Elizabeth Spann Craig's Blog, page 71

November 1, 2018

Delivering Scares in Cozies and Other Genres

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Hope everyone had a good Halloween. Apparently I still have scary stuff on the brain. :)

The subjective nature of fear:

I’m not usually a fan of being terrified when I read or watch something. And I think I have a very low-threshold in terms of what’s scary. I recommended the first “Halloween” movie to my father last month (he’d never seen it). He was glad he watched it because he now understands a lot of pop-culture references. But he didn’t think it was scary . . . and the film scared me to death. I think the scariest moment was at the very beginning of the movie when two girls were walking home from school in broad daylight and one of them, and the viewer, sees a creepy man wearing a mask by a row of bushes. It bothered me because it came out of nowhere: it wasn’t even nighttime. And it took place in a public (which I equate to safe) location.

My high school senior daughter had to watch “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” last week at a school film club for extra credit for a sociology class (I know, I was baffled, too, ha). Before she left, I warned her that it was very scary. She came back to tell me that it wasn’t scary . . . it was disturbing.

So I struck out twice on what was scary. To two different generations.

Knowing reader expectations for what’s scary in your genre:

I don’t think it matters too much that I’m such a chicken when it comes to scary books and movies. That’s because I understand that I’m on the same wavelength with my readers. Once when I was writing a book for the Memphis Barbeque series and scared myself in the process (the only time I’ve done this except when writing my zombie book). I immediately realized the scene was too dark and needed to be toned down.

For cozies, I think the expectation is more for tension than fear. Cozies are generally an escape. Tense moments are fine. But too much darkness and drawn-out scares are probably more fitting for other genres. Of course writers can write however they want…but to be more of a commercial match for the audience, it’s a good idea to keep reader expectations in mind.

The premise of cozies is “the killer among us.” That, to me, is scary enough. Unlike some genres, the cozy mystery presents the murderer as someone in our neighborhood, our family, our quilt guild, our church.

Maybe you write for a genre that has some latitude with its scares. For further reading on delivering fright, read:

“How to Tell Scary Stories, from the Co-Creator of ‘American Horror Story‘ : 8 tips from Brad Falchuk via Joe Berkowitz

“Writing Scary Scenes”: tips from writer Rayne Hall

“How to Write a Scary Scene“: by Susan Dennard

How tolerant are you of being scared? How scary are your books?

Delivering Genre-Appropriate Scares to Your Readers:
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Published on November 01, 2018 21:02

October 28, 2018

3 More Things You Should Do on Goodreads

by Chrys Fey, @ChrysFey

Back in June Elizabeth graciously had me as a guest on her wonderful blog for 3 Things You’re Probably Not Doing on Goodreads that You Should. Shortly after that post went live, I thought of 3 more things you could do on Goodreads and wanted to do a follow-up post here. So, are you ready for 3 additional tips that are easy to do and can be beneficial to you and your books?

Well, here they are!

Upload YouTube Videos

Do you create videos about your books for a YouTube channel? Have you ever done a recorded reading or a book trailer? Great! Now you can post those to Goodreads.

Step 1: All you need is the full URL to the video on YouTube. Copy it and head over to your Goodreads profile.

Step 2: On the left side of your profile, beneath your followers, you’ll see a section for videos. Click “add new.”

Step 3: On the page that pops up, paste the full YouTube URL for the video into the spot asking for the “Video URL.”

Step 4: Insert a title and description.

Step 5: Fill out tags, using commas to separate them. You could use your author name, your book’s title, your series’ title, your characters’ names, and keywords that you’d use to describe your book’s genre/category on Amazon.

Other Tag Ideas: reading, author reading, book trailer, book series, readers.

You can even use popular hashtags from Instagram and Twitter for books and readers, but without the actual hashtag symbol. Ex: bibliophiles, bookworm

Step 6: Choose the type of video. Your options are: trailer, interview, reading, speech, and other.

Step 7: Select which one of your books the video is about.

Step 8: Click “save.”

Now your video is up for Goodreads members to view. Not only will it be on your profile in the sidebar, but also on your book’s Goodreads page as a bonus for readers. Only two videos are visible at a time, but all can be found by clicking “see more.” When you view all videos. there’s a counter that shows the number of views of your videos have received.

See: 10 Things You Can Do on Your Author YouTube Channel

Add Your Series’ Book Titles to Book Descriptions

This is a tip I also recommend for all of the description sections for books on Amazon. If you have a series/trilogy, add the list of book titles for that series/trilogy in the description of each book’s Goodreads page below the blurb.

For example:

Series Name:

Book 1 Title

Book 2 Title

Book 3 Title

This is great for readers who stumble upon your book or stop in to check it out. By putting this list beneath the blurb, you are helping readers who may want to know the order of books. As a reader, I know it can be a pain to discover the order of books. And as an author, it’s free advertising.

TIP: You can also ask Goodreads Librarians to create a series page so that on your profile there will be a section titled “Series by (Author Name).” The name of your series will be accompanied with the cover images of your books and an average rating. Readers can then click on it to see the order of books and a few details about each book. But you have to join the Goodreads Librarians group first, which is as easy as clicking a button.

Create Your Own Quotes

Scroll down on your Goodreads profile to the quote section beneath your recent updates. This is where you’ll find quotes you might’ve liked on Goodreads. If it’s empty, that just means you haven’t liked any quotes yet. But you can now! And you can make your own.

Click “Quotes by [Your Author Name.]” You’ll be taken to a new page. In the upper right-hand corner, click “Add A Quote.” Then you can fill in a quote, choose which book it comes from, and add tags (keywords).

