Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 228

Capitalizing on the Strengths in Your Manuscript

Over a week ago, I wrote a post about figuring out what your specialty is as a writer—realizing what you're especially good at writing and then writing it.

But I think it's also helpful to be able to look at our story with enough objectivity to determine the strengths within a manuscript, too. That requires us to narrow it down even a little farther than our general strengths.

I know that my characters are my strengths.

But which characters are strongest?

Early in a manuscript, I ...

Emotional Investment in Our Story—When to Have it, When to Lose it

When I'm working on a book, I spend a lot of time in the story's world.

I hang out with my imaginary friends. I think about what they'd do in different situations. I wonder what makes them tick.

I frequently think about my storyline and characters' personalities as I drive the car around town, brush my teeth, or run the vacuum.

To come up with a good story, we do have to immerse ourselves in it. It takes a lot of time to think about all the different aspects that make up the book.

B...

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.

Tips to streamline your...

What Creativity Is—and Nurturing It

Are you creative in lots of different ways? Or is your creativity specific to writing?

Some of the most dreaded words I hear are "Let's ask Elizabeth, since she's the creative one."

Ack!

Because, really, I'm creative in only a couple of ways. I don't come up to creative solutions for problems. I don't have creative ideas for crafts. If you're designing a bulletin board for a classroom I have absolutely no suggestions for you. I can't come up with creative decorating ideas for your...

Looks and Personality

Yesterday a good friend of mine flew into the Charlotte airport with a short layover. I figured it would be a great time to catch up with her in person while we had a cup of coffee (there's a Starbucks right outside of the security check-in.)

While I was waiting for my friend's plane to land, I was milling around in front of the security checkpoint. I must have looked like I was up to no good at all because a security guard kept leveling suspicious looks at me. Of course, I did carry my h...

Writing About People We Know

It's always really interesting talking with readers about writing. Their questions are always really different from writers' questions.

In the past I've never noticed much similarity in the questions I get, but recently, at different events, I've heard variations on the same question several times.

Do I write people I know? Do people I know wish I'd write about them? Do I write about myself?

Writing people we know: When the readers were asking about putting real people in books, they ...

Resources for Bloggers

The online community of writers is such an important resource for all of us. Writers share a ton of industry information, are supportive when we hit writing or industry snags, and offer tips and friendship through their blogs.

But sometimes, we all get a little burned out.

I was skimming through my Google reader and read this post writer Anne Annie ran on her blog, in favor of "slow blogging:"

BUT, and this is a big BUT—blogging takes a humongous chunk out of your writing time...

Talking to Book Clubs

I'm looking forward to meeting with a book club tonight at Uwharrie Books in Locust, North Carolina.

Book clubs are usually a lot more fun for me than signings.  At most signings, the folks who come into the bookstore have no idea who you are (unless they've come out specifically to see you) and may not be interested in the types of books you write. 

At a book club, you've got a group of people who've chosen your book to read.  And the sales pressure is off, which is always a real...

The Boulevard of Broken Dreams…for Writers

One thing that I noticed during my book tour was how many people would like to be writers or authors.

A couple of times, writers approached our table at signings. They wanted to know our secrets for getting an agent or getting a publisher. And, yes, the word "secret" was actually used by one of the people.

My mind boggled a little at the thought of boiling all the publishing advice down into the quick sound bite they seemed to be looking for. Avery Aames, who was with me, was very good to p...

Twitterific

Here are writing links that I've posted to Twitter for the past week. (And there are fewer tweets—I went on a Tweetcation while I was out of town.) :) 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...