Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

by Shelly Frome, @shellyFrome

There was an instructor at a prestigious college program in the Midwest who always gave this advice. Never try to write a novel. Rather, try not to write. And if the time ever comes when you can’t help yourself, when you wake up in the middle of night because the prospect of some journey keeps calling you, at that point you’ve got to get on with it and see it through.

In a way, that’s the sort of thing that happens to me. As a case in point, I never set out to write a southern gothic crime-and-blues odyssey. I never even knew such a thing existed. It all started when a friend of ours invited us down to the hill country of Mississippi. As it happens, he’d inherited a backwoods cabin and was in the process of fixing it up. At one point, he suggested that he and I take an exploratory walk. Following a narrow overgrown path, soon we became entangled in briars, edged past some barbed wire as the terrain sloped down and eventually came across some waterlogged broken limbs sticking out like menacing pitchforks. Fearing that perhaps we’d gotten lost, I turned to him and said, “Bob, do you have any idea where we are?”

He gave me a half-wary half-mischievous look and said, “Shelly, I believe this here is Wolf Creek.”

Then and there something began to percolate. Nothing tangible. Perhaps just a feeling that there were buried secrets here that would never see the light of day.

When we did manage to make it back, something about the cabin in the deep woods evoked a vague image of a Confederate outpost, and then a retreat during the civil rights movement, and then an equally vague notion of a caretaker for whom time was telescoped. That is, for him almost simultaneously it was the days of skirmishes with Yankee troops, Federal marshals at Ole Miss, and an abiding anxiety about Washington inflicting more and more liberal mandates.

But again, these were just hazy notions as my wife and I were taking in the backwoods, the cozy confines of Oxford and Ole Miss, the edges of the Delta and, later on, the blues Mecca of Beale Street in Memphis. But every time I happened to mention the Civil War, I was told it was “The war of Yankee aggression.”

Seemingly unconnected at the time, my wife wanted to give some money to a homeless shelter back home. But after we were taken on a tour, I began to notice an abandoned boxcar and railroad line diagonally across the street. I was told down-and-out drifters would hole up there until the weather got really bad. They didn’t mind getting vouchers from the shelter, but they’d be damned if they were going to have to comply with any rules, let alone bed down within the confines of the building.

Later still, other factors came into play, like the downturn in the economy and memories of the long-lost pull of the open road.

There was also an unresolved personal element. When I was just a kid, we moved from a tiny town in Massachusetts to Miami where I found most of my teachers and many of my fellow students had southern accents and a deep allegiance to the South. Which side was I on? Choose or keep riding the fence.

To make the proverbial long story short, it was doubtless the unresolved issue with the South and the imagined unfinished buried secrets back in Wolf Creek that did the trick. What finally emerged after more vital characters came into the picture and I allowed the dynamic to play itself out turned out to be my latest. The title that came to me with very little effort was Twilight of the Drifter.

I suppose I should mention one last thing. I am an incurable daydreamer and storyteller.

Shelly Frome is a member of Mystery Writers of America, a professor of dramatic arts emeritus at the University of Connecticut, a former professional actor, a writer of mysteries, books on theater and film, and articles on the performing arts appearing in a number of periodicals in the U.S. and the U.K.. His fiction includes Tinseltown Riff, Lilac Moon, Sun Dance for Andy Horn and the trans-Atlantic cozy The Twinning Murders. Among his works of non-fiction are the acclaimed The Actors Studio and texts on the art and craft of screenwriting and writing for the stage. His latest novel is that selfsame southern gothic crime-and-blues odyssey Twilight of the Drifter. He lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Last year I put out an ebook, myself.  When I saw that book produced strong sales, I started immediately looking for other things I could put up online. :)

I decided to re-release A Dyeing Shame as an ebook.  I’d written the book circa 2002-2003ish and it had first released in 2005. 

I reread the book and winced a lot.  The protagonist had definitely evolved during the next couple of books.  And I didn’t feel like my writing was nearly at the level that it currently is. 

I decided to edit the book.  Heavily.

This ended up actually becoming a rewrite…a major revision.

Not only did I add some characters to the book, an important subplot, change some names, and mess with the plot points, but I also added to the book’s length.

Oh, and one more important thing.

I rewrote the book as a sequel, instead of keeping it as the first book in the series.

