Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Hi everybody! Hope you’ll pop over to my friend Kaye Barley’s blog, Meanderings and Muses today for my guest post there on “Things I’ve Learned About My Writing Process.” This covers a little bit of everything—from how I start out on a new project to my mindset throughout it…and the furry guys who help me out along the way. Hope you’ll join me. :)

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past 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.)

The Focus Group: http://bit.ly/e3h7yj

Detail Enhances Your Fiction: http://bit.ly/hZz3iZ

Style sheets, cheat sheets, & series bibles–keeping track of what we’ve written: http://bit.ly/fZpUa9

7 Tactical Fixes for Syntactical Impact: http://bit.ly/gEjlyY

Road test your writing by reading aloud (Guardian): http://bit.ly/gUjDig

Saturate your life with Creativity: http://bit.ly/i5UWIr

One writer says, “Everything I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from TSR Hobbies.” http://bit.ly/ec9mk0

20 freeware apps for blogging: http://bit.ly/gqVvJB

10 Reasons Your Blog Readers Don’t Hang Around: http://bit.ly/fW3yKb

Finding the Right Agent For YOUR Book: http://bit.ly/elw2CS

Make it easier for reviewers to review your new book: http://bit.ly/h6c2q3

15 Blogging Tips A Blogger Wishes She Knew When She Started: http://bit.ly/eiAeNA

10 of the best lectures in literature (Guardian): http://bit.ly/etcLLQ

Clear and simple writing advice: http://bit.ly/enedY5

A useful revision tip: http://bit.ly/fhIv8m

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: THE BREAD OF IRELAND http://bit.ly/hsHbr4 @CleoCoyle

3 Lessons of Confession–Lead a Happier & More Productive Writing Life: http://bit.ly/ekx876

Why writers should keep a personal journal and tips for doing so: http://bit.ly/dJi195

5 Must-Have Qualities of a Successful Tech Writer: http://bit.ly/h2IcjC

Crime fiction–how murder investigations resemble chess matches: http://bit.ly/fC1sGy @mkinberg

The Creative Personality: Imagination and Grounded Reality: http://bit.ly/eSIMUN

Have You Considered Speechwriting? http://bit.ly/fRJadI

POV confusion? Helpful links: http://bit.ly/hJZD8n

Tips for writing authentic dialogue: http://bit.ly/hRQKdq

6 steps to a successful plot: http://bit.ly/g16ufQ

Thoughts on keeping motivated daily: http://bit.ly/hvi8QD

Best Articles This Week for Writers 3/11/11: http://bit.ly/ha9h5Y @4kidlit

Writing Theory — The Monomyth Part 5: http://bit.ly/dFsBtS

Sex in YA: http://bit.ly/g25Nf3

Too Much of a Good Thing: Over Plotting Your Novel: http://bit.ly/euouVa

15 Top Writing Guides for Novelists: http://bit.ly/dShXoZ

Should Beta Readers Match Your Market? http://bit.ly/eJ4AXl

Freelancers–Go From Temporary Help To “Trusted Ghostwriter”: http://bit.ly/g2zcir

The emailed query: http://bit.ly/hAQdNa

An agent on nailing voice: http://bit.ly/gO77yB

Juggling characters: http://bit.ly/i17K4x

Stuck in the Middle: What Makes a Good Middle: http://bit.ly/eOpSVo

Blogging bullies: http://bit.ly/ffhCTh

When depleted, fill the creative well: http://bit.ly/fEt4v5 @tobywneal

Skipping ahead in time in your manuscript: http://bit.ly/i24oIM

The Problem of Place, or Dude, Where’s My Hometown? http://bit.ly/gzVsR9

Senses and feelings: http://bit.ly/dEevbL

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Julie’s EAT HEALTHY Mushroom Barley soup http://bit.ly/hl0Lhh @CleoCoyle

Breaking into Magazine Writing: http://bit.ly/fmNZuM

Lessons for writers from a Steve Martin event debacle: http://bit.ly/fiFsOI

Test your screenwriting IQ: http://bit.ly/ecsYlM

Tracking an author’s career path (the arc of the journey): http://bit.ly/gp8SsS

Blogging and Maintaining Our Sanity: http://bit.ly/h6J2CD

A writer with a brutal truth about publishing: http://bit.ly/ik94Rp

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 6—Odysseys: http://bit.ly/hHnhHE