Is there a bit of dialogue one of your characters says that reveals emotion, characterization, or hints at the plotline? What about narrative? Did you write a nice descriptive paragraph that stuns you with how good it is? Take those lines from your book and turn them into quotes. When you do, they will show up on your profile and on your book’s page where readers can like them and have them displayed in their favorite quotes section. And when they do that, their friends could see those quotes, too, and become intrigued. That’s what we want, right? Of course, it is!

With these 3 extra tips, I hope you’ve found ways to spice up your Goodreads profile and book pages, especially if you don’t usually use or go to Goodreads. Now is the time to take action and full advantage of this great platform.

Share: Your Goodreads tips.

For more information like this check out:

Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication by Chrys Fey

BIO: Chrys Fey is the author of Write with Fey: 10 Sparks to Guide You from Idea to Publication. Catch the sparks you need to write, edit, publish, and market your book! From writing your novel to prepping for publication and beyond, you’ll find sparks on every page, including 100 bonus marketing tips. Fey is an editor for Dancing Lemur Press and runs the Insecure Writer’s Support Group’s Goodreads book club. She is also the author of the Disaster Crimes series. Visit her blog, Write with Fey, for more tips. @ChrysFey www.ChrysFey.com

Writers: 3 Tips for Better Promo on Goodreads from @ChrysFey :
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Published on October 28, 2018 21:02

October 27, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 48,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately? Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and sign up for free writing articles, on topics you choose, delivered to your email inbox! Sign up for the Hiveword newsletter here.

Business / Miscellaneous

It’s Time For Your Fall Platform Inventory: @cksyme

How to successfully pitch The New York Times (or anyone else): @TimHerrera @nytimes

How Star Wars writer Chuck Wendig’s tweets got him fired by Marvel: @ChuckWendig @comicriffs

How Being an Opportunist Helps Build Your Writing Career: @WendyHJones @IndieAuthorALLI

Business Musings: Barnes & Noble: @KristineRusch

Chasing Book Trends … or Not: by Dana Isaacson @CareerAuthors

Doubling Down On What You Love And Opportunities When Publishing Wide: @thecreativepenn

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Frankfurter Buchmesse Film Awards, Goethe-Institut’s Uwe Johnson Series: @Porter_Anderson @Book_Fair @GI_NewYork

US National Endowment for the Arts’ ‘Big Read’ Program Adds New Books: @Porter_Anderson @NEABigRead

The UK’s Inaugural Women Poets’ Prize Shortlists Nine Writers: @Porter_Anderson @B_Littlefair @HRHopkins @alice_hiller @jennaclake @PoeticJemz @clairecollison1

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018: “Energy was high, deals were plentiful, and business was serious”: @Porter_Anderson @LenaStjernstrom @Amy_Joyner @MagalieSFSG @annasolerpont

Sharjah’s 2018 Professional Program Features More Than 350 Rights Trading Participants: @Porter_Anderson

Rights Roundup: A Post-Frankfurt Look at a Range of Titles and Rights Sales: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

AAP Opens 2019 PROSE Awards to Entries; National Book Awards Host Is Nick Offerman: @Porter_Anderson @Nick_Offerman @nationalbook

Author Benyamin’s ‘Jasmine Days’ Wins Inaugural JCB Prize for Literature in India: @Porter_Anderson @TheJCBPrize @juggernautbooks

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

The October Panic: @cathychall @womenonwriting

Eight Reasons to Participate In NaNoWriMo: @kristen_kieffer

Reasons to Skip NaNoWriMo: @the_writing_pal

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

Cozy British Mysteries—How They’ve Inspired 1 Writer: @VClinebarton @WomenWriters

The Heart to Start Your Creative Journey: @kadavy @JeffGoins

6 Ways Creative Writing Prompts Can Move You Toward Your Goal: @cathysbaker @EdieMelson

Move Past a Creative Rut: @DanBlank

How to Get Ideas for Your Writing: @Wordstrumpet

In Case of Inspiration Emergency: Revisit Your Childhood Favorites: @NaNoWriMo

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Quotes

Quotes on Writing: Everyone from Alexander Pope to Eeyore: @BE_Sanderson

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

8 Totally Eighties Horror & Science Fiction Books: @mattstaggs @unboundworlds

Finding Books to Read and Tracking Our Reading as Writers:

Five Books That Give Voice To Artificial Intelligence: @tansyrr @enoughsnark @tordotcom

Reading as a Writer: Shifting from Private to Public:

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Seven Life Lessons Learned From Tracking Time: @sowulwords @DIYMFA

How to Find Time to Write When You’re a Caregiver: @colleen_m_story

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

Help for Being Stuck: @DonMaass

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writing Quickly

Pick One Thing – How and Why to Have a Singular Focus: @kikimojo

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

11 Ways for Writers to Sleep Better at Night: @TCKPublishing

25 Truths About the Work of Writing: @theladygreer @WriterUnboxed

12 Quotes About Procrastination: @TomBlunt @SignatureReads

How Long Should It Take to Write a Book? @MerilynSimonds @JaneFriedman

5 Reasons This Is The Best Time To Be A Creator: @sara_crawford @thecreativepenn

The myth of the reclusive author: @GuardianBooks

Get More Done with a Plan: @jillkemerer

The In-Between Stages of Writing: @NataliaSylv @WriterUnboxed

How to Adjust Your Writing Process and Embrace Your Writing Season: @weems503

Why Every Writer Should Have a Dog: @CameronShenassa @ElectricLit

Genres / Fantasy

A Fantasy Geek’s Guide to YouTube: Weapons and Warfare: @RMarpole @FantasyFaction

