Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 224

Creating Unique Characters—by Marvin D.Wilson

Thanks so much, Elizabeth, for having me on your blog today. When you agreed to host a stop on the tour, you asked for a guest post, offering several suggestions for topics; and I settled on the one about 'how to create distinctive characters for your novels'.

There is the old adage, 'write what you know', and it certainly does help for a writer to have lived long, loved and hated, had several peaks and valleys during the journey, been 'around the block' several times and experienced lots of different situations.

I read that Hemingway would seek out wars and hire on as a mercenary so he could experience the intensity of real life and death battle. I've never been in a war, but part of my writing arsenal is having had a rather widely varied and experiential life background. From a young Hippie Rock and Roll travelling musician, to nightclub entertainer, to a formally trained Zen student, to carpenter, to small business owner, to network marketer, to sales and sales training, to skilled trades instructor and adult education teacher, to public speaker and motivational coach, to mention some.

I came from a small, lily-white northern Michigan town, but have during my adult life hung out in metropolitan cities, been down in the ghettos and made friends there, got to know and make friends with people of all races, ethnic and religious backgrounds. And I have had first hand experience with serious narcotics addiction, complete with considerable interaction with underworld characters: hookers, drug dealers, hustlers, etc. So it's easy for me to draw from all the different types of people I have known to put composite characters together that are going to feel real to the reader because they are based on actual people I've known. Not usually just one person, but piece this from that one with that from another—that sort of thing.

But a writer does not have to have all that much first hand life experience to create real and distinctive characters. You can write people that you never have 'known'. You just have to be a fastidious observer, a people watcher at all times, a perpetual, insatiable sponge of information gathering. Go sit in the mall and watch people. If you are from a small town, go to big cities and hang around downtown observing people. And visa versa if you're from the big city and have not experienced small town living. Interview crooks, ex-cons of all types of crimes, set appointments with pastors, doctors, nurses, pilots, war vets, etc., and build up a vicarious life experience background from which to draw on when creating characters.

Also important is making sure you keep your 'self' out of your characters. Unless you want to speak through a character who is going to represent you and your messages, and that is perfectly fine—just keep it to one—you should guard against having your characters talk and act like you do. As an editor I see this all the time from novice writers. There might be anywhere from three to seven main and supporting characters and all of them use the same pet phrases—an obvious giveaway that the author uses those phrases. Same goes for mannerisms, emotional reactions, everything. Create one-of-a-kind characters, each with his or her own mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, ethical and moral, sexual persuasion, whatever, makeup.

Here are a couple things that can help. One, keep a character journal. For every main and supporting character, have a list of all their characteristics, including special notes to yourself as you write and develop them. Here's a sample from my Hugs character journal-

Full name: Destiny Marie Jackson – Nickname, "Cocoa"

Gender: Female

Age: Twenty nine

Height: 5' 7"

Weight: 110 lb

Race: African American

Occupation: Prostitute

Skin tone: Creamy coffee when healthy, ashy when book opens and she is on heroin

Eyes: Brown

Hair: Unkempt medium sized Afro

Body type: Slender, medium sized perky breasts, long legged

Sexual persuasion: strongly sexed heterosexual, and totally not satisfied sexually in spite of all the sex she's having.

Voice tone: Raspy alto

Speech mannerisms: ghetto slang talker, swears a lot in opening chapters. As story unfolds she cleans up her language and expands her vocabulary.

Pet phrases: hecky; good googely moogely; okey dokey

Distinguishing features: large scar under her chin. Tramp stamp tattoo of a Harley Davidson logo

Role in story and relationship to other characters: Secondary main character, falls in love with and marries The Old Man. Becomes best friends with Angel, Christian Wilson's fiancé.

