Category: Uncategorized

My daughter and I were at the Halloween store last weekend, trying to find her a costume.  For some reason, it’s never easy finding one for her—she has this perfect mental image of what she’s looking for…and the store rarely has it.

We decided to walk around the store a little bit. It was one of those huge Halloween warehouse places that’s a temporary store—it opens up wherever there’s a vacant big-box store or a vacant strip mall spot, then closes down after Halloween is over.

This store had some really scary stuff in it.  Not only did it have creepy masks and costumes, but it also had a large amount of Halloween yard decorations.  So there were leering, six-feet tall clowns, a large zombie baby display, a huge werewolf, and—at the back of the store—three life-sized recreations of horror movie favorites Freddy Krueger, Michael Myers,  and Jason Voorhees.

They had “try me” buttons. You’d hit the button and then they’d say something really creepy and lift a knife or a claw-like hand threateningly. 

At this point I was ready to go back to the Halloween costumes and do some shopping.  I didn’t need any nightmares from a certain 9 year old girl.  But she was determined to press the buttons.  So I thought…well, okay.  Maybe they’d look really fake and we’d laugh and that would be the end of it.

She tentatively reached out, then pulled her hand back.  These things really did look terrifying.  “Do you want me to press the button?” I asked.  She shook her head.  “No. I want to do it.”

She leaned forward again and I held my breath as we both focused on the Freddy Krueger she was reaching out for.

Suddenly a store clerk came up from behind us, grabbed my daughter’s shoulders and yelled, “Boo!!!”
My daughter jumped a mile, but she quickly recovered and laughed at the joke.  Me?  I was still trying to get my heart out of my throat—I wasn’t able to manage a laugh.  We’d been so intent on looking at the creature that we weren’t paying any attention to anything else.

So by having our attention diverted with that much focus, we were able to receive a huge surprise.

The use for this is obvious for thriller writers—pull reader attention to the closet door, then have something come through the window.

Other genres could use this kind of technique, too.  Make sure your reader is totally absorbed in one character, or one problem and then twist the plot so that the problem is actually something really different and surprising to both the character and the reader.

Mystery writers use this distraction technique to slip clues in.  They reveal a clue then distract the reader (and sleuth) by creating an absorbing diversion somewhere else—maybe by laying down a fake clue (red herring) that looks like more of an important clue than the actual clue itself is.

Or, just when everything seems completely ordinary and banal in the character’s world, drop a bomb into it (not literally.  Well…but you could…) Great for conflict and to stress our characters out—which is good for our books.

Have a character unveil a surprise—about themselves. We’ve focused the reader attention on the character’s good qualities or made the reader think about the character in a particular way—then shatter their illusions. 

How do you distract your readers then surprise them?

Here are writing links that I’ve posted to Twitter for the past week. 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 (on the black header right above my blog name…next to the Blogger symbol…the small search window is next to the magnifying glass) 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.

Unfortunately, I’ve had technical difficulties the last couple of days with the program that usually puts my tweets in Excel for me—it’s down. :(   So there’s no formatting today….sorry for the mess!

2010-09-26 10:01:28
elizabethscraig: Don’t rush to submit your manuscript: http://dld.bz/wYp4

2010-09-26 09:01:18
elizabethscraig: Does Literary Matchmaking Work? http://dld.bz/wYpx

2010-09-26 04:10:58
elizabethscraig: 100 Ways To Not Write Your Book: http://dld.bz/wX2Z

2010-09-26 03:01:16
elizabethscraig: The Importance of Magic and Wonder in Fantasy (and How a
Series Can Destroy That): http://dld.bz/wX2S

2010-09-26 02:01:20
elizabethscraig: 6 Ways To Turn Acceptances Into Rejections (Huff
Post–photo essay): http://dld.bz/wX2t

2010-09-26 01:01:14
elizabethscraig: Who Wrote it? Pen Names in Literature: http://dld.bz/wXzA

2010-09-26 00:01:15
elizabethscraig: Ten of the best disguises in literature (Guardian):
http://dld.bz/wXz6

2010-09-25 23:01:19
elizabethscraig: Publishing–Where the Boys Are Not: http://dld.bz/wXz4

2010-09-25 22:01:18
elizabethscraig: An Agent: “Quit Wordsmithing The Opening – It will NEVER
be right.”: http://dld.bz/wXzw

2010-09-25 21:01:23
elizabethscraig: Plot discrepancies in comic books: http://dld.bz/wXzv

2010-09-25 20:01:44
elizabethscraig: 8 Tips on Starting Your Own Grass-Roots Campaign For Your
Book: http://dld.bz/wXzu

2010-09-25 19:01:28
elizabethscraig: Giving Stuff Away Is Not a Marketing Strategy:
http://dld.bz/wXyS @JaneFriedman

2010-09-25 18:02:08
elizabethscraig: Has any author’s reputation fallen further or faster than
Dostoevsky’s? (Guardian): http://dld.bz/wXyJ

2010-09-25 17:02:16
elizabethscraig: Grit, Wit and It – Writing Compelling Characters:
http://dld.bz/wXyF

2010-09-25 16:01:30
elizabethscraig: Secrets of Better Writing: The Powers of 1, 2, 3, and
4-or-More: http://dld.bz/wXyD

2010-09-25 15:00:07
elizabethscraig: Writing For Yourself: http://dld.bz/wXyr

2010-09-25 14:00:05
elizabethscraig: The Rules of Fictional Worlds (The Atlantic):
http://dld.bz/wXyq