Bullet Journaling as a Fantasy Writer: @jennlyonsauthor @tordotcom

Genres / Historical

How to Write Historical Fiction That Comes Alive: @JimmyWriter @CareerAuthors

Genres / Horror

How to Create a Monster That Terrifies Your Readers: @sarahstypos

Genres / Miscellaneous

Top 10 Elements of Gothic Literature: @InvaluableLive

Genres / Mystery

How to Write Mystery: 6 Ways to Create Suspense: @nownovel

Disappearances as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Genres / Picture Books

Advice For Young Writers from a Picture Book Author and Illustrator: @inkyelbows @BlushingFawn @a_offermann

Genres / Science Fiction

What Makes the Monstrous? @pauljessup

Doing the Math: Aliens and Advanced Tech in Science Fiction: @jamesdnicoll @tordotcom

Genres / Screenwriting

Breaking the 4th Wall in Scene Description: @GoIntoTheStory

Screenwriting: The Ultimate Story Checklist: Selma: @CockeyedCaravan

Screenwriting: “I Don’t Know Anyone in Hollywood” – 5 Ways to Network as an Outsider: @dougeboch

Five Ways Aspiring Screenwriters Can Get an Agent’s Attention: @mhfilmz @hopeclark

Screenwriting: Manufacturing a Bigger Midpoint Disaster in “Selma”: @CockeyedCaravan

Promo / Blogging

Tips for Better Blog Posts: @writing_tips

Promo / Crowdfunding

Seven Keys To Crowdfunding on GoFundMe: @madeleinedodge @BookBaby

Promo / Metadata

Nailing Your Metadata: Categories: by Vincent B. Davis @A3writers

Promo / Miscellaneous

7 Ways to Turbocharge Your Ebook Marketing: @markcoker @WritersDigest

Your Book’s Unique Selling Proposition Begins with You: @PaulaSMunier

Promo / Speaking

How Writers Can Overcome Their Fear of Public Speaking: @BetsyGFasbinder @JaneFriedman

7 Presentation Tips for Speaking Online in a Virtual World: @gigirosenberg

Promo / Video

5 Things to Do Before Releasing a YouTube Video: by Mella Music

Promo / Websites

10 Ways to Build Traffic to Your Author Website or Blog: @JaneFriedman

Publishing / Miscellaneous

How to Publish Regularly, Even If You Lack Writing Confidence: @soniasimone @copyblogger

PEN America Sues Donald Trump: ‘Standing Up to These Encroachments’ @Porter_Anderson @PENamerican

Readers Begin Voting Today on SyFy Pilots of @wattpad’s ‘Expiration Date’ : @Porter_Anderson @AshleighGardner

Changing The Book Format Game: Augmented Reality, Gameified Books, and More: @helpfulsnowman @LitReactor

HarperCollins Launches YA Novel on Snapchat: @HarperCollins @emkantor

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Gaël Faye: Rap Artist to Bestselling Author in France: @oliviasnaije @GaelFaye @pubperspectives

Industry Notes: Elsevier Contributes Book Aid’s Millionth Volume, Simon & Schuster Restructures Touchstone: @Porter_Anderson

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

If You Know How to Date, You Know How to Find a Literary Agent: by Jennifer Baker @ElectricLit

Publishing / Process / Book Design

Book Cover Typography: Book Cover Fonts and More: @DaveChesson

Publishing / Process / Translation

Chinese bot translates 300-page book from English to Chinese in 30 seconds with 95% accuracy: @TNPS10

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Character Development: Recognizing a Flat Character: from Writing Questions Answered

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Referee: @beccapuglisi

Writing Craft / Conflict

5 Conflict-making Choices Characters Can Make: @FaeRowen

Writing Craft / Diversity

5 Harmful Representations of Disability and What to Try Instead: @writing_alchemy @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Drafts

Why You Should Finish Your First Draft As Quickly As Possible: @FredBobJohn

When is my story finished? @mrushingwalker @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

Another 3 Writing Myths You Should Feel Free To Ignore: by Rebecca Langley @standoutbooks

7 Clever Strategies for Harnessing Coincidences in Fiction: @readstevenjames

How to Give Your Readers Unforgettable Moments: @jamesscottbell

Writing Craft / POV

Tips for Multiple Viewpoint Characters: @SnowflakeGuy

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Outlining

How to outline a book without killing the fun of writing it: @Roz_Morris

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Using the Foolscap to Draft Your Next Novel: @winteralley @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

5 Reasons Why Your Story Idea Doesn’t Stand Out: @LA_Screenwriter

6 More Creative Ways to Strengthen Your Story Idea: @joslynchase_ @write_practice

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

10 Kinds of Critique Groups that Can Drive you Batty: @annerallen @TheIWSG

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring: by Bucket Siler

400+ Words to Describe Hands: A Word List for Writers: @KathySteinemann

Writing Craft / Tropes

5 Ways to Subvert Character Clichés and Archetypes: by Casimir Stone @ReedsyHQ @nownovel

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

The Power of a Single Word. 4 Tips for Stronger Writing: @KathySteinemann @annerallen

Writing Tools / Apps

How to Work Within The Scrivener Interface: @kristen_kieffer

Uncategorized

Publisher Hodder & Stoughton Marks a Century and a Half of Books: @rogertagholm @pubperspectives

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on October 27, 2018 21:02

October 25, 2018

Reading as a Writer: Shifting from Private to Public

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

For a long time, I avoided Goodreads altogether. It’s the kind of place that makes me uncomfortable as a writer and so I figured I shouldn’t be on the site at all.

