Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 211

Keeping Goals Comfortable and Racking Up Successes

I would like to be a gardener.

Time seems to get in the way of my being one, though. Maintaining the lawn and bushes seems to be all I have time for…and usually some pretty potted flowers, once spring comes. I have to have flowers near a convenient water source or else they'll die a horrid death.

But Monday, it was time to do some major pruning of the boxwoods and hollies. The last couple of days had been in the 80s and I was starting to worry we were going to run out of time altogether.

Pruning bushes isn't my favorite thing to do. In fact, it's so dreaded that I want to attack the whole chore at one time—and we have a lot of bushes.

My husband and I both pruned and trimmed and dragged off branches.

"Why don't we take a break?" he asked, about an hour into the job. "We could pick it back up tomorrow."

"No, let's just get it over with," I said. And with those words I sealed our fate.

Tuesday morning, I could barely get out of the bed.

I know one thing---when it's time to do a major pruning again (as it will be when it's time for the gardenias and azaleas and whatever else we've got out there), I'll probably be putting it off. This is because the work I did on Monday will live on in my memory, even though my muscles are finally back to normal again. I'm going to associate pruning with something I don't want to do.

It's easy to get burned out, even on things we like to do…like writing.

It's also easy to procrastinate something when we've set ourselves up for either failure or a serious challenge.

I've written about this before, but I think it bears repeating—you can write a book in 15 minutes a day. Or, if you'd rather set a page goal, you can write a book by penning a page a day. I've done it when I had a baby in the house and only a few minutes during Teletubbies.

And those 15 minutes were an escape for me…not a chore. It's all in our perception of the time. So I looked forward to it, never dreaded it, and actually wrote each day.

The nice thing about setting a goal that we can easily handle, is that we rack up successes each day. It's those small successes, little wins, that can help keep us motivated.

How reachable are your goals? Do you ever tweak them to make them more attainable?

On Writing and Puzzles—by Maryann Miller

One of my hobbies is working jigsaw puzzles. One of my husband's hobbies is finding a puzzle to make my life difficult. He has given me puzzles with no edges, puzzles with little or no contrasts - like a baby seal in a snowbank - and puzzles within a puzzle that had 16 corners and 650 edge pieces. He smiled a lot when he gave me that one because I am a fanatic about doing edges first and he couldn't wait to watch me twitch.

On the other hand, my husband didn't think this round puzzle with a mere 440 pieces would be much of a challenge for me, but he didn't take into consideration the shape of the pieces. They are all curved. And some of them connect by matching the outer edge of the curve into the inner edge. Until I found a few pegged pieces that could hold those pieces together, they would separate at the slightest touch. Imagine what happened when one of the cats decided to jump up on the table and slid across the puzzle.

I am a horse lover, so my husband buys me puzzles that feature horses. At first glance, this puzzle looks like it could go together fairly quickly and easily, but since there are only two major colors, pieces could fit anywhere. Which painted horse does this brown piece go to? And is this white piece part of the snow or a patch on a horse?

While working that many-edged puzzle recently, I started to see a correlation between jigsaw puzzles, writers, and stories. We all have different approaches to story. Some of us like to get all our edges - plot points and an outline - in place before trying to put scenes together. But what happens if we can't do that? In my current WIP, the sequel to Open Season, I never have had all my edge pieces in place, and have been writing scenes as they come to me and going back to tie them all together.

That is probably not the most efficient way to work, but I remember what Diana Gabaldon once said at a writer's conference about how she writes. She said she writes in one continuous flow, often jumping from scene to scene without a clear transition and smoothing it all out in the rewrite.

So I guess it is okay to write without all the edge pieces in place.

And sometimes those scenes don't hold together until you get a pegged piece to anchor them.

As for contrasts, we need to make sure we have plenty of them. Don't leave a reader holding a piece of the story and wondering if it is in the right place.

And when the writing is not going particularly well, you can always take a break and go work on a jigsaw puzzle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks so much for your post today, Maryann! I know Maryann through the blogging world and she's always got fantastic posts on the Blood Red Pencil blog as well as her own. And, when I read bios like Maryann's (see below), I realize that I need to diversify more as a writer!

