Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Lately, I’ve been getting a lot of really murky emails that I just can’t make heads or tails of (none of them from writers).

The emails ramble. Then, when I finally reach the point of the email, it’s still not very clear. I’ll read it a few more times, then I’ll have to reply, asking for clarification. Then they’ll email back and sometimes I still don’t have the full picture of the school event, the volunteering needed for the band, the snack needs at the church function, etc. So I’ll email back again.

It’s frustrating, for sure. And it’s time-consuming. And it reminded me how important it is to keep focused during our own

There’s really no room for rambling in books. Keeping a narrative focus tight is just so important to keep our readers interested. Each scene should have a point—to further the plot or develop or introduce a character, etc.

During first drafts, I definitely go off on tangents. And sometimes I’ve got scenes that I just love but that don’t serve a purpose in the story. During later drafts, I take those scenes out and stick them in a Word file. Sometimes they’ll work (or parts of them will work) in different books in the series. Sometimes they just sit in their Word file graveyard. They can be hard to cut, but in the end, the flow is just so much better.

Janice Hardy had a great post this week: Tightening Your Narrative Focus with some helpful examples.

Do you ramble during drafts but tighten it up later? Ever keep your cut scenes in case you’ll need them another time?

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig

I was recently working on revisions when I realized I wasn’t 100% happy with a particular scene.

I thought the beginning was ‘okay.’ But the more I looked at it, the more it really started bothering me.

I tried approaching it from a couple of different directions. I switched one scene with another as a lead-in.

Then I revised a long scene and made it much shorter.

I took out a phone conversation that I realized was unnecessary and instead started the next scene with the person doing the action they’d discussed on the phone.

Some of the sentences seemed longer than needed, so I broke them up into shorter ones, which made them read a lot smoother.

After all these changes, it was much better. But it still wasn’t the beginning I knew it could be.

I decided to pretend that I hadn’t written the beginning at all—that it didn’t exist.

I rewrote the entire first chapter, using a different approach. The nice thing about word processing is that we can easily see which one works better and cut and paste the different beginnings in.

The first beginning had a lot of set-up written in. I incorporated it with humor, but a duck is a duck. It was set-up. And set-up slows down the pace—and is boring.

With the second beginning, I ditched the set-up. Instead I included foreshadowing to let the reader know to keep an eye on a particular character.

I completely removed, in my rewrite, several passages that were unnecessary. For example: I needed to have a particular character at another character’s house. In the original beginning, I’d had a whole sequence to set that visit up. Boring.

In the second version, I just opened the scene with the visit and put in a passing reference to it in dialogue, “I’m glad you could come by, Jill, and help me out…”

Looking back at what I did, I’m thinking now that I should just immediately have done a total rewrite of the entire first chapter. Instead I spent a lot of time doing surface work on something that had a deeper problem. Yes, it did read better when I changed scenes around and toyed with my sentence structure. But, for this instance anyway, I got much better results with the radical rewrite.

Update Oct. 2011—I’m actually doing a lot of revision work right now and have again noticed that rewriting a scene can be much better, time-wise, than tinkering with a badly-written scene in twenty different ways. I also tend to get better results. It helps, I think, if I haven’t memorized the old scene…and only know the gist of it and what I’m trying to accomplish.

Have you had success with radical rewrites?

Note—this post is part of my Retro Wednesdays that I’m running to help me find extra writing time through the end of the year. This post first ran in December 2009.

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig

I’m definitely a creature of habit. I have a morning routine for getting the kids off to school, and if I mess up one part of it, there’s a sort of domino effect of screw-ups that happen.

But as life and schedules have gotten more complicated with a busy family life, I’ve tried to be more flexible and responsive. Sometimes I’ll do a better job with that than others. Now I can at least fake being flexible.

With writing, I’m able to squeeze it into miniscule amounts of time at the drop of a hat. This is just a response to a packed schedule (and a schedule that I’m not totally in control of.)

Squeezing writing in is a lot easier if:

You’re prepared. You’ll need index cards or a small notebook and something to write with.

You know where you left off. And I wouldn’t waste time reading what you just wrote…that will burn up your time right there. Just make a quick note at the end of each writing session to remind you where you were.

You can block people and noises out. It takes a little getting used to, but yes, you can make the whole world disappear. After a while, actually, it’s tough to bring it back…

You’re forgiving of your efforts. If you’re squeezing writing time in, then it’s not the time to except perfect prose.

Then, there comes a time when you’re not squeezing writing in. It’s time to put more time into writing.

