Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

It’s Sunday afternoon as I write this and I’m at the swimming pool with the children. It’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit and there are about 200 people crowding the pool.

I seem to be the only one with a notebook. :)

It’s so hot I can barely think so I’m making lazy observations about the other pool-goers as a writing exercise.

There’s a lady in the row of chaises in front of me. She’s reading Veterinary Times and occasionally taking a bite of a salad. From time to time she reaches over and sprays the elderly lady next to her with sunscreen.

There’s a very distinguished-looking man nearby who’s also observing everything around him as he sips a Lipton’s iced tea.. He’s got a pair of carefully folded plaid shorts on a designer bag next to him. His hair is “executive silver.” I’m surprised to see he has a large tattoo of a pair of lips on his arm.

The lady next to me frowns as I look her way, pencil poised over my notebook. I smile weakly at her. She looks at me with a measuring look…then focuses her attention on the bag next to me. I wince a little as I realize I brought my Malice Domestic bag to the pool—it has a large teacup with a skull and crossbones on it. She’d been speaking in English to someone on her cell phone…now she abruptly switches to Spanish.

If I take a picture of these people and we analyze the picture, we could come up with a bunch of conclusions.

And some of those conclusions would be wrong.

Maybe the lady I’m assuming is a vet is actually flipping through the magazine because it was left on the chaise by someone before her.

Maybe the man that I think looks distinguished, isn’t. Maybe he’d open his mouth and it would be total bike gang lingo coming out.

I’ve jumped to conclusions based on what I’m seeing. And so, probably does the woman sitting next to me. I’m sure she thinks I’m nosy. (Maybe I am nosy.) The bag with the skull and crossbones? Who knows what she thinks about that.

What if these impressions are coming (and they frequently are) from our protagonist? Many times the reader sees the world through the protagonist’s eyes.

Fiction does have many “unreliable narrators.” Nelly Dean, the narrator in Wuthering Heights definitely interprets the events of the book through her own lens. Agatha Christie used the device, I think very successfully, in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. In movies, Fight Club would be an example.

But sometimes it’s frustrating as a reader not to be able to trust the protagonist’s or narrator’s perceptions. We have to trust somebody in the book—we’re outsiders looking in. We can get to the point in a book where we don’t know who we should believe.

For me, as a reader, I do get frustrated if I’m aware—the entire book—that the narrator is unreliable.

If I find out at the end of a book or movie that the protagonist wasn’t reliable and it’s a twist ending…that might work. If it’s done well.

If the inaccurate perceptions of the narrator/protagonist are scattered through the book? I usually have less of a problem with that, too. Many murder mysteries work that way. My sleuth might draw the wrong conclusions about a suspect—maybe she saw the suspect out at a dinner and he was tipping the waitress with a $100 bill. The reader, of course, is in on this observation. But we find out later that the suspect wasn’t wealthy—he acquired this cash via blackmail and money is a motive in the murder.

Huckleberry Finn didn’t frustrate me. Yes the narrator’s interpretation of events was sometimes skewed or inaccurate—but he was a child. It’s understandable and wasn’t an obstacle for me to enjoy the book…I expected him not to be as mature in his observations or analysis of events.

How about you? Have you ever used an unreliable narrator? How about one who just occasionally has incorrect observations? As a reader, how do you feel about them?

I have a hidden talent that I’ve kept secret on this blog.

I can recite approximately 24 Teletubbie episodes by heart.

No, this isn’t an ability that I’m particularly proud of. I know that parents are not supposed to put their toddlers in front of the magic box.

But when my now-13 year old son was 2, he took to getting up each day at 4:00 a.m….for the day. This continued for a whole year.

Now, I do get up at 5:00 every morning. But to me, 4:00 is ‘morning’ only by a technicality.

The show made life at 4 a.m. bearable for me—because my son was enchanted by it. And, grudgingly, I became fascinated too. Why was this baby’s face in the sun? What was this semi-buried spaceship house they lived in? Where were these things’ mommies? I became hooked into the story.

