Terry Shames's Blog: 7 Criminal Minds, page 153

In The Summertime

Life. What did you do this summer? Did you take a break from writing? Continue to write while you were on vacation? Change your writing habits at all?
By guest Edith Maxwell.

Catriona writes: If I had to guess what Edith does in the summer, I'd say "write several beautifully researched novels, feed a county with the abundance from the vegetable garden, and host relaxing get-togethers for grateful friends". Ha! I just read the guest post, and I am not far wrong. I don't know how she does it, bu...

Digging a hole for myself... by Cathy Ace

What did you do this summer? Did you take a break from writing? Continue to write while you were on vacation? Change your writing habits at all?


 This is a clue!What did I do this summer? No writing at all. Plotting, yes. Outlining, yes. Writing, no. (Other than blogs, articles, interviews etc., that is.)

What did I do instead? I planted.
Well, Husband and I planted.
Well, OK then, Husband dug big holes in the spots I picked out, and I sort of whined and criticized as he placed plants into...

Summer Break? Well....

What did you do this summer? Did you take a break from writing? Continue to write while you were on vacation? Change your writing habits at all?

- Frank

I don't take summers off but I do scale back slightly. My wife is a teacher, and so I like to free up more time during the summer to spend it with her. I accomplish this by putting my podcast Wrong Place, Write Crime on hiatus/season break from mid-June to mid-September, and by trying to commit to fewer projects during this time frame.

It doesn'...

How Not to Spend your Summer (If You're a Writer)

Q: What did you do this summer? Did you take a break from writing? Continue to write while you were on vacation? Change your writing habits at all?
- from Susan
This question embarrasses me. I didn’t write as much as I promised myself I would. So many excuses but I think there are two that might be relevant to serious writers. First, I have no contract, so no externally imposed deadlines, the first time since I got an agent in 2008 that someone isn’t waiting for my manuscript. Doom, doom…....

First, tell no one.

When you have an idea for a book or story, do you tell people about it? How do you start writing? Do you think about it for a while? Write notes immediately? Think about the character first? Or plot first? Outline?
by Abir
Like Dietrich, I like to keep my plot ideas to myself. I think a story is better when it is burning inside you, and that telling people about it before it’s finished can dissipate some of the story’s urgency and my eagerness to get it all down on the page.
I’ve not always done...

Let’s Start at the Very Beginning

When you have an idea for a book or story, how do you start writing? Do you think about it for a while? Write notes immediately? Think about the character first? Or plot first? Do you outline?


From Jim

I get ideas for books in different ways. Sometimes it’s a character that comes to me first, other times it’s a setting, or a plot idea. But all of these elements have to bend to fit the overarching theme I have in mind for the book or story. And, in the case of my Ellie Stone books, the theme is...

Keeping it close to the vest

When you have an idea for a book or story, do you tell people about it? How do you start writing? Do you think about it for a while? Write notes immediately? Think about the character first? Or plot first? Outline?
by Dietrich
I keep a story to myself while it’s taking shape. It’s not so much that it’s a secret, but it’s a work in progress. Everything’s still building at this point, and there’s not much to tell. So, I don’t look for a lot of outside input; I just want the story and characters t...

Starting your Book

<!--[if gte mso 9]>

Getting The Ball Rolling

Question: When you have an idea for a book or story, do you tell people about it? How do you start writing? Do you think about it for a while? Write notes immediately? Think about the character first? Or plot first? Outline?
The start of a project can come about in a few different ways, but usually I've put a lot of thought into the characters and the crime. A few times, I've sat at the computer with a vague idea in my head and just started typing. The opening scene to 5,000 word scene in Cold...

A Clean Well-Lighted Place to Read

Where do you normally read? In bed? A favorite chair? Listen to audio when commuting?

by Paul D. Marks

Well, since I basically commute from the bedroom or kitchen to my home office, a distance of about thirty or forty feet, I don’t do much reading on my commute. But if I did – and if I had a self-driving car – I’d be reading a hardcopy book or one on a Kindle app. I find that if I try to listen to an audio book my mind drifts too much. I don’t know why.

These days I do most of my reading at home...