Writing Mechanics: Redundant Modifiers and Other Disasters: http://bit.ly/fYBRGi

10 ways freelance writers can get the most out of Twitter: http://bit.ly/eg2xD1

What’s popular on the WKB search engine today? http://bit.ly/g9fTqf

Don’t Fear the Semicolon—It’s a Useful Writing Tool: http://bit.ly/ihuLSU

How to Do a Structural Edit on Your Book: http://bit.ly/hqtILz

How to Build Your Writing Team: http://bit.ly/gNK27v @jhansenwrites

Your reader–an often-overlooked key to your writing success: http://bit.ly/eQV7D5

Why Entering Contests Boosts Writing: http://bit.ly/eZCmpi

Writing On The Days Between: http://bit.ly/ezTuXI @storiestorm

An article in Salon that quotes writers who credit “Dungeons & Dragons” for helping them succeed: http://bit.ly/fTlGsF

Elements of a successful book proposal: http://bit.ly/ff3muW

The Perils of Pacing: http://bit.ly/eIEyx0

Critique Groups: Etiquette: http://bit.ly/fPTx4h

Platform, product, promo–the 3 author variables: http://bit.ly/fS9tGe

Worldbuilding–taking your time: http://bit.ly/hMyqZc

Is your blog quotable? http://bit.ly/h7J7JN

Handling Back Story: http://bit.ly/fxEoAP @authorterryo

Tips for promoting your book with bookmarks: http://bit.ly/f8JXU4

A roundup of posts for aspiring writers to help put them on the right track: http://bit.ly/dJFpeD

12 Great Literary Ladies, 12 Valuable Lessons for the Writing Life: http://bit.ly/ezZ6SI

It’s a Hurry Up And Wait Business With No Promises: http://bit.ly/fuL8Mg

8 Reasons Why Livescribe is the Best Tool for Taking Digital Notes: http://bit.ly/fzcLEc

Does a Blog Sell Books? Survey Results: http://bit.ly/goQfHW

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Yummy Cheddar Bread & It’s gluten-free http://bit.ly/g3MjfB @CleoCoyle

Social Media and the Future of Poetry: http://bit.ly/eOdqU4

The New Growing Segment of the Reading Population: Writers: http://bit.ly/g0jSgA

Want more blog readers? You need to go out and find them: http://bit.ly/fCRJ5a

A fond farewell to secondhand bookshops (Guardian): http://bit.ly/f8kGyB

Mystery Writer’s Guide to Forensic Science – Collecting Evidence II: http://bit.ly/i4SVuF @clarissadraper

Small press vs. large press: http://bit.ly/ifxn58

Need help with plotting, characterization, querying, or book promo? http://bit.ly/dYRayA

Raising the Stakes: Revising to Keep Readers Reading: http://bit.ly/dWV77F

5 Ways Writers Kid Themselves: http://bit.ly/ergasO

How to write believable heroes: http://bit.ly/hGvc9Q

Creating Multi-Faceted Characters: http://bit.ly/hgAGs3

Master Tweeting for Authors: http://bit.ly/gekGOk @joanswan

5 apps to help you interact with your Facebook fans: What they do and how to install them: http://bit.ly/goptnW

How to Blog, Muppet Show-Style: http://bit.ly/hKRSjo

The writer’s toolkit: Breaking the rules of the narrative arc: http://bit.ly/fhezmK

6 Key Steps To Finding Your Passion As A Writer: http://bit.ly/ebFtCR

How to write a synopsis in a hurry: http://bit.ly/grmiXy

Paying Attention by Shutting it Off (s Sensory Detail Exercise): http://bit.ly/eAj8FK @4kidlit

Blogging lessons from Britney Spears? http://bit.ly/fvAQl7

50 Rhetorical Devices for Rational Writing: http://bit.ly/gQNJBP

SEO Basics for Bloggers: http://bit.ly/gky4KT

Formal vs informal queries? An editor’s response: http://bit.ly/hsDTx6

The dark side of guest posts: http://bit.ly/fH3k9p @merylkevans

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: SALAD DAYS OF WINTER http://bit.ly/gek6zN @CleoCoyle

Who Killed Science Fiction? It’s been ‘dead’ for over 50 years: http://bit.ly/exgmhW @martyhalpern

Is the Anthology Dead? http://bit.ly/fjSVUS @hopeclark

Who Wants To Be A (Kindle) Millionaire? (Forbes): http://bit.ly/dITbm1

On the semicolon: http://bit.ly/g2Mjhe

Mystery Writer’s Guide to Forensic Science: Collecting Evidence: http://bit.ly/hkkGWh @clarissadraper

