Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 211

On Embracing Our Strengths

[image error]Last year, I heard from my agent that there was an editor interested in working with me on a mystery they wanted written.

I was to come up with the characters and plot. They'd like the series set in the South and to incorporate quilting.

Of course I jumped on it. I'm no quilter, but quilting is a big part of Southern heritage. I've appreciated it as an art form and as a vehicle for telling stories. And the South is my chosen setting—what I know the best.

This was all I knew about what the editor wanted: the setting and the subplot.

I started reading as many novels as I could that used quilting as a subplot or hook.

After reading quite a few of these books, I came up with what I thought the editor wanted.

I wrote an outline for the first book. The characters were quieter than the characters I usually wrote. They minded their manners a little more. They were a bit more serious. There wasn't any of the loud laughter or slapstick humor that my characters are frequently fond of. I hushed them up and told them to behave.

But there was this one character, a ferocious old lady who demanded inclusion in the book.

I reluctantly included her, knowing she had a lot more in common with my Myrtles, Lulus, and Evelyns than the new characters in the new book. I killed her halfway through the book.

I submitted the outline to my agent and she sent it to the editor at Penguin/NAL.

I heard back from my agent after about a month. The editor liked it, but wanted livelier, more colorful, quirky characters. They waned more characters like the ferocious old lady…in fact, they wanted the ferocious old lady, herself.

So I raised her from the dead. :) And I knew what I should have known before I ever started sketching out the outline for that book—they wanted me to write the way I usually wrote. They wanted me to write my specialty—humorous Southern mysteries full of quirky Southerners.

Got it!

What gets me is why I'd think otherwise. If someone is contacting me, they're looking for what I usually write. It makes sense. If I'm calling a plumber, I'm not asking him to fix my electrical problems. I won't ask the appliance repair guy to do my interior painting. They probably do know how to do those other things—they're handy people, in a general sense. But it's not their specialty.

Can I write other styles and genres? Sure I can. Does it come as easily? No. I don't know about y'all, but for me there are some things that just come naturally to me—that are second nature for me to write.

What's your writing strength? Are you capitalizing on it by writing a story that plays to it?

Choosing Our Story

I have a hard time making decisions.

Not big decisions—those are pretty easy for me to make.  But smaller decisions, like what restaurant to choose for supper. 

I used to have a hard time deciding which story idea I'd work on next.  When you have a lot of ideas, it's tough to choose between them.

And characters.  Think of  all the potential characters we've got up in our heads!  I've got a whole cast of them and they're all auditioning with gusto, hoping for their chance to get in a book.

If you think of it, every single bit of our story is a choice.  What will the characters do next?  How will they react to it?  And then what happens?  How does it all resolve?

We can choose so many different paths for our story to take.

Right now, I'm starting a requested outline for the second book in the Southern quilting mystery series (and working on the second draft of the first book in the series).  I've got several ideas for it that I could go with.  Which should I decide on?

There are several different things I think about before choosing a storyline.

The first is the reader.  I know my genre well and I think about which aspects of the genre readers love the most.  I work to incorporate those in the story.

After that, I think about which story I'd have the most fun writing.  Is it something I'd have fun with?  Is it something my readers could relate to and have fun with, too?

Is there a plot that I can easily see the different possibilities with?

Is there a story with more potential for conflict than another?

Is there a story that will give my protagonist more challenges, internal conflict,  and more opportunities for growth?

Is there a storyline with more of a marketable hook than another?

Is there a story idea that requires more research than another?  Do I have time to do that extra research in a thorough way, or should I choose a simpler idea?

Sometimes my plot ideas come with characters included. Is there one that has more interesting supporting characters than the others?  

Have you got lots of different story ideas?  How do you choose which to focus on?

Fixing a Problem Scene—4 Approaches

Problem scenes. I usually have several areas that just don't work in an unfinished manuscript.

If I'm writing my first draft, I'll just totally skip past the problem and continue to the next scene in my book. No big deal. If I'm particularly bothered by it and just want to put it out of my mind, I'll make a comment to myself in the margin of the manuscript with Track Changes and keep going.

But…at some point the problem area has to be dealt with.

