Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Yesterday it was time for me to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my driver’s license (fun-fun!)

For anyone not living in the States, just imagine your most-un-favorite bland, government-related building. Someplace sort of like the one in the picture above.

With lines like this:
That would be what a Department of Motor Vehicle office in the US is like.

It was pouring a cold rain yesterday. The DMV office had moved in the last couple of months, and they’d accidentally (I think) provided me with the wrong directions. I took a left instead of a right and ended up in a very bizarre location. Since I figured the DMV would be at a bizarre location, I spent some time looking for it.

I finally figured out they’d given me wrong directions and found the office (you had to make a U-turn to even get in there.) Very tricky!

Sometimes you get warm, funny, helpful people at the DMV—I’ve seen them there in years past. Most unfortunately, however, those particular people were not staffing this particular DMV. My umbrella broke on the way in and I was sopping. Most of the people in the waiting room were sopping wet, too. The wait escalated. I pulled out my Kindle. No one in the room looked very amused.

Suddenly, there was a primal howling that broke up the nearly complete silence in the soulless, bureaucratic room. It was a blowsy woman who was pitching a hissy fit. “The computers is down (sic)!!!” she stormed up to inform our waiting room, face red, arms waving. She looked a little like she should have been on the cast of a Southern version of Les Misérables.

Apparently she was trying to summon an insurrection of some kind. It was cold and wet, we were in a dreary place, the wait was long, the staff was surly—and the computers were down, meaning that our unpleasant experience was all for nothing. It wasn’t a terrible idea.

However, considering the fact that there were armed highway patrolmen right there in the building, no one seemed inclined to take her up on it.

But this was when things got interesting at the DMV for me. Because she was one of my characters. Just a secondary one, but she fit the character to a T. Especially when she was all riled up like that. If I’d dared, I’d have taken her picture with my cell phone. But—I didn’t. Otherwise, there might have to be a new mystery written—Murder at the DMV. With me as the victim. :)

The nice thing was, though, is that now I had a picture of her in my head and I could describe her more easily. Seeing someone or something makes it a ton easier for me to describe. It made the whole trip to the DMV worth it. Oh…and the computers finally came back up. I decided to sit there and wait it out. So now I’m good until 2019 (except when I take my son there for his license in the next couple of years.)

Of course, I don’t always come across my characters in such a serendipitous way. Sometimes I go actively looking for them.

Places, besides the DMV, where I’ve found characters:

Swanky characters—upscale coffee shops in nice areas
Suspicious types—the evening news (local, not national)
Unusual characters—amusement parks, circuses, and fairs (I take my kids and a notebook)

Another useful tool for finding images of your characters is Google Images (I like to put the safe search option on to keep from stumbling into areas of the internet where I’d rather not venture.)

With Google Images, you can search for a specific type of image (cowboys, ballerinas, football players) or just sort of wander around until specific images catch your eye.

Do you need images of your characters to better describe them? How do you find them?

Are we getting wired differently because of modern distractions? I’m not sure, but I know that it’s hard for me to sit still for very long. I just get very restless.

There are plenty of writers out there that have amazing discipline and can sit for hours at their computer each day, knocking out their word goals. I’m not one of them. I always make my goals, but I’ve had to meet them on my terms. In case you’re a restless writer too, this post is for you. :)

Here are some tips for handling restless writer syndrome:

Make a list of all the other non-writing-related things that need to be done before starting a writing session. For me, the more exhaustive this list is, the more emptied-out my head is and the better I can focus on my writing. On this list, I’ll include everything from household chores, to my children’s activities, to emails I need to send, groceries I need to buy, phone calls I should make, etc. The list includes whatever I can think of that might pop up and distract me while I’m writing.

I came across a post last week on the WorkAwesome blog: The Path to Productivity: Short Hours, More Breaks. The post quoted a recent study that found:

Rather than diminishing productivity, short breaks allow people to maintain their focus on a task without the loss of quality that normally occurs over time.

