Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 250

Calls to Adventure

Maybe your protagonist is an international spy. His days are rarely boring since he's always hopping a plane to a dangerous spot on the other side of the world.

Or not.

For most of us? Our protagonists are fairly ordinary people—like we are. But something extraordinary happens to them, pulling them out of their routine.

The moment when the story really starts has been called the "Call to Adventure" in the hero's journey, as detailed by author Joseph Campbell.

In my books? My...

Friends and Sidekicks

There are books out there where the protagonist works his way through the plot solo, without friends to bump ideas or thoughts off of. Without close advisers to interact with. Without friends to support or even irritate him.

Those books tend to have a lot of internal dialogue or are man-against-nature stories of someone trying to survive while stranded out in a snowstorm or at sea.

But most books I've read have the protagonist paired with another character. And I think it definitely...

Author Pics and Bios

Headshots and short bios are useful to have around.

Even if you don't yet have a book deal, you'll need a picture and biography for any contests you might win or guest posts you might write.

And these days, it's a good idea to build an author platform before you're even published. A platform is simply a professional internet presence—a personal blog or a website, and maybe a Facebook or Twitter page. What needs to go on these web pages? A nice photo of you looking happily professional ...

Right Brained Time Management

I read a lot of blogs during the week and get a lot from what I read. Sometimes I read something that really stops me cold and makes me think.

When I read this interview with Christina Katz on Debbie Ridpath Ohi's InkyGirl's blog, I read one part several times through (and I have cut a couple of sentences here. Read this for the full interview):

What advice do you have for writers who are "time management"-challenged?

I'd tell them there is no such thing as time-management...

Writing Our Region

I was checking out at the grocery store yesterday with a shopping buggy jam-packed with food. An elderly African American man came up in line behind me with cucumbers and a bottle of Ranch dressing.

"Would you like to go ahead of me?" I asked, continuing to throw cans and boxes at the conveyor belt.

"No thanks," he said.

"No, really—It's going to take me a while to unload this cart. Why don't you just slip ahead of me?" I'm still flinging things on the belt, not even looking at him.

"N...

DIY Book Contract Negotiation

I had a few comments yesterday on my slush pile post that asked for more detail on how I negotiated my contract with Midnight Ink in 2008. At the time, I didn't have an agent, so I just did the best I could.

I'll quickly point out that I would never choose to negotiate a contract without an agent. Here is an excellent blog (written by editor Moonrat) explaining why having an agent is essential.

Unfortunately, life doesn't always work out the way we'd like.

The best information on Do...

Slushy

Helen Ginger on her excellent blog, Straight from Hel which follows and reports publishing news and trends, linked to a story in the venerable Wall Street Journal that proclaimed the death of the slush pile.

Although the story, if true, would give every agent and editor in the business cause to celebrate (can you imagine wading through such an enormous number of submissions?), I think that rumors of the slush pile's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

As recently as early last year, I...

Improving on an Idea

Martin Luther King day was a school holiday for my children. The evening before, I got an email from my friend. "Could we set the girls up with a playdate at our house tomorrow? How about early afternoon? I have a doctor's appointment at 3:00."

I wrote back, typing quickly. "Sure. We'll pop by around 12:30. Thanks!"

I continued working on some other emails, a blog post, and part of my book. Then I suddenly stopped. Wait. My friend has a doctor's appointment. On a day when there's...

Recovering from a Screw-Up

I have two manuscripts that are in the pre-submission stage. One is far along in the process—in the hands of my agent and going to Midnight Ink in ASAP, and the the other is in the first draft stage (going to Penguin before my April 1 deadline.)

I took a two week break on my next Myrtle Clover to work on my next Memphis BBQ book--I have a hard time working on two manuscripts at once.

When I came back to my Myrtle Clover book about a week ago? I couldn't find the revised file. I'd...

Blog Housekeeping

I've been thinking about 2010 plans for my blog and there were a couple of ideas I had for guest posts this year. Also, I wanted to update my sidebar (which is always a work-in-progress), and so I'm working on that in the next few days, too.

1)I've been interested in hosting guest posts on different series of topics. There has been some interest in writing processes lately, and I'm always really interested in other people's ideas on the subject.

What I thought I'd do is to open it up to...