There are a few different ways that I'll usually approach this chore. The first is to see if I can cut the scene out completely. Really—if it's that bad, do I really need it? Can I sum up the content in a different way—through dialogue or a short transition? Does the scene serve a purpose and propel my plot forward, or would it be all right to just leave it out altogether?

My second standby is to open a new Word document and rewrite the scene without looking at it…basically by just reading the previous scene and going from there. Sometimes even the old word choices will serve to mess me up and keep me from rewriting the scene stronger.

Now I have a new technique to work with, courtesy of my writing friend Jan Morrison. She calls her technique 'free fall' and it applies the best of brainstorming—the stream of consciousness approach—to a problem scene.

Jan advises going to the problem area and picking out one thing about the page/scene that you like. It might be a great phrase or sentence. Then you put that snippet up at the top of a blank page and do a free fall/stream of consciousness exercise with it---until you reach the end of the thought or concept. Then, Jan advises taking the best out of that exercise and do the same thing, again, on a new sheet of paper. This sounds like a great way to explore a concept and a fresh way to take a look at a problem area. Jan calls it 'mining for gold,' and she further explains the free fall approach here.

A fourth way to a approach the problem scene is by distance from the manuscript or other ways of looking at the scene with new eyes. There are different ways to accomplish this—by actually letting time pass, by printing the scene and reading it on paper, reading the scene aloud, reading it in a different font, etc. I don't always have a lot of time to just let a manuscript sit, but I do like printing it out or reading it aloud to better diagnose what's wrong.

How about you? What do you do when you're faced with a scene that doesn't work?

Literary Devices in the Non-Literary Novel

My son's Language Arts class is required to do a literary analysis at the end of each quarter on whatever novel they've read for fun.

I got an email yesterday from one mom in the class, saying that her son had chosen Delicious and Suspicious to analyze.

My first reaction was, "Uh oh." The assignment states:

A literary analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer's personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining the literary devices, word choices, or writing structures the author uses within the text. The purpose of a literary analysis is to demonstrate why the author used specific ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or her message. It is a careful evaluation of the work.

This is one of those things that tends to make me feel insecure because I'm not writing literary fiction. I didn't write the book by planning out specific literary devices that I was going to include. I was focusing on the story.

What was my theme for the story? Murder happens? Hmm. Good versus evil? And how had I conveyed this message? Literary devices? Bleh.

Then I started thinking about it. Although I might not have planned to include different elements in my book, I think most of us include them without really thinking about it. Maybe this comes from years of reading.

Simile and metaphor? At first I thought figurative language counted among elements that I didn't include very often in my books. But then I started thinking about it—I'm fond of using them for my character descriptions. I'm not a huge fan of description, so if I can say a character's mustache makes him 'look like Captain Kangaroo,' then I'm going to go that route instead. Same with casual use of metaphors…the backyard was a furnace, not just 'hot.'

Imagery? My first reaction was that I don't use much imagery in my books because I avoid graphic depictions of crime scenes. But I do use imagery to set up scary scenes, humorous scenes, etc. Really, imagery is just getting our readers to picture and experience our made-up world by incorporating all of the senses in our writing. That's just something that comes naturally to writers, I think.

Allusion? That's one of my character, Myrtle Clover's, favorite things. She's a former English teacher and she's always muttering literary allusions under her breath and feeling clever.

Alliteration is sort of fun—I'll occasionally stick in a few examples (mostly, again, when I'm trying to be funny.)

Tone? Oh we all use specific word choices to create tone. And I don't think we're actually sitting down to analyze what we're doing, either. It's almost automatic.

Foreshadowing? I like to use a touch of it.

Flashbacks? Those have been sort of looked down on lately (and they can make life complicated for readers). I usually try to steer away from them.

Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we're all using a lot more literary devices, elements, and figurative language than we might think. So no worries about Language Arts projects! In our pursuit of story, literature happens. :)

What literary devices do you use in your writing? Are you even really aware that you're including them?

Literary Devices in the Non-Literary Fiction Novel

My son's Language Arts class is required to do a literary analysis at the end of each quarter on whatever novel they've read for fun.

I got an email yesterday from one mom in the class, saying that her son had chosen Delicious and Suspicious to analyze.