I’d done this because my current readers were familiar with several regular characters in the series.  These characters weren’t in that first book.  I included the characters in my rewrite and picked up the action from the last of the Myrtle books at that point, Progressive Dinner Deadly.

It took me absolutely forever to clean that book up.  It took me a lot longer than it took me to write a book from scratch. I finally finished it up with great relief, got it packaged, and published it.  It was much better than the previous version.

A couple of months later (December/Januaryish),  I started getting emails from readers…people who’d read the first book in 2005 and were confused about the book order.  Was this a different book than they’d read years ago?

I also got emails from readers who’d read the new edition of the ebook and were confused about the listed order of the books on websites for mystery readers.

One email said that she’d seen on a website (Stop, You’re Killing Me, which is a very popular site with mystery readers) that A Dyeing Shame was listed as the first book in the series with Pretty is as Pretty Dies as the sequel.  She said that she just finished reading both and that she could tell that Dyeing Shame was a sequel, not the first book in the series.

And readers can be funny about reading a series in order.  I try hard to write my books as standalones, but the problem happens when you introduce new characters.  I’d introduced two new, regular characters in Pretty is as Pretty Dies.  Because these characters were also in a book that was listed as a prequel to that book, it confused readers.

So, what to do?

Here are my thoughts on it, but I’m curious to hear yours:

If you radically revise a book and put it out as an ebook, consider putting (revised) or (2012 edition) in the subtitle or listed somewhere in the book description…somewhere that information will show up to a buyer.

If you decide to make an older book a sequel to your more recently released books, consider sharing that information on your website or share it with websites that list book order.

Because readers are paying attention!  More, I think, than I might be. :)

Have you got any ideas to share on publishing radically revised backlist books?  As a reader, do you like reading books in order?

I’m also over at writer Rachel Abbott’s blog today, talking about the Writer’s Knowledge Base.  If you have a chance, hope you’ll pop over.

How important are reviews?

The short answer to this questions is VERY. As a writer, it’s great to know what your readers think, but as a buyer of books and a reader, it is often a critical part of the decision making process. Get a high level of good reviews, and people believe that your book is worth buying. No reviews, and they may just wait a while.

But you’re a new author! You’ve just published your book, and you have no reviews (except, perhaps, for one from your mum!). What can you do about it? Once your book is selling, the reviews will come – but it seems like a vicious circle, doesn’t it? People won’t buy if there are no reviews, and if people don’t buy, you won’t get any reviews.

There is only one answer, and that is put in a bit of hard work and find people to review your book for you. There are literally thousands of websites and blogs where people offer to review books (I read somewhere that there are 15 million book blogs – I can’t actually verify this fact!). The trick is in finding the sites that will review your type of book. And you don’t have to pay for reviews, although there are some sites that offer reviews in return for money. But it really isn’t necessary, so don’t panic if you don’t have a marketing budget.

There are three phases to this activity.

PHASE 1 – Prepare a really good review request document

This is one of the most important pieces of paper you will ever create, so make it look good. The worst review request that I ever received was an email that said :

Review request

Name of book (hyperlinked to Amazon)

Thanks

Name of author

That was it. So anything that I wanted to know about the book in order to decide if it was one that I felt qualified to review or in fact wanted to review, I had to find out for myself. I asked for more information, and I got no response. I think this is extremely rude.

Then there are the written requests that are full of typos, with no thought to formatting or the ease of reading by the reviewer. I already have an opinion of this author before I start to read!

So the first thing you need to do is to put together a professional document – you only have to do it once, with maybe a few amendments as things change. If you have the facilities to save it as a PDF, that’s even better, but if not it’s best saved as a .doc file, rather than .docx to avoid having to resend if somebody can’t open it.

Here’s what you need to tell the reviewer.

Name of book

Author

Book blurb

Image of the cover

About the author

Book details, to include : genre, word count, ISBN or ASIN, where to buy it – with links

Your details, to include : email address, Twitter handle, website, Facebook, blog, etc. – all with links

Additional information: extracts from any existing reviews, number of stars, any interviews you may have done (with links) – anything that might be of interest to the reviewer.

Here’s what my review request looks like:

href=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-m-SDARJOpZY/T1NfEH3q4dI/AAAAAAAADwA/zj_0ATV0UIA/s1600-h/clip_image002154.jpg”>

I know that this may be hard to read, but if you click here, it will open up a PDF.