Religion/spiritual path: Agnostic at first, then Christian

Notes: Abused sexually by her father as an early teenager. She ran away from home at 16, never finished high school. Her parents live off Fenkel Street, just west of Livernois. She now lives on eight mile. Likes pizza, hip-hop, Mountain Dew, not a heavy alcohol drinker, favorite books are romance novels. Detroit Pistons fan.

~~~~~

I use the same list for all my characters. I might not have all the categories filled in as I start writing, but I go to the journal and fill in the blanks as they are created.

And here's another technique I've just started using: before you write your book, interview your main characters. Just as if they were sitting in the room with you, ask them questions like ...

· What is your favorite food? (ask color, music, kinds of books, movies, etc)

· What are your core spiritual beliefs?

· If you were in a situation where you could help someone—a total stranger in desperate need—but it meant you had to make a personal sacrifice to do so, what would you do?

· What was your upbringing, your family situation like?

· What do you hate the most in life?

· What do your fear most?

· What turns you on, makes you happy?

· In a relationship, what do you want to get out of it ... be it a sexual, life partner, friendship, spiritual, or business relationship?

You get the idea. Be creative, and adjust the kinds of questions you ask your characters according to the genre you are writing in.

So there are some ideas, some things I've found to be helpful in creating and developing unique, distinctive, and believable characters. I hope you all find them useful, and I do look forward to reading the comments today. All you writers ... share with us one of your special techniques, hmm?

"Beware the Devil's Hug" introduces readers to a mishmash of deftly-drawn, misguided characters who are prone to bad decisions and worse circumstances. But as one homeless man proves, things are not always what they seem. This book is part-magical realism, part-spirituality and part-social commentary; and remarkably, Wilson's cornucopia works harmoniously to create an utterly engrossing and enlightening story."

~ Jen Knox, author of Musical Chairs (a memoir), and the forthcoming novel, Absurd Hunger

Marvin D. Wilson writes primarily in the spiritual/inspirational genre, but likes to pen "cross-
over" novels that appeal to a wide variety of readers. His books are uplifting, sometimes
weighty, oftentimes humorous, abidingly thought-provoking, meant to instill and create
passion and emotion, more than occasionally provocative to the point of controversial,
and always "tell it like it is", real world, no punches pulled writing.

He likes to deliver spiritual messages in a non-preachy, often irreverent, sometimes sexy and ribald way, through the medium of an entertaining story.

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week.  I'm doing a special Saturday version of Twitterific since I'll be hosting a guest tomorrow—Marvin Wilson.

If you're looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand corner of the blog (on the black header right above my blog name…next to the Blogger symbol…the small search window is next to the magnifying glass) and the roundup with your subject will come up. To narrow your search down on the page, do a CTRL+F, type your subject, and hit enter.

Hope you'll return tomorrow as Marvin Wilson addresses "Creating Unique Characters."

Some questions to ask as you revise: http://dld.bz/zAn6

How to Use the New Twitter Design (Video Tutorial): http://dld.bz/zAnu

The Fiction of Memories: http://dld.bz/zAmk

5 Ways to Make Your Blog Posts Outstanding: http://dld.bz/zAkF

Madonna's 6 Secrets to Personal Branding Mastery: http://dld.bz/zAjU

On Teaching the Graphic Novel: http://dld.bz/zAnU

Writing Erotica: A Little Steam May Be Just What You Need: http://dld.bz/zAjP

3 Critical Steps After Rejection: http://dld.bz/zAjE

5 basic tips for writers: http://dld.bz/zAjB

When truth is too strange for fiction: http://dld.bz/zAjv

How a writer can develop multiple streams of revenue: part one: http://dld.bz/zAhF

Future Classics: Best science fiction by women written 2001-2010: http://dld.bz/zAhD

Considering A Rewrite? Some things to mull over: http://dld.bz/zAh6

Newbie writers: Watch out for these big writing no-no's: http://dld.bz/zAh3

Are you organizing your novel's information well? http://dld.bz/zAhn

Judge Refuses To Dismiss Suit Against J.K. Rowling (NPR): http://dld.bz/zAgR

This Query Sucks (or how to fail and still succeed): http://dld.bz/zzaj

Dialogue tips--a balancing act: http://dld.bz/zzac

5 Resources To Help You Plan Your NaNoWriMo Novel: http://dld.bz/zyZQ

An agent on--"I Was Published In The Past And Want To Be Published Now!": http://dld.bz/zyXM

Small ways to show, and when to tell: http://dld.bz/zyXF

Writing Discipline. Or Not. http://dld.bz/zyXD

How to Integrate Video Into Your Social Media Marketing: http://dld.bz/zyX3

How To Adjust Your Blog According To Your Visitors: http://dld.bz/zyXz

Reading like a writer (Writer's Digest): http://dld.bz/zyUK

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Coffee Drinking Cocker Spaniels and a THIRD RAIL LATTE for Victoria http://bit.ly/bAkbnS @CleoCoyle

10 ways to know your WIP is in trouble: http://dld.bz/zyJH

Are You a Triple-Crown Writer? http://dld.bz/zyJx

Social Media Savvy–The Art of Making Others Feel Welcome: http://dld.bz/zyJu

The Writer's 10 Commandments: http://dld.bz/zyHT

Is the First Line Really THAT Important? http://dld.bz/zyFa

Let's talk about goals--for your characters: http://bit.ly/9ypQpQ @p2p_editor

Synopsis transition words: http://dld.bz/zyEw

Dr. Seuss Manuscript Surfaces: http://dld.bz/zAnY

What's our character like on an *ordinary* day (when they're not trying to save the world): http://dld.bz/z9M8

Unpublished writers--an agent on your chances of getting published: http://dld.bz/zyEk

Writing a sex scene is an impossible task (Telegraph): http://dld.bz/z9J9

Adults Take the Fun Out of Reading, Again (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/zqun

Ease Up On The Self-Pressure: http://dld.bz/zh5k

The Nine Stages of Dating a Novel: http://dld.bz/zh4t

The Future of Publishing: You Get to Decide (Writer's Digest--Friedman): http://dld.bz/zh4f

6 reasons you should be a writer: http://dld.bz/zh4c

The Best Characters of All: Seth Johnson on Gaming & Writing: http://dld.bz/zh38

Myths and misconceptions in publishing: http://dld.bz/zh3y

What do writers make at different publishers? The famous (and now updated) "Show Me the Money" survey with answers: http://dld.bz/z6f2

Five Digital Publishing Considerations: http://dld.bz/zh3t

Plots and Characters and Settings, Oh My! http://dld.bz/zh3r

Why You Shouldn't Click "Free Public Wifi" Network While Writing Remotely: http://dld.bz/zh3n

What Writers Can Learn from the Masters of Horror: http://dld.bz/zh3a

Keeping Books vs. Getting Rid of Books: http://dld.bz/zhzt

Are Book Signings Worth the Time & Effort? http://dld.bz/zhyY @jodyhedlund

Writing mentors: http://dld.bz/zhyU

Your blog is your resume: http://dld.bz/zhyG