****

As a journalist and author, Maryann Miller amassed credits for feature articles and short fiction in numerous national and regional publications. The Rosen Publishing Group in New York published nine of her non-fiction books including the award-winning, Coping With Weapons and Violence in School and On Your Streets, which is in its third printing. Play It Again, Sam, a woman's novel and One Small Victory, a suspense novel, are electronic books available on Kindle, Nook, and other e-book reading devices. One Small Victory was originally published in hardback.

A mystery, Open Season, is a new release in hardback from Five Star Cengage Gale. A young adult novel, Friends Forever, is her first book for BWL Publishing Partners. She has also written several screenplays and stage plays and performs in community theatre in venues around East Texas. You can find Maryann on Facebook and Twitter, on her blog and on her group blog, The Blood Red Pencil.

Selling Our Readers on Our Writing

I was picking up a carpool of high school and middle school boys for Scouts on Monday evening. It was absolutely pouring cats and dogs, lightning was illuminating the darkness every couple of minutes, and it looked like we were working up to a flash flood.

At one house two boys ran out the door, full speed, jackets held over their heads, and launched themselves into my car. "Mrs. Craig?" gasped one of the boys, "Uh…do you need a car wash? Have you got a dirty car?"

"No, no Daniel," said his brother, briskly. "That's not the way to sell Mrs. Craig anything! Remember, you're supposed to say, 'Mrs. Craig, I noticed your car is dirty. Guess what? I'm selling car wash tickets for lacrosse."

We were all laughing about the fact they'd bolted right into the car without even looking at it. But it was definitely going to be filthy after the rain we had (which makes me wonder what's in our rainwater that makes things filthy.) Besides, they knew I was going to buy whatever they were peddling, anyway. It was a sure sale.

Selling our readers or editors on our writing is a tougher job—after all, they're not totally invested in us like I am with my Scout carpool. And before our writing even gets to the reader, it's got to convince an agent or an editor that it's good.

My first drafts are full of seems, felts, mights, started tos, thinks, and coulds. These words dilute my writing and make it sound indecisive and weak. So I take most of them out, unless it's a wishy-washy character using the words in dialogue.

Writing can also sound stronger by avoiding passive construction of sentences (when the subject is acted on instead of performing the action.) Strunk's Elements of Style is one of my favorite writing books. As Strunk put it (and I'm using his example to illustrate his point, below):

The habitual use of the active voice, however, makes for forcible writing. This is true not only in narrative principally concerned with action, but in writing of any kind. Many a tame sentence of description or exposition can be made lively and emphatic by substituting a transitive in the active voice for some such perfunctory expression as there is, or could be heard.

Instead of: There were a great number of dead leaves lying on the ground. Use: Dead leaves covered the ground.

Decisive is convincing…and I'm trying to sell my agent, editor, and readers on my story.

What kinds of things do you do to strengthen your writing?

********

The WKB newsletter that Mike Fleming and I are putting together is set to launch later this week. We've got a great interview with freelance editor Jason Black and links to February's most popular writing articles. If you'd like to get on our email list for the newsletter, please sign up here: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1.

Take the Journey—by Joan Swan

Writing, like life, evolves from the journeys we've taken.

Adventures, life lessons, relationships, love. Regardless of genre, these are experiences all writers encounter, either within ourselves, with other writers or even with our characters. (I've been known to fall in love with my hero a time or two--or ten.)

Life often doesn't give you a choice whether or not you take a particular journey. Some life journeys you choose, such as taking a new job or deciding to have a baby, but others are thrust upon you, like an illness or a loss. But writing journeys are all about choice. You choose to travel every journey with your character. Journeys of your own making. Journeys often thorned and complicated and painful.

When you think about sitting down to voluntarily jump into the muck of situations usually far more tumultuous than real life, it's truly no shock the resistance to write is, occasionally, insurmountable.

Challenge creates excitement. And anxiety.

Many of these anxiety-ridden days have been piling up for me recently as I delve into writing my first option book. With the two manuscripts contracted with Kensington finished, polished, submitted and awaiting editorial comments, it's time for me to start writing another book, one which the publisher has the right to view before my agent and I submit to other houses for consideration.

I decided to write the third novel in this series for the option because I love trilogies, and because I believe in this team of characters enough to risk having the book not sell. If my current house decides to pass on this manuscript, it would be difficult, (although not impossible, granted), to sell the third of a series already printed by another publishing house to a new publisher.

