Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series (as Riley Adams) and the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin and writes the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She also has a blog, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. There she posts on the writing craft, finding inspiration in everyday life, and fitting writing into a busy schedule.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

One cool thing about blogging for over ten years is that a lot of the posts form a sort of unexpected diary.  I was glancing over some older posts and came across this one from 2010.   My son and daughter would have been 13 and 9 when I wrote it.  I spoke of our bike ride on a nearby greenway and how we were biking so erratically (my daughter was still on a little kid bike) that a jogger kept passing us over and over again.  He was going slow and steady and despite our occasional bursts of speed,  kept overtaking us.

I made the observation that this was how my writing life worked.  I didn’t go fast enough to get burned out but I didn’t go slow enough to get overwhelmed with the length of the project.Continue reading

Fight, Flight, or Freeze? Psyche 101 for Writers

Writing Tips

by Becca Puglisi, @beccapuglisi

Fight or flight.

I think we’ve all heard this phrase. It refers to the way each person is hard-wired to respond to real or perceived danger. Psychologists have recently added another option, giving us three ways we might respond to threats: we fight back, we flee, or we freeze up. This happens in life-or-death situations, but it also occurs on a smaller scale whenever we feel endangered:

  • At the mall, when you see someone who mistreated you in the past
  • At work, when the boss criticizes your work
  • At a party, when a friendly conversation takes an uncomfortable turn
  • At school, when you hear an ugly rumor someone has started about you

So whether the situation is potentially fatal or just a little threatening, you’re going to respond in one of those three ways. What does that look like? Here are few possibilities that cover a range of intensity:Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific

Bluebird with beak open and 'Twitterific Writing Links' by ElizabethSCraig superimposed on the image

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.

Continue reading

A Few Tools for Focusing

Tools for Writers

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I thought I’d share a few tools that I’ve recently come across that might help writers stay focused and motivated.

First off is a free timer.  I’ve mentioned here many times (including here and here) how helpful I find timers for nearly every task that I do.  It somehow helps to get through a task when you know that it will be over quickly.  It can also help me stay on track because I won’t allow myself to be distracted by anything else until the timer goes off.   I’m a particular fan of the Pomodoro Technique (see more about it on the creator’s site here) , so when I found this free timer that aligns with the approach, I was excited to use it.  The timer is also customizable.

Next off is a new twist on an old idea.  It’s called a to-don’t list.  I first found out about it when reading this article from Emily Price on Lifehacker.  The idea is to stay focused by no allowing yourself to be distracted by your usual suspects…looking at Facebook or checking emails or Twitter, for example.  You could use this in correlation with a timer, knowing that when the timer goes off, you can reward yourself on your break by checking in online.

The third is a tool that I haven’t tried myself (I’m more of a solo writer and not a gamer), but which I found interesting. It’s called 4 the Words and it’s set up like a game for reaching word counts.  You win points for meeting writing challenges involving word counts.   A caveat that it’s $4 a month, but there is a 30 day free trial where you could see if it’s helpful.

For a free year-long challenge, check out author and illustrator Debbie Ohi’s Daily Words Challenge.  You can even collect badges. :)  And it’s much more gently-paced than NaNoWriMo because you can set your own goals.

For other lists of tools to help with focusing, writing, or editing your work, see these posts:

67 Top Tools for Writers and Bloggers by Mary Jaksch of Write to Done

Top 10 Online Tools for Writers by Ali Hale of Daily Writing Tips

What helps you stay focused on your writing?

Tools for Keeping Focused as a Writer: Click To Tweet

Photo on Foter.com

Your “Easy As Pie” Guide to Subplots + Giveaway (Part 3 of 3)

Writing Tips

by H.R. D’Costa, @scribesworld

Oh, no.

You just took a look at your outline or draft.

It’s definitely too short.

Or, in a different scenario, it’s long enough.

But, unfortunately, it’s rather bland. It lacks texture and variety.

Who are you gonna call to fix it?

Not the Ghostbusters.

Not a developmental editor. (Save that for a more dire writing emergency.)

Because, you see, you can fix this easily on your own.

All you need to do is to weave a subplot (or two) alongside your main plot.

Your page count will expand, and at the same time, your story will become more textured.

This three-part series on subplots will help you get there. Here’s a quick overview:

  • In Part 1, we covered 5 uses for subplots. (Definitely read this if you’re struggling to come up with content for your subplot.)
  • In Part 2, we covered how to structure your subplot—plus the golden rule to follow regarding subplots.
  • In Part 3, we’ll cover how to weave subplots into your story as well as conduct a subplot “safety check.” (You’re reading Part 3 right now.)

Note: These subplot tips have been adapted from my writing guide Sparkling Story Drafts, which will help you write cleaner rough drafts, reduce your revision time, and get a crazy-good story onto the marketplace—faster. To learn how you could win a paperback copy, see the end of this post.

And now let’s get to today’s tips (served a la mode or not, your choice*)…Continue reading

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