So taking short breaks sounds like a good way of approaching tasks (at least for some of us). But the article warns against checking Facebook, etc., during your break. They recommend choosing an activity that’s something you can easily break away from (and maybe setting yourself a timer as a reminder that your break is over.)

Do other writing-related tasks if you’re in a time crunch or under deadline. I’ll switch from the manuscript I’m writing to one that I’m editing. Or I’ll switch to a brainstorming activity for a new project. That way I’m still being creative, still getting all the writing done that I need to do—but I’m shaking it up a little. It’s good to also have a short to-do list of writing related tasks. Right now, mine has on it: edit chapter on next Myrtle Clover, brainstorm 5 minutes for outline, and add character descriptions to quilting WIP.

Open up to the possibilities of writing on the go during the day. If I told myself that my writing was only going to happen at a specific time of the day, on my laptop, then I wouldn’t get nearly as much done. I remind myself at the beginning of the day that I’m collecting sights, sounds, words, and characters for my story. It helps me be more observant.

Move around. Some of my better ideas happen when I’m moving around. I write in my head as I clean the house, run errands, garden, and walk. If I’m feeling particularly restless, I’ll try an activity that doesn’t require a lot of thought (weeding, vacuuming, cooking familiar recipe) and I’ll write my book in my head as I do it.

Reduce up front the amount of time you’re writing before taking your breaks. Consider writing in 15 minute segments. Will you lose your train of thought this way? In my experience, no. If I worry I will, I just jot down in the margin in Track Changes where I want the next scene to go. Then I run off and put the laundry in the dryer, start the dishwasher, and come back to the manuscript.

Are you a restless writer too? How do you stay productive?

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter in the last week.

I’m delighted that now we have an efficient method of locating resources on writing topics when you need them—via the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine and software engineer and writer Mike Fleming’s ingenuity. The links I tweet (which are writers’ blogs, agents’ and editors’ blogs) all are added to the engine to make it easier for you to access the information you’re looking for.

Interested in a monthly newsletter with the top writing articles, blogger spotlights, and interviews with industry insiders? Sign up for the free WKB newsletter here: http://hiveword.com/wkb/newsletter. (You can unsubscribe at any time, and your email information is never shared.)

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10 tips for an effective blog sidebar: http://bit.ly/g12KvQ

Expanded Story Elements Checklist: http://bit.ly/hfH9hH

The Future of Self-Publishing Services: http://bit.ly/f4nOfs

The Path to Productivity: Short Hours, More Breaks: http://bit.ly/h4PjjM

The magic of the 1st draft: http://bit.ly/hhvvh2 @storiestorm

Why Pen Names Suck & Can Make Us Crazy: http://bit.ly/gxxG8M

When Good Characters Do Thoughtless Things: http://bit.ly/hDbAOQ

5 Tips for Being Found by Your Readers: http://bit.ly/eHQErf

10 Reasons Someone Else’s Novel Shouldn’t Have Been Published: http://bit.ly/h0YvB1

Writing past our weaknesses and why we should do it: http://bit.ly/gS1laf

Go-to writing books: http://bit.ly/dZAvRV

Changing the world one word at a time: http://bit.ly/fTRk4P

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Frugal and Healthy II: Black Bean Chilaquiles http://bit.ly/fv4JKw @CleoCoyle

Self-Publishing Bang for the Buck: http://bit.ly/gMA06O

The End of the Affair–Your Novel Doesn’t Love You Anymore: http://bit.ly/hgHh4f

An exercise for writing vivid characters: http://bit.ly/gCi3dX

5 Ways To Threaten Your Protagonist: http://bit.ly/i1JLIX @ajackwriting

Tips for slicing and dicing your manuscript: http://bit.ly/dLR80m @juliemusil

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Style Sheets: An Editorial Tool: http://bit.ly/hSJTvn

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It’s never too late–2011 Writing Progress Spreadsheet: http://bit.ly/g2yZDa @storiestorm