So, not only am I breaking new ground by writing a book I know has to be stellar enough to sell on just three paragraphs and a synopsis (as options are often written as proposals, not full manuscripts), this third book is a reunion story, always fraught with complex emotion and hell on a writer, and I've got to culminate the overarching plot of the trilogy while tying that plotline into the individual book's plot.

Gee…I wonder why I'm resistant to sit my butt down and face that blinking curser.

The universe will give you what you need. You just need to listen.

On one of these should-be-writing-but-wasn't days, I took my pup to the beach for a walk. Exercise, like writing lately, is often one of those things I procrastinate over. But I forced myself out of my little introverted world for the sake of my awesome pup. (They're good at getting you out.)

After we reached the waterline and headed south, that momentum the motivational speaker Tony Robbins speaks of took over. I was there. I was walking. And it seemed the beautiful, crisp, clear winter day was my reward for showing up. Until, a ways down the beach, I found another little treasure half buried in the wet sand: a perfect sand dollar. I got a little thrill as I picked it up, washed the sand off in the sea and carried it with me. Another fifty feet—another sand dollar. Wow, this was cool. My daughter is the one with the sand dollar karma, I never find them. But that day seemed to be my very own sand dollar day.

As I walked our customary low-tide four mile trek, the sand dollars appeared more frequently. Every thirty feet, every twenty feet, every ten feet I'd discover one sparkling at the water line or catch sight of one from the corner of my eye. By the end of our walk, I'd collected twenty-one perfect sand dollars, each as unique as a snowflake. One as tiny as a dime.

Little treasures I'd never have discovered if I hadn't taken that journey.

I felt as light and invigorated and inspired as after a solid writing stint that produced a new plot twist or created a fresh character.

And I knew it was time to crack my resistance to this option book .

Every writer gets stuck at some time or another. Not every writer gets going again. Be the exceptional one. Let the promise of those little treasures lure you back to what you love.

Because if you don't show up, neither will they.

What keeps you from writing? How do you unstick? What little treasures have you found while pouring yourself into your story?

I thought this little guy was appropriate for a giveaway on a mystery writer's blog. (And I adore him!) Comment to enter the drawing to win the Dead Guy Sticky Notes pad.

Joan Swan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist, and a double Kiss of Death Daphne Du Maurier finalist. She writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist, and her first novel with Kensington Brava, FEVER, debuts April, 2012. You can find Joan at her website: http://www.joanswan.com.

Thanks so much for guest posting today, Joan! Joan is a writing friend of mine that I've gotten to know on Twitter, where she's active as @joanswan. She also has a great blog that I've tweeted before. I'm looking forward to her Phoenix Rising series next year.

Repeating Elements

I don't know if y'all subscribe to Writer's Digest, but this past month's issue (the February one, pictured left) is especially good, I thought. There was a nice article in the issue called "25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day."

The article touches on things like sentence structure, pace, flow, and imagery. One subject I found particularly interesting was the section on unity.

Writer Jack Heffron pointed out the usefulness of selective repetition. He said:

"A detail or remark or even just a unique word mentioned early in your piece can be echoed later, creating a sense of wholeness through the reader's recognition of the previous mention." That recognitions also imbues the repeated element with a resonance… The reader enjoys a satisfying sense of progression, of having moved from one literary moment to another."

This is something that I've enjoyed playing around with, but always in terms of subplot. I usually have a subplot that crops up in an innocuous (and frequently humorous) way in my mystery. Then I tie in the subplot to the main plot at the end of the book. I've always really liked the feeling of completeness that it gives to a book.

I've never thought about it, but there are other subtle ways to use this device, too (and I think 'subtle' is key here.) It could be used with setting, imagery, a triggered memory or simply an unusual choice of words.

I've always used it for more of a humorous effect and that pleasant sort of tying-up-loose-ends feeling. But it could be used to evoke a variety of responses from readers…still with that satisfying 'wrapped up' feeling of unity.

Is selective repetition/unity an element that you've used in your writing before? As a reader, is it something you usually notice?

********

The WKB newsletter that Mike Fleming and I are putting together is set to launch later this week. We've got a great interview with freelance editor Jason Black and links to February's most popular writing articles. If you'd like to get on our email list for the newsletter, please sign up here: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1.

Being Open to Ideas—Whenever they Strike

I think most writers are almost overwhelmed by ideas. The problem is usually too many ideas or getting ideas for new books when they're not finished with the old one.