Publishing Romance: The More Things Change… http://bit.ly/fpEaQ0

Search my tweets– http://dld.bz/KPgS

A crazy anthropologist’s view on close POV: http://bit.ly/gpH98x

An agent on movie deals: http://bit.ly/eK6ELS

HarperCollins caps e-book library loans at 26 check-outs. 2 sides of this argument: http://bit.ly/ehD02Y and http://bit.ly/es7ihW

Amanda Hocking and the 99-Cent Kindle Millionaires: http://bit.ly/ftRJpU

5 ways to find truth in your writing: http://bit.ly/fNq2xe @jammer0501

Why Do Writers Abandon Novels? (NY Times): http://nyti.ms/gvU11u

How Excel can make book publicity easier: http://bit.ly/hZl1Ik

Writers with tips on writing fantasy: http://bit.ly/eKCm6B

More tools for writers (including 1 that you might already have on your computer and not know it): http://bit.ly/hILugj

What the SCBWI Is and Is Not: http://bit.ly/enFzd5

5 Keys to Unforgettable Story Introductions: http://bit.ly/efIUzw

Transitions: linking forward through the story: http://bit.ly/dO30Yn

Metaphors vs similes: http://bit.ly/fnW2PE @Paize_Fiddler

Elements of your novel’s/script’s 2nd act–a checklist: http://bit.ly/gAqHyi

Is Your Contact Page Holding You Back? http://bit.ly/eA3IZO

9 Ways to Find the Time to Write: http://bit.ly/edbHqP

7 Don’t-Miss Sites for Online Marketing: http://bit.ly/eLjlFG

Things One Writer Wishes She’d Known Before Starting The Manuscript: http://bit.ly/hZs0Jh

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Shakespeare, Fat Tuesday + a Recipe for Pumpkin Pancakes with Butter Pecan Sauce … http://bit.ly/h3V9JP @CleoCoyle

The fantasy of development: http://bit.ly/e8nvZg

Returning to Our Creativity: http://bit.ly/hSxR8Q

Is Getting Traditionally Published Just a Crapshoot? http://bit.ly/igDiTi

A comic that those with writer’s block might appreciate: http://bit.ly/fIPCTs @inkyelbows

One writer lists 5 Twitter tips he doesn’t like and 2 that he does: http://bit.ly/exF4lS

Rhetorical devices: You can say that again! http://bit.ly/g98Eo3 @clarissadraper

12 Tips for Clipping Unnecessary Words: http://bit.ly/eycgdw

Elements of a successful synopsis: http://bit.ly/f54E50

How knowing Bookscan numbers is useful for writers: http://bit.ly/i1Bx2F

10 Time Management Tips for Writers: http://bit.ly/gUkiCs

6 Best Ways for Writers to Remember Ideas: http://bit.ly/gJq0W8

Quiet Time: Handling the Non-Action Scenes: http://bit.ly/hKZTmz

The Great Agent Search–Organizing it All: http://bit.ly/gLwmTZ

How one writer knows when she’s got the right ending: http://bit.ly/eK0Upn

Back to Basics, part I: Be a Writer: http://bit.ly/gp4H8F

The benefits of writers’ groups: http://bit.ly/hdEloh

Fantasy, Romance, and the Omega author: http://bit.ly/gcX1Jl

What Makes a Good Ending? http://bit.ly/hhPTw8

Writing tools of the trade: http://bit.ly/e3stOs

5 Misconceptions That Might Just be Stopping You Getting Published (And How To Fix Them): http://bit.ly/eAUYgL

The Freelance Life: Tips on Staying Sane: http://bit.ly/fPdBr6

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 3/4/11): http://bit.ly/f7dnLu

7 Good Things that Blogging Brings: http://bit.ly/hQMy07

8 traits of a first page that would encourage agents to read more: http://bit.ly/e4nJgY

4 critical points for writers: http://huff.to/f1zeE3

Describing with Verbs: http://bit.ly/dMXdsh

Why do writers have to justify themselves? http://bit.ly/eDaGCa

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Reader Appreciation Day! http://bit.ly/eGFyuQ @CleoCoyle

Why aliens are hell and zombies are heaven: http://on.io9.com/dU4419

5 Tips for Conducting Stellar Interviews: http://bit.ly/epOXnE

The magic of 100–a practical guide for writers to generate new ideas: http://bit.ly/hzMrGr @camillelaguire