My first reaction was, "Uh oh." The assignment states:

A literary analysis is not merely a summary of a literary work. Instead, it is an argument about the work that expresses a writer's personal perspective, interpretation, judgment, or critical evaluation of the work. This is accomplished by examining the literary devices, word choices, or writing structures the author uses within the text. The purpose of a literary analysis is to demonstrate why the author used specific ideas, word choices, or writing structures to convey his or her message. It is a careful evaluation of the work.

This is one of those things that tends to make me feel insecure because I'm not writing literary fiction. I didn't write the book by planning out specific literary devices that I was going to include. I was focusing on the story.

What was my theme for the story? Murder happens? Hmm. Good versus evil? And how had I conveyed this message? Literary devices? Bleh.

Then I started thinking about it. Although I might not have planned to include different elements in my book, I think most of us include them without really thinking about it. Maybe this comes from years of reading.

Simile and metaphor? At first I thought figurative language counted among elements that I didn't include very often in my books. But then I started thinking about it—I'm fond of using them for my character descriptions. I'm not a huge fan of description, so if I can say a character's mustache makes him 'look like Captain Kangaroo,' then I'm going to go that route instead. Same with casual use of metaphors…the backyard was a furnace, not just 'hot.'

Imagery? My first reaction was that I don't use much imagery in my books because I avoid graphic depictions of crime scenes. But I do use imagery to set up scary scenes, humorous scenes, etc. Really, imagery is just getting our readers to picture and experience our made-up world by incorporating all of the senses in our writing. That's just something that comes naturally to writers, I think.

Allusion? That's one of my character, Myrtle Clover's, favorite things. She's a former English teacher and she's always muttering literary allusions under her breath and feeling clever.

Alliteration is sort of fun—I'll occasionally stick in a few examples (mostly, again, when I'm trying to be funny.)

Tone? Oh we all use specific word choices to create tone. And I don't think we're actually sitting down to analyze what we're doing, either. It's almost automatic.

Foreshadowing? I like to use a touch of it.

Flashbacks? Those have been sort of looked down on lately (and they can make life complicated for readers). I usually try to steer away from them.

Anyway, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that we're all using a lot more literary devices, elements, and figurative language than we might think. So no worries about Language Arts projects! In our pursuit of story, literature happens. :)

What literary devices do you use in your writing? Are you even really aware that you're including them?

Things I've Learned About My Writing Process

Hi everybody! Hope you'll pop over to my friend Kaye Barley's blog, Meanderings and Muses today for my guest post there on "Things I've Learned About My Writing Process." This covers a little bit of everything—from how I start out on a new project to my mindset throughout it…and the furry guys who help me out along the way. Hope you'll join me. :)

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week.

I'm delighted that now we have an efficient method of locating resources on writing topics when you need them—via the Writer's Knowledge Base search engine and software engineer and writer Mike Fleming's ingenuity. The links I tweet (which are writers' blogs, agents' and editors' blogs) all are added to the engine to make it easier for you to access the information you're looking for.

Interested in a monthly newsletter with the top writing articles, blogger spotlights, and interviews with industry insiders? Sign up for the free WKB newsletter here: http://hiveword.com/wkb/newsletter . (You can unsubscribe at any time, and your email information is never shared.)

The Focus Group: http://bit.ly/e3h7yj

Detail Enhances Your Fiction: http://bit.ly/hZz3iZ

Style sheets, cheat sheets, & series bibles--keeping track of what we've written: http://bit.ly/fZpUa9

7 Tactical Fixes for Syntactical Impact: http://bit.ly/gEjlyY

Road test your writing by reading aloud (Guardian): http://bit.ly/gUjDig

Saturate your life with Creativity: http://bit.ly/i5UWIr

One writer says, "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from TSR Hobbies." http://bit.ly/ec9mk0

20 freeware apps for blogging: http://bit.ly/gqVvJB

10 Reasons Your Blog Readers Don't Hang Around: http://bit.ly/fW3yKb

Finding the Right Agent For YOUR Book: http://bit.ly/elw2CS

Make it easier for reviewers to review your new book: http://bit.ly/h6c2q3

15 Blogging Tips A Blogger Wishes She Knew When She Started: http://bit.ly/eiAeNA

10 of the best lectures in literature (Guardian): http://bit.ly/etcLLQ

Clear and simple writing advice: http://bit.ly/enedY5

A useful revision tip: http://bit.ly/fhIv8m

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: THE BREAD OF IRELAND http://bit.ly/hsHbr4 @CleoCoyle