One thing that was interesting to me—these shows had a basic plot to them. They were designed for babies to watch, so the plot was simple…but the fundamentals of a story were there. Each episode focused on one Tubbie protagonist. They encountered a problem/conflict (LaaLaa’s ball in the tree! Dipsy’s hat isn’t the right size! The Tubbie toaster has gone berserk!) and then the story reached a resolution.

Those 24 Tubbie stories join the thousands of other stories—books, TV shows, movies, stories people have told me, stories I’ve overheard—that I’ve absorbed over my life.

We all start out that way—with fairy tales and nursery rhymes and Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and the Wizard of Oz. We hear stories from our parents about the day we were born or the day the tornado hit and everyone had to take cover in the basement.

Everything is a story. I think writers frame life itself as a story. When I was a kid I loved the Dr. Seuss book, And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street. Why? Because when I’d be asked about my day at school, I thought how cool it would be to make up a response! The real day might have made a less interesting story.

So sometimes I wonder how the rest of the world doesn’t write.

Most writers, I think, avidly appreciate a good story—a book, tall tale, a well-written TV show or movie, a play. And we want to entertain that successfully, too.

Sometimes the need to focus on promo or on honing our queries…sometimes the business of writing (which is very necessary these days) can really take a lot out of us.

But then I remember—it all comes back to the story. And that’s what rejuvenates me.

What helps you focus on your writing and rejuvenates you when you write?

A few days ago I was visiting Mason Canyon’s blog, Thoughts in Progress and saw she’d posted on writer’s block. Mason writes for a newspaper, and she mentioned that when you’re writing articles for a periodical, you’ve at least got a format to follow for your story: who, what, when, where, why and how. Mason said, “By answering those questions it helps overcome any writer’s block I have.”

Most of the writers I know don’t have a whole lot of trouble with writer’s block. Many of us have trouble harnessing all the ideas we have and deciding whether to channel them into the current manuscript or save them for a future book.

But I think we’ve got to all have days…whether we call it writer’s block or not…that we just can’t seem to jump into our manuscript. Maybe it’s more of a hesitation.

For me, this happens for a couple of reasons:

I’m worried about screwing up an important scene.

I’m not exactly sure the best way to approach the next part of the story.

For me, the only way to handle this hesitation is just to jump in and write as fast as I can without thinking about whether it’s good or bad. I’ll tell myself that it can be as bad as it wants to be…that I’ll toss it all in the trash later on if it’s really awful. Once I’ve taken the perfection pressure off myself, it’s easier.

And sometimes what I’ve written is horrible. But I’ve gotten past the bad spot. And usually there’s something there—some kernel of an idea or a scrap of dialogue—that I can actually use.

There’s been some good advice online recently about handling writer’s block…and even writer’s hesitation. :)

Here’s my friend Cleo Coyle’s take on it (on Terry Odell’s Terry’s Place blog):

I seldom have writer’s block because every day I try to seek out something new that will spark ideas, fuel the creative engine, inspire my spirit. This is something most writers know, yet we all still need the reminder from time to time. So here it is—
If you have writer’s block, learn something new (or something more) about your setting, background, or your character’s occupation. I guarantee that block will soon disintegrate.

Roni Griffin from the Fiction Groupie blog gives pros and cons of both the “write, no matter what” side (this would be the one I fall on) and the “take a break” side.

Here’s an excerpt:

Write No Matter What:
Pro:You keep yourself in the habit of writing daily even if the words aren’t going to be used later on.
Con: You may write a lot of words you’ll have to scrap or write yourself into a corner. How many people finish Nano and say “Hey, got my 50k words, but they’re all crap”?

The “Take a Break” Argument:
Pro: When you take some of the pressure off, your mind can relax and work on the story issues. How many times does the answer to a block arrive while you’re driving or showering?
Con: All that free thinking time may lead to SNI (shiny new idea) syndrome and you may be tempted to move onto another project instead of finishing the other one.