But I’ve found that I can completely avoid my own books on Goodreads as long as I don’t deliberately look them up. And Goodreads has a lot to offer for readers.

I decided at first that I didn’t particularly want to share what I wrote as my author profile on the site. That’s mostly because I didn’t want to say if I didn’t enjoy a book…as Elizabeth S. Craig, Writer. And I didn’t necessarily want to share what I liked, either and have it be a public endorsement. Mainly what I wanted was a place to track my books, authors I enjoyed, and my reading life and find recommendations. So I set up an anonymous account there.

As time went on, I began to feel a little more comfortable about sharing what I was reading. And I’m not sure why: I’m a horrid reviewer (better at book blurbs). It started with my inclusion of what I was reading in my reader newsletter that goes out when I have a release. I found that when I wrote a few short sentences about several recently-read books, I had a very positive reader response. Readers were actually emailing me back about what they were reading, too.

Then BookBub started a recommendation program where they emailed readers your book picks…a nice way to keep in readers’ minds in the interim between books. As long as the reviews I wrote were short, they were fine. :)

Finally, I’ve just started posting some of what I’m reading on my author profile on Goodreads (either books that I’ve just finished and enjoyed, or books that I’m pretty sure I can give a positive review).

I only mention books that I’ve enjoyed. That’s just my own rule of thumb. I want to help my readers discover books that I think they’ll like.

Because so many readers have asked me in the past to recommend other cozy series to them, I also feel the need in my newsletter and on BookBub to explain that the titles I’m recommending are not cozies. I usually can’t read books in my genre while I’m writing them and considering the fact that I’m always in the process of writing a cozy, I rarely read them.

In a lot of ways, and in case you couldn’t tell from this post, reading as an author is a little awkward. But it’s becoming more comfortable for me.

For ideas on what to read, check out the Reading as Writers category on the free Writerskb.com.

For further reading on being a reader and a writer, see:

5 Tips for Reading as a Writer by Andi Cumbo-Floyd

Is it Fair for Authors to Review Other Authors? By Kristen Lamb

3 Reading Tips for Writers from Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers

As a writer, do you publicly share what you’re reading and how you like it? Do you ever give books negative reviews?

Thoughts on the Public Nature of Reading as a Writer:
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Published on October 25, 2018 21:02

October 21, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: Books

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve made a point to more than double the amount of reading this year than the year before. As with my consumption of film, music, and TV, I’ve tried to expand into new genres as a reader, hoping to better-inform my writing.

This has been made easier, once again, by keeping up with a TBR list (to be read) and by tracking what I’m reading.

Finding books to read:

I get a good number of suggestions from friends (both online and in person). But I’ve also found these things useful:

Goodreads. It’s not nearly as scary as a reader as it is for a writer. Here I track what I read, make private notes on the stories, and rate them to remind myself how I enjoyed them. I also follow reviewers whose tastes overlap with my own. Or sometimes I end up in a sort of rabbit hole of recommendations there.

Book challenges. This has been a useful way to branch into other genres. This year I’ve used Book Riot’s Read Harder challenge and I’ve taken some of the suggestions in this post of from Katie McLain.

Newsletters. I have found good recommendations for (mostly) nonfiction from Austin Kleon‘s newsletter and the Farnum Street newsletter.

Website: I’ve discovered lots of good books through Largehearted Boy’s year-end compilation of best books lists.

Tracking Reading

I’m doing my tracking through Goodreads (not my author profile there). This way I can make private notes on various books, remind myself how I liked it, and find out from Goodreads when authors I enjoy have new or upcoming releases.

How do you find what you read? Do you keep track of it?

Finding Books to Read and Tracking Our Reading:
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Published on October 21, 2018 21:01

October 20, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Business / Miscellaneous

The importance of backing up your work: @hmgardner @TheIWSG

How to Get a Good Author Photo — And Why You Need One: @BrynDonovan

How to protect your book’s confidentiality (video) : @pubcoach

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

5 Things to Remember When Running Writing Workshops: by Sophie-Louise Hyde @writingcookbook

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2018 Records a Mild Increase in Attendance: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Aleida and Jan Assmann Presented with German Book Trade Peace Prize in Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

FutureBook Awards 2018 Shortlists Announced at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Northern Ireland’s Anna Burns Wins 2018 Man Booker Prize for Fiction: @ManBookerPrize @Porter_Anderson

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Published on October 20, 2018 21:02

October 18, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: Music

by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethscraig

For years I’ve disputed the fact that music has any sort of influence on my writing at all. I think this is because, when I write, I can only listen to lyric-free songs (New Age, Jazz, Classical) or else it creates a disruption. Plus, I’m not usually directly inspired by music in terms of the music informing a work (with the possible exception of my Rage to Refuge book). For artists who have been and their musical recommendations, see Roz Morris’s excellent blog, The Undercover Soundtrack.

I don’t think I really realized how much music helps me. As with television and film, seeing/hearing other artist’s creativity helps motivate me and fills my creative well. I also think that writing with music in the background (even with all the specifications that I put on the music) helps me write at a faster clip.

I ran into a problem more than a year ago, however, where I felt as if everything I was listening to was stale. I think it was more that I was stale. I needed to broaden the repertoire of what I was listening to. I was in a rut.

Fortunately, there are plenty of options now. Growing up, the only music I listened to was whatever was on a record or (later) a CD we had, or whatever was playing on the radio.