There are different ways to add writing time to your day (but most of them aren’t fun):

Sleep less. I’ve done this. It’s okay, but after a while I start looking like something out of Night of the Living Dead. I write more on the front end of my day…in the morning, instead of at night.

Take vacation time from work or spend a weekend writing. Here I’m luckier because I’m at home. Weekends are my busy times because the family is home.

Spend less time online or engaged in other activities. Set timers for online time, turn off the television, etc.

Right now, trying again to be flexible, I need to write more. I’m editing a book, brainstorming another, beginning one that’s due in May, and coming up with a new series premise. And I have a book launching on November 1 (the 3rd book in the Memphis BBQ series—Hickory Smoked Homicide.) I’m sleeping a bit less, but it’s looking like I need some more writing time. :)

I’m moving for the next couple of months to a M-W-F-Sun schedule of blogging until I get ahead with the writing I’m working on. And Wednesdays will be a retro-post day. But guest bloggers are more than welcome for Tues/Thurs. spots (or the M-W-F ones, for that matter, too.) If you’ve read a good book lately and want to share it, I’m opening Saturdays up for that.

Do you ever change your schedule to include more writing? How do you do it?

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

The Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine, designed by software engineer and writer Mike Fleming, makes all these links searchable. Sign up for the free monthly WKB newsletter for the web’s best links and interviews: http://bit.ly/gx7hg1 .

Recent news: Progressive Dinner Deadly is a Myrtle Clover mystery, available for $2.99 on Kindle and Nook. The 3rd book in the Memphis Barbeque series will release November 1—Hickory Smoked Barbeque (available now for preorder).

The Wrong & Right Ways to Solicit Book Reviews: http://bit.ly/qq2eIP @JodyHedlund

6 Fear-Busting Writer Tips: http://bit.ly/mSzWka @TiceWrites

Time management for time-strapped writers: http://bit.ly/pIUglg @gretchenroberts @hopeclark

An Agent’s Advice for Character Creation and Plotting – Keep It Real: http://bit.ly/qK7nzi @greyhausagency

Pulling yourself out of a funk so you can write: http://bit.ly/r8HuyW @fearofwriting

The Non-Fictional Sense of Wonder (by Sandra Tayler): http://bit.ly/qtaGX4

How to get your book noticed by librarians–or not: http://bit.ly/q2ZFxS @BryanThomasS

When your day disappears–thoughts on reclaiming it: http://bit.ly/oZQVvL @jillkemerer

8 Ways To Be (Artistically) Out Of Step With The Times: http://bit.ly/pgarIY by Brian Hodge

Nail Your NaNoWriMo: How to Plan Your Story: http://bit.ly/pA6t0a @storyfix

Dueling Agent Advice on Writing Blogs: http://bit.ly/oxWeG6 @AnneRAllen

The 80/20 equation for your writing time: http://bit.ly/p57Yn1 @Margo_L_Dill

2 misconceptions of new writers: http://bit.ly/nT9goE @dirtywhitecandy

Amazon’s Kindle Fire Will Never Kill the iPad: http://bit.ly/nX3xHA @PassiveVoiceBlg

Enterprise Authors: Rethinking the E-Book Revolution: http://bit.ly/qGwLQJ @selfpubreview

Why and How Your First 12 to 15 Scenes are Different: http://bit.ly/rb4mhu @storyfix

Rethinking Motivation for Character Arc: http://bit.ly/qQha79 @VictoriaMixon

Using Feedback to Better Your Work: http://bit.ly/qJ1UYD @FantasyFaction

4 fears writers face and tips for conquering them: http://bit.ly/p0vrEC @kalayna

The Middle Grade Voice: http://bit.ly/qNJcn5 @KristinHalbrook

Advice on writing poetry: http://bit.ly/obpVAk @write_practice

A Guide to Alienating Editors: http://bit.ly/oSzfZe by Rebecca Coleman

Why You Need to Write Every Day: http://bit.ly/mPUMwv @JeffGoins

Nail Your NaNoWriMo: Take a Hike: http://bit.ly/qzytUE @storyfix

Creativity is connecting things: http://bit.ly/rnT13Q @sierragodfrey

How to Grow Your Twitter Followers: http://bit.ly/nBVvkK @BubbleCow

Learning to Write: The Limitations of Books About Writing: http://bit.ly/oLLkDK by David Coe

The 4-Hour Novel: How to Balance Work, Life, Blogging and Your Passion: http://bit.ly/nC4CXE @OllinMorales

How to Get Started Mind Mapping Your Book (and everything else): http://bit.ly/ogruJM @JFBookman

