Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 249

Weather

First of all, I wanted to mention that Cleo's interesting discussion on genre blending continued far into the comments section yesterday. She made some fascinating points about transitioning into a mainstream author if you're starting out as a genre writer. And why is some genre fiction published as mainstream fiction (for example, Janet Evanovich)? Find out in the comments: Genre Blending and Your Character's Love Life.

I have a feeling I'm not going to inspire pity in many of you when I...

Genre Blending and Your Character's Love Life

A former journalist, Alice Alfonsi is a multi-published author in several genres and a New York Times best-selling media tie-in writer. Under the pen name Cleo Coyle, she pens two nationally bestselling mystery series for Penguin in collaboration with her husband, Marc Cerasini, the first of which, On What Grounds: A Coffeehouse Mystery, is now in its fourteenth printing. Her most current project under her own name is an adaptation of the screenplay for the upcoming feature film Tron...

Just the Facts, Ma'am—by Margot Kinberg

Today I have the pleasure of having Margot Kinberg guest post on the blog. Margot is a mystery writer (her newest, B-Very Flat has just been released.) But Margot is also a mystery novel expert—and I don't use that word lightly. If you check out her blog, Confessions of a Mystery Novelist, you'll see what I mean.

One of the first steps in writing, at least for me, is figuring out the major events in the plot. Since I write murder mysteries, that means deciding who is going to be the...

Literary Snobbery—Dealing With It

Literary snobbery has been a topic on a couple of blogs lately. So today, I'm blogging at A Good Blog is Hard to Find about how writers can handle encounters with book snobs. I hope you'll pop over and visit me there.

Also, I've got all kinds of excitement coming down the pike this week here on Mystery Writing is Murder. Thursday, the wonderful Margot Kinberg will be guest blogging for me on Prewriting and Research. Margot gives us a glimpse at how research can make our novels stronger.

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Slips of the Tongue

I was in—as usual—the grocery store on Saturday afternoon. As soon as I walked in the door, I was greeted with a big smile by a couple of men at a table. I did a mental groan—they wanted me to do something. Sure enough, it was time to update that plastic discount card the grocery store assigns us.

I was at the deli counter getting some ham and trying to put the little loyalty card on my keychain. One of the deli workers said, "So you got your card updated?"

And I said. "Mm-hmm...

Secrets

I've gotten to that point in my manuscript where it's time to include some secrets.

I love secrets in books. They work really well for mysteries—in fact, it's fun for all of the suspects to have a secret they're trying to protect.

Then the reader and sleuth are aware the suspect is throwing up some roadblocks. They're just not sure why it's happening. Are they covering up the murder they committed? Or are they just trying to conceal a personal secret from the investigators?

Secrets...

When You're Not Inspired

I'm one of those writers who doggedly writes each day, no matter what.

Frequently? I'm not inspired.

I think that's the dirty little secret of a lot of writers. We may get ideas. We may implement those ideas. But we may not be flying through books on waves of inspiration.

I do write every day. But I really have to write every day so I won't fall behind on my deadlines. Plus, if I skip even one day, going back later is even tougher. It's like a muscle that needs to be exercised...

Brevity

One reason I don't look back over the previous day's writing is because I know what I'll usually see:

Blah, blah, blah.

When I get an idea or have characters in a conversation, I can just milk the scene to death. Oh, I have my plan for the chapter (my mini outline.) I have a sense of how long my chapters are, although I don't put in chapter breaks for the first draft.

But I will just keep on going. I know I'll be editing out a ton for the second draft, anyway. And who knows what bits...

Historical Research—a Guest Post by Charlotte Bowen

First of all, thanks to my guest blogger, Charlotte Bowen today! Charlotte blogs at http://www.fictionette.org/, is revising her first novel and writing her second. She's on Twitter at @acbowen.

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Historical Research.

Those two simple words can strike fear into the heart of any writer, be she ever so mettlesome otherwise. For those without much knowledge of a piece's era, research often seems an insurmountable task.

The notions that research is difficult or...

Bad Guys

Our antagonists sure do like to cause a lot of trouble.

They're working against our main characters at every opportunity, trying to make sure they don't reach their goals.

My antagonists sometimes even like to kill people. I have others that discourage my protagonists, send them off on tangents, or divert their focus.

They keep stories from getting too pat by creating conflict and standing between our protagonist and their goals.

What makes a good bad guy?

Attitude—These folks are...