I’m not suggesting that this is the best, or the only format – but hopefully it will provide some ideas. And I do know that on more than one occasion I have been accepted by reviewers who were ‘closed for reviews’ simply because it looks professional and they assumed before starting that my book would be good.

I also use the same document when I am requesting an interview on a blog.

PHASE 2 : finding the reviewers

This is the bit that takes the time, but Google is pretty impressive at finding this sort of information! And I recently came across an incredibly helpful author who has produced a huge list of sites where reviews are offered. He has very kindly put the list on his website at http://www.gregscowen.com/2012/02/a-few-indie-book-reviewers/ – I’m sure he’d be happy if you check out his book whilst visiting the site too! He deserves some kudos for offering all his hard work to the rest of the indie author population!

But don’t just send requests to anybody and everybody. Most of these people have quite strict submission guidelines – they will be clear about the genres that they are interested in, and about the way in which they operate. Although I am very clear about what I read and review, it doesn’t seem to stop people sending me just anything – whether it’s appropriate or not. So check what the reviewer has to say, and if you like the look of them, then construct a carefully worded email, and accompany that with your review request.

Your email should be brief – all the information is in your review request document and you don’t need to repeat it. You simply need to say where you found their details, how much you would like them to review your book, and that you have attached a formal review request for their consideration.

You can end this by saying that should they decide to review your book, you would be happy to send them a mobi, epub, paperback – whatever formats you have. Some will be very specific in their requirements. For example, I say that I will accept mobi versions. So if somebody offers me a Word document or a PDF, that’s just another email that I have to send saying “no”.

It’s very important that you keep a note of people that you’ve asked to review your book. They don’t want to receive a second request – and you need to follow it up if you don’t get a response. If it comes to that (which is rarely the case) you simply need to say that you requested a review, and wondered if they have considered it. Give them a week or so to decide – don’t follow it up the next day.

PHASE 3 – sending the book

This sounds like the easy bit – but there are a few things that can be irritating to reviewers. If they are only going to review on Amazon, then it’s not an issue. They should already have the link via your PDF (make sure they are active links!). But if they want to post a review on their blog, you need to have a little pack of materials to send to them.

As soon as they inform you that they would like to review your book, you need to send them :

– an email to say “thank you” and to explain what you are attaching

– an attached copy of the book in whatever format they have requested, or you have agreed (unless, of course, it’s a paperback)

– a photo of you

– a jpeg of your book cover

– a list of links to where people can buy the book

– a list of your online contacts – twitter, website, blog etc.

Explain in the email that you don’t know what – if any – additional information they require, but you have sent them everything that you think they may need. What you are doing, in fact, is making it easy for them when the time comes to write your review. If you have only sent the book, they have to do all the work by cutting and pasting from Amazon. If they don’t feel like it, they may write the review, but without an image of the book cover, without links to where to buy the book, and without any way really of turning this review into a potential sales channel.

There is, of course, a phase 4. It’s called sitting and waiting. It could be months – literally – before you hear back. It’s not a good idea to chase! I personally wouldn’t mind being chased after, say, two months. But not before. Some reviewers wouldn’t like it even then, and I have never chased a review.

And then – when the review is posted – the last thing you have to do is write and say thank you. Even if you hate the review, you still need to say thank you.

But it’s worth the effort. Enjoy it – you get to meet some really good people and if they like your book, they will talk about it. And that’s what you want.

Rachel Abbott is the author of “Only the Innocent” – currently the number one book in the UK Kindle Store. As an indie author herself, she is now blogging and writing guest posts about her experience, with the intention of helping other indie authors to maximize their chance of success.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Below are the writing-related links I tweeted last week.

The free Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links (now over 14,000) searchable. The WKB recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.