Tips for writing fight scenes: http://bit.ly/qiVbbQ @FantasyFaction

Journey of a Debut Author: http://bit.ly/oO4WH4 @JoanSwan

Enjoying my interview w/@VictoriaMixon, which runs in 2 weeks.Victoria’s latest interview, with @TheCreativePenn: http://tinyurl.com/3vd82n7

A warning to writers about pursuing newer publishers: http://bit.ly/oeNG5c @behlerpublish

Reasons Your Characters Might Not Use Secret Identities: http://bit.ly/o56GIk by B. McKenzie

A rating system for books? http://bit.ly/qSn79E @WriteAngleBlog

Rewriting Part 1: Dealing with Plot: http://bit.ly/rnWy9a @AmySueNathan

Why 1 agent goes to writing conferences: http://bit.ly/mXFP6f @RachelleGardner #pubtip

7 Types of Creative Block (and What to Do About Them): http://bit.ly/qifH5U @the99percent

Psychology Of Writing: 5 States Of Success: http://bit.ly/n4gthW @thecreativepenn

The Changing Face of Book Rights: http://bit.ly/qHyzrQ @pubperspectives

Book Review Blogs with Massive Followers: http://bit.ly/rcygo8 @veiledvirtues

The power of opposites in our story: http://bit.ly/p3aWAM

Everything affects characterization: bit.ly/q5tDPx @p2p_editor

Amazon Launches Sci-Fi & Horror Imprint: http://bit.ly/r4fOSL @GalleyCat

Writers Against Plagiarism: A Call to Action: http://bit.ly/oHVLAn @VictoriaStrauss

When to use quotation marks: http://bit.ly/nsEyFa @write_practice

An analysis of how e-publishing will affect traditional : http://oreil.ly/qurhp6 @JennWebb

If the query isn’t working, maybe it’s the book: http://bit.ly/ni7Up7 @BookEndsJessica

The Psychology of Attraction: Uncertainty: http://bit.ly/oVBZLw @lkblackburne

10 Ways to Irritate an Editor: http://bit.ly/qi2Byf @CherylRWrites

What the eBook Revolution Means and How Copywriters Can Prosper From It: http://bit.ly/mUi1Yv @SeanPlatt

4 Essential Elements to Writing a Great Blog Post: http://bit.ly/pBbBkC @JeffGoins

Are Writers without Business Sense Doomed? http://bit.ly/oqao9B @JamiGold

Character or Plot or Setting? Building Your Story’s Universe: http://bit.ly/nbPb3q @4kidlit

10 Ways to Launch Strong Scenes: http://bit.ly/qFm1oF @WritersDigest

How 1 Writer Uses her MFA To Cultivate Creativity: http://bit.ly/oSwNJr @deborahconnolly

5 Great Bits of Wisdom from a New York Times Bestseller: http://bit.ly/pFmNSZ @susanmallery @jhansenwrites

A screenwriter & director provides insight on becoming a novelist: http://bit.ly/qkFcSE @novelrocket

Book Proposals in the Digital Age: http://bit.ly/q9aOkj @JaneFriedman

Characters that become real: http://bit.ly/p9WzMn

Urban Fantasy versus Paranormal Romance: http://bit.ly/ow3hSm @FantasyFaction

A writer’s rant on blogging, platforms, & the pressure on writers: http://bit.ly/pWVb63 @RoniLoren

5 reasons blogging works for writers: http://bit.ly/oLFCj9 @SierraGodfrey

Don’t send your book to an agent before it’s finished: http://bit.ly/pcA9bz @BubbleCow #pubtip

Make your setting a character: http://bit.ly/pGFKw6 @SusanMeissner

Plurals of proper names: http://bit.ly/nyxmQ3 by Mark Nichol

5 elements that make a story strong: http://bit.ly/ph4dMq @storyfix

Books about self-publishing should have gone through a book designer: http://bit.ly/qeSiQa @JFBookman

Theatrical roots & keeping our readers entertained: http://bit.ly/pJXCiQ @GeneLempp

The Evolving Model of the Entrepreneurial Novelist: http://bit.ly/nNanqx @SeanPlatt for @JaneFriedman

1 author’s writing process: http://bit.ly/qy2c1W @MsAnnAguirre

Opposites in crime fiction and how they add to a mystery: http://bit.ly/qwJWST @mkinberg

Ramping up the Tension in our Fiction: http://bit.ly/opIEHx @keligwyn

eBook Library Check Out Up 200%: http://bit.ly/qG3DFA @ebooknewser

A Writer’s Guide To A Healthy and Happy Marriage: http://bit.ly/pTVdec @OllinMorales

