis: what we saw in The Odd Couple with Felix and Oscar.

What made Lucy and Ethel's struggle in the candy factory so funny?  One reason was that they were so earnest about doing well but completely unsuited for the job they were facing. Because they were so serious about making a paycheck, the day's unraveling and their horror at it, made the situation funnier and funnier.

This is as close as I can come to explaining my approach to humor, but I'm interested in hearing yours.  Do you write humorous scenes into your books?  Have any tips?

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

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Endings

First of all, I want to thank the folks at Writer's Digest for putting this blog in their list of 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2012. It's much appreciated.

Today I thought I'd kick around the topic of endings again…since they're my nemesis and I'm dealing with them now. :) Beginnings are something that I have absolutely no problem with. I almost always open with dialogue that deals with a problem resulting from the mystery or the future victim.

But endings drive me a little crazy. I'm turning in a manuscript in May and I'm done with it so I thought I'd give it a couple of days to just marinate while I worked on my next project.

I decided I wasn't crazy about my ending for the book. It ended on a bit of a down-note. I didn't think that would be very popular with my readers since I always end on an up-note. I have, for the first time, put in a series subplot and it was the subplot that created this down ending.

I've got to be vague here since obviously this isn't a book that's even going to hit the shelves until spring 2013. Basically, I wanted to keep the ending for the subplot, but I wanted to extend the book's ending so that there's something positive happening at the end of the book (and so readers will want to read book three!)

What I did was to make some lists…my favorite way to work through plot problems or to generate plot ideas. To come up with an alternate/extended ending I:

Made a list of as many possible endings for the book that I could come up with. These ranged from the sublime to the completely ridiculous. The idea was just to come up with options and to get my creative juices going. No, aliens are not going to come down and take up the citizens of Dappled Hills in their spaceship. Brainstorm as many as you can, even if you get an idea that you like. Especially if you get an idea that you like, because you may find that you can come up with an even better one.

Took another look at various subplots in my story while brainstorming my list. One of my subplots involved membership for the protagonist's quilting guild, for instance. Another involved a newcomer trying to fit in to the cliquey small town. I realized I could combine the two subplots to create an ending that would also lead into the next book in the series.

Brainstormed ways to connect to the theme of the book. I've got a couple of different themes running in the series—as basic as quilting and the fabric of friendship and as complex as adjusting to life changes and aging. It's always a good idea to check back with your themes and look for tie-ins at the end.

Those are what works for me and for my genre. But for other books, I've seen writers plant doubt, hint at future conflict, and create a change through a secondary character and his interaction with the protagonist.

Do you have a tough time with endings? How do you create resolution at the end of your story?

Writing—Getting Rid of the Fear

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I was at an event recently and heard one of the PR people for the corporation coming out of his office, sort of flustered. "Hectic day," he said.

I asked him what was wrong and he launched right into it (he knows I'm a writer): "I'm organizing another event," he said. "A retirement dinner with speakers. And none of the three people who are talking about the honoree at the dinner wants to write their own speech! So I'm writing three different speeches in three different voices. And they all know this person better than me!"

I said, "That's got to be frustrating, and a lot of extra work for you. I'm asked to write a lot of stuff for people, too. Resumes and cover letters, letters to principals, complaint letters, whatever. Maybe when people know you can write, they just want to hand it over."

"You know what it is?" he asked. "You're not afraid. You're not afraid of writing and they are."

It's true. The times that I've been asked to write things for other people, I got the distinct impression that they were afraid if they did it, they'd screw up. If they wrote their own material, it would mean opening themselves up to being misunderstood or having their mistakes on display. They were worried their letter wouldn't sound right and would present a poor impression of them.

But writers haven't totally shaken the fear, either. Ours just takes different forms—it goes to the next level:

We might be afraid:

That we can't finish a book.

That we can't successfully represent on paper the story that's in our heads.