Sign up for the free monthly WKB newsletter for the web’s best links and interviews:http://bit.ly/gx7hg1

What makes a good-looking ebook: Tips on ebook design for standard titles: http://bit.ly/z6j3kR @thefuturebook

How to Revise for Structure: http://bit.ly/A3tQui @jamigold

6 Interior Design Tips to Make Your Blog User-friendly: http://bit.ly/xcN3JF @bobwp

10 Types of Rotten Writing Advice: http://bit.ly/yO2WZE

Worldbuilding–making a city work: http://bit.ly/zRL4qr @JulietteWade

Is the publishing industry ready for change? http://bit.ly/xtJzZb @rachellegardner

Dos and Don’ts for Introducing Your Protagonist: http://bit.ly/y5uHnc @annerallen

Blogging for writers – make your blog work: http://bit.ly/xVlVmK @nicolamorgan

Fact or Fiction? The Entirely True Saga of A Woman Torn Between Two Genres: http://bit.ly/AFvSgS @BTMargins

In Support of “New Adult Fiction”: http://bit.ly/yPEiEf @WriteAngleBlog

Writers Conferences–Your Elevator Pitch: http://bit.ly/Arzpmj @Bob_Mayer

Adapting to Create Success: http://bit.ly/wLhdUs @4kidlit

Using canned responses in Gmail: http://bit.ly/yzn0SS @alexisgrant

10 Questions to Ask When Offered Representation: http://bit.ly/w76m8i @Kid_Lit

The Crucial Story Arc: http://bit.ly/y79VWI

Children’s Books Defined: http://bit.ly/xSQxO4

2 Ways to Make the Most of Goodreads: http://bit.ly/xvmDrm @JaneFriedman

The Future of Big Publishing in the New Paradigm: http://bit.ly/wd21pt @KristenLamb

Applying screenwriting structure to novels: http://bit.ly/yCvaNC

Religion in Fantasy: http://bit.ly/AzvxP5 @fantasyfaction

Avoiding the Dreaded Infodump: http://bit.ly/xmJYUF @Janice_Hardy

How to fall in love with writing again: http://bit.ly/zOnldF @originalimpulse for @ollinmorales

Tips for writing historical fiction & a list of its subgenres: http://bit.ly/w45ab0 @MarciaARichards for @nicolebasaraba

How to make the most of school visits: http://bit.ly/AnB6JG

Does Your Story Have Too Many Characters? http://bit.ly/zWftdf @KMWeiland

The 5 Point Finale: http://bit.ly/w5Zkcf @sierragodfrey

How (Not) to Write the Perfect Query Letter: http://bit.ly/ywguUL @Ava_Jae

The Power of Symbolism: http://bit.ly/wm9dZ2 @storyfix

Research before you make claims in your queries: http://bit.ly/zC0pfy @behlerpublish

3 Vital Keys to a Good Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/AmM4os @Beth_Barany

Curing Author Ignorance: http://bit.ly/wjYSKj @Porter_Anderson

Tips and highlights for the upcoming AWP conference: http://bit.ly/xxWsZ8 @Porter_Anderson @DanBlank

7 Powerful Ways to End Your Next Blog Post: http://bit.ly/AgLkp7 @aliventures

An agent on “letting projects marinate”: http://bit.ly/xA8P9b @greyhausagency

Are You Making These 7 Mistakes with Your About Page? http://bit.ly/xtsSvu @copyblogger

The Changing Face of SFF: http://bit.ly/wXKpUG @fantasyfaction

Thoughts on appropriate ebook pricing: http://bit.ly/AEdC0K @zoewinters

Competence is hot: http://bit.ly/xJ39uN @SF_Novelists

29 Soundbites On Writing And Publishing: http://bit.ly/ztoasf @thecreativepenn

A look at Book Tango: http://bit.ly/xzKhLv @victoriastrauss

The life of a literary agent’s assistant: http://bit.ly/y66MLI

Editing to Life – Characterization: http://bit.ly/zp5AmP @lydia_sharp

Need Voice? Think Out Loud: http://bit.ly/yb42Yz @JamiGold

Riveting Our Readers By Using the Death Factor: http://bit.ly/x26UIl @jodyhedlund

How to create suspense: http://bit.ly/Af7JfJ @jammer0501

Music Lessons (that work for publishing, too): http://bit.ly/yrWPYq @ProjectDomino

3 Character Archetypes in Fiction: http://bit.ly/AaUAXP @write_practice for @KMWeiland

6 Tips to Make the Most Out of Writing Workshops: http://bit.ly/zGN3FX

Querying your unlikeable character: http://bit.ly/xW5guK @querytracker

Elements of a good narrative arc: http://bit.ly/AsVZG0 @WriterSherry

5 Ways to Create Memorable, Multi-Layered Characters: http://bit.ly/yhM7ly @jeanoram

Markets & Manners: Tips for Writers: http://bit.ly/wb2RYY

There’s Never Been a Better Time to Be a Reader: http://bit.ly/w8pHEZ @readingape