Now there are lots of streaming options.

As an Amazon Prime customer, I use their music option every day. They have playlists, stations, and individual songs and artists to listen to. They have lots of tunes for me to write to, and I’ve discovered new songs and artists by listening to stations and playlists featuring music I’m unfamiliar with. I’m using the service that comes free with Prime.

My kids (21 and 17) recommended Spotify to me. Again, I’ve opted for the free service and just deal with the ads. I was a little lost there at first, but then found a few cool public playlists…one of them the New York Times playlist. It has a variety of different kinds of music and I’ve made lots of interesting discoveries there. The Rolling Stones playlist of the 500 best songs is also excellent.

Pandora is another option. This was the first streaming service that I used, years ago. I don’t listen to it quite as much anymore with the other options available, but it’s still worth a try. Again, I’m a fan of free. :)

Finding Recommendations:

I subscribe (one of apparently 55,000+) to writer and artist Austin Kleon’s free weekly newsletter. His focus is the creative life. As he puts it: “Every week I send out a list of 10 things I think are worth sharing — new art, writing, and interesting links straight to your inbox.” Some of his ’10 things’ are music playlists or spotlights on musicians. I’ve added several of his Spotify recommendations to my music library there.

But most of what I discover I do so through listening to stations and playlists by musicians I’m unfamiliar with. This is the serendipitous approach, but has worked well for me so far. Although in many ways I think music transcends age, some of the stuff I’d have enjoyed in the past totally eludes me now. But I find even more music that suits my tastes by being bold with experimenting.

I’m definitely still fine-tuning this process and I’d love to hear from others how they discover music and keep out of ruts. How do you do it?

Entertainment as Inspiration: Music:
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Published on October 18, 2018 21:02

October 14, 2018

Entertainment as Inspiration: TV and Films

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve written before about being intentional about free time. By doing a little planning ahead, I feel a lot more relaxed and recharged. Instead of looking for something good to read or good to watch (and sometimes failing or running out of the precious free time in the process), I’ve carefully built up a list of things I want to read and watch.

That worked so well that I’ve made another discovery in the process. By being intentional about what I read, watch, and listen to, I’ve been able to broaden what I’m consuming and help inform my writing in the process.

I’ve made a conscious effort to expand what I’m consuming into new genres, international films, translations, and different types of music to write or read to. In return, I’ve had a real rush of creativity and new ideas (or even new ways to approach older series).

With that being said, I thought I’d run a short series on finding and tracking media. Today I’m covering what I use for film and television. Friday, I’ll cover music. Monday, I’ll cover books.

Sources:

For many years I told people that I didn’t really watch television. This was true–because I wasn’t a fan of sitcoms or reality television or whatever else happened to be running on TV at the time. But curating and watching good shows and films on demand is so much better–you know you’re getting something good (and you can determine later whether it’s to your taste or not). It also amuses me to call it ‘television.’ I don’t think we even have a true TV in our house anymore…only monitors.

I’ve developed something of a system for discovery. Again, the idea is to pick something that’s well-reviewed, but perhaps not something that I’d ordinarily watch (and definitely not something that I have watched).

Worth mentioning is the fact that we’re basically unplugged from cable at our house (we have a very basic program). Instead, we watch on demand: using Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, PBS (we’re donors and can use their ‘passport‘), and Sling (yes, this is still cheaper than satellite and cable here, ha!) You can also find many movies and shows through your local library. I’m a fan of Ann Cleeves as a reader and when browsing my library’s offerings in her series, I found the television series based on her books. I could watch the shows free through the library via Hoopla.

Lists of well-rated content to stream:

Digital Trends updates their list of top Netflix picks monthly.

Collider does the same.

For a wider range, look for highly-rated foreign films and shows (sometimes I’ll pull up older articles on the topic and just add the shows that aren’t currently available for streaming on my watchlist for later).

Helpful articles for foreign films are:

Paste Magazine

Uproxx

Decider

Jane Friedman in her Electric Speed newsletter (I subscribe to this free, semi-monthly email…her archives are here) recently recommended using the New York Times ‘Watching.’ I created an account there. By looking up and marking (by clicking a heart) my favorite shows and films, the site came up with recommendations (and told me where to stream them). By clicking the bookmark icon, I developed a watchlist.

Also, the more good content that you watch on Netflix or Amazon Prime or Hulu, the more good content that their algorithm pulls up for you as recommendations. I’ve gotten some great, tailored recs from all of the streaming services.

Tracking what we watch:

Maybe this isn’t as important to everyone else, but my memory is terrible. When I can’t remember what I’ve watched (or listened to or read), it keeps me from finding more things that I’d like. Maybe I’m missing something, but I don’t think the streaming services do a great job of helping me track. And having a bunch of stuff on my watchlist that I’ve already watched (unless it’s a series in progress), isn’t helpful, either.

So far, the most helpful thing I’ve found is the above-mentioned NYT Watching.

Do you watch much television or films? How do you find what you want to watch? Do you track it?

TV and Film as Inspiration: Finding What's Good:
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Published on October 14, 2018 21:02

October 13, 2018

Twitterific Writing Links

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

New Stuff

Free: The online Indie Novelist Summit October 17-21. Experts include Joanna Penn, James Scott Bell, and Janice Hardy.