3 Lessons of Confession–Lead a Happier & More Productive Writing Life: http://bit.ly/ekx876

Why writers should keep a personal journal and tips for doing so: http://bit.ly/dJi195

5 Must-Have Qualities of a Successful Tech Writer: http://bit.ly/h2IcjC

Crime fiction--how murder investigations resemble chess matches: http://bit.ly/fC1sGy @mkinberg

The Creative Personality: Imagination and Grounded Reality: http://bit.ly/eSIMUN

Have You Considered Speechwriting? http://bit.ly/fRJadI

POV confusion? Helpful links: http://bit.ly/hJZD8n

Tips for writing authentic dialogue: http://bit.ly/hRQKdq

6 steps to a successful plot: http://bit.ly/g16ufQ

Thoughts on keeping motivated daily: http://bit.ly/hvi8QD

Best Articles This Week for Writers 3/11/11: http://bit.ly/ha9h5Y @4kidlit

Writing Theory -- The Monomyth Part 5: http://bit.ly/dFsBtS

Sex in YA: http://bit.ly/g25Nf3

Too Much of a Good Thing: Over Plotting Your Novel: http://bit.ly/euouVa

15 Top Writing Guides for Novelists: http://bit.ly/dShXoZ

Should Beta Readers Match Your Market? http://bit.ly/eJ4AXl

Freelancers--Go From Temporary Help To "Trusted Ghostwriter": http://bit.ly/g2zcir

The emailed query: http://bit.ly/hAQdNa

An agent on nailing voice: http://bit.ly/gO77yB

Juggling characters: http://bit.ly/i17K4x

Stuck in the Middle: What Makes a Good Middle: http://bit.ly/eOpSVo

Blogging bullies: http://bit.ly/ffhCTh

When depleted, fill the creative well: http://bit.ly/fEt4v5 @tobywneal

Skipping ahead in time in your manuscript: http://bit.ly/i24oIM

The Problem of Place, or Dude, Where's My Hometown? http://bit.ly/gzVsR9

Senses and feelings: http://bit.ly/dEevbL

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Julie's EAT HEALTHY Mushroom Barley soup http://bit.ly/hl0Lhh @CleoCoyle

Breaking into Magazine Writing: http://bit.ly/fmNZuM

Lessons for writers from a Steve Martin event debacle: http://bit.ly/fiFsOI

Test your screenwriting IQ: http://bit.ly/ecsYlM

Tracking an author's career path (the arc of the journey): http://bit.ly/gp8SsS

Blogging and Maintaining Our Sanity: http://bit.ly/h6J2CD

A writer with a brutal truth about publishing: http://bit.ly/ik94Rp

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 6—Odysseys: http://bit.ly/hHnhHE

Writing Mechanics: Redundant Modifiers and Other Disasters: http://bit.ly/fYBRGi

10 ways freelance writers can get the most out of Twitter: http://bit.ly/eg2xD1

What's popular on the WKB search engine today? http://bit.ly/g9fTqf

Don't Fear the Semicolon—It's a Useful Writing Tool: http://bit.ly/ihuLSU

How to Do a Structural Edit on Your Book: http://bit.ly/hqtILz

How to Build Your Writing Team: http://bit.ly/gNK27v @jhansenwrites

Your reader--an often-overlooked key to your writing success: http://bit.ly/eQV7D5

Why Entering Contests Boosts Writing: http://bit.ly/eZCmpi

Writing On The Days Between: http://bit.ly/ezTuXI @storiestorm

An article in Salon that quotes writers who credit "Dungeons & Dragons" for helping them succeed: http://bit.ly/fTlGsF