Conference dos and don’ts: http://bit.ly/hWk1gF

On choosing a font: http://bit.ly/f9ch0A

The 4 pitfalls of praise: http://bit.ly/enIqZr

Are You Stalling Your Writing Journey? http://bit.ly/gUNX79

Want to search my tweets? http://dld.bz/KPgS

Twitterific–the week in tweets: http://bit.ly/ibQp6u

How to spotlight important prose: http://bit.ly/idEpn4

Facebook changes that might help your blog or website: http://bit.ly/ebOu4b

Play by play narration: http://bit.ly/fzRnuT

What a Coincidence! Creating Plots That Don’t Feel Like Accidents: http://bit.ly/f1iEkt

4 tricks for getting to know new characters: http://bit.ly/ewuojk

5 Ways to Show Emotion in Your Writing: http://bit.ly/gT7qCS

Advice to writers: Skip the scenery (Salon): http://bit.ly/dTE9Py

What I Love Lucy Can Teach You About Writing Tics: http://bit.ly/fWtDMY

What’s better than a writing course? http://bit.ly/hbd0VY

Talking about Voice–3 authors, 3 books: http://bit.ly/he3FLK

Mystery novel intrigues Manhattan: http://yhoo.it/giKGxQ

Preserving the art of discovery: http://bit.ly/hXbXmN

The bare necessities of pitching: http://bit.ly/f8xhOh

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Don’t Glaze Me, Bro! A Field Trip to Cops and Doughnuts Bakery and Mom’s Coffee Cake http://bit.ly/fRKP55 @CleoCoyle

50 important (or not) things to do before writing a novel: http://bit.ly/icnLUC

3 goals for writers: http://bit.ly/heuGGO

The Backwards Approach to Drafting a Novel: http://bit.ly/eJBBUL

Recipe for a Quality Manuscript: http://bit.ly/eEtXCK @hopeclark

Fact Versus Truth in Writing Fiction: http://bit.ly/hnLf6S @janefriedman

SFF and the Classical Past, Part 7—Labyrinths: http://bit.ly/ghKMTR

I’m pretty sure that I’ve mentioned before what a terrible memory I have.

It’s bad.  It’s always been bad, and it’s certainly not improving as I get older, either.

The bad thing is that people do expect you to remember small details about what you’ve written. :)  And they should expect that. After all, we made it up.

But for some people, it’s not that easy.  I have a hard time remembering the names of people that I see fairly regularly at my children’s extra-curriculars.

What I’ve done to serve as a crutch is to have a series bible for my series as well as sort of a cheat-sheet for each book that I’ve written.  I’m starting my 8th book now, and details start getting a little foggy for books that I’ve written a while back.

Penguin Berkley was great to supply me with a style sheet that the copyeditor compiled for my series.   I follow it to make sure I keep details the same.  There are things in there like the name of the place where a particular character goes for manicures.  One character’s sorority is mentioned there, as well as the name of a blues band, etc.

A style sheet is very helpful for reminders on how we treated recipes in the book (we left numbers as numerals in recipes—didn’t spell out 1 tablespoon as one tablespoon), as well as little reminders like this:

Sentence punctuation in italics if whole sentence is in italics; sentence punctuation in roman if only part of the sentence is in italics—quotes always in roman.

My series bible helps me keep track of character ages, traits, habits, hobbies; setting details;  and any details of recurring subplots. I know a couple of writers who keep track of these things on an Excel sheet, but I use Word.  I type out each character’s name, how old they are, where they live in the town, what they look like, where they’re originally from, etc.

Finally, I have a detailed cheat sheet for each book.  This is, basically, a long synopsis.  Sometimes I can’t remember the ins and outs of all the plots (and mysteries can get convoluted with clues, red herrings, and alibis.)  These cheat sheets are lifesavers.

I have a meeting with a book club next month and they picked Pretty is as Pretty Dies to read.  That’s fantastic, but I wrote that book back in 2005-2006ish.  It was edited after that, but written 5-6years ago.  A refresher is necessary. :) 

How do you keep track of your story details and what program do you use to do it (or do you keep track in a notebook?) 

I talked last Saturday a little about setting reasonable goals to encourage ourselves to stay motivated.

I think it’s also important to find intrinsic rewards from writing. 

I was away most of the day yesterday, chaperoning the state’s middle school band competition at a North Carolina university.

For weeks, the kids’ lives have been dominated by band.  They’ve had extra practices after school and taped their individual practices at home for their teacher’s review.  They’ve mastered a rigorous program for the competition.

The school had won the state competition for 11 years in a row.  The teacher is very talented, but drives the kids hard.  And the kids, including my son, were complaining about it.  They all seemed completely burned out and were talking about not continuing band into high school.

