Thoughts on Blogging

Promo Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I somehow let ten years of blogging slip by last year, but I’m noting my eleventh now. Well, it also slipped by about a month ago, but at least I’ve sort of remembered the anniversary.  :)

It doesn’t really seem like eleven years.  It seems like it’s been a while, though.

I know I didn’t have much of a plan…just that my publisher was very pro-blogging and blogging in 2008 was what everyone seemed to be doing.

I did actually list what I planned to cover in my first blog post.  And I stuck with some of it: sharing resources, most notably.  But I’ve rarely posted a book review here (as I said I would).  Mostly because I’m a terrible reviewer and am much better at endorsements.  There were plenty of posts on balancing writing and parenting, another area I said I’d cover, although now my kids have grown up and need a lot less parenting at 22 and 18.Continue reading

Cozy Mystery Writing: Trying New Things

Mystery Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

When I came back from my France trip in July, several people asked me if I was planning to ‘take Myrtle on a trip to Paris.’  Although I think my octogenarian sleuth would likely love Paris and I’m not totally ruling it out, there are problems with taking Myrtle there…or anywhere that isn’t her small town that she usually lives in.

I have taken Myrtle on a little field trip…a cruise a few years ago.   What I discovered, though, was that sometimes readers like the idea of a change.  But when the change is made, sometimes they’re not as enthusiastic.

Here are ideas for shaking things up a little in a long-running cozy mystery series (and some likely pros and cons for doing so):Continue reading

Your Motivation for Writing

Motivation and the Writing Life

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

I’ve posted a lot recently on writing for an audience and writing to genre conventions.  As I’ve posted, there’s been a little uneasiness on my end…because some writers don’t need to worry about these things.  There are writers out there that will only be unnecessarily strung-out by this advice.  These are also writers who might feel really stressed out by forums and blog posts focused on heavy marketing.

There are plenty of other reasons to write and there is nothing wrong with writing for your own enjoyment.  Some writers would rather their work and their names remain private.  Some writers would rather craft a story exactly as they want it and create their story world as they wish and not have to worry about anyone else. And there are, sure, writers who want to share their work.  I’ve mentioned before that I was foisting my writing on my parents’ unsuspecting dinner guests back when I was in elementary school.  We’re all wired differently.

I think that it would be incredibly demotivating to read posts urging you to write faster, write to an audience, run ads, and promote when your only interest is in pleasing yourself with writing a story for your own satisfaction.

But I also wonder if some writers haven’t really completely thought through what they want.  If they truly want to put their work out there for a broad audience. Or, if they even want to publish their work at all. Maybe, after reading all the online commentary about the writing craft, reaching an audience, book cover design, and advertising, they just blindly start moving in that direction.

Of course, there’s no wrong answer.  No wrong direction to take.  But I do think it’s important to think about what you want.  When I saw this fairly comprehensive quiz on Colleen M. Story’s Writing and Wellness blog, I thought it was a great place to start. Not only may it help guide writers into thinking about motivation-related questions, but it can also help writers realize what does drive them.  Some of the listed motivations include achievement and recognition, creative fulfillment and transcendence, and connection and relationships.

Knowing what you want out of your writing means that you may not need to bury yourself in learning about crafting the best BookBub pitch or an amazing query letter.  It can help you stay focused on whatever is important to you about the writing craft.

As a writer, what motivates you to write (I think the answer is slightly different for everyone)?

The Importance of Knowing Your Motivation for Writing: Click To Tweet

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Quick Tip: Save Your Outlines

Uncategorized, Writing Tips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Here’s a quick tip for those of you who already like to outline: save your outlines for your older books.

I’m now over 30 books in and I’ve found my memory seriously failing when it comes to remembering non-recurring characters and plots.  The problem is most-evident with books published 8-10 years ago, but I may also struggle with details from books I wrote last year.  There are just too many books.  Or maybe it’s just that my memory completely stinks.  :)

Once I had to re-read an entire book of mine before speaking to a local book club about it. I was happy to do it because I would have felt awful if they’d known the book better than I did, but I didn’t really have the time to do it.

In the past, when I’d finished and published a book, I ditched the outline as just another unnecessary file taking up space in Word.  Then I realized…these outlines were the perfect cheat-sheets.  I could pull them out and they’d jog my memory.

This has helped me not only with book club appearances, but with emails received from readers on particular books, and on Wattpad where sometimes I’m receiving a lot of comments about a book I’m uploading that I’ve written long ago.

An important point: if you decide to use your old outlines this way, be sure to note deviations from the outline on your document or else you’re not going to do yourself any favors. I do frequently diverge from the outline and I’ll make a short note with Word’s comments feature in track changes.

Do you keep your outlines? Any other uses for them that I haven’t thought of?

Why Outlining Writers Should Keep Their Old Outlines: Click To Tweet

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How to Handle the Stakes in a Cozy Mystery + Giveaway (Part 4 of 4)

Mystery Writing Tips, Uncategorized

by H.R. D’Costa, @scribesworld

Wow.

We’ve covered a lot of ground in this four-part blog series on how to handle the stakes in a cozy mystery. (By the way, although the illustrative examples are cozy-centric, many of the tips in this series can be applied to mysteries with a harder edge.)

Today, we’re wrapping things up and putting all the tips from Parts 1–3 of the blog series into action. For this post to make the most sense, you should really read the previous ones (if you haven’t already).

If you need to catch up, check out this list of all the posts in this blog series, with convenient links to Parts 1, 2, and 3:

  1. In Part 1, we covered methods to bolster the stakes that emphasize the sleuth.
  2. In Part 2, we covered methods to bolster the stakes that emphasize other storytelling elements that readers care about.
  3. In Part 3, we discussed considerations to take into account when applying these story stake tips to cozy mysteries in a series.
  4. In Part 4, you’ll see these considerations in action when I share a sample lineup of stakes for a hypothetical cozy-mystery series. (You’re reading Part 4 right now.)

All right. You’re properly oriented. You know that it’s a smart idea to map out the stakes in a cozy-mystery series in advance. That’s because doing so will help you avoid escalation problems in the long run.

When mapping out your stakes, there are three operating principles to keep in mind.

  • Ideally, the novels in your series will be more emotionally intense, as your series goes along.
  • However, the first book in your series should be engaging enough to lure readers into your series.
  • Series loyalty can carry readers through books that might not be as exciting as previous books in a series.

With these principles in hand, you should be able to figure out how to maintain escalation across the books in your cozy-mystery series.

However, before you do this on your own, you might like to see these principles in action.

That’s why I’ve created a sample lineup of stakes to use over the course of a five-book cozy-mystery series. This lineup will give you a sense of the reasoning process you might go through when you map out the stakes in your own series.

Bear in mind, this lineup shouldn’t be treated as a cast-iron mold. It’s there to provide guidance on some considerations that are good to take into account when planning your own cozy-mystery series.

One more thing: unless otherwise indicated, the victim in these plots can be likeable or unlikeable.

In the case of an unlikeable victim, an extra set of stakes (or some other source) supplies the reason for readers to invest in the plot. Using these techniques (as described in Parts 1 and 2 of this blog series) is a must.

In the case of a likeable victim, it’s optional. You don’t need to compensate for the victim’s unlikeability—but, by applying the same techniques, you’ll enhance your readers’ experience.

Okay, here’s the sample lineup:Continue reading

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