Elements of a successful book proposal: http://bit.ly/ff3muW

The Perils of Pacing: http://bit.ly/eIEyx0

Critique Groups: Etiquette: http://bit.ly/fPTx4h

Platform, product, promo--the 3 author variables: http://bit.ly/fS9tGe

Worldbuilding--taking your time: http://bit.ly/hMyqZc

Is your blog quotable? http://bit.ly/h7J7JN

Handling Back Story: http://bit.ly/fxEoAP @authorterryo

Tips for promoting your book with bookmarks: http://bit.ly/f8JXU4

A roundup of posts for aspiring writers to help put them on the right track: http://bit.ly/dJFpeD

12 Great Literary Ladies, 12 Valuable Lessons for the Writing Life: http://bit.ly/ezZ6SI

It's a Hurry Up And Wait Business With No Promises: http://bit.ly/fuL8Mg

8 Reasons Why Livescribe is the Best Tool for Taking Digital Notes: http://bit.ly/fzcLEc

Does a Blog Sell Books? Survey Results: http://bit.ly/goQfHW

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Yummy Cheddar Bread & It's gluten-free http://bit.ly/g3MjfB @CleoCoyle

Social Media and the Future of Poetry: http://bit.ly/eOdqU4

The New Growing Segment of the Reading Population: Writers: http://bit.ly/g0jSgA

Want more blog readers? You need to go out and find them: http://bit.ly/fCRJ5a

A fond farewell to secondhand bookshops (Guardian): http://bit.ly/f8kGyB

Mystery Writer's Guide to Forensic Science - Collecting Evidence II: http://bit.ly/i4SVuF @clarissadraper

Small press vs. large press: http://bit.ly/ifxn58

Need help with plotting, characterization, querying, or book promo? http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Raising the Stakes: Revising to Keep Readers Reading: http://bit.ly/dWV77F

5 Ways Writers Kid Themselves: http://bit.ly/ergasO

How to write believable heroes: http://bit.ly/hGvc9Q

Creating Multi-Faceted Characters: http://bit.ly/hgAGs3

Master Tweeting for Authors: http://bit.ly/gekGOk @joanswan

5 apps to help you interact with your Facebook fans: What they do and how to install them: http://bit.ly/goptnW

How to Blog, Muppet Show-Style: http://bit.ly/hKRSjo

The writer's toolkit: Breaking the rules of the narrative arc: http://bit.ly/fhezmK

6 Key Steps To Finding Your Passion As A Writer: http://bit.ly/ebFtCR

How to write a synopsis in a hurry: http://bit.ly/grmiXy

Paying Attention by Shutting it Off (s Sensory Detail Exercise): http://bit.ly/eAj8FK @4kidlit

Blogging lessons from Britney Spears? http://bit.ly/fvAQl7

50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing: http://bit.ly/gQNJBP

SEO Basics for Bloggers: http://bit.ly/gky4KT

Formal vs informal queries? An editor's response: http://bit.ly/hsDTx6

The dark side of guest posts: http://bit.ly/fH3k9p @merylkevans

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: SALAD DAYS OF WINTER http://bit.ly/gek6zN @CleoCoyle

Who Killed Science Fiction? It's been 'dead' for over 50 years: http://bit.ly/exgmhW @martyhalpern

Is the Anthology Dead? http://bit.ly/fjSVUS @hopeclark

Who Wants To Be A (Kindle) Millionaire? (Forbes): http://bit.ly/dITbm1

On the semicolon: http://bit.ly/g2Mjhe

Mystery Writer's Guide to Forensic Science: Collecting Evidence: http://bit.ly/hkkGWh @clarissadraper

Publishing Romance: The More Things Change... http://bit.ly/fpEaQ0

Search my tweets-- http://dld.bz/KPgS

A crazy anthropologist's view on close POV: http://bit.ly/gpH98x

An agent on movie deals: http://bit.ly/eK6ELS

HarperCollins caps e-book library loans at 26 check-outs. 2 sides of this argument: http://bit.ly/ehD02Y and http://bit.ly/es7ihW

Amanda Hocking and the 99-Cent Kindle Millionaires: http://bit.ly/ftRJpU

5 ways to find truth in your writing: http://bit.ly/fNq2xe @jammer0501

Why Do Writers Abandon Novels? (NY Times): http://nyti.ms/gvU11u

How Excel can make book publicity easier: http://bit.ly/hZl1Ik

Writers with tips on writing fantasy: http://bit.ly/eKCm6B

More tools for writers (including 1 that you might already have on your computer and not know it): http://bit.ly/hILugj