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A Family-Pleasing Casserole—Creamy Beef Noodle http://bit.ly/aFEAHm @CleoCoyle

Thoughts on Writing Series: http://dld.bz/zhy5

The rebooted "Sherlock" world where Dr. Watson blogs and Holmes prefers to text: http://dld.bz/zhym

How to email a busy person (like an agent):--six tips for effective emails: http://dld.bz/zeWM

When writing just isn't fun anymore: http://dld.bz/zeUG

Word Count Violations and You: http://dld.bz/zeUu

Sex in YA: http://dld.bz/zyYH

Why the Booker is the best literary award (Salon): http://dld.bz/zyKk

To be or not to be: on passive writing-- http://dld.bz/zeUn

2010 National Book Award Finalists Announced: http://dld.bz/zyKc

Talking crap about your WiP: http://dld.bz/zeT6

Mistakes writers make: "Dear Editor": http://dld.bz/zeT4

Thinking as Writing: http://dld.bz/zeTy

A publishing timeline: http://dld.bz/zeTm

How to use Facebook to promote your writing business: http://dld.bz/zeTc

The Best-Selling Novels That Made You Snore: http://dld.bz/zeSW

10 things writers know: http://dld.bz/zwhZ @elspethwrites

Five Ways to Add Suspense to Your Story: http://dld.bz/zeSJ

Mystery Writer's Guide to Forensic Science: Poisonous Plants: http://dld.bz/zwgR @clarissadraper

On book blurbs--why an author might not be able to blurb your book: http://dld.bz/zwjZ

Debunking some publishing myths: http://dld.bz/zeSx

Tips for writing emotionally gripping scenes (use visceral reactions): http://dld.bz/zwfp @authorterryo

A Few Common Writing Problems: http://dld.bz/zeRN

An unusual writing challenge: http://dld.bz/zeR7

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Cupcake Love-In was off the hook! http://bit.ly/d9s9fs @CleoCoyle

Choosing Which Manuscript to Query: http://dld.bz/zeRz

A Few Words on Word Counts: http://dld.bz/zeRr

On Ted Hughes's 'Last Letter' to Sylvia Plath (Guardian): http://dld.bz/zeQW

Creating a character is like dressing a mannequin: http://dld.bz/zaQb @YolaRamunno

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: And the winner is... http://bit.ly/aguosh @CleoCoyle

Nobel Literature Winner Tried Other Jobs (NPR): http://dld.bz/zaPX

Top 10 Classic Horror Stories: http://dld.bz/zaPW

Writing long fiction--the allure of plus-sized books: http://dld.bz/zaPM

Publisher Evaluations--a Checklist: http://dld.bz/zaPF

How to create a futuristic world (with working link!) :) : http://dld.bz/zrWe

The 7 Deadly Fears of Blogging and How to Overcome Them: http://dld.bz/zaEE

The printed book is not dead yet (Guardian): http://dld.bz/zaED

The All-Important First Chapter (and tips for yours) : http://dld.bz/zaE7

Writers should have a domain name--here's how: http://dld.bz/zaEv @clarissadraper

How to write presidents, kings, queens and superstars: http://dld.bz/zaEk @dirtywhitecandy

5 Ways to (Re-)Capture Creativity: http://dld.bz/zaEh

Brainstorming--Turn "What If" Into "Maybe": http://dld.bz/zptq @ultraswan

The Value of Writing for Anthologies: http://dld.bz/zaDp

Writing Tip: Use of Body Language: http://dld.bz/zaDf

Writer's block--2 different types and resources to cure yourself of it: http://dld.bz/zn2W

5 Free Online Writing Courses for Freelancers: http://dld.bz/yUEb

10 typical questions from writers (that are really just fear in disguise): http://dld.bz/zn2D

Winning the staring contest: http://dld.bz/yUDY

Halloween Mysteries 2010: http://dld.bz/yUD8 @JanetRudolph

Comics Publishers Recognize Digital Opportunity: http://dld.bz/yHpB

Dickens in Lagos: http://dld.bz/yHp8

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: http://bit.ly/ctPUfI @CleoCoyle

10 Minutes of Fun: (The Importance of Not Taking Our Writing Too Seriously): http://dld.bz/yHpz

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Julie's Fish Delish! http://bit.ly/cRL3JL @CleoCoyle

Children's writers--Cricket Magazine Group Looking for Writers and Illustrators: http://dld.bz/yHpv

Matt Forbeck on Gaming & Writing: http://dld.bz/yHpp

Self-Esteem Tool Kit, for Writers: http://dld.bz/yHpf

A Tale of Contracts: One Children's Author's Experience: http://dld.bz/zhWV

Tautologies: http://dld.bz/yHnF

Writing memoirs--thoughts on making yours as readable as fiction: http://dld.bz/yHnC

Book promo gone wrong--book thrown at Obama a misguided publicity stunt? http://dld.bz/zh4y

An RSS rant: http://bit.ly/bTqqBj (I second this--it's hard for me to find blogs to tweet w/ truncated feeds in my Reader). @nethspace

Are US Publishers Using E-books to Undermine Territorial Rights? http://dld.bz/yHnn

How Not to Be Inspired: http://dld.bz/yHnj

Writer Zen Ten: http://dld.bz/yHmS

Can We Create a National Digital Library? http://dld.bz/yHmF

American writers--want to be a writer-in-residence? Try crossing the Atlantic: http://dld.bz/yHmA

Developing a character? Try this questionnaire: http://bit.ly/charchart @epiguide

Picture Books No Longer a Staple for Children (NY Times): http://dld.bz/yHm2

A Character Development Questionnaire: http://dld.bz/yHmf

Police procedure and info to help crime writers get their facts straight: http://dld.bz/zeTQ @authorterryo

Are You Overworking? 7 Important Steps To Avoid Burnout: http://dld.bz/yDFT

10 ways to start your mystery with a bang: http://dld.bz/zeRj

5 Blog Naming Basics: http://dld.bz/yDFK

I Can, I Will, I Should, Maybe Later: http://dld.bz/yDE2

Tips for querying: http://dld.bz/yDEu

5 Articles You Should've Read Over the Summer (Writer's Digest): http://dld.bz/yDEf

Two Brilliant Strategies for Overcoming Fear of Failure: http://dld.bz/yDEa

E-book Pricing: http://dld.bz/yDDT

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Do you love breakfast? http://bit.ly/aniKMp @CleoCoyle

5 Life Skills You Already Have that Can Make You a Great Blogger: http://dld.bz/yDDQ

50 Excellent Photography-Related Tutorials (for all the writers who dabble in photography): http://dld.bz/zaFr

The magic of reading aloud: http://dld.bz/yDDt

Self-help and Memoir: Dos and Don'ts to Save Your Book: http://dld.bz/yDDK

Buying books is fun, with a glass in your hand (Guardian): http://dld.bz/zaQQ

How to Promote your Book with a Blog Tour: http://dld.bz/zaET @annerallen

Excel For Authors – Characterization: http://dld.bz/yDDF

How E-Readers Are Changing Readers (Atlantic): http://dld.bz/zaQF

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 10/8/10): http://dld.bz/zaEN

7 Things Your Blog's Sidebar Can't Live Without: http://dld.bz/yDDv

10 essentials for an inspired author's life: http://dld.bz/yDDd

Why Should You Publish a Regular Email Newsletter? http://dld.bz/yDDa

12 Reasons to be Excited About Publishing's Future: http://dld.bz/yDCX

When should you stop marketing your book? http://dld.bz/yDCU

The Easy-to-Use Tool that Helps You Build a Breakthrough Blog (for WordPress users): http://dld.bz/yDCH

6 Self-Confidence Tips for Writers: http://dld.bz/yDBG

Strong Dialogue: http://dld.bz/yDB7

Twitterific--the week in tweets: http://dld.bz/yXyQ

Wordiness: "The Post in Which I Discuss Reduction of the Aforementioned": http://dld.bz/yDA9

Refresh Your Writing By Leaving The Past In The Past: http://dld.bz/yDA3

Deleting Hard Returns with Find and Replace: http://dld.bz/yDAk

5 Ways to Become Your Own Muse: http://dld.bz/yD9G