Business / Miscellaneous

Max Boot’s ‘Corrosion of Conservatism’: A ‘Big Book’ for WW Norton at Frankfurt: @Porter_Anderson @MaxBoot

Tips for Avoiding Awkward Author Photos: @IndieReader

Readers Don’t Care Who Publishes Your Book: @writeabook

Frankfurt: Self-Censorship and Morality in Publishing Today: @rogertagholm @FabricePiault @arpitayodapress

Conferences and Events / Miscellaneous

Wattpad Announces 600 New 2018 Watty Awards in 10 Languages: @Porter_Anderson

Inger-Maria Mahlke Wins the 2018 German Book Prize: @HannahSJohnson @pubperspectives

How to Create an Unforgettable Author Visit: @erikaliodice @WriterUnboxed

US National Book Awards Finalists: This Year Including Translations: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Conferences and Events / NaNoWriMo

Top Resources for NaNoWriMo Preparation: @the_writing_pal

To Nano or Not To Nano: @JennyHansenCA

Creativity and Inspiration / First Novels

Tips for Writing Your First Book: @TCKPublishing

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration

5 Reasons to Use Pictures as Writing Prompts: @sarahstypos

Cross-Pollinating Our Work: @cleemckenzie @TheIWSG

The Mysteries of Creativity and Meditation: @barbaraoneal @WriterUnboxed

Writing Prompts: 60 Ideas You Can Use Today: @Carlton_Mukasa

Creativity and Inspiration / Inspiration / Reading as Writers

7 Books We Wish We Could Read Again for the First Time: @Keith_Rice1 @SignatureReads

Urban Fantasy Noir: 7 Urban Fantasy Crime Novels With Dark Sensibilities: @Richard_Kadrey @CrimeReads

10 Favorite Moments from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: @EmmanuelNataf @ReedsyHQ

Six Literary Visions of the Future: @cloudy_vision @tordotcom

Prepping for NaNo? 15 Books for the Writing Life: @HachetteUS @KateHarveston @jessicaesquire

9 Best Novels About Films: @TobiasCarroll @SignatureReads

10 Little-Known Children’s Books by Famous Writers: @knownemily @lithub

The Real Reason The Sorting Hat Placed Albus Potter in Slytherin House: @use_theforce_em @tordotcom

Creativity and Inspiration / Motivation

Writing Shouldn’t Be Its Own Reward: @RosanneBane

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Fitting in Writing

Too Much To Do? How To Re-Focus Your Writing Priorities: @thecreativepenn

Creativity and Inspiration / Productivity / Writer’s Block

How To Beat Writer’s Block in 30 Minutes: @NatRusso

Creativity and Inspiration / Writing Life

From Chester Himes to Judy Blume, 10 Writers and Their Cats: @alistasi @lithub

How Can We Write in Today’s Troubling World? @p2p_editor

If You Want to be a Writer, You Need to be Fearless: Here’s Why: @CVDalcher @SignatureReads

Confessions from a Weary Writer: @jmunroemartin @WriterUnboxed

3 Ways to Tell if a Manuscript Is Worth Going Back to: @Janice_Hardy

When Abandoning Your Novel Makes Sense: @bclaypolewhite @WomenWriters

Genres / Memoir

Making the Case for the Surreal Memoir: @TobiasCarroll @lithub

Why should you write a Memoir? Memoir writers weigh in: @CalebPirtle

Why You Should Write Your Memoir — Even If You Don’t Plan to Publish It: @writingthrulife

Genres / Mystery

Crime Writing: The One-Plus Rule: Fight Fair, Or Fight To Win? @LeeLofland

A hundred years on from Agatha Christie’s first novel, crime fiction is going cozy again: by Sarah Hughes @GuardianBooks

Writing the Cozy Mystery: Series Tropes and Rituals:

Tense Home v. School Relationships as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Gap Years as Elements in Crime Fiction: @mkinberg

Crime Fiction: Using Domestic Scenes to Contrast With Tension: @mkinberg

Genres / Poetry

10 Reasons Storytellers Should Dabble in Poetry: @WritingForward

Marketing Poetry and How to Find More Readers: @Bookgal

Genres / Science Fiction

Drug Development for Writers: @DanKoboldt

Genres / Screenwriting

9 Ways To Write Strong Screenplay Hooks: by Dan Hoffmann @CreativeScreen

Genres / Short Stories

How to format your short story manuscript for the best chance of publication: @NathanielTower

Promo / Blogging

How and Why to Cite Stock Photos When Blogging: @writingsolo

Promo / Book Reviews

Tips for Quoting From Reviews: by Big Al @IndiesUnlimited

Promo / Connecting with Readers

3 Steps to Finding Target Readers (Video): @SmartAuthors @IndieAuthorALLI

Promo / Metadata

How to Submit Your Author News to Newsletters: by Ann Meier

Promo / Miscellaneous

How to Keep Your Book Promotion Going Strong for Years: @AnjaliMDuva @sharonbially

Promo / Platforms

3 Proven Ways To Boost Your Author Profile: @DaveChesson

Promo / Social Media Tips

Is Building a Social Media Platform Worth the Effort? @EdieMelson

How 1 Writer Uses Social Media As An Author: @jules_writes

6 Common Social Media Marketing Mistakes to Avoid: @davidjohn_wyatt @kikolani

How to effectively use Facebook Groups as an Author (Video): @LPOBryan @IndieAuthorALLI

Publishing / Miscellaneous

Why Does the US Change British Titles? @TerenaBell @GuardianBooks

Interview with Kobo’s Pieter Swinkels: ““We fail as an industry to create readers for our content.”: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

The 12 Best and Worst Things That Can Happen After Your Freelance Article Is Accepted: @Susanshapironet @WritersDigest