That's they way it is for me, too. But I've noticed that the ideas are striking at different times than they used to.

I used to always get fantastic ideas when I was out running errands. I had a notebook in the car at all times, just in case, and index cards in my pocketbook for those times when I was actually shopping when they struck.

I think what's happened is that I'm now really focused on the errands and getting them knocked out as quickly as possible. So I have less time when my mind is wandering.

Apparently my brain is just dying for opportunities to flood my mind with these ideas that have been collecting. So lately, the floodgates have been opening while I'm falling asleep, while I'm sleeping, and as I'm waking up.

So I've adjusted. There's a book light and a pencil and a notebook on my bedside table. My husband is probably wishing that my ideas would start coming during errand time again.

A couple of nights ago I had an idea that did more than wake me up and make me jot it down in my handy-dandy notebook. This one was the answer to a plot problem I had. This idea completely launched me up out of the bed and downstairs to the computer. It was the idea that completely fixed a plot hole.

So what I'm gathering from all this is that I'm putting up some barriers to the flow of ideas just because my busyness isn't making me as receptive to them. So these ideas are all popping out when I'm trying to sleep.

My plan is to tune in more to the daydreaming, idea-generating side of me and less to my to-do list or whatever it is that's putting up walls.

How do you ensure you're receptive to getting ideas?

*******

Couple of quick notes:

First of all, Margot Kinberg is sponsoring "Do the Write Thing" for the victims of the devastating New Zealand earthquake that struck a week ago. She's holding a raffle to help raise money for the relief effort. For more information, please visit Margot's blog.

Secondly, the WKB newsletter that Mike Fleming and I are putting together is set to launch later this week. We've got a great interview with freelance editor Jason Black and links to February's most popular writing articles. If you'd like to get on our email list for the newsletter, please sign up here: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1.

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.

10 ways to find people to follow on Twitter: http://bit.ly/gCCYoV @emlynchand

Writing Theory -- The Monomyth: http://bit.ly/hfeAsU

Why do professional writers shy away from social media? http://bit.ly/ero31d via @BookMD

Writers Tips for Successful Radio Interviews: http://bit.ly/hGSFqe @Working_Writer

Creativity tweets of the week: http://bit.ly/hAMHg8

20 steps for building a Facebook Author Page and getting people to "like" it: http://bit.ly/fgN07J @emlynchand

The Art of Repetition: http://bit.ly/dOd64D

Tips for writing your query: http://bit.ly/e6ptTo

Dealing with the passage of time in a series: http://bit.ly/eKbiRM @mkinberg

Create a foil: http://bit.ly/hGwWMx

Thoughts on outlining novels and stories: http://bit.ly/eIHaFG

Things Could Be Worse: 12 Dystopian Novels: http://huff.to/fWbyQ4

Delegate Your Way To Writing Success: http://bit.ly/gEsOC5

Working (and Writing) Effectively With the On/Off Principle: http://bit.ly/gZr0Zq

The Vampire Issue: Or, why Vamps Don't Have to Suck: http://bit.ly/gwt7Yl

Promote a Book with Twitter: 10 Strategies for Authors: http://bit.ly/ijUumo

You Might Be Under Deadline If…: http://bit.ly/iapHpB @jamigold

The waiting game: http://bit.ly/ehWbiw

How To Write A Query Letter: http://bit.ly/h3Tsdd @bubblecow

Integrating research into our fiction: http://bit.ly/hPtiXC

9 Tips for Amplified Creativity: http://bit.ly/gihwFB

Over 6000 links to help #writers find resources: http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Writing in layers: http://bit.ly/dQuyTD

6 Techniques for Using Music to Help Our Muse: http://bit.ly/dIiB12 @jamigold

6 Reasons You Will Never Be A Writer: http://bit.ly/h4kS8t @StoryADayMay

Anyone Should Blog? 3 Types of Blogs and 3 Ways to Handle Them: http://bit.ly/f1ruSb

Spectrum surfing--trying out new genres: http://bit.ly/ewveQc @AraTrask

The One Surprise Rule: http://bit.ly/ewoxPG @Thecozychicks

An Education in Book Reviews: http://bit.ly/eA2PJf

Why Alpha Male Writers Became Extinct (Wall St. Journal): http://on.wsj.com/eHn4n4