How to Promote Your Facebook Fan Page: http://dld.bz/yD95

Subscribing to Blogs in a Feed Reader: http://dld.bz/yD93

Publishers Weekly Editor Finds Egregious Formatting Problems In Poetry E-Books (NPR): http://dld.bz/yD9r

National Graphic Novel Writing Month (part 3): http://dld.bz/ySyu

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Welcome Kathy Borich! http://bit.ly/9ejTOL @CleoCoyle

5 situations where it's better to tell than show in your fiction: http://dld.bz/ySxU

YA writers--don't be a geezer: http://dld.bz/ySxJ

Procrastination: 5 Perspectives: http://dld.bz/ySxF

Backing up your work--some options: http://dld.bz/yVsh @DaphWrites

5 Ways Gigs with Deadlines Help Freelance Writers: http://dld.bz/ySxA

Author Branding: The You That Is Everywhere: http://dld.bz/ySx9

Keeping Ourselves & Our Stories as Pliable as Clay: http://dld.bz/ySxw

More Adventures in Accidental Marketing

I spend a lot of time doing different promotional things to make sure I'm doing my part in marketing my book.

I purchase bookmarks and business cards. I make appearances and sign books. I do a lot of things online.

And then, sometimes, you find out that the most effective marketing is purely accidental.

My mother called me one day to say someone had stopped her at the YMCA to tell her that they didn't know I wrote books…and they'd gone out to buy them.

They'd found out because my college had run a few paragraphs about me in the alumnae section of their magazine that goes out every quarter to alums.

The next day I heard from another alumna from my college—who didn't know me. She tweeted me on Twitter that she didn't realize we'd gone to the same school until she got the alumnae magazine. She was planning on buying my books.

Then I was at the church, volunteering last week, and the other mother in the kitchen with me remembered me from the alumnae magazine and started talking to me about my books.

You'd think that I'd gone to a big school…but I went to a small, private, liberal arts school in Clinton, South Carolina. With enrollment at 1,100 students.

And yet, for that month, I think it was the most exceptional bit of marketing out of everything else I tried.

And I hadn't even run the blurb.

The English department at the college had somehow made the connection, found a bio of me online and a picture, and run the update in the magazine.

My lesson in this? I'm thinking that we should all be thinking outside the box. Sometimes we've already got connections to potential readers—from our past—and those can be easier to tap than developing new connections (although those are important, too.) And not be too shy—who knows what opportunities we're missing?

I think, though, that sometimes it's harder for us to market to our connections. It seems more like selling. I'm not fond of selling, either. But I like the idea of things like updating my alumnae magazine from time to time.

Here are some good resources for the reluctant marketer:

Conquering Book Marketing Fear—7 Tips for the Introverted Writer

How Authors Can Participate in Marketing Even When They Don't Like Selling

A post I wrote for Hart Johnson's blog on marketing tips I've learned

Marketing for the non-fiction author

A blog series on marketing lessons

Have you got any tips for painless promotion? How do you feel about marketing, in general?

What is Our Character Like on an *Ordinary* Day?

Masterpiece Mystery is my favorite show on TV right now, and I've really enjoyed their recent airing of "Inspector Lewis." It's a spin-off of the old Inspector Morse series, based on the mysteries by Colin Dexter. The same actor plays Lewis in both the Morse series and the Lewis ones.

The new series renewed my interest in watching the old one again—and PBS came through for me once more when I discovered they were running the shows on Friday nights.

Inspector Morse is an interesting character and I really respect the late Colin Dexter for his creation. He wrote an amazingly intuitive detective with a brilliant mind and incredible deductive ability.

But the most interesting thing about the character and why so many readers fell in love with him is what he was like when he wasn't solving crimes. He was difficult and quiet—a lover of crosswords, classical music (especially Wagner), art, classical literature, and beer. He spoke his mind. He was crusty, grouchy—and fascinating.

I think, actually, the success of the series is due in large part to who Inspector Morse was in his spare time…when he wasn't solving a crime and wasn't facing a crisis.

This really makes me think. So much of our energy as a writer is poured (and rightly so) into the conflict the protagonist is facing and how they handle it. How can we best fit in the tidbits about the character—the non-conflict-related stuff that makes us love them?

I think our character needs to have a little bit of downtime in our books. Not enough, obviously, to bore the reader or interrupt the progression of the plot to a large degree—but enough for our readers to really get acquainted with our protagonist. Enough for us to develop our character a little bit and show the kind of person they are when they're not working out the book's conflict.

Aside from that, I think dialogue helps. We can find out a lot about our character through their interactions with secondary characters.

Even sketching out our characters' house can tell us about them. How do they live? Can we tell what's important to them by their possessions? Do they have trophies on their mantel from sports' victories…or middle school spelling bees? Do they have lots of family pictures in frames? Is their house spartan or cluttered?

What kinds of things does your character do…when they're not busy saving the world? How do you slip it in enough to intrigue the reader instead of boring them?

Blurbs

Do book blurbs influence your book buying habits?

Apparently publishers think so because you'll find blurbs on front and back covers of many books—and they're hoping if you see that one of your favorite authors loved a book…that maybe you'll buy it to see if you'll love it, too.

The process of getting blurbs, though, is a little unusual—actually, there are lots of different ways to go about it.

I was delighted to get some great blurbs from several authors I really respect, who write books in my genre, for Delicious and Suspicious. My editor at Penguin asked me, months before the book went into production, if I had any ideas of authors I'd like to ask to blurb my book. And I did.

My editor did something I really appreciated—she asked the authors' editors if it was all right if they blurbed me. A couple of the writers have more than one series and she was concerned that they would feel like they needed to try to fit in reading my book when they should be writing their own, instead.

I've also blurbed another book in my genre for another Penguin author and was happy to do so. But last week, I had a request to blurb a book…and there was just no way I can.

Right now I'm absolutely swamped with my own writing and promo-related stuff. I felt bad about it, but I knew that I would be really frantic if I fit someone else's galley into the mix.

Reasons you might not be able to blurb a book:

There are only so many hours in the day. And it does take hours to read a book—and then more time to come up with a pithy blurb.

Your agent and/or editor(s) don't want you to blurb right now. Because you're under one or two tight deadlines.

Sometimes people ask you to blurb your book and it's not your genre. I think it makes more sense for an author to blurb a book that's in their genre—that's what the reader is expecting. If Stephen King is endorsing a book, I'm not expecting the book to be a romance.

Sometimes people ask you to blurb their book and you aren't sure if you'll like it. If I'm blurbing a book, I want to be able to wholeheartedly endorse it. You want to be enthusiastic in your support of the book.

With some publishers, there might even be a problem with you endorsing a book at a competing publisher. I've never run across this—but I wouldn't be at all surprised. This isn't an area I've heard a lot of discussion over.

Sometimes you get requests and you wonder if the book was actually edited…especially if the email from the writer isn't even well-written. And you wouldn't want to endorse a poorly-edited book…you want it to be a professionally-edited book. If your name is enthusiastically endorsing a bad book, then it makes you look unprofessional, too.

What to do if you can't give a blurb:

Remember that it's a huge honor to be asked to blurb a book. The author is saying that your endorsement of the book is important enough to help sell it.

Remember that it can be difficult for an author to approach another writer about blurbs. Respond quickly and politely to the request and don't make the author feel bad. Be nice.

The idea is to pay it forward—if you can. If you can't, for whatever reason, respond quickly and professionally. Most writers, I think, want to pay it forward. After all, there were many different people who gave us help and support on our path to publication.

Have you blurbed or asked for blurbs? As a reader, are blurbs something you even notice when you're book browsing?

Writer's Block

There are, from what I've seen and heard before, two types of writer's block.

There's the "I don't want to sit down and work on that book right now!" type of block. This is basically procrastination and just not wanting to make time for a difficult activity.

There's also the second type…and I know they do exist because I received an email from one of them recently…of people who are staring at a blank screen with panic. And I think the problem is that they don't know why their block is happening or what to try to do to fix it.

I've heard it said that there isn't any such thing as writer's block. That handymen don't get handyman's block and doctors don't get doctor's block. That's true, but they're not building worlds in their heads. I'll admit that I don't get writer's block—but there are some days when I do hesitate a lot while writing. I know it's all coming out wrong. I know it's going to have to be fixed. I know it's bad writing.

But I just keep on spewing out crappy writing because I know I'll fix it later.

I think, though, that people who genuinely see a blank screen and freeze up for long periods of time are really just afraid. They're afraid of failure. They want so badly to write something well that they just choke up.

I think the best way to deal with those feelings is to continue writing. To give myself permission to completely fail while expressing my ideas on paper, with the knowledge that I will make it all better with revisions.

These are some helpful posts on writer's block that I've come across in the past:

21 Tips for Overcoming Writer's Block
Writer's Block—the Pros and Cons of just writing through it
A resource roundup to solving writer's block
Overcoming Writer's Block
The underlying cause of writer's block—fear of failure

If you've gotten blocked before, how did you work through it. If you don't get blocked, what advice can you offer folks who do?

Start your Mystery With a Bang! by Kathleen Ernst

I'm grateful to Elizabeth for allowing me to be a guest here on Mystery Writing is Murder. And I'm grateful to readers! I love my work, and I'd be nowhere without you. Leave a comment here, and your name will go into a daily drawing for one free book. The winner can choose any of my sixteen titles. Old World Murder, one of my American Girl mysteries, a Civil War novel—the choice will be yours!

Start Your Mystery With A Bang!

By Kathleen Ernst

There's been a lot of talk over the past few years about the importance of having the actual murder show up quickly in a mystery novel. I recently heard a speaker say that having a body in the first chapter is good; in the first paragraph is better; in the first sentence is best of all.

This advice may, or may not, make sense for your novel. I've seen some mysteries turned inside-out in order to present a dead body quickly, with leaps back and forth in time. Sometimes this works wonderfully. Sometimes…well, not so much.

It is important to grab agents, editors, and readers quickly. But there are lots of ways to do that! Want to hook readers with your first sentence or two? Let's look at a variety of techniques:

1. Grab readers' attention.

"It was one hell of a night to throw away a baby." (In The Bleak Midwinter, by Julia Spencer-Fleming)

"With the exception of a nine-week-old Australian shepherd puppy, sniffing and whining as if he'd discovered a treasure chest and sought a way inside, everyone was politely pretending Anna didn't stink." (Blood Lure, by Nevada Barr)

2. Drop readers into the action…

"January, as usual, was meat locker cold, and the girl had already been missing for nearly two days." (Blood Hollow, by William Kent Krueger)

"In his last conscious moment, the burning man spoke three words." (Wild Inferno, by Sandi Ault)

"I flinched as a rifle shot fractured the air." (Mint Juleps, Mayhem, and Murder, by Sara Rosett)

3. …or into a revealing conversation.

"'He was healthy yesterday,' said Maude." (Three Bags Full, by Leonie Swann)

"All of them? Even the children?" The fireplace sputtered and crackled and swallowed his gasp. "Slaughtered?" (The Brutal Telling, by Louise Penny)

4. Set the stage.

"The tale I am about to tell begins on a bright, clear, April-sweet morning in the Lake District village of Sawrey. (The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood, by Susan Wittig Albert)

"When Rachel Goddard turned onto Ben Hern's property, she couldn't see the other car barreling toward hers down the long, curving driveway. All she saw up ahead were the massive rhododendrons and trees in summer leaf that formed a screen on both sides." (Broken Places, by Sandra Parshall)

5. Set the tone.

"The desert surrounds the moving bus like an earthly vision of hell." (Panic! by Bill Pronzini)

6. Create a beginning that mirrors the ending.

Return characters to the first scene's setting to emphasize their emotional growth. I did this in my children's mystery, Midnight in Lonesome Hollow. I hoped that using the same setting would emphasize how the characters have grown and changed.

7. Simply state the crime….

"The bodies were discovered by Mrs. Trepol, widow, occupation housekeeper and cook to the deceased." (Wings of Fire, by Charles Todd)

