Author: Elizabeth Spann Craig

Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series (as Riley Adams) and the Southern Quilting mysteries for Penguin and writes the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink and independently. She also has a blog, which was named by Writer’s Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers. There she posts on the writing craft, finding inspiration in everyday life, and fitting writing into a busy schedule.

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific

The best writing links of the week are on Twitterific from Elizabeth Spann Craig.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 35,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

5 Easy Steps to Being a Better Writer:  http://ow.ly/p2KC3058Yqd @Victoria_Noe

Tackling the Synopsis:  http://ow.ly/fhRp3058Yf1 @rachaeldthomas

The Psychology of Creative Success @ornaross http://bit.ly/2e5V3GQ #IAF16 @IndieAuthorALLI

Clause By Clause: Non-Compete: http://ow.ly/UTV83058Xyb @bookishchick

5 Practical Tips for World Building:  http://ow.ly/UuKV3058XEP  @AlexBledsoe

6 Ways to be a Prepared Speaker:  http://ow.ly/wIoQ3058Y8M @lisajlickel

Actionable Productivity for Authors:  Tips @markmcguinness bit.ly/2dgTZJO #IAF16 @IndieAuthorALLI

The Publishing Gamble That Changed America (On Fighting for Lady Chatterley’s Lover) :  http://ow.ly/UR7k3058Ywj @BarneyRosset               Continue reading

Weaving Backstory into Mysteries

Mystery Writing Tips, Writing Tips

 

Hill Country Siren is a thriller from author Patrick Kelly.

by Patrick Kelly,  @pkfiction

For two and a half years I slaved over my first novel, arranged and rearranged the plot, constructed and deconstructed the characters, and polished each sentence twice. Then I gave it to my editor and waited . . . anxiously . . . for three weeks.

Her response came.

She loved the story and my writing but had some “meta-feedback.”

First suggestion: Delete the first five chapters.

OUCH!!!!

My baby.

What about my hero? Readers need to know where he comes from, why he’s here, and all about his relationship to the other characters. They care about these things.

Ah . . . actually . . . they don’t, at least not yet.

I need to SHOW readers the backstory, not TELL them (Heaven forbid I should tell them . . . SHOW don’t TELL).

Ah . . . actually . . . don’t do that, either.

Hill Country Siren is a thriller from author Patrick Kelly.

What readers care about up front is THE FORWARD STORY not the backstory. They want to know what the story is about, and they want to be hooked, early.

Get to the forward story fast and weave the backstory in as you go.

To study how one successful author handled backstory, I suggest you read (or reread) the first chapter of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I counted forty instances of backstory in the first chapter, which seemed like a lot, but Collins integrated it into the forward story so well that millions of readers (repeat-millions of readers) gobbled it up and went on to read the entire series.Continue reading

Managing Crowds of Characters

Writing Tips

Managing Crowds of Characters is a blog post by writer Elizabeth Spann Craig

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I always like studying reader reviews of my recent releases to see what readers are saying about my books.

Okay…correction. :)  I always study my reader reviews, I don’t always like this process.  But reading reviews is vital for me.  I’m writing for my readers and they provide an amazing data center full of compliments and complaints. If enough readers are unhappy about some aspect of a story, I will change my approach moving forward. As I explained in my post last week–this is my day-job and my career. I aim to please.

Occasionally, I’ll read something in a review that’s baffling to me and makes me analyze my manuscript again.  I discovered one of those types of reviews last week.

The reader (a regular of mine, apparently), mentioned that the book in question had ‘too many characters.’Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific

The best writing links of the week are on Twitterific from Elizabeth Spann Craig.

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 35,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

On (Not) Closing the Skill Gap:  http://ow.ly/xYdb304Uzxx @Ava_Jae

Be a Gutsy Blogger to Find Your Niche & Voice:  http://ow.ly/vxxa304WTUT @CaballoFrances  @cksyme

Suspects from foreign lands as an element in crime fiction: http://ow.ly/lMYo305bbNF @mkinberg

Using Real-World Places to Inspire Fictional Settings:  http://ow.ly/g7y8304WTvA @SophieMasson1               Continue reading

Making a Living Writing

Business of Writing, Uncategorized

Making a Living Writing

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I used to feel like the sole, income-focused writer in any group I was in.  I was  the one on any panel hesitantly bringing up ways that writers could make money with their writing.

I’ve noticed now that there are more writers like me out there and I’m more relaxed about being a commercial fiction writer.

I’ve been asked by parents, college students, and high school students about what degree is needed for becoming a writer.

But that’s one of the wonderful things about being a writer. You don’t have to have a degree in anything.  I was an English major, but that’s as far as I went with it.  When asked for my advice, I ask what type of writing they’re wanting to do and what their end-goal/their child’s end-goal is.  If the goal is “a career in writing,” then I’ll go as far as to suggest that they don’t go the MFA (Master in Fine Arts) route. They should instead read as much and as widely as they can and start writing.

One common complaint about MFA programs is that writers aren’t trained in the business of writing or on writing for a market (as explained by writer Yi Shun Lai in “We Need to Talk About Money: Practicality’s Place in a Writing Education“.)

Writers at the start of their careers should ask themselves: am I writing to please myself or am I writing to appeal to a broader market?Continue reading

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