What the SCBWI Is and Is Not: http://bit.ly/enFzd5

5 Keys to Unforgettable Story Introductions: http://bit.ly/efIUzw

Transitions: linking forward through the story: http://bit.ly/dO30Yn

Metaphors vs similes: http://bit.ly/fnW2PE @Paize_Fiddler

Elements of your novel's/script's 2nd act--a checklist: http://bit.ly/gAqHyi

Is Your Contact Page Holding You Back? http://bit.ly/eA3IZO

9 Ways to Find the Time to Write: http://bit.ly/edbHqP

7 Don't-Miss Sites for Online Marketing: http://bit.ly/eLjlFG

Things One Writer Wishes She'd Known Before Starting The Manuscript: http://bit.ly/hZs0Jh

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Shakespeare, Fat Tuesday + a Recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes with Butter Pecan Sauce ... http://bit.ly/h3V9JP @CleoCoyle

The fantasy of development: http://bit.ly/e8nvZg

Returning to Our Creativity: http://bit.ly/hSxR8Q

Is Getting Traditionally Published Just a Crapshoot? http://bit.ly/igDiTi

A comic that those with writer's block might appreciate: http://bit.ly/fIPCTs @inkyelbows

One writer lists 5 Twitter tips he doesn't like and 2 that he does: http://bit.ly/exF4lS

Rhetorical devices: You can say that again! http://bit.ly/g98Eo3 @clarissadraper

12 Tips for Clipping Unnecessary Words: http://bit.ly/eycgdw

Elements of a successful synopsis: http://bit.ly/f54E50

How knowing Bookscan numbers is useful for writers: http://bit.ly/i1Bx2F

10 Time Management Tips for Writers: http://bit.ly/gUkiCs

6 Best Ways for Writers to Remember Ideas: http://bit.ly/gJq0W8

Quiet Time: Handling the Non-Action Scenes: http://bit.ly/hKZTmz

The Great Agent Search--Organizing it All: http://bit.ly/gLwmTZ

How one writer knows when she's got the right ending: http://bit.ly/eK0Upn

Back to Basics, part I: Be a Writer: http://bit.ly/gp4H8F

The benefits of writers' groups: http://bit.ly/hdEloh

Fantasy, Romance, and the Omega author: http://bit.ly/gcX1Jl

What Makes a Good Ending? http://bit.ly/hhPTw8

Writing tools of the trade: http://bit.ly/e3stOs

5 Misconceptions That Might Just be Stopping You Getting Published (And How To Fix Them): http://bit.ly/eAUYgL

The Freelance Life: Tips on Staying Sane: http://bit.ly/fPdBr6

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 3/4/11): http://bit.ly/f7dnLu

7 Good Things that Blogging Brings: http://bit.ly/hQMy07

8 traits of a first page that would encourage agents to read more: http://bit.ly/e4nJgY

4 critical points for writers: http://huff.to/f1zeE3

Describing with Verbs: http://bit.ly/dMXdsh

Why do writers have to justify themselves? http://bit.ly/eDaGCa

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Reader Appreciation Day! http://bit.ly/eGFyuQ @CleoCoyle

Why aliens are hell and zombies are heaven: http://on.io9.com/dU4419

5 Tips for Conducting Stellar Interviews: http://bit.ly/epOXnE

The magic of 100--a practical guide for writers to generate new ideas: http://bit.ly/hzMrGr @camillelaguire

Conference dos and don'ts: http://bit.ly/hWk1gF

On choosing a font: http://bit.ly/f9ch0A

The 4 pitfalls of praise: http://bit.ly/enIqZr

Are You Stalling Your Writing Journey? http://bit.ly/gUNX79

Want to search my tweets? http://dld.bz/KPgS

Twitterific--the week in tweets: http://bit.ly/ibQp6u

How to spotlight important prose: http://bit.ly/idEpn4

Facebook changes that might help your blog or website: http://bit.ly/ebOu4b

Play by play narration: http://bit.ly/fzRnuT

What a Coincidence! Creating Plots That Don't Feel Like Accidents: http://bit.ly/f1iEkt