How Writers Can Use Amazon to Sell Books: http://bit.ly/gTyLnN

The discovery of the victim in crime fiction (cases where the body isn’t reported): http://bit.ly/esgH2x @mkinberg

Creating non-violent conflict in your story: http://bit.ly/h9kdoY

What to do when the words won’t flow: http://bit.ly/f2j6hY

Proper Dialog Placement: http://bit.ly/f9L0dw

Editorial | It’s Not About HarperCollins (Library Journal): http://bit.ly/gW3vlg

Identifying Your Themes: http://bit.ly/eHDiwB

Place in the Novel: Setting or Character: http://bit.ly/fNGWfv

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Let Your Senses Do The Walking And Talking: http://bit.ly/i1ZQq5

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Eat Healthy and frugally! Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups http://bit.ly/hl03a2 @CleoCoyle

Good and Bad in Google Book Search Settlement Decision: http://bit.ly/fAY02k

What Writing Teaches Us About Parenting: http://huff.to/fK6ZNO

Noted Self-Publisher (Amanda Hocking) May Be Close to a Book Deal (NY Times): http://nyti.ms/fpwF7P

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The Anatomy of a Successful Ebook Giveaway: http://bit.ly/dMH4Fu

Dealing with Agents and Publishers: http://bit.ly/edVnau

10 Reasons Why Authors Love Ebooks: http://bit.ly/gs8i1x @thecreativepenn

Tips for Tackling the Final Proof: http://bit.ly/gE8dm1

Written in stone? Editing your backlist books for reissue as ebooks: http://bit.ly/gN1mlS

The most popular links on synopsis writing that I’ve tweeted: http://bit.ly/eWeJtB

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Different paths to the same goal: http://bit.ly/hZTLUG

Why (Most) Publishers Are Still In New York: http://bit.ly/fLhI6t

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Authors Find Marketing and Publicity Strength in Numbers: http://bit.ly/dSM2mh

10 Steps to Making Your Author Blog a Rockin’ Success: http://bit.ly/f7Ic7g @victoriamixon

Titles. Or Not. http://bit.ly/eq3MZf

The Simple 5-Step Formula for Effective Online Content: http://bit.ly/fxjj2S

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Some writing humor from @inkyelbows: http://bit.ly/ezsXy8 and http://bit.ly/gPTTmP

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Strategies for juggling multiple Twitter accounts: http://bit.ly/gyMkLG

Self-editing checklist–scene analysis: http://bit.ly/fCwBjx

How to Balance Blogging and Your Day Job (while still growing your blog): http://bit.ly/hd0CZo

Secret Recipe for a Novel: http://bit.ly/fJrvr5 @4kidlit

Making Dialogue Dynamic: http://bit.ly/fzA9Fp

Deep-Tissue Critique: 4 Ways to Make It Hurt So Good: http://bit.ly/dYmUVq @mesummerbooks

2 debut novelists talk about the necessity of thick skin: http://bit.ly/dOUCgA @4kidlit

Backstory Problems & How to Overcome Them: http://bit.ly/iafAjI

Finally finished your book? Now it’s time to get writing…again! http://bit.ly/h3Iim5 @hartjohnson

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Don’t be a Fail Whale–the Cutesy Moniker Tweeter: http://bit.ly/elgXIY

The importance of muscular verbs: http://bit.ly/e624WV & lists of strong action verbs: http://bit.ly/fVgobx & http://bit.ly/fjyNb7

Writing Can Be Learned—But It Can’t Be Taught: http://bit.ly/fy8wKT

The Real Story Behind Pacing: http://bit.ly/i2Upow @joanswan

Punctuation in dialogue: http://bit.ly/gByXKe

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10 Reasons Why You Should Be Blogging: http://huff.to/dNVf46