Best Articles This Week for Writers 2/25/11: http://bit.ly/gxATij @4kidlit

How to get your script read: http://bit.ly/fgMto2

Google introduces e-books to Android market: http://bit.ly/f1qmGF

What Creates Good Writing: Instinct vs. Skill: http://bit.ly/f6ZSYt

The tricky balancing act of red herrings for the crime writer: http://bit.ly/gmPBL6 @mkinberg

The writer's role in submissions and negotiations: http://bit.ly/ejXU3L

Positive Self-Talk--Examples: http://bit.ly/gXTk8i @joanswan

The Book Is Dead. Long Live The Publishing Industry! http://huff.to/hjhuMb

Protect Yourself from Writing's Physical Hazards: http://bit.ly/hqr7gl

How To Entice An Agent In 25 Words Or Fewer: http://bit.ly/hk4GHI

Poetry and literature in Kensington Gardens - interactive (Guardian): http://bit.ly/ib5zSn

A Writer Muses on Marketing and Sales: http://bit.ly/gRnOtL

Giving Your Character Choices: http://bit.ly/fjNPRk

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Scallops over a bed of Creamed Spinach http://bit.ly/dKI1KA @CleoCoyle

Directory for Plot Series: http://bit.ly/dWXmFB

Does Your Fiction Have A Comfort Zone? http://bit.ly/eayUVd

Ideas for earning money as a writer: http://bit.ly/f6tDN2

Dos and Don'ts of writing conferences: http://bit.ly/fxbfGR

Starting a New Manuscript (Having a Template): http://bit.ly/fqyqlF

Are your characters frozen in time or aging through your series? http://bit.ly/hYrsCP

Do the Write Thing: Earthquake Relief & Donations: http://bit.ly/hfE6el @janetrudolph @mkinberg

Writing race in YA: http://bit.ly/eN8tTn

Writer's Digest hosts free webinar tomorrow (2-25) on what the Borders bankruptcy means for writers: http://bit.ly/epwAJV

5 Surprising Things One Writer Has Learned Since Selling her Manuscript: http://bit.ly/gET0w3

Questions to ask editors at conferences: http://bit.ly/g9OROR

The Loneliness of Self-Publishing: http://bit.ly/dKztqd

Protagonists need to be proactive: http://bit.ly/fPhidl

Cliches for Aspiring Writers: http://bit.ly/fUSE3K

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

Plot Arcs & The Query: http://bit.ly/f1pWIX

The Unreal, and Why We Love It: Recognition--http://bit.ly/gCqfba

3 Types of Character Arcs: Choose the Best for Your Novel: http://bit.ly/ee0kTZ

Revising a Short Story: http://bit.ly/iivRVt

An editor with setting writing tips: http://bit.ly/hYb6QL

Traits of a good crime fiction character: http://bit.ly/hDX7Xo

10 Ways to Improve Your "Likability Quotient": http://bit.ly/grRgXL

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Mystery Lovers Kitchen: I ADORE SOUP http://bit.ly/gzBZGd @CleoCoyle

How to Use LinkedIn With Twitter for Better Networking: http://bit.ly/fE0xJS

Is The First Book We Write Usually Garbage? http://bit.ly/dVF2aJ

Changing a Location Can Mean Everything: http://bit.ly/hcaTNV

Barnes & Noble Opens Doors for Self-Published Writers: http://bit.ly/eTFjqU

A writer who survived the New Zealand earthquake posts an update from his phone: http://bit.ly/e8gMoh @ajackwriting

Track Changes – A Critique Group Lifesaver: http://bit.ly/emavdS

Writing Every Day vs. Binge Writing: http://bit.ly/hTSrm6

If you are an author, everything is your fault: http://bit.ly/hQUTny

Adults are just as creative as children: http://bit.ly/iiILl1

Why you should — or maybe shouldn't — be blogging: http://bit.ly/exi7Ho

When the words don't flow: http://bit.ly/hbn1DH

An agent says, "When to keep your trap shut? Almost always.": http://bit.ly/hMXY8D

How to Leave Meaningful Blog Comments: http://bit.ly/hGHnvq

Developmental Stages of a Short Story 101: http://bit.ly/htyebw

Going Neuro: Writing for Brains: http://bit.ly/eQ6cKg

First chapters: http://bit.ly/eLfLJW

Researching the Historical Novel: http://bit.ly/fgzka4

Size Can Matter: Novels vs Short Stories: http://bit.ly/e1ptIf

Authors catch fire with self-published e-books (USA Today): http://usat.ly/eOc0li