That our book will be rejected by publishers or agents or readers. Or that we'll be rejected by our family for writing the thing to begin with.

That we'll fail at trying to write something new.

That our reviews will be bad.

That our book won't sell.

But there are ways to move past these fears:

Write frequently. Practice always means improvement.

Just keep moving forward on the draft. Poor writing can be fixed.

Be forgiving of first drafts.

Write quickly, edit thoughtfully.

When finishing one project, start right in on the next. Don't invest all your emotions into an "only-child" book.

How do you move past your insecurities and fears and keep writing? Do you do a lot of writing for your family and friends?

Keeping Challenged While Writing One Genre

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Hi everyone!  Today I'm over at writer Elysabeth Eldering's blog.  In my interview with her there, I talk about juggling several series, my typical writing day, and why I write mysteries, among other things.  Hope you'll pop by.

Today's post will be a short one here, since I'm deep in edits for one book and writing another. I thought I'd pose a question to you that nearly stumped me at a recent event.

It was after a talk I'd given and one of the writers in attendance asked me, "So you're only writing mysteries. Don't you want to try writing other things?  How do you keep getting creative satisfaction from writing one genre? How do you stay challenged?"

I know that I am currently satisfied writing mysteries. I've written eight books in the same genre and haven't gotten bored with it a bit. But I'd never really thought about why.   So it took me a while to answer his question…in fact, I had to tell him, "Hold on a second while I think about that."

For me, these are the reasons I'm sticking with my genre and staying satisfied (for at least the foreseeable future):

I love reading mysteries.  I'm a fan.

I'm writing more than one series.  So each book focuses on a different setting and different characters with different personalities.

I love the characters I'm writing.  I enjoy spending time with them in the made-up worlds I've created.

It's a challenge to come up with different plots instead of recycling the same ones.  That's creativity in action.

With each book, I'm introducing new characters as suspects and victims. 

I'm curious to hear from you.  Do you focus on a single genre?  A single series? How do you keep feeling creatively satisfied and challenged?

Twitterific

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week.

The free Writer's Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links (now over 14,000) searchable. The WKB recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.

Sign up for the free monthly WKB newsletter for the web's best links and interviews: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1

Tips for writing with vivid detail: http://bit.ly/FQanbP

Blog Commenting - Is It Going Extinct? http://bit.ly/zu9XCK @roniloren

3 Things You Must Have in Your Novel's First Paragraph: http://bit.ly/xCFjRt @LiveWriteThrive

Should Authors Design Their Own Books? http://bit.ly/zxzldQ @jfbookman

Story Setting: How to Make It Unique and Realistic: http://bit.ly/FPi2Jc

Using The 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy To Build Tension In Your Fiction: http://bit.ly/FPi442 @jhansenwrites

Ways to use em-dashes: http://bit.ly/FPi6sB @janice_hardy

Worldbuilding--religion in fantasy: http://bit.ly/wEd6dS

12 Writer Woes and the Books to Cure Them: http://bit.ly/FPihnH @roniloren

How to Identify Top Websites & Blogs in Your Category: http://bit.ly/FPiA1I @janefriedman

Are You Giving Readers the Tools to Understand Your Story? http://bit.ly/FPiJT0 @KMWeiland

Your Character's Language: http://bit.ly/wMH2ZR @janelebak

A New Breed of Writer for the Digital Age of Publishing: http://bit.ly/FPiOG7 @KristenLambTX

Characterizing Details: http://bit.ly/ytQrmu @Kid_Lit

An agent on pitching: http://bit.ly/y9wv46 @greyhausagency

How to Submit to Literary Magazines: http://bit.ly/yaHb6F @difmfa

5 Muse Abusers: How To Protect Your Creative Flow: http://bit.ly/x6D9X8 @roniloren

Agent Loses a Suit Against an Author for Commissions: http://bit.ly/xUWzQk @passivevoiceblg

6 aspects of writing YA that surprised 1 writer: http://bit.ly/AziwKq @carrieryan