Writers should focus on the positive: http://bit.ly/gC88mg @thecreativepenn

7 things one author has learned so far: http://bit.ly/gwuDbS

The Return of the Live Event for Book Promotion: http://bit.ly/gVKbpf

4 Organizational Tools for Writing: http://bit.ly/ec2MjZ

Why Blogging Might Be Killing You, And How to Fight Back: http://bit.ly/hE1roi

58 Habits That Will Help You Succeed: http://bit.ly/gRKHdU

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Chicken Crescent Rolls http://bit.ly/gzffKE @CleoCoyle

Brewing up Inspiration: http://bit.ly/g6yqt2

Repurpose: Get More Mileage from Your Blog Posts: http://bit.ly/elgocF

Twitter Quitter: http://bit.ly/hSTCKC

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Mystery Writer’s Guide To Forensic Science – Collecting Evidence VI: http://bit.ly/fuQBra

How The World of Star Trek Taught One Author How to Write: http://bit.ly/hZAnEm

Living Your Myth: Mishima And Dying For Your Convictions: http://bit.ly/fn2AxZ @agent139

Polishing vs. Fixing: http://bit.ly/evau97

10 ways to reach “the end”: http://bit.ly/i8zt3g @elspethwrites

5 Pickles to Write Yourself Into: http://bit.ly/hqhbFO

Top 10 reasons freelancers need to take a vacation: http://bit.ly/ePvRq5

9 tips for conferences: http://bit.ly/gDBnfj @authorterryo

Can Editing Be Fun? Maybe. http://bit.ly/gFbZYO

Avoiding passive prose: http://bit.ly/hsAdBo

Bestselling Author Turns Down $500K Deal to Self-Publish: http://bit.ly/ibo7D6

7 Uneasy Coercion Tactics That Will Force You to Write: http://bit.ly/ft57tX

The Care And Feeding Of Your Favorite Authors: http://bit.ly/eMzHgX

Combating Writer’s Envy: http://bit.ly/eyDUmo

How to Make Your Free eBook a Magnet for New Readers: 5 Crucial Tips: http://bit.ly/fTZxrd

Description: scents and seasons: http://bit.ly/eMchpW

Writing Tools: Scrivener: http://bit.ly/eHsP5H

Back to Basics, part III: Maintaining Self-Confidence: http://bit.ly/hqiXHL

The Solace of Dark Novels and Memoirs: http://huff.to/eUeYMw

One Art, Please. I Have 99 cents: http://bit.ly/fbtZZl

How to speak publisher – B is for bind-up : http://bit.ly/gkyaTN

Young Adult Books and Their Readers: http://bit.ly/fakJVx

A Side Order of Stupid: http://bit.ly/exAXug

Formatting Your Documents for the Kindle in 8 Steps: http://bit.ly/eEXwD1

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A Writer’s Snack: Crust-Free Pizza from Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/f10StK @CleoCoyle

Writing exercise–write a letter: http://bit.ly/gdBN0Y

Should you argue with your publisher over your cover? http://bit.ly/feCp8v

5 ways to be a crap literary agent: http://bit.ly/gBHSw8 @jammer0501

Where to find your interestingness as a writer + blogger + ruler of your domain: http://bit.ly/dIzHX4

A Character-driven Approach to Kissing Scenes and Sex Scenes: http://bit.ly/ffd9Bt

The best way to get a literary agent’s attention on Twitter: http://bit.ly/fQJHyw

To Conference or Not To Conference? http://bit.ly/ggDWzZ @authorterryo

Forget the Writing Rules: http://bit.ly/fyhqvj

Hardworking vs. talented: http://bit.ly/f4xWoO

Authors, be careful not to overpay for POD services: http://bit.ly/ibwT9u

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 3/18/11): http://bit.ly/hBVbfM

When Your Agent Isn’t Feeling the Love: http://bit.ly/gsETo3

Strategic tweeting for authors: http://bit.ly/h0IXXX

Bios: Stumbling on self-intros: http://bit.ly/ghVvC3

Best and Worst Agent & Editor Advice: Part 2: http://bit.ly/i4KYLc

Using Text to “Enhance” E-books and Other Insights from the 2011 Leipzig Book Fair: http://bit.ly/f4PzuG