Roni recommends a combination of the two approaches.

So how about you? Are you always flush with ideas? Do you ever have writer’s block…or writer’s hesitation?

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past 5-6 days. If you’re looking for a particular topic, just plug in your keyword into the search box at the top left-hand corner of the blog and the roundup with your subject will come up. To narrow your search down on the page, do a CTRL+F, type your subject, and hit enter.

First Love: Layering, Drafting, & Zombies: http://dld.bz/fD7V @WriteChicBlog

‘Vanity’ Press Goes Digital (Wall Street Journal): http://dld.bz/fRmB&

The Secret Handshake to Getting Published– http://dld.bz/fD7p

Do Reviews Matter Anymore? http://dld.bz/fD7c

How to throw an awesome book launch: http://dld.bz/fD6S

Should you respond to comments on your blog? http://dld.bz/fNGU

Hooked on Social Media? From Addiction to Discernment: http://dld.bz/fD6V

A 4-point writing cheat sheet, inspired by Donald Maass: http://dld.bz/fPrz

An agent says “You have to believe.” http://dld.bz/fD6X

Mystery writer Riley Adams with a quick, easy Apricot Chicken recipe: http://dld.bz/fNHn

6 Social Networks You Can Use To Build Your Profile– http://dld.bz/fD7g @BubbleCow

A new blog for cozy mystery fans–Killer Characters. Where characters take over the blog: http://dld.bz/fNG9

I’m a perfect fit, so why did you reject me? http://dld.bz/fD6J

How to read a publishing contract (14): http://dld.bz/fD6C

The Art of Frank Frazetta & Robert E. Howard, Part One– http://dld.bz/f4Fv

How to Find the Right Topic for Your New Blog– http://dld.bz/f6YJ

The Most Important Step You Can Take As A Writer– http://dld.bz/fKHT

Knitting a book: http://dld.bz/fKHP @elspethwrites

Another Perspective on How to Write a Rejection Slip– http://dld.bz/f6YD

So you want to start a book blog… http://dld.bz/f6Y7

Nominalization and why you should usually avoid it: http://dld.bz/f6Yz

How do your characters react to conflict? http://dld.bz/f6WF

On Dedication: http://dld.bz/fD9d @WritingAgain

How to Avoid Stunted Growth During Writer’s Block– http://dld.bz/f6TW

Are You Ready to Submit? How Do You Know? http://dld.bz/f6TT

An agent defines a packager: http://dld.bz/f6TF

Our Changing World: Editors– http://dld.bz/f6TE

Getting Offers from Multiple Agents– http://dld.bz/f6Tw

Declaring yourself a writer: http://dld.bz/f6Tg

Is it time for you and your agent to part ways? http://dld.bz/f6SJ @literaticat

Constructing A Good Article– http://dld.bz/f4F6

4 articles on dealing with rejection: http://dld.bz/f4Fh

30 fabulous things for beach girl writers to do–a month of creative fun– http://dld.bz/fF98 @goldenwordsmith

When you wish books had montages: http://dld.bz/fF8H

The “Why” Fork– http://dld.bz/f4Fa

The needs of clowns and writers: http://dld.bz/f4ER @hownottowrite

Editor/Agent Opportunities & Conferences: http://dld.bz/f4E8 @kathytemean

Top 10 20th-century Gothic novels (Guardian): http://dld.bz/fFFb

The Killer Characters blog– when characters take over a blog, who knows what could happen? http://dld.bz/fF5R @LorraineBartlet @kristadavis

Stay out of it–don’t inject too much of yourself in your manuscript: http://dld.bz/fF6r

Mystery writer Jenn McKinlay w/ a recipe for choc. cookies for a chocolate emergency: http://dld.bz/fF4S @AveryAames @kristadavis @CleoCoyle