Heroes Who Fail: http://bit.ly/zbrESl (with spoilers--as examples)

When Are You Finished with Your Revision? http://bit.ly/ym2q9k @fictionnotes

Tips for polishing your manuscript: http://bit.ly/xzuj60 @msheatherwebb

Understanding the "Show Don't Tell" Rule: http://bit.ly/yYkuoq

How to start a book project: http://bit.ly/yGF1sJ

The broken van (writers have options): http://bit.ly/yvBUGS @sarahahoyt

Promoting Your Blog With Twitter – 3 Underutilized Methods: http://bit.ly/FPhAvb @tomewer

Matching booze with bestsellers: http://bit.ly/w75sQl @ebooknewser

3 Lessons for the Traveling Writer: http://bit.ly/wnxo8a @Christi_Craig

Unusual creatures from myth & legend to use as inspiration: http://bit.ly/yn8nOS @GeneLempp

How to Win the War Against Grammar Trolls: http://bit.ly/wsOr7B @seanplatt

Your Book's Palette – Using Color in Your Fiction: http://bit.ly/yMw0ZS @SamanthaHunter for @Ravenrequiem13

Regency romance--the popularity of the highwayman: http://bit.ly/xJJT1W @bookemdonnna

Adverse vs. Averse: http://bit.ly/A8RK8A @writing_tips

How to network without being obnoxious: http://bit.ly/AAxhZT @writerashley

Endurance: whatever happens, just keep writing: http://bit.ly/FUsYUj

Marketing Fiction vs Non-Fiction: http://bit.ly/zC2KYV @thecreativepenn

How to Write Like You Can't Fail: http://bit.ly/y0qwAv @LyndaRYoung

5 things that really matter to search engines: http://bit.ly/z7LJXp @rule17

Reader to Writer: Write it Clearer: http://bit.ly/wZJ2jd

Why aren't you writing? http://bit.ly/y4rLDW @fantasyfaction

3 Ways to Find the Perfect Opening for Your Story: http://bit.ly/AyozbE @jodyhedlund

Not Just Another Writer's Writing Blog: http://bit.ly/AtRS7Y @writeitsideways

Why writers should care about indie bookstores: http://bit.ly/xqEvff @ThereseWalsh

What makes a character unique: http://bit.ly/zLm36U @JamiGold

Tips for heightening the suspense: http://bit.ly/yza6K4 @JodieRennerEd

How to Check Your Grammar Online: http://bit.ly/yCLir6 @galleycat

1 writer's Feb. sales report for epub: http://bit.ly/xn47Iq @DavidGaughran

Writing Stress for Freelancers: http://bit.ly/xZwCQD

Logic: Without It, Your Story May Have A Serious Neurological Disorder: http://bit.ly/xPKh7C

Book Design Case Study: Two Contemporary Novels: http://bit.ly/FQEkgl @JFBookman

Writing sentences with rhythm: http://bit.ly/wAK0J3

"Read What We Publish" - What editors really mean: http://bit.ly/FQElB0 @greyhausagency

Is There a Self-Publishing Bubble? http://bit.ly/ziUJpm @NathanBransford

4 Quick-Fix Ways to Improve Your Novel's Opening: http://bit.ly/wkt6IB @MuseInks

What 1 writer has learned from joining a book club: http://bit.ly/Arvqxg

Calculation of Royalty Fees In Publishing Contracts (& 2 things writers should remember): http://bit.ly/zI2gTl @SusanSpann

Your Homepage Isn't As Important As You Think: http://bit.ly/xvgwIm @WeGrowMedia for @janefriedman

What Makes Fiction Literary? http://bit.ly/FUPigl @KMWeiland

Getting Better vs Being Good: http://bit.ly/FUPmg2 @the99percent

Dialog Mistakes (Part 2 – Idle Chatter): http://bit.ly/FUPnAR @WritingChronicl

When a Writing Contest Has a Hidden Agenda: http://bit.ly/x6HTh4 @victoricastrauss