When Your Can’t Write What You Love to Read: http://bit.ly/f78cl3

Why Vague Writing Is Weak Writing: http://bit.ly/eJ1u5W

Fiction within fiction – made-up worlds and stories inside stories: http://bit.ly/fjJgB2

The Five Stages of Editing: http://bit.ly/eTgYbu

What to do when you get an agent call: http://bit.ly/dQVkoJ

Plotting Through Goals: http://bit.ly/gn4OlK

Style sheets: http://bit.ly/gfvu7T

A synopsis checklist: http://bit.ly/hroF7w

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Gone to the Dogs — Crock Pot Barbecue http://bit.ly/fwpAkS @CleoCoyle

How to format a query letter: http://bit.ly/hkXDoK

Tell, Don’t Show: http://bit.ly/fzpmNS

An agency with a publishing dictionary: http://bit.ly/dDXIZh

Dos and Don’ts of Combining Genres: http://bit.ly/flwgvE

Where the editors are in 2011: http://bit.ly/hrVjST

Revising by color: http://bit.ly/ekuFgE

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4 Ways To Make Yourself Complete a Book: http://bit.ly/e2uVb7

An author shares platform-building insights: http://bit.ly/hlx1HB

“I Did Everything Wrong…and Still Got a Contract”: http://bit.ly/ikBbIA

Regaining Perspective on Your WIP: http://bit.ly/gPAKQ9

Equip Your Characters: http://bit.ly/fhZyfz

Cues from the Coach: Taming Your Characters: http://bit.ly/fBocan

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Desperate writers: http://bit.ly/i4dhFJ

I always enjoy hearing from my readers. In fact, my readers’ comments can really influence my writing.

I’ve heard from a couple of readers since Pretty is as Pretty Dies was released in 2009 that they disagreed with a character’s actions in one scene. I’ll try to be a little vague here, since I don’t want to write in any spoilers.

My protagonist, octogenarian Myrtle Clover, was attacked and was rescued by a new neighbor who was, basically, a stranger to her because he’d recently moved in.

Myrtle and her police officer son, Red, have a little bit of a prickly relationship. They love each other, but they get on each others’ nerves. Badly. Myrtle is irritated by her son’s meddling. She insists on her independence and some respect. Red is irritated that Myrtle puts herself in bad situations and interferes in things he’d rather see her leave alone.

The new neighbor, after rescuing Myrtle, calls her son. It’s very late at night and Red is awakened by the call. He comes over, hears her story, fusses over her. They nettle each other a little. Myrtle stubbornly decides to stay with her neighbor who has fixed them coffees. Red goes back home and goes back to bed.

He shouldn’t have left her, say these readers.

It wasn’t a case of character motivation—if it was, then I’d definitely be paying attention. These two have something of a contentious relationship. The main reason for the tension is Myrtle’s desire to be taken seriously. She wants respect and independence. She wouldn’t have appreciated being carted back to her home by Red unless she wanted to go there.

But the readers disagreed with Red’s actions. They thought he was being thoughtless. That he wasn’t being a good son by not protecting her…regardless of whether she wanted that protection or not.

Both times the readers asked me about this, it was in person. Which is unfortunate because both times my automatic response was, “Oh, I totally understand what you’re saying. But that was the character’s choice. That’s what he chose to do. He was being thoughtless.”

Acting like our characters are alive is probably one of those things that gives writers a reputation for being a little crazy.

But I knew that this was a thoughtless, inattentive thing that this particular character would do in that circumstance.

I’ve thought about this a little lately, mainly because I’m about to address a book club in South Carolina in a couple of weeks for this book, and want to be prepared with something a little better to say than, “But that’s what the character did.”

I still really believe this nice guy would be thoughtless in this circumstance. Here it is, the middle of the night and he’s been pulled out of bed. He’s irritated, scared for his mother’s safety, and she’s still harping at him about how she’s completely fine and he needs to stop his fussing. I think I laid the groundwork in the early part of the book for him to behave that way. It doesn’t seem to be to be out of character, but it seems like something he’d do when tired, grouchy, and generally out of sorts.