"Lyell Overton Minskoff-Hardy, literary light and cultural personage, perished a few days before Christmas beneath a stainless steel toilet on the Upper West Side of Manhattan." (A Dog About Town, by J. F. Englert)

8. …or the protagonist's take on it.

"I got there too late to save Jerome Santana." (Wild Indigo, by Sandi Ault)

9. Set a protagonist up for a fall.

"Officer Bernadette Manuelito had been having a busy day, enjoying most of it, and no longer feeling like the greenest rookie of the Navajo Tribal Police." (The Wailing Wind, by Tony Hillerman.)

10. Intrigue readers with introspection.

"At the end, there was so much blame to spread around that we could all have taken a few shovelfuls home and rolled around in it like pigs in stink." (The Fault Tree, by Louise Ure)

"Till the night when the habit of killing returned to him, he had almost forgotten the quickening joy of it, how it scourged the smear of shame from the heart and made it live." (The Burning Bride, by Margaret Lawrence)

**

I recently dug out the earliest version of my new novel, Old World Murder. Here's the first line of my first draft: "Evenings, when the hordes of visitors had straggled to the parking lot, and the thirsty interpreters stampeded after them, were my favorite times on the historic site."

Ho-hum.

Here's how the published novel opens:

"As Chloe Ellefson walked from 1982 into 1870s Wisconsin, a white frame church emerged from the trees, prettily framed against a cloud-studded blue sky. The view alone was enough to make most visitors pause, appreciate the simple elegance of the restored church, perhaps even wonder about the lives of those women and men and children who had first worshiped within its walls. For Chloe, the historic site's newest employee, the scene represented a fresh start."

There's no body. But I did manage to raise a question (why does Chloe need to make a fresh start?) and to squeeze some important bits of information (she has started work at a lovely and thought-provoking historic site, and her story takes place in 1982) into those three sentences.

There is, of course, no "best" way to open a novel. Only the author can decide what works for any particular story. I suggest that the very last step of the editing process is one final, thoughtful, and assessing eye at the mystery's first sentences. Are they as strong as they can be?

If so, you'll have readers eager for more.

Kathleen Ernst is celebrating the publication of her first adult mystery, Old World Murder (Midnight Ink). She has also written eight mysteries for young readers. Several have been finalists for Edgar or Agatha awards. For more information see her website, http://www.kathleenernst.com , or her blog, http://sitesandstories.wordpress.com.

Thanks so much for blogging on Mystery Writing is Murder today, Kathleen! Kathleen is a fellow Midnight Ink author who I was fortunate enough to spend some time with at the Malice Domestic mystery conference in April. Congratulations on your release!

Twitterific

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

If you're looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand corner of the blog (on the black header right above my blog name…next to the Blogger symbol…the small search window is next to the magnifying glass) and the roundup with your subject will come up. To narrow your search down on the page, do a CTRL+F, type your subject, and hit enter.

In Praise of Unlikable Characters: http://dld.bz/ySxk

Best Articles This Week for Writers 10/8/2010: http://dld.bz/ySxj

Self-publishing--baby steps: http://dld.bz/ySxa

Dialogue tags: http://dld.bz/ySwX

10 of the best wolves in literature (Guardian): http://dld.bz/ySwV

How can one afford to be a writer? http://dld.bz/ySwS

The Top 25 Underrated Creative Writing MFA Programs (Huff Post): http://dld.bz/ySwH

Why you should read debut authors: http://dld.bz/ySwB

How Linguistics Can Help You Part 4: Semantics: http://dld.bz/ySwA

For the traveling writer--international travel tips: http://dld.bz/ySw7

Writing our book's climax: http://dld.bz/yBvW

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Sweet Tooth Chicken Breast http://bit.ly/9ZcIwY @CleoCoyle

How to Pick an Agent if You Write for Many Audiences: http://dld.bz/yBvA

The importance of knowing your intent: http://dld.bz/yBvk

7 Ways to Promote Your Book With Video: http://dld.bz/yBuX

How to Attract Influencers to Your Blog: http://dld.bz/yNRT

Taking Your Writing Off the Back Burner: Writing in the Moment: http://dld.bz/yBuD

Should you start a blog? Yes! Blogging benefits for writers: http://dld.bz/yNRz @HartJohnson

How to Get a Foot in the Door With Agents: http://dld.bz/yBu9

Planning for a Writing Push: http://dld.bz/yBu5

7 Tips to Mastering Facebook Advertising: http://dld.bz/yBuz

6 Tweets To Promote Your Online Fiction: http://dld.bz/yBuu

Creating Characters Using the Dialectical Method: http://dld.bz/yBue

What do Amazon rankings mean to authors? http://dld.bz/yBtW

Using smell to improve your fiction: http://dld.bz/y3G7

A Stranger in a Strange Place: Migrant Writing: http://dld.bz/yzcm

I Want to Publish My Book. Now What? (Writer's Digest): http://dld.bz/yubm

Who Does What? A Breakdown of Each Job in Publishing and Marketing a Book: http://dld.bz/yuaU

National Book Foundation Announces 5 Under 35 Honorees (GalleyCat): http://dld.bz/yuaR

National Graphic Novel Writing Month (part 1): http://dld.bz/yuaH

Being a writer vs being a blogger: http://dld.bz/yuaE

The 4 Golden Rules of Being a Writer: http://dld.bz/yuap

Writing, social media, emails--how do you stay on top of it all? http://dld.bz/yHkY

Writing Dreams in the Age of Twitter: http://dld.bz/ytZU @PauloCamposInk

London Police Catch Prankster Who Stole Writer Jonathan Franzen's Eyeglasses (NPR): http://dld.bz/yuax

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A Dinner to Die For (Literally) and My Answer to the $40 Lamb Chop by Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/cFnDI0 @CleoCoyle

Demystifying industry terms: http://dld.bz/yBvG

The Doldrums – Latitude and Longitude: http://dld.bz/ytgA

Your Old Job in Publishing Doesn't Exist: http://dld.bz/ytg7

Freelancers--5 Tips to Getting Out of an Assignment Rut: http://dld.bz/ytgv

War, Peace, and Fantasy: http://dld.bz/ytgu

Revision tip--be specific: http://dld.bz/ytgk

How to write a novel in 30 years or less: http://dld.bz/ytgd

Upstart Publishing, Staying Human in a Digital World: http://dld.bz/ytfU

'It Was A Big, Big Surprise,' New Nobel Laureate Mario Vargas Llosa Tells NPR: http://dld.bz/yDC5

10 ways writing is like renovating: http://dld.bz/yDGA @elspethwrites

On the character therapist--from anger to amore: http://dld.bz/ytfS

E.B. White on the tricky valuation of a writer's time: http://dld.bz/yD9K @maudnewton

10 Android Apps for Improving Productivity: http://dld.bz/yD3K

Don't Let "The Rules" Stifle Your Creativity: http://dld.bz/ytfG

Internalization, Silence and Avoidance: http://dld.bz/ytfp

Stop! Before You Try to Get an Agent, Some Questions to Ask Yourself: http://dld.bz/yCyM

For writing prompts and practice, try http://dld.bz/yCyb and http://dld.bz/yCyd @andymeisen @PauloCamposInk