Facing the blank page: http://bit.ly/Aarq3Y

10 Essential Tools & Apps for Freelancers: http://bit.ly/wLMKnF

13 Stephen King Quotes on Writing: http://bit.ly/y3q1TM @writersdigest

Politics, Religion and Our Author Platform: http://bit.ly/AfSOD1 @kristenlambTX

Arsenic and Old Leaves: The Art of Poisoning Your Fantasy Characters: http://bit.ly/Agbu42 @fantasyfaction

Describing characters through POV: http://bit.ly/FPwEg0 @Janice_Hardy

Top 5 Tools for Writing the Setting of Your Story or Novel: http://bit.ly/AcJMyH

E-Book Smackdown: Who Should Control Pricing—Publishers Or Amazon? http://bit.ly/GID6VF @laurahazardowen

Tips for taking a vacation from technology: http://bit.ly/GIDjby

Deepening Your POV: http://bit.ly/GIDtje @Janice_Hardy

The Real World and the YA Novel: http://bit.ly/GIDCTz @zeitlingeist

Three or Four acts to your story's structure: http://bit.ly/GIDSCi

Story Structure: The First Act: http://bit.ly/GIE0S0 @KMWeiland

Getting Better vs Being Good: http://bit.ly/FUPmg2 @the99percent

Are the Big 6 Publishers Really Dying? http://bit.ly/GGmWuV @annerallen

How to Handle Criticism: http://bit.ly/GGn7X2 @LyndaRYoung

When Acting Impulsively Can Hurt Your Writing: http://bit.ly/GGnnoU @catewoods

Techniques for Building Suspense: http://bit.ly/GGnvF4 @JodieRennerE

The midpoint – where your story gets personal: http://bit.ly/GGnO2B @dirtywhitecandy

Clarifying What Your Characters Do: http://bit.ly/GK4WBe @Janice_Hardy

8 Key Elements For Capturing The Star Wars Feel In Your Story: http://bit.ly/GK5maY @BryanThomasS

4 Rewards from Creative Writing Immersion: http://bit.ly/GK5Aib @PatrickRwrites

4 cardinal rules for social media: http://bit.ly/GK5Mhs @victoriamixon

An agent says: "It's Not Just About 'Paying Your Dues'": http://bit.ly/GK73Ff @greyhausagency

Is A "Niche" Or "Non-Niche" Blog Right For You? http://bit.ly/GN1nqz @serbaughman @writeitsideways

Don't QWERTY, Be Happy? http://bit.ly/GN1vGK @vwishna

Blog Tours: The Good – The Bad – The Ugly: http://bit.ly/GN1QsI @CynthiaDAlba

11 of the greatest bromances in Southern Literature: http://bit.ly/GGR2l9 @HunterMurphyYea

Finding Value in Your "Mistakes" http://ow.ly/1IVFQ3 @jamieraintree

Libraries as publishers? http://bit.ly/GF7e1Q @Porter_Anderson

Authors: climbing the walls: http://bit.ly/GGbvpF @Porter_Anderson

Getting Better vs Being Good: http://bit.ly/FUPmg2

How to Get Your First 1,000 Blog Readers: http://bit.ly/GFqlbV @pushingsocial

How to be creative: http://on.wsj.com/GFqDQ9 @WSJ

Story Structure With a Hole In It: http://bit.ly/GFqL20 @write_practice

5 Uses for a Lull in Writing: http://bit.ly/GFrbW5 @fictionnotes

Building a Believable Author Brand through Blogging: http://bit.ly/GFrjFb @catseyewriter

Why Self-Publish When You Have a Chance to Go Traditional? http://bit.ly/GFrm3K @goblinwriter

The Problems with Strong Female Characters: http://bit.ly/GFsCnu @AnnieNeugebauer