Tips on Marketing Your Novel: http://bit.ly/nm35cJ @Natalie_Lakosil

Writers who refuse to be taught: http://bit.ly/neCKwE @pegeditors

10 tips for writers: http://bit.ly/omy5SX @LynnetteLabelle

Surviving the Slushpile …as a dyslexic: http://bit.ly/qjYqh2

How to read a book contract–litigation: http://bit.ly/mVog33 @PassiveVoiceBlg

10 writing lessons from Annie Proulx: http://bit.ly/pa8gZX @michellerafter

3 reasons to pull the plug on your novel: http://bit.ly/onsXve Marcus Brotherton for @RachelleGardner

On backlists, the future of footnotes, & ebook errors: http://bit.ly/oGl0Eo @Porter_Anderson for @JaneFriedman

20 More Smothered Verbs Set Free: http://bit.ly/nUWViJ by Mark Nichol

Beat sheets for your NaNoWriMo novel: http://bit.ly/nh6xMC @storyfix

9 tools for character development: http://bit.ly/pPoErm @BryanThomasS

The new world of publishing–cash flow: http://bit.ly/pJFGze @DeanWesleySmith

The power of commenting: http://bit.ly/nDeBdv @Blogussion

How to survey your readers: http://bit.ly/qSEeer @Rule17

3 tips for a good relationship with your editor: http://bit.ly/qnHQsl

Recycle your blog: http://bit.ly/o8B1We @chrisbrogan

On 1st and 2nd drafts: http://bit.ly/mY65uE @VictoriaMixon

Write your characters larger than life & they’ll seem just right on the page: http://bit.ly/n3Qqiv @SarahAHoyt

What It Takes to Pull Off a Great Launch: http://bit.ly/ou5P7b @alexisgrant

Channeling your inner Word Wizard: http://bit.ly/nPuOjq @behlerpublish

Using symbolism in our writing (with Harry Potter used as an example): http://bit.ly/r8MEvA @HP4Writers

Alerts: Lobster Press and Dailey Swan Publishing: http://bit.ly/oNEVl8 @VictoriaStrauss

NaNoWriMo: The Right Rite of Passage for Writers: http://bit.ly/r9Jb4o @GeorgeAngus

How to Write Like a Professional: http://bit.ly/nK0uAJ @aliventures

Building Your Web Presence for Authors: Creating Effective Landing Pages: http://bit.ly/o7jDjy @LizzyFord2010

An agent urges writers to show confidence during the query process: http://bit.ly/mR8pmZ @BookEndsJessica

Is Amazon the Sauron of Publishing? http://bit.ly/r0gwKU by Michael A. Stackpole via @PassiveVoiceBlg

Why journalists should avoid analyzing word clouds: http://bit.ly/q9WVpo @harrisj

Making Sense of Digital Books for Kids: http://bit.ly/oFVh2E @ddonahoo

Alternatives for Getting Your Screenwriting Projects Off the Ground: http://bit.ly/rjxBIC @scriptmag

Lessons from the car dealership: http://bit.ly/qaVuJh

Tell, don’t show! http://bit.ly/q14Ytg @bbeaulieu

On paid book blog tours: http://bit.ly/rpIjFh @BlurbIsAVerb

NaNoWriMo tip–surrender to the process: http://bit.ly/n6A6qU @Storyfix

Trying to Promote Your Work? Maybe It’s Time To Go Back To School: http://bit.ly/pQku1S @darrenpillsbury

3 Questions Every Creative Person Must Ask: http://bit.ly/qKwZId @JaneFriedman

Yes, writers can crush it on Kindle this Christmas: http://bit.ly/oFnECH @SeanPlatt for @thecreativepenn

A critiqued synopsis: http://bit.ly/oPZ38m @nicolamorgan #pubtip

Why sweet romances aren’t boring: http://bit.ly/pq6LED @JodyHedlund for @RoniLoren

Starting A New Book: Why Some Things We Never Learn: http://bit.ly/pzdIss @BTMargins

Keeping too much realism out of crime fiction: http://bit.ly/q37SYa @mkinberg

Best Articles This Week for Writers 10/14/11: http://bit.ly/nPwwSi @4kidlit

10 Ways Your Friends Can Help You Sell More Books: http://bit.ly/opEUTe @bdunc1

After 5 books, 1 author still questions calling himself a writer: http://bit.ly/nnBAmW by Rick Gekoski

Wake up early to write: http://bit.ly/pclZ9p @SimonCLarter

A life in : Terry Pratchett: http://bit.ly/qUT2ef @alisonflood

Screenwriting–write it funny or they’ll cut it: http://bit.ly/qw6DLO @scriptmag #screenwriting