Serial Characters and the Book Deal: http://dld.bz/ytfj

How Deliberate Practice Can Make You an Excellent Writer: http://dld.bz/yteY

Follett's Fall of Giants E-Book Outsells Print in Spain: http://dld.bz/yteV

A Lesson in Bad Writing – Why it's Good to Read Books that Disappoint: http://dld.bz/yteG

Writing inspiration and some links to help you prepare for NaNoWriMo: http://dld.bz/yAfC

Writing For Grownups, Writing For Kids: http://dld.bz/yteF

Book Packagers 101: http://dld.bz/ytem

The Editing Hour: Creative vs Academic Writing: http://dld.bz/yte7

Query letter samples: http://dld.bz/yteq

Editor & Agent Advice: Follows, Tweets, and Posts: http://dld.bz/ytef

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Something Warm and Toasty—Easy Veggie Soup…in the Slow Cooker http://bit.ly/aMwLLW @CleoCoyle

The future of publishing takes shape (Guardian): http://dld.bz/ytdh

Empathize With Your Main Character: http://dld.bz/yk7y

Outlining: The Best and Hardest Planning Tool: http://dld.bz/yk7h

When is e-royalty not a royalty? When 9th Circuit Court says it's not: http://dld.bz/yk7f

30 Ways to Save 30 Minutes a Day (and use it for writing?) : http://dld.bz/yk6z

Could Someone Be Plagiarizing Your Writing? http://dld.bz/yk5R

Writing is like...working out? http://dld.bz/yk5P

How to Overcome Fear & Let Your Creativity Flourish: http://dld.bz/yk5E

5 Ways Facebook Can Boost Your Freelance Biz: http://dld.bz/yk5C

The Artist's Responsibility: http://dld.bz/yk5v

Defeating Your Inner Critic Part I - Track the Problem: http://dld.bz/yjNV

Six Tips for Selling Your Book: http://dld.bz/yjNN

Behind the scenes--"The Call": http://dld.bz/yjM2

5 Ways to Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive: http://dld.bz/yjEv @victoriamixon

Public speaking--when your speech goes wrong: http://dld.bz/yjDY

Writing the devil into your bad guy: http://dld.bz/yxQk

How to create sound bites that resonate: http://dld.bz/yjDG

Does paid advertising work for small-time novelists? http://dld.bz/yjD2

Tips for writing query letters from someone in the industry: http://dld.bz/yjDz

Barnes & Noble gets into the self-pub biz with PubIt!: http://dld.bz/yjDm

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Road trips rock! http://bit.ly/bwPRvD @CleoCoyle

Thoughts on Changing Agents: http://dld.bz/yjDg

Write your book & make it as good as it can be. Let that be its own reward. http://dld.bz/yhug

Learning about writing through the golden rules of medicine: http://dld.bz/yhtS

5 Productivity Myths That Need to Be Busted: http://dld.bz/yhtq

Tweeting Interns: Helpful or Hurtful? http://dld.bz/yhte

What to do while you wait for your book's launch date: http://dld.bz/yhsZ

3 Reasons to Start Blogging Before a Book Contract: http://dld.bz/yhsT

The art of introducing your heroes: http://dld.bz/yhsB

Are You Rewarding Yourself through Procrastination? http://dld.bz/yhsz

9 Ways to Prepare for the National Novel Writing Month: http://dld.bz/yhsf

Self Publishing on the Kindle: http://dld.bz/yhsd

How to keep writing when your inner critic screams: http://dld.bz/ycdJ

7 Reasons Why You Should Read Your Book Out Loud: http://dld.bz/ycd7

A group challenge to submit work to 10 markets by the first of each month: http://trunc.it/bjq96 @mercedesmy

Series writing--thoughts and resources: http://dld.bz/yqYc

NaNoWriMo starts right here, right now: http://dld.bz/ycd4

Why writing is like riding a bike: http://dld.bz/yq4R @SimonCLarter

5 reasons writers should be on YouTube: http://dld.bz/ycdu @clarissadraper

A Word to Children's Writers: Spend Time at Schools: http://dld.bz/ycdh

Enjoy the Luxury of the Unpublished Life: http://dld.bz/ycde

The Writer Himself: http://dld.bz/yccT

Quick writing tips--on permission: http://dld.bz/yccM

Spiderpunk: http://dld.bz/yccC

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: PHILADELPHIA FOOD http://bit.ly/bYBtZR @CleoCoyle

The Worst Writing Advice: http://dld.bz/yccz

Books on Writing... Lyrics, Screenplays, and Science Fiction: http://dld.bz/yccf

Surviving the cheap seats of the writing journey: http://dld.bz/yccd

What's the Career Path for Ambitious Freelancers? http://dld.bz/ycbX

As one writer sees it--why writers don't make money: http://dld.bz/yjN5 @KarenGowen

Tips For Writing Effective Dialogue: http://dld.bz/ycbT

Twitter and Facebook cannot change the real world, says Malcolm Gladwell: http://dld.bz/ycbF

Too many books? Far too few, more like (Guardian): http://dld.bz/ycb8

8 Steps to Hiring the Agent You Need: http://dld.bz/xXxk

The White Noise That Is Twitter: http://dld.bz/xXxj

Non-Stop Writing: the Index Card Trick: http://dld.bz/xXxh

The rules of contemporary romance novels: http://dld.bz/xXxd

Adding Sensory Details to Your Writing (Part 2): http://dld.bz/xXxb

Should You Self-Publish, Then Get a Literary Agent? http://dld.bz/xXwX

Is paranormal romance hijacking urban fantasy? http://dld.bz/xXwR

A quick tip for keeping our writing momentum: http://dld.bz/yfrB

A Writer's Diary: http://dld.bz/xXwK

For crime writers--information on medical examiners: http://dld.bz/yfdD @authorterryo

Surviving the MFA: http://dld.bz/xXw9

Who should rescue Barnes and Noble? Maybe a publisher: http://dld.bz/xXw8

One writer's evolving novel opener: http://dld.bz/xXrA

When plotting goes wrong: http://dld.bz/xXrb @jillkemerer

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Veal Delicious http://bit.ly/9TBeRS @CleoCoyle

Does a writer need talent? http://dld.bz/xXqV

Tips for writing in restaurants, etc.: http://dld.bz/xXn2

Ten of the best vendettas in literature (Guardian): http://dld.bz/xXnP

Three Traits of Compelling Characters: http://dld.bz/xXnH

How to Use Vivid Descriptions to Capture Attention: http://dld.bz/xXnG

10 great science fiction novels that have been banned: http://dld.bz/xXn9

New Twitter, New Rant: http://dld.bz/xXnf

Advice for aspiring writers from a freelance editor: http://dld.bz/xXnb

8 Things We Can Learn About Freelance Writing From The Movie Making Business: http://dld.bz/xXmH

One writer tells the problems she's experienced with author events: http://dld.bz/xXmG

Best Articles This Week for Writers 10/1/2010: http://dld.bz/xXmw

Midlist and backlist authors are losing out with the agency model: http://dld.bz/xUk3

Earning A Reader's Time: http://dld.bz/xUjQ

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: What's Your Favorite Cookbook? http://bit.ly/96N1hW @CleoCoyle

There Is More to Reading Than Digital: http://dld.bz/xUjd

The Magic of Rituals: http://dld.bz/xUjb

How to be a writer in 15 easy steps: http://dld.bz/xUhQ

To make it as a writer, outwit, outplay, and outlast: http://dld.bz/xUhH

The privatization of libraries (NY Times): http://dld.bz/xUhD

Writing 100 facts about your characters: http://dld.bz/xUhy

Agatha Christie--5 of her best books: (Guardian): http://dld.bz/xUhq

Children's publishers: focus on content, not platform: http://dld.bz/xUa6

Skimming

My 4th grade daughter is reading the Chronicles of Narnia.  She started out with The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and really enjoyed it.  Then she decided to read Prince Caspian.