What bestsellers have in common: http://bit.ly/GFsUeg @ava_jae

How publishing auctions work: http://bit.ly/GFtto8 @rachellegardner

How To Start A Story The Stephen King Way: http://bit.ly/GFtwk3 @mooderino

An argument in favor of outlining: http://bit.ly/GPbBbH

3 Ways to Keep Social Media from Taking Control of Writing Time: http://bit.ly/GPc5i0 @jodyhedlund

Is Your Favorite Author A Jerk? (Interesting discussion among readers in the comments): http://bit.ly/GLKq2U @deadwhiteguys

10 Types of Filler Content for Your Blog: http://bit.ly/GLL4gY @ProBlogger

The importance of writing likeable characters: http://bit.ly/GLLnIq

Writing lessons from "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn": http://bit.ly/GLLKCZ @juliemusil

Writing Action Sequences: a process of layering and research: http://bit.ly/GLMwjk @JulietteWade

Several processes for starting a book: http://bit.ly/GLRM6F

10+ Ways to Find Blog Post Ideas: http://bit.ly/GLRZXl @CherylRWrites

Your Story's Time Line: Cut It Up: http://bit.ly/GLSbWF @fictionnotes

Writing on the Ether by @Porter_Anderson features @naypinya @mikecane @philipdsjones @jonnygeller @ByRozMorris http://bit.ly/GOEUKL

How to Submit Short Stories: http://bit.ly/GQbTvn

A Quiz About Combining Sentences: http://bit.ly/GQbYPH @writing_tips

Why 1 writer dislikes outlines: http://bit.ly/GQcm0z @sarahahoyt

An explanation of author-agent agreement: http://bit.ly/GQcqNU @rachellegardner

How to Position Your Book To Go Viral: http://bit.ly/GQcv49 @storyfix

An Agent on Shopping Self-Published Titles: http://bit.ly/GQcAEV @SaraMegibow

Tips for Conference Planners--The Simple Guide to Caring for an Author: http://bit.ly/GQ9vK6 @nicolamorgan

Creating Cover Love: http://bit.ly/GQ9TIF @StinaLL

Comments — The Weakest Part of Blogs: http://bit.ly/GQada9 @scholarlykitchn

Hook 'Em on the First Cast: http://bit.ly/GQapq4 @LiveWriteThrive

Three Keys to Building Your Author Platform: http://bit.ly/GQaxG6 @JFBookman

Sometimes revision means rewriting: http://bit.ly/GQaXfv @TaliaVance

Are You Committing These E-mail Sins? http://bit.ly/GQb76G @janefriedman

Imagery and your story: http://bit.ly/GK8AKw @KarenCV

Does Publishing Support the Writer-Artist? http://bit.ly/GK8D9j @KristenLambTX

The Difference between Style and Voice: http://bit.ly/GK8Jxx

Hook Your Reader with Character: http://bit.ly/GK99nA @howtowriteshop

3 Myths of Guest Writing for Big Websites …and 6 Tactics for Doing it Well: http://bit.ly/GK9h6I @copyblogger

The Social Networks of Emily Dickinson, Paul Gauguin & Charlotte Bronte: http://bit.ly/GLy3G5

Self Publishing: Perils, Pitfalls, and Promise: http://bit.ly/GLyb8h @lisajanicecohen

The Contract Between Writer and Reader: http://bit.ly/GLyiB1 @MsAnnAguirre

What We Can Learn From The Poets: http://bit.ly/GLyksr @greyhausagency

Lessons 1 writer has learned about memoir writing: http://bit.ly/GLypMN @jhansenwrites for @nicolebasaraba

Illustrate a Character Through His Possessions: http://bit.ly/GLyrnO @kmweiland

Writers--the promised land is where you find it: http://bit.ly/GMQWYb @sarahahoyt

3 Helpful Tools For Writers Who Struggle With ADD: http://bit.ly/GWHoXq @lformichelli

Isn't it Ironic? by C.E. Lawrence

by C.E. Lawrence, @C_E_Lawrence

Life is nothing if not ironic. You spend all your time working for money or fame or adulation or whatever – only to find out that in getting what you thought you wanted, you don't get what you were after all along – happiness.