We listened to the other bands all afternoon yesterday.  I know little about music, but I thought the bands sounded very good.  Their playing was strong, clean, lively.

Our band was last and when they played, I  could tell a difference.  It was remarkable, actually.  Their songs were complex, each piece several times longer than the other bands.  They played the selections expertly, effortlessly, drawing us into the music.

They won for the 12th year in a row.  Of course, they were absolutely ecstatic.  They’d worked incredibly hard for weeks on it, plus the months in class.

I could see that their wells had been filled again.  The work had been worth it.  Their success had justified the means.

To me, though, the push was a little too hard.  If it had been me, I’d have wanted to have a little more moderation…some daily successes to keep me going.  Because the big wins can’t be counted on.

Writers give up so much to write.  The only way to really improve is to work at it—work hard at it.  Frequent practice is crucial. 

The rewards are not always a published book and critical acclaim. In fact, many of us might not end up published until years down the road.  There are so many things that drain our creative wells—day jobs, family demands, setbacks, hectic schedules.  We’ve got to find some sort of reward in the writing itself to make us continue, despite the hard work.

For all the days when writing is a grind for me, there are the days that really keep me going.  Days when I’ve been really happy with a great turn of phrase, or a fitting subplot, or even just a nice word choice. 

There are days when everything I’ve written is total crap…I think.  Even on those days, though, I’ve found that there’s something I can salvage from the day…an insight into a character, a decent bit of description, a nice word choice. Or even, the fact that I wrote at all—even though I clearly wasn’t in the right frame of mind.

It’s an odd time to make a resolution, but after each writing session, I’m planning to note something positive from the experience…something that worked. It’s too easy to get burned out while writing.  A little positive reinforcement is a great motivator.

What keeps you motivated with your writing?

HarperCollins announced that it would only allow 26 borrows of its ebooks at libraries.

This, naturally, ignited something of a firestorm.

The point of libraries, of course, is to lend books to readers for free. The libraries buy a certain number of copies of a book or video or CD and then lend them out until the thing falls apart. That’s what it’s all about.

In addition, as Eric Blank at Pimp My Novel put it:

E-books don’t take up physical shelf space, so the limiting factor that once forced a librarian to choose between replacing a popular title that’s worn out and purchasing a different title—that is, space—no longer exists. More titles sold is good for everyone.

HarperCollins’ response to the concerned patrons and librarians is:

Twenty-six circulations can provide a year of availability for titles with the highest demand, and much longer for other titles and core backlist. If a library decides to repurchase an e-book later in the book’s life, the price will be significantly lower as it will be pegged to a paperback price point. Our hope is to make the cost per circulation for e-books less than that of the corresponding physical book. In fact, the digital list price is generally 20% lower than the print version, and sold to distributors at a discount.

But librarians contend that a print bestseller can be borrowed over 26 times before it starts self-destructing.

An article by Martin Taylor on the TeleRead blog supports HarperCollins’ policy:

Ebooks don’t wear out, they’re easy to find and hard to lose, so chances are libraries will need fewer to service the same level of borrowing. And new technology is making the effort required to borrow minimal. These facts underpin concerns about how the paid ebook market will be affected if borrowing (especially from public libraries which are open to anyone) offers few disadvantages over purchase. Borrowing ebooks can be made as easy and accessible—24/7 from anywhere—as buying them.

To me, this is the sort of wrangling that goes on when changes occur in any kind of industry. But I hate that it’s happening for libraries. I mean—come on. Libraries are getting absolutely shafted right now in every possible way…cut-backs, layoffs, closures—you name it.

My long-term strategy is to develop a relationship with my readers and increase my reader base as much as I can. One of the ways I do this is by making sure that my book is in as many public libraries as possible. I feel like the library is the #1 place for a reader to discover a new author or series. There’s absolutely nothing to lose when you check a book out. It’s risk-free. That means that you might be tempted to read something you ordinarily wouldn’t buy at a store. This opens an opportunity for authors to find new readers.

The publisher’s take on this, to me, seems to be a knee-jerk reaction to financial anxiety. And I know publishers are worried right now—I think most of us are. Bookstores are going bankrupt, libraries are closing, and it’s a brave new world out there with ebooks (and one where we haven’t figured out all the kinks yet.) But I just can’t see where these types of policies are going to ultimately be good for the reader (or, by extension, the writers.)

What do you make of it? Have any ideas on strategies that can make both parties satisfied? Feel free to leave any thoughts or ideas on ebook library lending here in my comments, or to email HarperCollins, who is inviting discussion: library.ebook@HarperCollins.com