Why Writers Must Be Readers First: http://bit.ly/zSTWXi @Diymfa

The importance of using specific verbs: http://bit.ly/zxmB64 @AimeeLSalter

Don’t Write a Book Without a Buyer: http://bit.ly/AknbHq @writersdigest

List of Superhero Origin Stories: http://bit.ly/AicTBy

A word to keep in mind when writing your screenplay: http://bit.ly/zqVTN0 @misfitsandmascara

10 Myths About Editors: http://bit.ly/AxGSno @theresa_stevens

Editing Technique: Lists: http://bit.ly/wjqaVV @Ava_Jae

Use A Hollywood Trick To Plan Your Next Novel: http://bit.ly/A4U8pp

Focus—What’s This Story About? http://bit.ly/yMgyb0 @noveleditor

Book Promotion Basics — Useful Articles for New Authors: http://bit.ly/xTUB7n @goblinwriter

An agent on the different levels of middle grade: http://bit.ly/wb8FYp

How to Stop Procrastinating and Start Writing: http://bit.ly/wReXlq @thecreativepenn

Reasons for a Trade Paper Edition: http://bit.ly/xSN0lH @deanwesleysmith

Voice in 3rd Person: http://bit.ly/wI3Ckb @janice_hardy

12 Dos and Don’ts for Author-Bloggers: http://bit.ly/z88Qsd @annerallen

Take Your Characters to Therapy: http://bit.ly/yYFtiO

5 Reasons It’s Less Dramatic That Greedo Shot First: http://bit.ly/AnzJhs

The Authors Guild – Providing Blogging Opportunities for the Clueless: http://bit.ly/zHN3v1 @PassiveVoiceBlg

21 Ray Bradbury Quotes: http://bit.ly/ydCcqi @writersdigest

30 Archaic Adjectives and Adverbs: http://bit.ly/yi7qWL @writing_tips

Invest in Your Own E-Book: http://bit.ly/AuVK6F

Special Punctuation—Ellipses, Em Dash, En Dash and Hyphen: http://bit.ly/xJilVY @BryanThomasS

Why Stress Hurts Performance: http://bit.ly/A11M0z @cherylrwrites

3 Things 1 Writer Learned from Henry James: http://bit.ly/y08BxN @VictoriaMixon

The True Prize That Comes From a Significant Writing Life: http://bit.ly/xS6pit @LiveWriteThrive

Why Amazon Is Winning the Book Wars: http://bit.ly/A2IUbC @scholarlykitchn

Tips for inexpensively creating a website: http://bit.ly/xBcSNz @JenTalty

Why a Critique Relationship is Crucial for Better Writing: http://bit.ly/xz40RP

The 90/10 promotion rule: what to do with the 10%? http://bit.ly/zWau4N @nicolamorgan

The 7 Deadly Sins of Prologues: http://bit.ly/ylLN2u @KristenLamb

An Agent on Questions You Might Be Asked When Offered Representation: http://bit.ly/AwBMrC @Kid_Lit

Writing the Right Story vs Writing the Story Right: http://bit.ly/As6Mlj @writeitsideways

How to Restore a Character’s Voice When They Develop Laryngitis: http://bit.ly/zou3L1 @jan_ohara

Marketing Direct To Kindle Readers–On Advertising And KDP Select: http://bit.ly/wEY4bU @thecreativepenn

How Important is Genre in Today’s World of Ebooks? http://bit.ly/xel3D4 @Janice_Hardy

What You Should Know Before Considering a Career as a Freelance Editor: http://bit.ly/xo0hVQ @victoriamixon

2 writing questions that are hard to answer: http://bit.ly/xoKsPM

What an Angry Flight Attendant Taught 1 Writer about Doing Meaningful Work: http://bit.ly/xUzWrU @jeffgoins

An agent warns against writing without thinking: http://bit.ly/wWHUou

Finding a good book is a challenge: http://bit.ly/xI92QE @passivevoiceblg

Breaking down story structure using Heist Society as an example: http://bit.ly/yH6hgh @laurapauling