How ironic. Or you finally marry that fabulous blond bombshell you always thought was the idea woman, only to fall in love with that funny little neighbor next door with the short brown hair and lopsided smile. Ironies in life abound, even for the rich and famous: Republican Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger marries Kennedy Babe Maria Shriver; Democratic policy wonk James Carville marries Republican Spokeschick Mary Matalin. How ironic. Super anal retentive Felix Unger's best friend is super slob Oscar Madison, and vice versa. Hmm . . . do I sense a pattern here?

Webster's first definition of irony is: "1. expression in which the intended meaning of the words is the direct opposite of their usual sense: as in irony she called the stupid plan 'very clever.'" (We'll talk about the second definition later.)

IT'S ALL GREEK TO ME

The word irony is derived from the Greek "eironeia," which means "simulated ignorance." The Wordsworth Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says irony is "the use of expressions having a meaning different from the ostensible one; a subtle form of sarcasm understood correctly by the initiated." In literature, this kind of irony can proceed from one character to another - or from the author to the reader. In "Everything That Rises Must Converge," Flannery O'Connor gives us an accurate portrait of Julian through the constant use of irony. What Julian thinks about himself is not at all what we are invited to think about him; the story fairly drips with irony.

And E.L. Doctorow, in writing about Mark Twain, has this to say:

"Huck, making the socially immoral choice to assist the escape of a slave - someone's rightful property, he thinks - creates in himself an ethically superior morality that he defines as outlaw, and appropriate to such a worthless tramp as he. And Twain can deal with the monstrous national catastrophe of slaveholding, not head on, in righteousness, in the manner of Harriet Beecher Stowe, but with the sharper stick, the deeper thrust, of irony."

In other words, the initiated reader "gets it" – Huck is not immoral at all, but is the product of a society whose values are so twisted that Huck actually believes that giving an enslaved fellow human being his freedom is wicked. How ironic. I might also point out that while Huckleberry Finn is still flying off the shelves, read by children and adults alike, few people other than English graduate students ever read Uncle Tom's Cabin. Of course, Twain is one of our national treasures – but it is his use of irony that makes his political writing so sharp, even today. (And also, he's a pretty funny guy – I have yet to see a really good comic writer who doesn't use irony. It literally comes with the territory.)

CLUB TALK

Using irony in your writing also makes your readers feel smart – they "get it," they're part of the "initiated." It's like belonging to a club. In "Everything That Rises," Flannery O'Connor invites us to sort of "gang up" on poor Julian; in seeing him for what he really is, we become her cronies, her cohorts, her co-conspirators, in a sense. This is fun for us; we feel like we're "in on something." Of course, the only person "left out" is a fictional character, but no matter. We still get the same naughty thrill we got as children when we formed the Glass Club and kept out those nasty boys across the road. After all, what's the point of a club if everyone can join?

IRONY IN COMEDY: THIS IS NOT YOUR PARENTS' TELEVISION

For those of you who watch The Daily Show, (and I hope that's everyone with cable), don't you get a little kick out of the fact that you're pretty sure your parents wouldn't get this kind of humor, and if they did, they wouldn't think it was funny anyway? Irony, like comedy to which it is so closely related, has a point, a cutting edge - it is an attitude born of anger. Like comedy, it also invariably involves a "twist" of some kind. It can be dry or wet, but not everyone "gets it." You have to be one of the "initiated." I have a kind of "irony meter" when I judge people's characters, and some people have little or no sense of the ironic. I have found, for example, that as you head west across the United States, the irony meter drops rapidly, until, some time after crossing the Delaware, you come to the Great Midwest, or, as I like to call, the Irony Free Zone. (To those of you who live there, my apology; every rule has its exceptions.)