Types of Rhyme: http://dld.bz/f4E6

Year’s Best Posts for Writers… So Far — http://dld.bz/f4E3

Qualities of prosperous writers–authenticity: http://dld.bz/f4Fm

A YA writer on what helps her get inspiration for her book’s love scenes: http://dld.bz/f4Er

Reading, Anamnesis, and Play– http://dld.bz/f4DX

Ways to Trash Your Writing Career: Cop a ‘Tude– http://dld.bz/f4DR

A word of caution on self-publishing: http://dld.bz/f4DH

10 things (not) to do before you write: http://dld.bz/fD8G @elspethwrites

Crime writer and the case of a revenge review– (Telegraph): http://dld.bz/fD7y

How to journal: http://dld.bz/f4D8 @stephanellaw

10 Notes On Submission Opportunities: http://dld.bz/f4D3

21 Tips for Writers of All Ilks– http://dld.bz/f4Dw @wawriters

Understanding Screenwriting: http://dld.bz/f4Ds

Holding Successful Blog Contests– http://dld.bz/f4Df

Villains and Heroes: One Writer’s Approach– http://dld.bz/f4Db

Good Agent, Bad Agent– http://dld.bz/f4CV

How long does it take to get a novel published? http://dld.bz/f49a

Beautiful and Useful 404 Error Pages for Inspiration– http://dld.bz/f465

The craft of editing–stages of revision: http://bit.ly/9sEJ2g @authorterryo @CPatrickSchulze

A killer kickoff–mystery characters hijack a blog: http://bit.ly/8XmQVJ @LornaBarrett @kristadavis

A breadth of critique (putting your manuscript in front of a variety of different readers): http://dld.bz/f46y

Imminent, Immanent, and Eminent– http://dld.bz/f3UN

3 Things to do When Your Traffic Spikes on Your Blog: http://dld.bz/f3UA

30 Ways To Live A Life Of Excellence– http://dld.bz/f3U3

Help With Crafting Voice and Building Tension: http://dld.bz/fvjN

An agent on the hidden cost of social networking: http://dld.bz/fvjB

Self-Editing For Fiction Writers: Show and Tell– http://dld.bz/fuN7 via @4KidLit

Creating new ideas and stretching our boundaries: http://dld.bz/fuNk

Blogs– a writer’s best friend: http://dld.bz/fuMR

Why Aren’t Penguin Books in the Kindle Store? http://dld.bz/f4Gn

Taking the sting out of rejection: http://dld.bz/fuMN

Helpful writing sites and blog posts: http://dld.bz/fuFH

Story ideas for free: how real life can give you inspiration– http://dld.bz/f6YP @dirtywhitecandy

On plotting and optimism– http://dld.bz/fuFy

A Collection of Favorite Tweets For Writers This Week (May 24 to May 30, 2010): http://dld.bz/f6Tr

Coping with rejection: http://dld.bz/f6RX @DeeScribe

Developing a premise for a story– http://dld.bz/fuFu

Writing Proposals – A Great Way To Get A Grasp On A Book: http://dld.bz/fuFr

Freelancers–tips on avoiding assignment-related mistakes before they happen: http://dld.bz/fuFp

I Have An Idea! Now What? http://dld.bz/fuFg

Top True Crime Books: http://dld.bz/fuFf

Why You Don’t Need a Prologue– http://dld.bz/fuDC

Storytellers: You Are Obligated To Deliver The Goods– http://dld.bz/fuD7

Selling Information: Competing In A World Where Information Is Free– http://dld.bz/fuDt

Do you have what it takes to make the long haul? http://dld.bz/fuCU

5 Great Summer Literary Festivals (Daily Beast): http://dld.bz/fuCa

Writers–how to survive our kids’ summer vacations: http://dld.bz/f3Ka

8 ways longhand writing frees your muse: http://dld.bz/f4FC @KMWeiland

The “Misery Lit” industry and our part in it: http://dld.bz/fuBT

When I’m at the library: http://dld.bz/fsWV

Self-discipline–go from thinking to doing: http://dld.bz/fsWR

Writers on writing and inspiration: http://dld.bz/fsXe

Five Things You Can Learn from Fairies — http://dld.bz/fsXb

Don’t write every day: http://dld.bz/fsWr @BubbleCow

Turn a deaf ear to those who say the path of art is hard. Doing something you don’t love is a much harder path: http://dld.bz/fsWj