An editor reviews the Sony Daily Edition eReader: http://bit.ly/eFIrn9 @martyhalpern

Hooking the Reader and Never Letting Go: http://bit.ly/eUTZm3

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Margarita Pie http://bit.ly/fJYvI4 @CleoCoyle

Exploring the wonder of the genre with a space opera author: http://bit.ly/hEqW4P

Tweet from your phone--even if you don't have an internet-enabled phone: http://bit.ly/e4O51i

Promotional Cargo Cults: http://bit.ly/ewjHbZ

A Writer's Dress Code? http://bit.ly/hOMr9x @authorterryo

When Should Authors Show Off Their Book Covers? http://bit.ly/h2jms2

Tips for pitching your book: http://bit.ly/gi1YUx

10 Signs of a Typical Writing Day: http://bit.ly/fzEPlb @elspethwrites

How to Grow Your Reader Community with an Author Blog: http://bit.ly/hKMabw @thecreativepenn

10 Resources to Help You Write a Great Short Story: http://bit.ly/h5CZLn

World building in short stories: http://bit.ly/enqQOu

Coping with rejection: http://bit.ly/epAFkj

5 tips for squashing self-doubt demons: http://bit.ly/dXFgSN @tawnafenske

Tips to keep those modifiers from dangling: http://bit.ly/f0DGBt

Slush behind the scenes: http://bit.ly/fjVhVT

Point of View, Whose Head Should I Be In? http://bit.ly/g6aLf4

Changing times: Changing book design: http://bit.ly/gz6jom

How accurately labeling your genre can help get you published: http://bit.ly/dTcjcl

4 Absurdly Effective Steps to Take Before Asking to Guest Post: http://bit.ly/gFH4Aa

How to improve your writing in 5 minutes or fewer: http://bit.ly/ebcKIK

Building Reader Rapport through Characters' Emotions: http://bit.ly/gA4ZYX

A lesson in teaching writing (Guardian): http://bit.ly/dEI6XB

Romance Novel Tropes: Cliches We Love and Hate: http://bit.ly/fs3R0X

Five (Easy) 5-Minute Marketing Ideas for the Unmotivated and/or Lazy Author: http://tinyurl.com/6977axt

When authors met book bloggers for lunch (Guardian): http://bit.ly/gMXoWQ

8 New Facebook Page Changes: What You Need to Know: http://bit.ly/fb5KcE

Mixing Past and Present Tense: http://bit.ly/hPBIwj

How To Write The Perfect Sentence: http://bit.ly/h560uu

What Can Literary Criticism Do For You? http://bit.ly/hOHQM7 @amwriting

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Oprah's Oatmeal Muffins and The Zero Fat Muffin Experiment by Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/gJdEH4 @CleoCoyle

Too Many Books: http://bit.ly/gY2uMy

Pacing your novel: http://bit.ly/frg2gQ

I Was Told to Like You: Marriage of Convenience Plots: http://bit.ly/etwN3F

Why It's Called The Slush Pile: http://bit.ly/hybujC

Feeling Sleepy? 5 Quick Energy Tips For Writers: http://bit.ly/gCqgBv @ajackwriting

Why writers make reluctant revolutionaries (Guardian): http://bit.ly/gk4EVH

Promote Yourself, Not Your Book: http://bit.ly/fraY6P

Thoughts on writing description: http://bit.ly/dYKZXE

Character Believability Using POV: http://bit.ly/dQryDQ

Examining Trends vs. Style in Children's Books: http://bit.ly/eqkFY8

Writing dialogue--how people really talk on the page: http://bit.ly/fl84KU

Introspection--how much is too much? http://bit.ly/eqQBKS

How To Clearly Communicate the Essence Of Your Book To Agents And Publishers: http://bit.ly/h5zOH1 @bubblecow

Exposition: A Little Crazy Goes A Long Way: http://bit.ly/dEXDLH

Modern writer survival skills: http://bit.ly/eekqqb

Book bloggers can help sell your book: Tips for authors: http://bit.ly/dLH0Sx

Network & increase blog traffic with a blog challenge: http://bit.ly/fw7S61 or blogfest: http://bit.ly/ekLTsO @AlexJCavanaugh @hartjohnson