IRISH CHILDREN – BAKED OR BOILED?

In the eighteenth century, Jonathan Swift, noted author, journalist, and wit, wrote a rather famous essay called "A Modest Proposal." In it he suggested dealing with the problem of famine in Ireland by eating Irish children. He felt this was an elegant solution because it would both reduce the population while providing a plentiful and cheap source of nutrition. Needless to say, his irony – wet as it was – completely escaped a certain percentage of the population. In fact, the editor of his newspaper received letters from outraged readers castigating Mr. Swift for his insensitive and wicked ideas. So much for political satire. Irony will always have its "initiated" audience, but, as they say, you can't please all of the people all of the time.

But go out there and have fun – be funny, be satirical, be ironic! After all, what can they do to you – shoot you?

Oh, right, I guess they can. I forgot this is America, where everyone owns guns. On second thought, maybe this is a good time to move to Canada. Long winters and moose meat. Oh, yeah.

Carole Bugge ( C.E. Lawrence) has eight published novels, six novellas and a dozen or so short stories and poems. Her work has received glowing reviews from such publications as Kirkus, The Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, Booklist, The Boston Herald, Ellery Queen, and others. Her short fiction has appeared in numerous anthologies and magazines. Winner of both the Euphoria Poetry Competition and the Eve of St. Agnes Poetry Award, she is also a Pushcart Prize nominee and First Prize winner of the Maxim Mazumdar Playwriting Competition, the Chronogram Literary Fiction Prize, Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Award, and the Jean Paiva Memorial Fiction award, which included an NEA grant to read her fiction and poetry at Lincoln Center. A finalist in the McClaren, MSU and Henrico Playwriting Competitions, she has read her work at Barnes and Noble, The Knitting Factory, Mercy College, Merritt Books, the Colony Cafe and the Gryphon Bookstore. She has received grants from Poets and Writers, as well as the New York State Arts Council. Her story "A Day in the Life of Comrade Lenin" received an Honorable Mention in St. Martin's Best Fantasy and Horror Stories, and she was a winner in the Writer's Digest Competition in both the playwriting and essay categories.

Focusing on a Setting Detail

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

On Sunday, my daughter and I took advantage of the nice weather and went for a walk at the park.

It was like a hundred other walks at the park that we've taken over the years. Sunny and warm. There were lots of people and dogs walking. The birds were chirping loudly, since it's a protected habitat there. And my daughter wanted to play Poohsticks on the bridge for the eleventy-bazillionth time.

It was all very peaceful…and unremarkable. My daughter and I stood on the small bridge and waited to see which of the two sticks she threw into the fast-moving creek would come out quicker on the other side.

Then I saw him. A Mr. No-Shoulders, as my mother would call him. A snake, sunning himself on a rock.

Now, snakes in the Southern US are not remarkable. They're everywhere. And this winter they really didn't hibernate since it never really got cold. There are probably a ton of sleep-deprived, grumpy snakes around North Carolina right now.

But snakes usually wisely avoid Southerners. They don't want to see us and we don't particularly want to see them.

And this snake was watching my daughter and me closely, suspiciously. It was pretty in the sun, actually. Until it quickly leaped into the water to get away from us.

We continued on our walk…until we saw another snake sunning itself. I took a picture of one of the snakes (above) and didn't have a chance to ask my Scout son or outdoorsy husband what type it was. Water moccasin? Cottonmouth? Copperhead? Who knows?

I'm never a fan of writing setting. It's the kind of stuff that I skip over as a reader---unless there's a remarkable detail that makes me interested. If a snake intrudes on a normal, everyday walk at the park, I'm more interested. If the setting is atmospheric, if I feel the setting is setting a mood, if the setting is viewed through the eyes of a character and gives me more character insight….then I don't skip it.

How about you? How do you set apart your settings to make them pop and tie them into the story or indicate something interesting about your characters? Do you enjoy reading and writing setting?