Steal this Ebook…go ahead (JA Konrath):http://bit.ly/bKH9ml

Writing on instinct: http://dld.bz/fsVM @magicalwords

Genre misconceptions–have you ever been wrong? http://dld.bz/fsVD

Tips on dialogue: http://dld.bz/fsV9

Tips for book bloggers on not over-committing: http://dld.bz/fsVu

Your Author Bio is your Business Card– http://dld.bz/fsVt

A few tips for brainstorming your novel’s title: http://dld.bz/fsU8

Are you blogging too much? http://dld.bz/fsTz @meghancward

5 Steps to Write a Link Bait Post– http://dld.bz/frkN

Work-for-Hire vs. Royalty Writing (Part 2) http://dld.bz/frk4

Why small publishing will save the world: http://dld.bz/frkr

Lousy characters rule! Tips for creating your own, flawed character: http://bit.ly/d7aaP0 @charmaineclancy

To post or not to post a negative book review? http://dld.bz/fqQn

Writing for Online Magazines – How to Find Work on the Web– http://dld.bz/fqQe

Some ElizabethSCraig BSP–nice review of my upcoming release on this book blogger’s site: http://bit.ly/cOM8gR :)

Writing novels–formulas and structures: http://bit.ly/d6QZGX @charmaineclancy Nice tips for stages of narrative creation.

Twitterific–Tweets from the past week from ElizabethSCraig: http://bit.ly/aHWe48

The 3 Best Takeaways for Writers From BookExpo America– http://dld.bz/fqPY

Fantasy subgenres: Helpful or needlessly divisive? http://dld.bz/fqPS

Nice round-up of the week’s writing blogs: http://dld.bz/fu93 @PauloCamposInk

From Procrastination to Page-Turner– http://dld.bz/fqPN

Guardian children’s fiction prize shows wealth of literature for under-10s: http://dld.bz/fqNR

Jon Stewart Exposes the Problem with Literary Readings– http://dld.bz/fuNF

Best of the Blogs: Crafting Characters– http://dld.bz/fqN9

4 Dos & 4 Don’ts for Writing Series Fiction — http://dld.bz/fqN4 @VictoriaMixon

Writing the Cross-Genre Mystery: Keep It Sexy– http://dld.bz/fqN3

Something in the water? Mormons are taking over the YA world: http://dld.bz/fqNr

5 Women Authors Whose Novels Took Over 5 Years to Write and Publish: http://dld.bz/fuPv @LauraMarcella

Bookkeeping for Writers– http://dld.bz/fqMW

Tips for promoting a book at BEA when you’re not the author whose name is on your publisher’s free umbrellas:– http://dld.bz/fuNX

Get writing or Get Lost– http://dld.bz/fqM9

J.K. Rowling “Actively” Exploring eBook Options for Harry Potter– http://dld.bz/fuNA @GalleyCat

Excellent roundup of writing articles from past week: http://dld.bz/fuFB @4KidLit

Dealing with rude comments on your blog: http://dld.bz/fqMh

When we successfully brand ourselves as authors, are we then limiting our writing scope? http://dld.bz/fu9v

Genre Writers Continue to Be Very Self-Conscious About Being Genre Writers: http://dld.bz/fqKV

What makes a superhero story? http://dld.bz/fqKq

Tips for a healthy back while writing: http://dld.bz/fhCN

The One In Which I Argue With My Character– http://dld.bz/fhCx

Wake up, time to edit: http://dld.bz/fhBU

The Gateway Book – Getting Hooked on a Genre: http://bit.ly/bhF78l @RoniGriffin

4 Things the Grateful Dead Can Teach You About Social Media and Promo– http://dld.bz/fty3 @ShannonPaul

So, You Want to be an Editor … http://dld.bz/fhB4

Sometimes I notice themes in the blogosphere as writers struggle with the same problem.

