Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

My children were off all week for spring break. We had a lunch date with my sister yesterday.

My plan was to drive to uptown Charlotte, pick her up outside her building, and go off to a sub shop for a casual lunch.

The children and I were just about to hop in the car when I got a text. “How about,” my sister said, “if you park and come up in the building? We’ll visit for a little while and the kids can see my office. Then we can go for lunch.”

That sounded great, but the children and I looked really scruffy. I was wearing denim capris that had shrunk from staying in the dryer too long (oops) and a sweatshirt that had seen better days. My daughter had on an outfit that didn’t match and my teenage son looked like he’d just rolled out of bed. We looked all right for a sub shop with my sister (maybe), but not good for going into a skyscraper of a major bank and meeting my sister’s coworkers.

“Sure,” I texted. Then we all changed clothes before we headed out. :) We met some nice people on the 18th floor and looked like upstanding citizens.

I spend a good deal of time trying to make sure that I’m giving a good impression to readers, other writers, and people in the publishing industry when they encounter me online.

Making a bad impression in person isn’t good either, but at least those usually fade. If you mess up online, it lives online forever. It’s like the mistake that keeps on giving.

I know that, on Google, my website is the first thing that comes up. Which, actually, is bizarre because I’m sure my blog gets more traffic. My website (although it needs updating) tells people a little about me and my books and how to contact me or buy my books. That’s really its sole purpose. I keep it pretty basic. I think it’s important to have some sort of website to serve as a hub for our online identity.

Another important place to make a good impression is blogging. Again, I’ve got a way to contact me, something about me, and a little about my books. For me, blogging is my favorite way to interact online. Although I know some writers do tread into political discussions or other controversial areas….I’m just not going to go there. I’ve heard of a couple of writers who got negative feedback from different publishers for expressing some of their (strong) opinions. And again it’s the ‘making a good impression’ thing—I don’t want to turn off any readers, for sure. I wouldn’t assume that everyone shares my views on different subjects.

Online bookselling sites are other places where writers need to make a good impression. Actually, it’s good to create a non-impression there. We really don’t need to ever pipe up in the review section for our books. If we get a bad review, we get a bad review. Arguing with the reviewer really just looks unprofessional. There are times I’ve noticed, though, when readers have given a book a bad review because Amazon shipped it late, etc. In those cases, I’d just report the review to Amazon because it doesn’t have anything to do with the book. But I still wouldn’t defend my book online—I just don’t think the writer ever wins.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are tricky sometimes because it’s easy for words to be taken the wrong way. And I do recommend having a public Facebook identity and a private one. When my old friends from junior high want to friend me on my public page, I just gently suggest that they’d be more interested in my private one…and vice versa. Otherwise I’d end up being tagged in pictures from when I was 12 on my professional account. That would stress me out. :)

Looking back over this post, I’m realizing how cautious it sounds. I do interact a lot online every day—but I always read over what I’m saying before I hit ‘send.’ And with static sites (like my website), I try to make sure it’s just serving its purpose.

How do you work to make a good impression online?

I have such a hectic schedule that I usually end up writing on the go, scribbling out a couple of paragraphs when I’ve got a few quiet minutes.

I used to think that I was doing this writing without any kind of warm-up. I’m realizing now that that’s totally wrong—I’m warming up by my daily habit of blogging (and the fact that I write a little every day).

Warming up options:

Blogging—To me, blogging is one of the easiest ways to warm up for writing each day. Besides the great writing exercise, it’s a nice way to stay in the habit of writing, develop friendships, and build a platform.

Morning Pages—I’ve heard a lot about Morning Pages (a daily warm-up recommended by author Julia Cameron in her book, The Artist’s Way but haven’t actually tried it myself. She states that:

Morning Pages are three pages of longhand, stream of consciousness writing, done first thing in the morning. There is no wrong way to do Morning Pages– they are not high art. They are about anything and everything that crosses your mind– and they are for your eyes only.

Short projects (poems, short stories, articles): Completing short projects can help you feel like you’re making some creative headway, especially if it looks like the end of your novel is light years away. They’re also nice if you’re getting restless or bored with what you’re currently working on.

Prompts: Prompts aren’t only good for getting your creative juices flowing, I’ve heard some writers say that they can also inspire new direction for stories they’re currently working on.

Recently, Anjie from Prompts for Writers asked me to be a guest poster and write some prompts. I do really like Anjie’s site because she always comes up with more than one prompt—she’ll have a journaling prompt, one for poetry, one for fiction, etc.—and I think her site would be a great resource for teachers as well as writers. My post is up there today: http://promptsforwriters.blogspot.com/ . (As a side note, I know that she’s also looking for writers to guest there and write prompts…might be a unique part of some folks blog tours.)

How do you warm up for writing? Or do you jump right in? Or, like me, do you warm up early and then jump right in at several later points during your day?

I’ve noticed a school of thought among writers that agents are excited about having jack-of-all-trade authors in their stables—who can write a variety of material in different genres. It would mean the writer is more salable, right?

From what I’ve heard from other writers, this isn’t usually the point of view of their agents. I’m not speaking from personal experience because I’m only interested in writing traditional mysteries for the foreseeable future.