When he was having a bad day.

What I think I would do if I wrote the book over again, is that even though I set up the motivation and the groundwork, I needed to have some sort of repercussion or consequence for that behavior.

My readers were outraged for Myrtle. I’m glad they liked her enough to want to protect her. They were quite fierce, both times, when they brought it up. I appreciated it.

I listen carefully to my editors’ ideas. I listen really carefully to my readers’.

I think there’s sometimes an urge when we’re reading books, or maybe in life too, to see someone pay for a mistake. Even just a mild one. Or at least to get told off for it.

If I had to write it again, I’d have Red’s wife take him down a notch, when he got back home: “You did what? Left her over with some new neighbor she’s never met? After she’s been attacked? What?”

Because vengeance can be sweet.

So, summing up, I think the better approach for having a nice guy (not, in this case, the protagonist, but an important character) behave thoughtlessly is to not only lay the groundwork for this type of behavior, but to have some sort of repercussion/consequence for this behavior or some sort of dressing down for it later.

Have you ever had a good guy do something thoughtless or imprudent? How did you approach it?

I think I’ve mentioned before that my writing is a fairly solo process up until my deadline.

I really do look at my books as collaborative efforts between me, my agent, and the editorial staffs at my publishers. I’m open to suggestions, I’m happy to make changes or substitutions. Want to send the plot off in another direction? I’m game. Want me to write in a character or kill one off? I’m your writer. If you have an idea, I can write it and we can see what happens. Try me!

But I don’t really have the beta readers in on the drafting process. I should. It would definitely help me out.

The reason I don’t, I think, is because I’m frequently working on more than one project at once and my drafts are disasters. Right now I’m editing two different manuscripts and writing a requested synopsis for the second book of the new series. I’m under several deadlines.

I know what’s going on in my draft. I make cryptic notes to myself with Track Changes in the margins. I know that there are huge sections that are out of place. I know that there are unintentional cliffhangers that lead off into nothingness. It all makes sense…to me. And I know in my head exactly how I’m going to fix it.

It wouldn’t make sense to anyone else though. My cryptic notes in the margins don’t even make sense unless you can get inside my head. And that’s why I’m really reluctant to share it out.

My next deadline is June 1. When I was in Anderson, SC, last weekend, I gave my mother the manuscript. She needs to edit on paper, so I carefully printed it out for her.

This time I actually thought ahead and tried to be considerate. Ordinarily, there are no page numbers on the document, and no chapter breaks. :) And this time, the manuscript was even sort of in order.

But… “Mama?” I said. “The only thing is that the ending won’t make sense.”

“Oh, it’s one of those endings where you have to think about it and figure it out?” she asked.

“No, I mean it’s really just an incomplete ending. Like—not finished. But no worries! It’s all under control!”

You can only do something like this to your mother. Here’s a book. Please read it very carefully from start to finish, the sooner the better. But you’ll have to make up your own ending because it’s not included.

If I gave that mess to my agent, I can only imagine what she’d say. She’s a little more worried about endings that don’t make sense or endings that are completely AWOL. Since our livelihoods are somewhat tied together, I can understand why she’d be concerned.

I’ve had some great offers from beta readers and I really do mean to take advantage of them…when my manuscripts are a little more orderly. The only problem is that by the time they’re orderly, I’m right up on the deadline. And it’s not very nice to ask someone to critique a book in three days time. :)

So…I’m dumping it all on my poor mother. Because mothers take on stuff like that! She’s a special kind of first reader.

So this is my question for you—if you use a beta/first reader, what kind of condition is your manuscript in when you hand it over? Do you have different kinds of beta readers—some who you could dump a messy manuscript on, some who get a more finished product? If you don’t have a beta reader, why not? Is it just a matter of not finding one, not having time to return critiques, or another reason altogether?