In this case, I think the bottom line is time…and our lack of it.

Recently there have been 4 posts from 4 different bloggers (and, honestly, I think there may have been more that I lost track of…if you wrote one, let me know) about responding to blog comments.

Here’s the round-up:

L. Diane Wolfe at Spunk on a Stick:

Do you respond to comments? In your post or by emailing? Or by visiting that person’s blog?
I used to be bad about responding. I’d read them! But not until recently did I start responding in my own post. (Thanks, Jemi!) I know emailing replies is very popular right now, but I get over 300 emails a day as it is – and very few are spam!!! And I confess – if you comment here without ever following me, there’s a chance I will never see your blog, as I often forget to follow commenters back to their blog.

Michele Emrath at Southern City Mysteries:

I can’t say I have a set protocol for this. Some days I respond to each comment in turn. Name- response. Some days I respond in bulk. Your comments followed by my comment. Some days I don’t get to respond until the following day–so 15 comments may pile up and I don’t get back to them until the next day. I do have the blog set up so any post older than seven days goes through moderation, whereby I am forced to respond and see the comment.

Marvin Wilson at The Old Silly:

Now here’s the question: how many of you come back to a blog later in the day to see if the blog’s author replied to your comment? Me, I sometimes do. Not always, not if I didn’t ask a question that begged an answer, and probably not if my comment was not adding something of significance to the post’s content or the discussion going on. But if any of the above are true, then yes … oftentimes I will go back to see what if any reply there was from the blog or guest author, or see if anyone else commented in regard to what I had said or asked.

Simon C. Larter at Constant Revision:

Now, one of the joys of blogging is (virtually) meeting all kinds of fun and interesting people, and having little conversations with them in your comment section and theirs. But, as you might understand, these conversations take time and attention….So. I’ve decided to take a page from the books of folk like Lisa and Laura, and Shannon Messenger, and to respond comments via e-mail whenever I get the chance.

As you can imagine, the comments on these particular posts are also very interesting. I know this because I checked back several times to see what other people were saying. :)

And, really, that’s why I try to respond to each comment—to maintain a dialogue for those who do want to come back.

In general, though, I don’t believe most people have time to check back with comments on other people’s blogs. I know I usually don’t.

But I do make a point of checking back in on another writer’s blog post when A) The blog author has asked their commenters a question and I’m interested in reading what everyone has to say and B) When I’ve asked a question of the blog host and I want to check back and see their answer.

Something else I’ve noticed on my blog is that I have a lot of lurkers (and I’m not calling y’all out! I’m delighted to have you lurk…doesn’t bother me a whit) who also read the comments section. And they’ll even check back with the comments section. They’re interested in reading what my regular readers have to say.

So part of the reason I respond back to my comments is those comment lurkers. I’m hoping (and they seem to be) they’re getting something out of the comments section as well as the blog post.

Is there ever a point where you just can’t respond to each comment? I think so. There are some huge blogs—Nathan Bransford’s blog and Copyblogger come to mind—where you’d spend the better part of an hour or more if you tried to respond to the number of comments the blogs generate. The amount of available time that a blogger has to respond to comments also varies. Some may hit their limit at 10 comments…others might be able to respond to 30. But do we really have time to respond if we got 50? 60?

My plan is to continuing responding to comments as long as I can on my blog. Some days my response might be slower than others…and sometimes it might even be the next day that I get back to comments that came later in the day.

What if you’re really low on time? What if it’s a choice between cutting back on blogging or cutting back on responding to your commenters?

No question—cut back on responses. But I’d still respond to any commenter with a question—and, if you’re looking for post ideas, why not consider responding to their question with a full post?