How (Not) To Start a Publishing Company: by Richard Charkin @pubperspectives

“Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (on) the strength of literature and women”: by Roger Tagholm @pubperspectives

“Publishing Experts (on) Revenue Models…and the Need to Better Understand Consumers”: @Porter_Anderson @MarkPiesing

Writing for Magazines: The How-To Article and Querying it: by Deborah Lyn Stanley

Hugo Setzer, Bodour Al Qasimi, Confirmed at Frankfurt for IPA Leadership: @Porter_Anderson @HugoSetzer @Bodour

How to Make an Audiobook: A Guide to Self Publishing Audiobooks: @TCKPublishing

Publishing / News / International Publishing

Penguin Random House Opening Southeast Asia Operation Based in Singapore: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

At Frankfurt’s ‘The Markets’ Conference: Pablo Laurino of Argentina’s https://t.co/1xgCklUkaP: @Porter_Anderson @laurinop @pubperspectives

Tuesday Rights Buzz from the Frankfurt’s Literary Agents Center: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives

Women Should Be Seen AND Heard: Women Writers from Asia Pacific: @oliviasnaije @pubperspectives

Macmillan CEO John Sargent answers questions from journalists on ‘Fire and Fury,’ Rowohlt, More: @Porter_Anderson @pubperspectives

Publishing / Options / Traditional Publishing / Querying

Tips for the Query Process: @atrueblood5

Publishing / Process / Book Design

How to Sell Books by Optimizing Your Book Cover Design: by Joslyn Chase @write_practice

Writing Craft / Beginnings

Ins and Outs: Opening and Closing Images: @SPressfield

5 Ways to Give Your Character a Memorable Entrance: @dougeboch

Writing Craft / Characters / Antagonists

How to Write an Antagonist That Everyone Loves — And Why You Should: @melissafreyauth

Writing Craft / Characters / Development

Writing Extraordinary Characters: @Lindasclare

Characters and Craft: Learning To Leave Yourself Behind: @AnneLParrish @WomenWriters

Occupation Thesaurus Entry: Locksmith: @beccapuglisi

5 Ways to Use the Enneagram to Write Better Characters: @KMWeiland

Writing Craft / Characters / Supporting Characters

Why Comic Relief Characters Often Don’t Make Good Main Characters: @VictoriaGHowell

Writing Craft / Common Mistakes

Why a Well-Written Novel Can Still Stink: @Janice_Hardy

Does Your Story Have a Solid Foundation? @SueColetta1

Writing Craft / Dialogue

The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue: @LoriAnnFreeland

Writing Craft / Literary Devices

Three Ways of Revising (or Avoiding) Preachy Themes in Your Story: @SaraL_Writer @DIYMFA

Writing Craft / Miscellaneous

10 Exercises to Become a Better Writer: @ReedsyHQ

A Warm-Up Exercise for Writers: @jamesagard

Put Some Snap in Your Style: @jamesscottbell

Writing Exercises for Stretching Your Style: by T.L. Bodine

Writing Craft / POV

Plot, PoV and Agenda. Or: Is This Your Story to Tell? @sona_c

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Naming

Tips for Choosing Names: @PhilAthans

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Plotting

Manchester by the Sea: Using Story Grid: by Leslie Watts @StoryGrid

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Research

Writer @kaath09 on the Research Rabbit Hole:

Writing Craft / Pre-Writing / Story Concept

Five Reasons Not to Write a Persecution Flip Story: by Dave Lerner @mythcreants

Writing Craft / Punctuation and Grammar

Don’t Forget the Basics: Punctuation: @AndreaMerrell

Writing Craft / Revision

How to Identify and Cut Your Story’s Filler: @kristen_kieffer

Writing Craft / Revisions / Critiques

Writing Groups Might Be Terrible, But You Probably Need One: @AnneHawley @rsmonterusso

How to Handle a Difficult Critique: by Linda Wilson

Writing Craft / Series

8 Things Learned Writing a Sequel: by A. E. Lowan @mythicscribes

Writing Craft / Settings and Description

How to Choose Setting with a Purpose: @LiveWriteThrive

Writing Craft / Synopses

3 Story Uses for a Synopsis: @KerryGans

How to Write a Novel Synopsis: @Kid_Lit

Writing Craft / Tension

Creating Tension Between the Lines: @jamesscottbell @killzoneauthors

Writing Craft / Word Crafting

500+ Ways to Describe Body Build and Physique: @KathySteinemann

Writing Craft / World-Building

Build a World, Hook a Reader: @msheatherwebb @WriterUnboxed

Writing Tools / Apps

3 Ways to Search in Scrivener 3: @Gwen_Hernandez

Getting Your Word Counts to Match in Scrivener: @aprildavila

Organizing Scrivener to Plot Your Novel (Video): @AllanLMann @IndieAuthorALLI

Writing Tools / Thesauri

How to use the Thesaurus Properly: @SeptCFawkes

The top writing links from last week are on Twitterific:
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Published on October 13, 2018 21:02

October 11, 2018

Research and (Plot) Development

by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, @kaath09

Hello, my name is Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, and I’m a recovering research-aholic.

I know that research addiction is common among writers of speculative fiction (genres that begin with ”what if…?”). This doesn’t mean there aren’t writers who hate research with a passion, but whether you loathe research or love it, it is necessary to writing fiction. It stands to reason that the ideal is to strike a healthy balance between diving so deeply into the ocean of knowledge that you drown, or barely dipping a toe into the pool.

Perhaps the first thing I learned about research (besides that it tastes like chocolate) is that it’s not restricted to finding facts about reality that you need to know before or during the writing of your book.