The Editorial Process – 1 Writer’s Experience vs Misconceptions: http://bit.ly/wOPpY5

Experimenting With Writing Techniques…With Fanfic: http://bit.ly/xTMKqt @jenniecoughlin

Digital Eloquence: http://bit.ly/yYGj86 @thefuturebook

Keeping it Fresh—Writer’s Craft: Color: http://bit.ly/z3IEGR @LindaGray_

Put your character in a trap: http://bit.ly/wrQs8M

How to Manipulate Your Audience Like Downton Abbey: http://bit.ly/wstG8e @write_practice

The trick for curing writer’s block: http://bit.ly/x8J66C @krissybrady

Each book is a thriller: http://bit.ly/xyyB10 @Ravenrequiem13

What to write first: http://bit.ly/ACkrBD @noveleditor

Newsletters 101: Email Marketing for Authors: http://bit.ly/zS3pFy @goblinwriter

3 tips for getting over writer’s block: http://bit.ly/Aog2HG @diymfa

4 ways to make your own luck using social media: http://bit.ly/xFcsD9 @alexisgrant for @rachellegardner

Do traditional publishers treat authors badly? http://bit.ly/xuadUm @JAKonrath

For Women Writers–Men Are Not Women With Chest Hair: http://bit.ly/wGWtfF @authorterryo

How To Take Writing Advice: http://bit.ly/yCgbCG @novelrocket

The Reality of Amazon and the Digital Publishing World: http://bit.ly/w5Eo9R @bob_mayer

Tips for memoir writing: http://bit.ly/xEPpSm @kathypooler

Dos and Don’ts for Handling Bad Reviews: http://bit.ly/wDEZhz

A compelling story vs. a perfectly executed one: http://bit.ly/xxP8WK @jodyhedlund

Tips for radio interviews: http://bit.ly/xnUHYz

Moving into the self-encouragement phase of our writing life: http://bit.ly/wZYdFD @TamarMek

Piracy, Apple’s ebooks, Amazon & authors, publishing news & views in @Porter_Anderson ‘s on the Ether: http://bit.ly/yU4wzb

A deep editing technique for tighter storytelling: http://bit.ly/zUNAp7 @JoanSwan

Tips for writing suspense: http://bit.ly/AmMUvP @JoanSwan

The importance of sleuth intuition in crime fiction: http://bit.ly/wMARld @Mkinberg

Writing on the Ether by @Porter_Anderson features @craigmod @calebjross @LornaSuzuki @JDGsaid @naypinya http://bit.ly/yU4wzb

Can We Have Too Much Voice? http://bit.ly/zCBkUC @JamiGold

Choosing to leave a publisher: http://bit.ly/yPQA9P

Pinterest: 5 Best Practices for Writers: http://bit.ly/wRre4a

10 Obstacles to Creativity–and How to Overcome Them: http://bit.ly/zNI7bZ @CherylRwrites

5 Steps to Writing a Novel that Sells: http://bit.ly/yzZKzx

5 Ingredients To Create Successful Blog Content: http://bit.ly/ziXnN6 @JulieBMack

7 Time Management Tips to Write Your Book: http://bit.ly/yh1roG @originalimpulse

When Blurbs Attack (Do Blurbs Matter?): http://bit.ly/Ao09xp @NewDorkReview

Make your villain 3-dimensional by adding positive traits: http://bit.ly/AomyAQ @JoanSwan

Dialogue Lessons From Downton Abbey: http://bit.ly/wpuDZz @lgreffenius for @BTMargins

Amazon–Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts: http://bit.ly/wx6cZ8 @KristenLamb

13 Ways to Impress an Agent: http://bit.ly/w7t0Ky @rachellegardner

1 writer’s road to publication: http://bit.ly/wKjJ7D @randysusanmeyer

When to Add a Scene Break: http://bit.ly/wdy5kF

An Author’s Guide to Surviving Goodreads: http://bit.ly/zpAa7S @blurbisaverb

How To Use Physical Activity to Banish Writer’s Block: http://bit.ly/wuF2cb

How to Survive Your First Year of Blogging: http://bit.ly/yoiJKr

The Tenuous Relationship Between Question and Quotation Marks: http://bit.ly/ykKbd7 @write_practice

