Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 142

Such a Lazy Boy

By Abir
What element of the craft is the one you most need to improve?

Friday again, eh? The weekend’s almost here, and hopefully a well deserved rest for many of you out there. It won’t be relaxing for me however, because I’ve got two deadlines coming up, (actually one of them was last week, so that’s been missed already) and another is at the end of the month (which I’m also going to miss) and I think, ‘I’ve had twelve months to work on the book I’m supposed to hand in at the end of March, so...

Physician, Heal Thyself from James W. Ziskin

What element of the craft is the one you most need to improve?

This week’s question is a tough one. Many writers are unaware of which elements of their craft they need to improve. If we knew, we’d probably already have corrected them and hit the bestseller lists or won great critical acclaim. 

To answer the question, I’ve decided to look at two elements I do NOT feel I need to improve, and four that I do (might) want to improve.

Here are two areas I feel don’t need improvement:

1. Spelling
...

A hundred balls in the air

What element of the craft is the one you most need to improve?
by Dietrich My aim is to constantly improve every element of the process. I never want to think I’ve mastered anything, and I never want to stop considering new ways. Not allowing things to evolve means the whole process would become stale.
Right from the jump when I started writing, I made the effort to improve my knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and sentence structure – like the tools of the trade. And from there, I played with...

What is the book about?

Our question this week is What element of the craft is the one you most need to improve?
Terry Shames:
In answer to the question, I’m actually tempted to say “everything.” But in fact, I think I write pretty good dialogue. Everything else? Description, pacing, setting, plot? I could use some improvement.
Plot is the one I feel shakiest about. Readers often say my plots are great, and I’m always surprised. I feel like when I’m writing a book the plot is either too thin or too convoluted. It...

If I Could Change One Thing ... Some Self-Reflection by Brenda Chapman

What element of the craft is the one you most need to improve?
One of the constants of writing, as in life, is that there's always room for improvement, I’d say, in every aspect of the craft. Yet this week’s question asks to select the element that gives me the most trouble. 

Hmmm.

The first thing that comes to mind is organization -- i.e., keeping the plot points and details straight. I'm definitely a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of writer. After a few chapters, I always think, I...

To Be or Not to Be Easy Rawlins or Raymond ‘Mouse’ Alexander

This week's 7 Criminal Minds question: What black character would you want to be for a day? 

by Paul D. Marks

Denzel Washington as Easy RawlinsAs a sort of Part II to my last 7 Criminal Minds post (Easy Does It), in which we were asked to talk about “a source of inspiration you’ve derived from a black American author,” and where I talked about Walter Mosley and his characters Easy Rawlins and his psychopathic friend Mouse, in response to this week’s question, I would have to say that I’d...

Daydream in B Major - by Catriona

What Black character would you want to be for a day?
Black History Month is almost over and here's the Criminal Minds question that's really been making my brain work as it approached.
First off, are we talking about a fictional character in the fictional world of a book? If so, then I'd happily be anyone at all except the victim, the perpetrator (especially one that gets caught), or a red shirt (dead in the first reel, for plot reasons). I'd happily be Michelle in John Vercher's THREE-FIFTHS....

Dayna for a Day by Cathy Ace

What black character would you want to be for a day?


This is a challenging question. I have pondered it for ages. I know it's asking me about becoming a fictional character, but I have to acknowledge something here before I continue. I live in an ethnically diverse locale (out here, in rural British Columbia, there are only eight homes on our street: households include immigrants from Korea, Switzerland, Wales and the Indian subcontinent, as well as first generation Canadian-born German,...

Cool For a Day...

What black character would you want to be for a day? 

- From Frank

My answer might be a little controversial.

I want to be Wardell Clint.

Why controversial? Because Clint is a police detective who is first introduced in my novel with Colin Conway, Charlie-316. Choosing him could seem a little self-serving. But in keeping with why I would want to be him for a day, I'm going to forge ahead anyway.

So why would I want to be Clint?

Because he is great at his job. He is confident in how he sees the...

Meet Ms. Blanche White

Q: In celebration of Black History MonthWhat black character would you want to be for a day? Any black character?
- from Susan
My last post tipped my hand. I’d be Blanche White, Barbara Neely’s fictional hero, in a heartbeat. Sure, I’d learn by seeing through her eyes, living her black experience. But I’d also learn to stand up for myself, to see the world unblinkingly, and to let my real self shine.
Blanche is honest, not just in her interactions with other people (unless she’s sleuthing, when...