But I’ve heard that agents prefer it when writers specialize in a genre.

I think this is because you’re easier to brand as a writer to editors that the agent might know. I’m pretty sure that my agent is branding me to editors as someone who writes traditional mysteries with Southern settings. It definitely makes it easier for me to get work. If someone wants a series that fits my profile, they know they can contact my agent about it.

When a writer writes several different genres (not genre-blending, but different genres for different books), I think it muddies the waters a little, in the agent’s eyes. Now they need to brand you several different ways to their contacts. Maybe they need to develop new editorial contacts in areas where they haven’t before.

I know that if I suddenly decided that I wanted to write children’s picture books, I would need to find another agent for those books. My agent doesn’t handle that—she says so on her site. I would be asking her to make totally new relationships with people in an area she doesn’t plan on working in. Besides, I would want an agent that specializes in those types of books and has contacts in that genre, anyway.

If I were to switch genres, I’d almost definitely do it under a pseudonym. That’s because I wouldn’t want my mystery reading base accidentally buy books that are a totally different genre—possibly one they don’t even read. That would be a good way to lose some readers.

Writing under a pen name basically means starting over with a fresh platform…getting that name known on Twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. You’d have to work to tie in your pen name to your real name (that’s already branded.) I’ve done this and it does take a lot of extra energy.

Agent Wendy Lawton wrote a great post some time ago on the Books and Such blog about switching genres. She points out that most of a writer’s dedicated readers don’t want to follow along into new writing ventures. She states:

They have expectations. They don’t want you to write like Jodi Picoult. If they want Jodi Picoult, they’ll buy Jodi Piccoult. They want you to write like you.

Another point that Wendy Lawton makes (that I hadn’t really thought of) is this:

And wanting to write it all– even if we can– displays a strange kind of hubris. It’s like you are saying you are all any reader needs. “You like mystery? I’ll give you mystery. You want a tender memoir. I can do that. You want literary fiction. That’s me. You want a book on how to save your marriage? Let me get right on that.”

All that being said—I’m likely going to branch into other genres at some point. I’d like to have another 25 years in this business and at some point I’m going to be interested in trying other things. I’ve already decided that when that day comes, I’ll probably have to query an agent for that particular genre and also write under a different name.

In the meantime, I’ll write magazine articles, poetry, and the occasional short story to just shake things up a little bit.

Are you a writer who writes different genres? How are you approaching representation and promotion?

My teenager has a love/hate relationship with music right now.

I can understand where he’s coming from. He really enjoys music and loves making it. He’s not so wild about the hours of practice.

He plays the baritone for school and recently told me that he was interested in starting guitar lessons.

My husband pointed out that he would probably enjoy guitar more and practice more if he enjoyed the lessons and if the teacher made it fun. I asked around and finally settled on a teacher that several of my son’s friends were using.

Last week was the first lesson. I knew the teacher was going to work out when the first thing he asked my son was, “What type of music do you like to listen to?”

Sometimes I can feel the same way about writing that my son feels about music. There’s a lot of work involved in practicing the writing craft. I love writing. But sometimes when the editing or promo is dragging me down, I have to remind myself that I do.

There are definitely some easy ways to make writing more fun. I think the most important one is to write what you enjoy reading.

Also:

Write what you’re good at (dialogue, action, humor). Nothing beats feeling successful about what you’re writing and know that you’re doing a good job.

Write in different places—outside, inside, coffee shops, etc. . The nice thing about writing is its portability.

Read for inspiration and as a reminder of why we choose to write.

For some reason, office supply stores (which are dangerous places for me!) are always fun. I love coming back with sticky notes, pencils, pens, and new notebooks of different sizes.

Hang out with other writers—online and in person. It’s inspirational.

How do you keep writing fun?

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One of the downsides of being a writer, I think, is the fact that we can become hyper-critical as readers and filmgoers. It’s so much harder for me to get totally absorbed in a story.

One of the things that really pulls me out of a book or movie is when a character acts out of character.

In one book I read recently, the author had gone to great pains to tell how intelligent one character was. The character had experienced great academic success, had a great job, read thought-provoking literature.

All of that gets chucked out the window for me when that same, “smart” character does something really foolish in the book.

It was obvious that the writer had needed the character to do something stupid, just to make the plot move in a particular direction.

To me, this just demonstrates how much more powerful showing is than telling. Sure, you can tell me that this character was summa cum laude, but if the character is blithely heading into a dark cellar when she has a sneaking suspicion that a killer is down there, then you’ve shown me she isn’t so bright.

It’s a good reminder for me, because I’m frequently thinking about ways to convey personality traits, etc., by showing, but I don’t often think about the process the other way around.

What I think I’m going to start looking at when I’m doing edits is, “Have I left the reader an impression about this character that I didn’t intend?” Especially if it contradicts an image that I’m trying to plant.

Because actions can speak louder than words.

Have you run across characters in films or in books that you felt were acting out of character? And, as a side note, is it harder for you, as a writer, to get totally wrapped up in a book or movie without being critical?