Don't Speak: On Writers and Angst and How to Deal: http://bit.ly/hSsvZA

What Does Your Email Say About You? http://bit.ly/gXQJrL @PStoltey

Mastering characters' inner narrative: http://bit.ly/gjFvc7

I Do: Tips for Co-blogging with Your Spouse: http://bit.ly/f1zv25

What "Home" Means - to Your Characters and your Story: http://bit.ly/hbz9po

Keeping Dialogue Real: http://bit.ly/eAo39i

Has Facebook Peaked? http://bit.ly/i8KXZI @annerallen

Writing Conference Preparation: http://bit.ly/hCNWeS

A writing contest for unpublished writers: http://dld.bz/MEvh @jhansenwrites

It's Horrible, Stupid, and I Hate It: Coping With Criticism: http://bit.ly/eE5G2y

The Gift of Story: http://bit.ly/ibLYr6 @DazyDayWriter

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Hearty Crockpot Bean Soup http://bit.ly/dFHLyo @CleoCoyle

Seeing is Believing: The Romantic Heroine's Journey: http://bit.ly/hUlpis

30+ Visually Attracted Creative Resumes: http://bit.ly/gEV2DX

Playing by the Rules (of Magic): http://bit.ly/h6vKig

Let your MC succeed while they're failing – the power of reward: http://bit.ly/hhO5k2 @dirtywhitecandy

5 ways to write an atrocious blog post: http://bit.ly/hJ6QtV @jammer0501

What We Say When We Don't Speak. Or, Five Ways To Put a Sock In It: http://bit.ly/h6O14P

10 of the best: fictional poets (Guardian): http://bit.ly/fACsOg

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

5 Writing Mantras That Bear Repeating: http://bit.ly/eb9d2q

7 Solutions for Sentences with Problematic Parallels: http://bit.ly/gdDJYv

A SF author with a letter to beginning writers: http://bit.ly/hBrLMY

Enter the Extraordinary Heroine: Are We Ready For Her Yet? http://bit.ly/ea72aa

The decline and fall of the fantasy novel: http://bit.ly/hjzctB

10 Tips To Help You Become A Better Writer: http://bit.ly/emOZeY

Looking on the Write Side: Turning Off Your Inner Editor: http://bit.ly/gKHMhK

Getting Your Work Out in the World: The Mechanics: http://bit.ly/fvd6v6

Using Twitter to Market Your Book: http://bit.ly/ftjBNA

The wonder of yes: http://bit.ly/funcAG

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Please Welcome Guest Blogger Misa Ramirez! http://bit.ly/hvxdMm @CleoCoyle

Becoming A Writer: http://bit.ly/g2maDI

Fertilize Confusion to Thrive During Creative & Life Challenges: http://bit.ly/e6CtyN

Finding the Root Cause of a Productivity Problem

I did our taxes this week, which is cause for tremendous celebration for me.

Doing taxes is a real grind, especially sifting through all the bits of paper and receipts that I keep over the course of the year. Since my writing income puts me in the self-employed category, the tax rate on my income is higher (bleh).

I write off as many of my expenses as possible and keep all my writing-related and promo-related receipts in an envelope. The envelope is bulging by the end of the year…and then comes the fun part of sorting through it all.

Each year, I take the tax time opportunity to also go through all the non-writing-related papers I've collected—statements, invoices, etc. that fill the desk. I file some and shred others. It's a very time-consuming process that I've struggled with for years…just because of the shear volume of paper that we've got.

Yesterday, while I was shredding the umpteenth statement, I had a sudden brainstorm. I didn't need these statements—clearly. It was a nightmare to shred or file them all. Why not just contact all the various institutions and ask them to discontinue their mailings? Why not just get whatever information I needed online?

The reason I've been stuck with that time-consuming chore for the last ten years is because I never thought about the root cause of the problem…the unwanted paper.

On the same wavelength, I've noticed the last few weeks that my mornings have been less-productive than usual. Instead of really taking a minute to figure out why, I just kept on trying to make up my lost time later in the day.