4 tricks for getting to know new characters: http://bit.ly/ewuojk

5 Ways to Show Emotion in Your Writing: http://bit.ly/gT7qCS

Advice to writers: Skip the scenery (Salon): http://bit.ly/dTE9Py

What I Love Lucy Can Teach You About Writing Tics: http://bit.ly/fWtDMY

What's better than a writing course? http://bit.ly/hbd0VY

Talking about Voice--3 authors, 3 books: http://bit.ly/he3FLK

Mystery novel intrigues Manhattan: http://yhoo.it/giKGxQ

Preserving the art of discovery: http://bit.ly/hXbXmN

The bare necessities of pitching: http://bit.ly/f8xhOh

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Don't Glaze Me, Bro! A Field Trip to Cops and Doughnuts Bakery and Mom's Coffee Cake http://bit.ly/fRKP55 @CleoCoyle

50 important (or not) things to do before writing a novel: http://bit.ly/icnLUC

3 goals for writers: http://bit.ly/heuGGO

The Backwards Approach to Drafting a Novel: http://bit.ly/eJBBUL

Recipe for a Quality Manuscript: http://bit.ly/eEtXCK @hopeclark

Fact Versus Truth in Writing Fiction: http://bit.ly/hnLf6S @janefriedman

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 7—Labyrinths: http://bit.ly/ghKMTR

Keeping Track of What We've Written

I'm pretty sure that I've mentioned before what a terrible memory I have.

It's bad.  It's always been bad, and it's certainly not improving as I get older, either.

The bad thing is that people do expect you to remember small details about what you've written. :)  And they should expect that. After all, we made it up.

But for some people, it's not that easy.  I have a hard time remembering the names of people that I see fairly regularly at my children's extra-curriculars.

What I've done to serve as a crutch is to have a series bible for my series as well as sort of a cheat-sheet for each book that I've written.  I'm starting my 8th book now, and details start getting a little foggy for books that I've written a while back.

Penguin Berkley was great to supply me with a style sheet that the copyeditor compiled for my series.   I follow it to make sure I keep details the same.  There are things in there like the name of the place where a particular character goes for manicures.  One character's sorority is mentioned there, as well as the name of a blues band, etc.

A style sheet is very helpful for reminders on how we treated recipes in the book (we left numbers as numerals in recipes—didn't spell out 1 tablespoon as one tablespoon), as well as little reminders like this:

Sentence punctuation in italics if whole sentence is in italics; sentence punctuation in roman if only part of the sentence is in italics—quotes always in roman.

My series bible helps me keep track of character ages, traits, habits, hobbies; setting details;  and any details of recurring subplots. I know a couple of writers who keep track of these things on an Excel sheet, but I use Word.  I type out each character's name, how old they are, where they live in the town, what they look like, where they're originally from, etc.

Finally, I have a detailed cheat sheet for each book.  This is, basically, a long synopsis.  Sometimes I can't remember the ins and outs of all the plots (and mysteries can get convoluted with clues, red herrings, and alibis.)  These cheat sheets are lifesavers.

I have a meeting with a book club next month and they picked Pretty is as Pretty Dies to read.  That's fantastic, but I wrote that book back in 2005-2006ish.  It was edited after that, but written 5-6years ago.  A refresher is necessary. :) 

How do you keep track of your story details and what program do you use to do it (or do you keep track in a notebook?) 

Keeping Motivated Daily

I talked last Saturday a little about setting reasonable goals to encourage ourselves to stay motivated.

I think it's also important to find intrinsic rewards from writing. 

I was away most of the day yesterday, chaperoning the state's middle school band competition at a North Carolina university.

For weeks, the kids' lives have been dominated by band.  They've had extra practices after school and taped their individual practices at home for their teacher's review.  They've mastered a rigorous program for the competition.

The school had won the state competition for 11 years in a row.  The teacher is very talented, but drives the kids hard.  And the kids, including my son, were complaining about it.  They all seemed completely burned out and were talking about not continuing band into high school.

We listened to the other bands all afternoon yesterday.  I know little about music, but I thought the bands sounded very good.  Their playing was strong, clean, lively.

Our band was last and when they played, I  could tell a difference.  It was remarkable, actually.  Their songs were complex, each piece several times longer than the other bands.  They played the selections expertly, effortlessly, drawing us into the music.