Religion in Fantasy, part 2: http://bit.ly/yipIxU @fantasyfaction

Better Homes and Novels: Confessions of a haphazardly organized writer: http://bit.ly/y9yFBr @btmargins

First Paragraph, First Thoughts: http://bit.ly/xNU1yv @livewritethrive

A quotation mark quiz: http://bit.ly/whG737 @writing_tips

5 Simple Steps on Creating Suspense in Fiction: http://bit.ly/yScDZA @writersdigest

A nice roundup of this week’s best blog posts for writers: http://bit.ly/wJT8wj @4kidlit

Librarians Feel Sticker Shock as Price for Random House Ebooks Rises as Much as 300%: http://bit.ly/wX0NO1

Using mind maps to write & finish your book on time: http://bit.ly/xXgAcw @BookBuzzr

Answers to 7 questions on writing memoirs: http://bit.ly/wHImrw @soulofaword

11 Google Analytics Tricks to Use for Your Website: http://mz.cm/AmvcAA @SEOmoz

Eliminate passively constructed sentences: http://bit.ly/ya3f2b @ScottTheWriter

Having a successful debut–it’s all about the book: http://bit.ly/wdoX4C @rachel__abbott

by Joan Swan, @joanswan

Villains are people too.

Memorable, compelling characters—that’s what good fiction boils down to. And, yes, this includes your villains.

Your villain was an innocent child once. What changed? Why did it change? And most importantly, most revealing…how did he change in reaction to those events?

The challenges we face throughout life and how we respond to them shape the internal landscapes of each of us–in both good and bad ways. Which means your villain has both good and bad qualities.

No one is bad all the time. Villains need positive traits, too. Traits that make him sympathetic to the reader. Traits that allow the reader to empathize, maybe even identify with the villain in a small way. Understand how he became what he had become, because if a reader can’t relate to your villain in any way, they will be disconnect and less invested in your story’s outcome.

For the sake of example, let’s say your villain’s father was oppressive.

That one element could create a variety of negative issues for your villain:

• Maybe…the lack of all control made him crave it once he broke out on his own
• Maybe…he developed a hatred of certain types of men
• Maybe…he developed a hatred for women who allow men to dominate…or maybe he developed a preference for passive women…or maybe he prefers the dominatrix
• Maybe…he developed a hatred for women who allow their children to be mentally abused
• Maybe…he developed a fetish, something that gave him pleasure or allowed him to escape the domination
• Maybe…he mirrored his father’s negative trait with his peers—became a bully, a gang leader…or maybe the opposite. Maybe he feared control and became a follower (note: this isn’t a strong villainous trait, but might be a tendency he has, which would create great inner conflict.)

To illustrate how the same situation could produce positive qualities depending on the person, let’s take the examples above and turn them around.

The same villain, the same oppressive father. How did that affect your villain in a positive way?

• Maybe…the lack of control made him empathetic to others who lack control
• Maybe…he learned the right and wrong way to wield control
• Maybe…he learned to empathize with women who’d been in a controlling relationship
• Maybe…that fetish he developed was writing about controlling fathers who always die a horrible death. (We all know writing is a fetish. :-)).

Your villain’s unique personality—why will your readers remember him?

Like all characters, your villain’s distinctive qualities should evolve organically. In other words, his uniqueness should stem from the way he reacted and internalized lifetime events (as shown above.)

There are as many reactions to a particular hardship as there are people on earth. We all know or have heard of a family—same parents, same home, same school, equal treatment—where two of the kids turn out successful, compassionate, well-adjusted, and one who turns out a repeat failure, selfish, a social reject.

Every living person is unique—thoughts, behaviors, preferences, dispositions, wants, dreams.

Apply that concept to your villain and watch him puff from a cardboard cutout into a living, breathing bad guy.

How do you add dimension to your villains? What author do you feel does a stellar job of crafting villains?

Giveaway:
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Joan Swan is a triple RWA® Golden Heart finalist and writes sexy romantic suspense with a paranormal twist. Her debut novel with Kensington Brava, FEVER, released February 28, 2012. Her second novel, BLAZE, follows in October,2012.

In her day job, she works as a sonographer for one of the top ten medical facilities in the nation and lives on the California central coast in beautiful wine country with her husband and two daughters.