After I figured out my paper conundrum, though, I started thinking about what had changed in my schedule to cause such a disruption to my writing in the mornings. I realized it was the number of Twitter messages and emails that I was getting…and the fact that I was responding to them first thing in the morning instead of getting my work done. I never used to check messages first thing in the morning, but somehow I'd fallen into that trap recently.

So now I put off checking and responding to messages until later in the morning—and it seems to be working out a lot better for me.

It's amazing how I can just blindly stumble along with a problem before I make time to figure out what's actually causing it. And addressing the root cause always seems to work.

Is there anything keeping you from being productive?

Integrating Our Research

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, I'm working on a new mystery series for Penguin/NAL…a series set in the South that involves a quilting guild.

I've probably never mentioned my quilting expertise before…because it's non-existent. :)

Quilting is the perfect topic for me to research, though, because I've always been interested in quilting as an art form and as a way to tell stories.

Recently, I've been immersed in quilting books and magazines, talked to quilters, visited quilt shops, and watched videos on quilting.

I know way more information about quilting than needs to go into the book.

Sometimes I read books and feel like the author was trying to convey all of what he'd learned about a topic to the reader, resulting in an information dump.

This could be a setting dump, a character skill dump, a forensics investigation dump, etc. It takes lots of different forms, but it's rarely fun to read. It makes me feel like the writer is showing off…although they're probably just trying to include all the information they dug up during the long hours of research.

So what I'm trying to do with my quilting research is integrate it naturally into the story in bits and pieces.

I'm finding different ways to do this. Some of the integration is as simple as letting individual preference of quilt styles indicate the different personalities of the characters.

Some of the research figures into the detail and history of a quilt that's an important prop in the mystery.

Some of the research integrates into setting detail as I describe the environments where the ladies quilt together (bees, guild meetings)—and where one plots murder. :)

I'm writing a murder mystery—not a how-to book on quilting. So the quilting research is there to add flavor to the novel instead of overwhelming it.

I'm looking at the research a lot like I look at character worksheets and questionnaires—I don't need to use all the information I find out about my character. The information is just there for me to develop a well-rounded character. Similarly, the research is there for me to develop a textured book.

How do you integrate your research naturally into your novel?

Your Characters—Frozen in Time, or Aging During Your Series?

Sometimes I'd like to be my protagonist. Time moves at a much slower pace for them than it does for the rest of us.

Margot Kinberg had a thought-provoking post on her Confessions of a Mystery Novelist blog the other day about the passage of time in series writing. In one interesting example, Margot points out that Agatha Christie had Tommy and Tuppence age in real time in one series while Miss Marple really doesn't seem to age at all in her series. Christie wrote Miss Marple books for almost 40 years and Miss Marple would have had to have been well over 100 if she aged at the rate that you and I do.

I write two series with protagonists in their 60s. I also write Myrtle Clover, who is an octogenarian. I've decided that, while time passes (the murders in the series are not happening back to back in real time from book to book), its passage is a lot slower than ours.

This suits me fine because I like to cultivate a slower-paced, cozier feel anyway. My characters grow—but in talent and character…not in terms of age.

I'm being vague about the passage of time in my books, primarily because of my characters' more advanced ages. But there are plenty of writers with young protagonists who stop time…Nancy Drew has stayed 18 for the past 80 years or so (well, she was 16, briefly, at the very start of the series.) Clearly, having Nancy age was going to put her in the category of 'grownup' to many of her elementary-school age readers.

Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone still lives in the 1980s. Grafton's first book of the series, A is for Alibi, was written and set in 1982. Her last book, U is for Undertow, which released in 2009, is set in 1988. Time does pass…but very slowly.

Then there are writers who have let their characters age over the course of a series—which sometimes results in the end of a series. The Little Colonel books come to mind (she married and that was it), and the Little House on the Prairie books where Laura grows up and marries (resulting in the end of the series.) Because really, how far do young readers want to stretch from the familiar? Reading about married life when you're ten years old can be something of a bummer.

So here are the possibilities, as I see them, for passage of time and character age:

Follow real time fairly exactly (so, if you put out a novel a year, then your character will age each year in real time)

Freeze time completely.

Slow down time in a vague way (my current approach)

Slow down time…dramatically (à la Sue Grafton.)

Speed time forward temporarily. Maybe you've frozen time for a couple of books or more and now your next book is set five years out from when your last one ended.

Any other thoughts on how to wrangle space and time in a series? Which approach do you take when you write…or which do you like reading?