I write a number of genres: science fiction, fantasy, magical realism, alternate history, steampunk and, most recently, mystery-detective fiction. This is not to say that my journey toward publishing my first detective novel (THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER) began recently. Preparing to write this article, I dug up my earliest notes on my Japanese-American P.I., Gina Miyoko. They date from the late 90s. Long enough ago that while I know Gina was conceived in a dream—as is a lot of my fiction—I don’t remember the dream itself.

What my old handwritten notes tell me is that the first point of research was not about how police departments are structured or what resources a P.I. might have at her disposal, but about my detective herself. I had many pages of notes that included such big ticket items as what things and people she loved, what trauma she had endured, what her educational background was, and how she got her nickname “Tinkerbell.” It also included a lot of minutiae: What was her favorite candy, color, rock band? What gun did she own and why?

Did I go a bit overboard? Maybe. I hadn’t yet learned that too much upfront research can lead to prose paralysis, and that many of the things that make a character who they are must be discovered in the course of writing about them. I wrote a lot about Gina before I began to write Gina.

This raises a frequently asked question: ”When should I stop doing research and start writing?”

The question supposes that the two are separate activities and that one ends where the other begins. I have not found this to be so, for the simple reason that when I sit down to start a book, I don’t know what I don’t know. For me, the transition from research to writing happens organically. At some point in my feasting on information, I literally get an almost electric rush that makes me want to start writing scenes. It may be the opening paragraph of a story or a dialogue from somewhere further in. Or it may be observations about a character only some of which will end up in the book. I write until I feel as if I need more information, then stop and do research until that feeling happens again.

As I hinted at above, I’ve found that my research falls into two broad categories:

Exterior research, in which I collect facts from the real world in a variety of forms.
Interior research, in which I dig around in my own experience and imagination.

I love archaeology and have subscribed to Smithsonian, Archaeology, and even KMT (an Egyptology zine). The plot spine of THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER is about the trade in blackmarket artifacts stolen from under-protected historical sites in the U.S. and Mexico. The generating spark of that was exterior research. Specifically, an article from Smithsonian magazine on a female undercover National Park Service agent. It not only gave me the framework for what would become Gina’s first major case, but also contributed heavily to the character of her best friend, Rose, who is—you guessed it—an NPS agent.

Because I wanted Rose to be personally invested in her work, she became Hopi. That sent me off down another research road. I needed to know about Hopi culture as Rose would have experienced it growing up, and as Gina would experience it as an intimately connected outsider.

I also had to know about the sort of artifacts Rose might be called upon to protect, which led to another avenue of research related to First Nations artifacts and actual cases involving their theft.

When the story extended into the Mexican state of Chiapas and an semi-invented ruin, more research followed—both regarding modern-day Mexico and ancient history.

In doing this research I used a host of resources, including:

The internet (no, do not stop at Wikipedia) – I especially seek out images, so I can see what I’m writing about from every available angle. Being able to describe a place vividly helps your reader immerse herself in your world.
Archeology magazines with stories of real finds and legal cases involving antiquities.
Videos about archaeological digs.
Books on archaeological methods and tools.
Visits to museums and locales.

Obviously, these areas of research necessary were specialized to my plot. In general, I found a detective or mystery novel required me to research such things as:

Locations, topography and weather
Weapons and ballistics – If you can, handle and fire the weapons you choose. My oldest daughter was about the same size as my diminutive detective, so we took target practice so I could see if the gun I wanted Gina to use would work for a woman her size.

Communication technology – Smartphones can make writing mystery fiction harder if your plot revolves around characters being cut off from civilization.
Law enforcement practices and hierarchies in your target locale – not all police departments are created equal.
Martial arts – because every form has its own moves.
Poisons and medical knowledge – Arsenic may be old-hat, but drug interactions are sometimes fatal.

When do you do this research? When you need it to fill in your story or feed your imagination.

Which leads me to internal research. I knew I didn’t want Gina to be just one more tragically broken and lonely female detective. I wanted her to have experienced hardship, yes, but also to have a functional, if quirky, support system. In writing her parents, Edmund and Nadia, I did a lot of ”research” in my own childhood, hence Ed views his wife as ”the smart one” because of her academic background; she believes he has the real smarts because he’s intuitive and balanced.

Nadia’s character, alone, led to researching magic in the Russian Orthodox Church, Orthodox churches in the North Bay, and oberegi (the good luck charms Nadia is forever sticking into her daughter’s pockets).

That research, in turn, led to me pulling ”books” from the shelves in my imagination to make Nadia, Ed and Gina richer, deeper characters, which led to new plot developments, which led to….

Well, you get the picture. One act of research inevitably leads to another as each piece you add to your story puzzle from the real world causes your plot to thicken and your characters to grow lives of their own.

Writer of speculative fiction as the result of a horrible childhood incident involving Klaatu and a robot named Gort, Maya is the New York Times bestselling author of science fiction, fantasy and now mystery.

Her latest novel is THE ANTIQUITIES HUNTER – a Gina Miyoko Mystery from Pegasus Crime. When she’s not writing, she’s performing and recording original and parody music with her husband, Jeff. Her short fiction appearances include Analog, Amazing Stories, Interzone, and Baen’s Universe; she’s a Nebula, Crawford, Sidewise, and British Science Fiction award finalist. She blogs about writing and other things at www.mayabohnhoff.com and www.bookviewcafe.com.

Writer @kaath09 on the Research Rabbit Hole:
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Published on October 11, 2018 21:02