They won for the 12th year in a row.  Of course, they were absolutely ecstatic.  They'd worked incredibly hard for weeks on it, plus the months in class.

I could see that their wells had been filled again.  The work had been worth it.  Their success had justified the means.

To me, though, the push was a little too hard.  If it had been me, I'd have wanted to have a little more moderation…some daily successes to keep me going.  Because the big wins can't be counted on.

Writers give up so much to write.  The only way to really improve is to work at it—work hard at it.  Frequent practice is crucial. 

The rewards are not always a published book and critical acclaim. In fact, many of us might not end up published until years down the road.  There are so many things that drain our creative wells—day jobs, family demands, setbacks, hectic schedules.  We've got to find some sort of reward in the writing itself to make us continue, despite the hard work.

For all the days when writing is a grind for me, there are the days that really keep me going.  Days when I've been really happy with a great turn of phrase, or a fitting subplot, or even just a nice word choice. 

There are days when everything I've written is total crap…I think.  Even on those days, though, I've found that there's something I can salvage from the day…an insight into a character, a decent bit of description, a nice word choice. Or even, the fact that I wrote at all—even though I clearly wasn't in the right frame of mind.

It's an odd time to make a resolution, but after each writing session, I'm planning to note something positive from the experience…something that worked. It's too easy to get burned out while writing.  A little positive reinforcement is a great motivator.

What keeps you motivated with your writing?

HarperCollins' New Ebook Policy for Libraries

HarperCollins announced that it would only allow 26 borrows of its ebooks at libraries.

This, naturally, ignited something of a firestorm.

The point of libraries, of course, is to lend books to readers for free. The libraries buy a certain number of copies of a book or video or CD and then lend them out until the thing falls apart. That's what it's all about.

In addition, as Eric Blank at Pimp My Novel put it:

E-books don't take up physical shelf space, so the limiting factor that once forced a librarian to choose between replacing a popular title that's worn out and purchasing a different title—that is, space—no longer exists. More titles sold is good for everyone.

HarperCollins' response to the concerned patrons and librarians is:

Twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand, and much longer for other titles and core backlist. If a library decides to repurchase an e-book later in the book's life, the price will be significantly lower as it will be pegged to a paperback price point. Our hope is to make the cost per circulation for e-books less than that of the corresponding physical book. In fact, the digital list price is generally 20% lower than the print version, and sold to distributors at a discount.

But librarians contend that a print bestseller can be borrowed over 26 times before it starts self-destructing.

An article by Martin Taylor on the TeleRead blog supports HarperCollins' policy:

Ebooks don't wear out, they're easy to find and hard to lose, so chances are libraries will need fewer to service the same level of borrowing. And new technology is making the effort required to borrow minimal. These facts underpin concerns about how the paid ebook market will be affected if borrowing (especially from public libraries which are open to anyone) offers few disadvantages over purchase. Borrowing ebooks can be made as easy and accessible—24/7 from anywhere—as buying them.

To me, this is the sort of wrangling that goes on when changes occur in any kind of industry. But I hate that it's happening for libraries. I mean—come on. Libraries are getting absolutely shafted right now in every possible way…cut-backs, layoffs, closures—you name it.

My long-term strategy is to develop a relationship with my readers and increase my reader base as much as I can. One of the ways I do this is by making sure that my book is in as many public libraries as possible. I feel like the library is the #1 place for a reader to discover a new author or series. There's absolutely nothing to lose when you check a book out. It's risk-free. That means that you might be tempted to read something you ordinarily wouldn't buy at a store. This opens an opportunity for authors to find new readers.

The publisher's take on this, to me, seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to financial anxiety. And I know publishers are worried right now—I think most of us are. Bookstores are going bankrupt, libraries are closing, and it's a brave new world out there with ebooks (and one where we haven't figured out all the kinks yet.) But I just can't see where these types of policies are going to ultimately be good for the reader (or, by extension, the writers.)

What do you make of it? Have any ideas on strategies that can make both parties satisfied? Feel free to leave any thoughts or ideas on ebook library lending here in my comments, or to email HarperCollins, who is inviting discussion: library.ebook@HarperCollins.com