Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 227

Looking for an Agent—Thoughts and Resources

Looking for an agent can be a really overwhelming process.

When I was first looking for an agent, that there wasn't enough information out there online.

Now it seems like there's almost too much information—but it's scattered around. So I thought I'd run a post with at least some of the information in the same spot.

Below I've listed websites that can help you narrow down your agent search, helpful posts on writing query letters, popular agent blogs, and agents on Twitter.

Good...

Inciting Incidents

Usually, when I think about plots, I'm thinking about conflict.

But I keep running into the term "inciting incidents." It's usually a scriptwriting term but I've been hearing it more and more in regards to fiction.

Actually, I really like it. It reminds me that there really is a pivotal event in each book that jump starts the plot. It's the whole reason there's a story to begin with.

What happens that takes our character out of a boring, ordinary day into an adventure?

In my...

Manuscript Problems—Which to Jump on Right Away

I don't know about you, but it seems to me that I spend a good deal of my time on auto-pilot.

Any rote kind of activity in my life—laundry, vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen counter—it's sort of committed to muscle memory. Sometimes, when I'm done with it, I don't even have any memory of having done it and I have to check myself (this is what happens when you write books in your head while you do housework.)

Unfortunately, I was apparently on auto pilot a couple of days ago when I went to t...

Getting Out More

I'd posted last week on my need for a little downtime to fire up my creativity.

I think a lot of us are in the same boat, juggling family and job responsibilities while trying to write at the same time.

And don't even get us started on social media and internet distractions, right?

Funnily enough, an article with some suggestions for handling this problem was posted on Wow—Women on Writing a couple of days ago—and I was quoted in the article! So apparently I've forgotten some of my own ...

Mysterious Writers and Inkspot

Hope y'all have a great Monday.  I'm in a couple of different places today, so hope you can pop by and say hi at one of them, if you have a second.

First up, I'm interviewed by the incomparable Jean Henry Mead on Mysterious Writers.  Jean covered a variety of topics from why I choose to write senior sleuths to how I got my agent.

It's also my post day for the Inkspot blog, the group blog for Midnight Ink authors.  Today I'm talking about my experience with the first outline (really a...

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.

Review of the Kindle 3...

The Role of Gossip or Spreading Tales

For a little while I was in the dark (which seems to happen a lot). But then I noticed a particular pattern to conversations I was having with my daughter's friends' parents.

"Elizabeth! I heard the funniest thing the other day when your daughter came over to play. She said you listen to 'old lady music!'  She kept talking about the kind of stuff you listen to on the radio in the car and I was just cracking up!"

It took me several weeks of random playdates for me to realize that my...

What Makes it Worth It

I was at my primary care doctor's office on Wednesday for a check-up and blood-work. (Fun-fun!) Anticipating the long wait I usually have at the doctor, I came armed with not just a notebook and pencil, but a book I was using for research, my laptop, and some ideas I had for plot development. Yes, I was multi-tasking…again.

Since I'd kept myself busy, I'm not exactly sure how much time passed while I waited in the exam room. I'm guessing it was a lot of time because the doctor hurried in...

Productivity Can Equal Downtime

The last few weeks have been really crazy for me. I've been working on a November deadline, working on revisions for a separate project, volunteering for Scouts, and trying to make sure the kids have everything they need for the start of school.

And, actually, I've gotten a lot done. If I run an errand, I can I hurry in the house from the grocery store, put everything away, and immediately plop down and start writing—that's just out of necessity, since I don't have any time to waste on a t...

Pushing Our Characters to the Edge

Monday afternoon seemed specially engineered to make me crazy.

It started early in the afternoon. And we'll substitute "snap" for all the bad words that I thought during those six hours.

I was in the kitchen when I looked at the clock. What?? That couldn't be the time! I was supposed to be volunteering for the Girl Scouts at the festival booth…now. Snap!

Daughter was still in pajamas. Snap! And she hadn't eaten anything. I was wandering around in glasses and no makeup. I put my...