The Carolina Conspiracy had a panel discussion this past weekend at the Gaston County Public Library in Gastonia, North Carolina, on the topic “Murder for Fun and Profit.” The branch sponsors many really interesting programs( http://www.glrl.lib.nc.us/eventsexhibits/events.htm ) and librarian Carol Reinhardt was a wonderful hostess.

I have a great time with the Carolina Conspiracy and blog with them on alternate Mondays ( http://carolinaconspiracyblog.blogspot.com/ ) .  Being a member of the Conspiracy is a great way to network with other writers, get inspiration, hear industry tips, and find out how other writers get the job done.  If you have an opportunity to join a group with other writers in your town, I highly recommend it.  I’m a former/current member of: writers’ clubs (generally they’ll have speakers, host contests, and offer networking opportunities), critique groups (I’ve done both the online and the in-person varieties), and promotional groups….like the Conspiracy. If nothing else, you’ll make new friends with people who share common interests with you.

I would download this book, but I already have it in my library–have had it in my library since high school, actually.  If you’re not familiar with Elements of Style by William Strunk,  here’s an opportunity to download the first edition for free.  E.B. White became a coauthor in later editions–that’s right….the E.B. White of Charlotte’s Web fame. 

Here is the link to Rob Parnell’s blog, then click on “Download: Elements of Style.

I’ve used this book more than any other guide to composition.  Strunk’s advice to “omit needless words” is just as important now as it was in 1957 when Elements first came out.

Okay, I know our time is limited as writers. If you have other big things going on (parenting, aging parents, a time-consuming day-job), then you have even less time. But I really think it’s important to stay on top of publishing-related news.

For one, you can frequently read what different publishers and agents are tired of, or what they’re looking for. You can read lousy queries on several editor and agent blogs (try http://queryshark.blogspot.com/ , http://editorialanonymous.blogspot.com/ , http://pubrants.blogspot.com/ , http://rejecter.blogspot.com/ http://www.evileditor.blogspot.com/ )and tweak yours accordingly.

For another, you can read about publishing trends on free feeds like Publisher’s Lunch: http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/subscribe.html and Galley Cat: http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/ . Trends are important, although you should always plan on writing what you like.

If you find yourself distracted by the Internet (surfing around instead of writing) then just sign up for the feeds at the bottom of the blog pages. It’s easy to do and your computer checks for blog updates on the blogs. There’s a “feeds” tab next to your “favorites” tab if you use Windows Internet Explorer. The feeds will be in bold if there are new blogs to read. Limiting myself to just reading updates helps me resist the temptation to surf around.

I’ll admit that I took a couple of months off this past summer. Our house was on the market (unsuccessfully, I might add! Obviously, the housing market is less than ideal right now). I had strangers tromping through at (literally) a moment’s notice. Lots of, “Okay! Let’s throw those Barbies in the toy chest and go to the park!!” at the drop of a hat. Add in the vacations and family visits and it really wasn’t a conducive time to do a lot of writing.

But I discovered something. If you don’t write nearly every day, writing doesn’t come as easily to you when you come back to it. It’s sort of like an underused muscle.

Now I’m in the middle of doing revisions for the book coming out next year (for a new publisher) and working on the new book in the series. I’m starting to get my groove back, but it took a couple of weeks of pure work. Even if I felt like my writing wasn’t up to par, my ideas were out on paper and I knew I could go back later and edit them into something much better.

Now some writers might find reading industry blogs a real distraction. I’ll admit that it’s tempting to surf the net instead of slugging out your daily pages. But if you subscribe to the blogs’ feeds, you can just read them when they’re updated. And so many of them have great information. There are lots of great websites for writers. Here is a cool site that I’ve enjoyed lately: http://queryshark.blogspot.com/ —You’ll feel good about the query letters you’ve sent in! I like to edit these queries as I read them, which probably places me in the “disturbed” category.

An interesting idea that might appeal to many writers: organizing your writing with a wiki. This might sound a little scary, but you can make wikis that aren’t shared out–that are private to your computer. Here’s a blog article on creating a writing wiki: http://writerunboxed.com/2008/08/28/organize-your-novel-with-a-wiki/ If you’ve used a wiki for writing or if you give it a try, let me know how it goes! There are definitely parts to this that sound interesting to me if I find time to set it up.

Today was one of those days where I couldn’t even sit down unless I was in the driver’s seat of my minivan.  Plus, it was like the Fates were throwing every wacky curve ball they could think of at me.  I had a car that had to go to the shop, 2 sets of carpools to drive and a husband to get to work, yardwork to do before a tropical storm arrived in town, and a doctor’s appointment for my son.  Many of these things were not on my list of things to do today.

So today I had my tiny, spiral notebook with me.  I knew I wasn’t going to be able to write much, or even coherently, today.  But I could still get some snapshots of people, situations, and names.  I could mull through my plot at stoplights and think about how the story was going to play out.  And I could think of ideas to relieve the tedium of traffic, doctors’ offices, and car repair shops. I even did some jotting down while waiting for the doctor (my son worked on his homework.)  So the day didn’t go exactly as planned, but I did manage to get something accomplished.  And maybe Monday won’t be the same way.

Cool website for mystery writers: http://mysteriousmatters.typepad.com/mysterious_matters_myster/   An interesting site for anyone interested in writing mysteries.