Putting the A in YA: http://bit.ly/pbfmQx @sarahlapolla

Why “branding” won’t save the creative class: http://bit.ly/niA1BD @salon

How to write fiction: Geoff Dyer on freedom: http://bit.ly/ptv3zm

Three Parts to Every Story: Endings: http://bit.ly/ojcFXr @fuelyourwriting

Writing through doubt: http://bit.ly/phNPl7 @carleenbrice

Writing Rules vs. Rules of Thumb: http://bit.ly/nHKUax @thomasroche

Perfecting your YA voice: http://bit.ly/pjnqMC @ingridsundberg

Secrets in Your Story and Why You Should Keep Them Until The Very End: http://bit.ly/oQc2CR @OllinMorales

Should writers learn fiction writing techniques or dive into writing? http://bit.ly/oKDkmk @JodyHedlund

The rewards of journaling our lives: http://bit.ly/pusUdG @literarymama

“Something a composer ‘says’ in music can help me ‘hear’ what I need for a chapter.”@Porter_Anderson http://bit.ly/qLaSlS via @VictoriaMixon

Why 1 writer is happy with her small press publishers: http://bit.ly/pCSwWy @MarilynMeredith

Tool time: Using Dropbox to back up your work: http://bit.ly/qV9lUl @caxdj

An agent states that voice *can* change (especially when needed, to suit publisher needs): http://bit.ly/qqjSyy @greyhausagency

How to speak publisher – C is for Copy editor: http://bit.ly/nkFgvQ @annerooney

On National Novel Writing Month: http://bit.ly/qfu2ix by Mark Nichol

Is Your Book a Hobby or a Business? Thinking like an entrepreneur: http://bit.ly/nUbgyT @BookMarketer

Should You Write When You’re Tired? http://bit.ly/oKutef @boonieschick

The political possibilities of SF: http://bit.ly/p3h36q by Damien Walter

How the National Book Awards made themselves irrelevant: http://bit.ly/ncVBv5 @magiciansbook

8 Expert Tips for Building Effective Email Lists: http://bit.ly/pKB5kn

Why teens should read adult fiction: http://bit.ly/nNkiJq by Brian McGreevy @Salon

Writing, Editing and The Cliffs of Despair: http://bit.ly/rbi8d5 @msforster

7 things 1 writer has learned so far: http://bit.ly/o3ak25 @samrvamos

Making Your “Sing” Like the Beatles: http://bit.ly/nJNd0z @JeffGoins

Addiction in Historical Romance: http://bit.ly/nIVEhf @unzadi

Is the Booker Prize really being dumbed down? http://tgr.ph/n9pcU2 @alainmas

6 ways for our blog to work for us behind the scenes: http://bit.ly/qwt9VD @KarenGowen

Barnes & Noble Assumes Control of Borders’ Web Presence: http://bit.ly/pR3BoZ @galleycat

Adult Hardcover Sales Rose 33% in July, But That Didn’t Help the Year Much: http://bit.ly/oQMut2 @PassiveVoiceBlg

by Elizabeth S. Craig @elizabethscraig

I was reading a great psychological thriller on Thursday afternoon. It was broad daylight, 1:30 p.m., the cats were snoozing in a sunbeam, the dog was snoring, and I was convinced that there was an intruder upstairs.

Yes, it was Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson and it scared me silly. But it wasn’t just the book. It was my own imagination.

Too imaginative? In fact, for a mystery writer, I scare myself on a pretty regular basis. I remember as a kid I’d get up out of bed all night (lifelong insomniac) and would tell my mother I heard noises or that there were monsters in my room, or that I saw a strange and ominous light moving across my bedroom…and she would tell me it was my imagination.

And darn it, it was!

This isn’t the only hazard of being a writer. I find myself in a complete fog much of the day. This comes from thinking about my book throughout the day…driving, running errands. I’ve been known to look blankly at people who wave at me from cars. I tell people that I’m just very slow to react to faces, but the truth is that I was living in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, as Mr. Rogers would say.

Changing as a reader,viewer, and filmgoer: It’s also, as I mentioned the other day, that I take a very analytical approach to most of my reading and film-going/television watching. Actually, I’ve just about given up on TV altogether.

Clutter: As much as I do online and as much as I do my writing on computer, I still end up with paper everywhere. Notebooks, index cards, scraps of receipts with scribbled notes on them, Post-Its. My bedside table is full of cryptic scribbles that seem deranged if you read them. At the end of the day, I try to collect all my papers and put them in one place. This is tough.

How have you changed since becoming a writer?

Photo credit: Muffet