One night last week, I told her that her reading time was up and it was time to turn in.  "But Mama!" she said.  "I've only read four pages!"

Usually in that length of time she's read at least a chapter, so I decided to take a look.  I'd forgotten that C.S. Lewis had such long descriptive passages.  And I love Lewis.

But he'd very carefully written out a description of a ridge the group was crossing and the valley beneath.  The description of the journey over the treacherous ridge took several pages of description.

My daughter doesn't really know how to skim yet, and she'd gotten bogged down in all the details.  It wasn't that she was savoring every word—it was that she was trying to work through the heavy imagery.

Which made me think.  Yes, if anyone could write a beautiful descriptive passage, it was C.S. Lewis.  And I know my nine year old isn't the speediest reader in the world, but it did slow her down and trip her up…which isn't what we want for our readers.

When it was time for her to write her synopsis of the chapter for school, she didn't have much material to write about.  The plot hadn't actually progressed during the description…it could be summed up with: "The group made a harrowing journey toward the enemy's campsite."

It made me realize how frequently I skim descriptive passages.  I think it's a shame—but I honestly don't have as much time as a reader anymore.

As a writer, I don't write much description.  In fact, my editors usually ask me to put more in.  I'm more likely to try to give a picture of a character through their actions, instead.

How much is too much description?  How much is too little?  As a writer, does the amount you put in reflect how you view descriptive passages as a reader?

Staying on Top of it All

I was volunteering Wednesday night for a church program my daughter is involved in. I was supposed to help a couple other ladies cook dinner for about sixty kids and ten adults.

This meant my working in an industrial kitchen at the church…with an industrial dishwasher, huge gas oven and massive cookware, etc. I was flummoxed just looking at the equipment.

The lady in charge of the kitchen came in. She was in a tremendous hurry and giving quick instructions before she rushed off to help with another part of the program.

She started giving me instructions: "So it's nacho night. The chips can go in the plastic green bowls there. Shredded cheese in eight Styrofoam bowls—one for each table. Same with the salsa. The shredded lettuce is in the fridge…you'll want it to sit out for a little while to thaw out a bit—the fridge runs cold. The meat is pre-cooked and pre-seasoned…you'll just need to put it in boiling water at 6:10 to warm. I'd put the pot on that burner there. Scissors to open the bags are in that drawer over there. The middle school kids should set the tables, but you'll want to check in thirty minutes to see if they have. Tongs for the lettuce are on the opposite wall in drawers. And please make sure you're serving the food in the dining hall at 6:45 for the kids to sing a thank you song to you…."

There was much more that she was saying, but I was already looking at her with panic. "I'm sorry," I said. "I know you need to leave, but I'm going to have to ask you to repeat all that—I need to write it down." This absolutely stopped her cold, then she laughed. "Wow! I don't think I've seen anyone have to do that before."

But—I know the memory that I'm dealing with. It's NOT good. I've gotten to the point where I'm juggling so much that I don't even have room in my head for it all anymore. If I don't write it down, then it's gone for good.

How do writers navigate through their days with all they have to juggle? I really don't know. I have to do the same thing every day in order to keep it straight—and write myself reminders, too.

Here are some ways I juggle to-do tasks:

Twitter—I skim my Google Reader (now I'm up to 1450 blogs…how did this happen?) once or twice a day when I have a minute. If I don't have a minute, I make a few minutes in the early afternoon. I click on all the posts that look especially helpful. Later in the day, before supper, I load the posts into SocialOomph to post over a 14-16 hour period. First thing in the morning each morning, I make sure Twitter is set to load. At lunch, I check for @ messages and DMs to respond to. There are usually plenty.

Facebook—I check it usually once or twice a day. I'm usually more interested in seeing what everyone else is doing than in posting status updates, but I'm trying to do better.

Unfortunately, I have three Facebook accounts—my professional one under my own name (Elizabeth Spann Craig Author), Riley has one (Riley Adams is my alter-ego/pen name), and then I have a personal one….because I'd rather not have pictures of me at age 12 or old sorority photos end up on my professional Facebook account.

Emails—I skim them in the morning when I first get up to make sure there's nothing I really need to act on. Then I check them again at lunch to respond. I'll check again in the late afternoon. Other than that, I try not to check.

Calendar—I write everything on it. It looks like a crazy person's calendar—various appointments, story ideas, fragments of grocery lists, reminders about the kids' school picture days…but the important thing is that I check the calendar every night before I go to bed and again when I get up in the morning. Bad things happen if I don't.

Writing—I've changed my schedule a little so that I write directly after I come back from driving the carpools to school. I write until I've reached my goal.

If I don't reach my goal because something comes up, I go on to Plan B—I assign another time during the day to write. And I write on the go whenever I see I'll have some dead time while waiting on something.

If that doesn't work? I move on to Plan C—writing at night. I'm never wild about writing at night, but I can do it if I need to.

Stuff that tends to stress me out that I've learned not to do:

I've learned not to try to squeeze too much stuff in right before I need to leave the house to go somewhere. I'm Type A so I mistakenly think that I'll be SO much more on top of things if I use that 15 minutes before I need to leave the house to schedule Twitter or to write my blog post for the next day, etc. But no—it usually just serves to make me lose track of time or to hurry too much as I'm leaving.

I've also learned that I can multi-task some things…but I can't multi-task others. Some tasks I juggle better than others and some need my undivided attention and focus.

I've learned not to prematurely cross something off my list as completed. This is something I've been doing more and more of lately—take the laundry, for instance. I've been absentminded enough to cross the laundry off my to-do list after I stick it in the washer. No, Elizabeth. The laundry is actually not done until it's hanging back up where it's supposed to be after coming out of the dryer. I do the same thing sometimes with emails that require action—yes, I did email the person back. But I can't cross that off my to-do list until the action they need me to do is completed.

How do you keep everything straight and juggle it all? Tips are welcomed! :)