2010-09-25 12:59:08
elizabethscraig: The importance of knowing the *kind* of story you’re
writing–and how that knowledge helps your writing: http://dld.bz/wXyk

2010-09-25 12:04:20
elizabethscraig: Fixing a Stumbled Scene: http://dld.bz/wSUg

2010-09-25 11:41:34
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Lazy Day Apple Strudel
http://bit.ly/cdu50e @CleoCoyle

2010-09-25 11:04:22
elizabethscraig: Short Story Contracts: http://dld.bz/wSTZ

2010-09-25 10:04:57
elizabethscraig: The Writer’s 5 Ws: http://dld.bz/wSTR

2010-09-25 07:10:36
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: MY DEBUT http://bit.ly/b1JOUs
@LornaBarrett

2010-09-25 04:09:01
elizabethscraig: The importance of a strong opening for your book–and tips
on what NOT to open with: http://dld.bz/wSTK

2010-09-25 03:04:28
elizabethscraig: Writing Compelling Characters: http://dld.bz/wSTm

2010-09-25 02:04:22
elizabethscraig: Reviewing the 7 habits of successful nonfiction authors:
http://dld.bz/wSSY

2010-09-25 01:04:23
elizabethscraig: Our Evolving Publishing Vocabulary: Why Do We Use the
Words We Do? http://dld.bz/wSSu

2010-09-25 00:01:01
elizabethscraig: Bribing my muse: 5 Sentences worth imitating.
http://wp.me/pMiHx-b1 @smaiorca

2010-09-24 23:00:45
elizabethscraig: Amazon Updates Kindle App For Android: http://dld.bz/wME2

2010-09-24 22:01:16
elizabethscraig: Elements of teen pride: http://dld.bz/wMEn

2010-09-24 21:01:28
elizabethscraig: Hostility, Mr. Konrath? One editor thinks not:
http://dld.bz/wMEc

2010-09-24 20:00:59
elizabethscraig: 5 Tips for Remembering and Organizing Ideas:
http://dld.bz/wMDY

2010-09-24 19:01:32
elizabethscraig: 10 Ways to Celebrate Banned Books Week (NY Times):
http://dld.bz/wMDV

2010-09-24 18:01:06
elizabethscraig: In Defense of Dead/Absent Parents in Children’s Literature
(Huff Post): http://dld.bz/wMDJ

2010-09-24 17:01:11
elizabethscraig: How do you know when to stop tweaking your manuscript?
http://dld.bz/wMDA

2010-09-24 16:01:44
elizabethscraig: 5 Mistakes Every Blogger Will Make: http://dld.bz/wMDx

2010-09-24 15:01:37
elizabethscraig: What Star Trek Can Teach Us About Writing:
http://dld.bz/wMdU

2010-09-24 14:01:03
elizabethscraig: Twitter etiquette–there’s no standard: http://dld.bz/wKqd

2010-09-24 13:01:36
elizabethscraig: Things Writers Should Keep Track Of: Part 4:
http://dld.bz/wKpP

2010-09-24 12:01:29
elizabethscraig: The e-reading revolution–finding books when we’re not
browsing bookstores: http://dld.bz/wQ48

2010-09-24 12:01:01
elizabethscraig: 10 tips on the pace and structure of a thriller:
http://dld.bz/wKpJ

2010-09-24 11:00:36
elizabethscraig: Half a Dozen Unsolicited Pieces of Advice about Running a
Small Press: http://dld.bz/wKp6

2010-09-24 10:04:06
elizabethscraig: 10 Tips To Have Your Most Productive Day:
http://dld.bz/wKp5

2010-09-24 09:01:51
elizabethscraig: Time management, creative productivity and multitasking:
http://dld.bz/wKpn @inkyelbows

2010-09-24 05:52:05
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: Newly Released http://bit.ly/d7zcFr
@LornaBarrett

2010-09-24 04:03:55
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Rustic, Honey-Glazed Crostada with
Fall Peaches from California by Cleo Coyle http://bit.ly/bJ3Omu @CleoCoyle

2010-09-24 03:59:16
elizabethscraig: Migrating your TypePad blog to WordPress:
http://dld.bz/wCBM

2010-09-24 03:00:29
elizabethscraig: Mystery Writer’s Guide to Forensic Science–Exhumation:
http://dld.bz/wDRU

2010-09-24 02:00:45
elizabethscraig: How one author accidentally became a book scout:
http://dld.bz/wKnQ

2010-09-24 01:00:56
elizabethscraig: Tips for writing profanity: http://dld.bz/wKnK

2010-09-24 00:05:30
elizabethscraig: Proper format for long quotations within a text:
http://dld.bz/wERN

2010-09-23 23:05:30
elizabethscraig: Manage Multiple Facebook Pages with Hootsuite:
http://dld.bz/wERG

2010-09-23 22:29:09
elizabethscraig: Bad Jobs in Novels Hashtag Sweeps Twitter:
http://dld.bz/wMEr

2010-09-23 22:05:37
elizabethscraig: 7 Mindfulness Tips to Energize Your Writing:
http://dld.bz/wER7

2010-09-23 21:01:10
elizabethscraig: An editor says that writers have to have MS Word:
http://dld.bz/wDUu

2010-09-23 20:34:07
elizabethscraig: How to Become a Household Name–Author Branding 101:
http://dld.bz/wMd8 @KristenLambTX

2010-09-23 20:01:47
elizabethscraig: Kafka’s Last Trial (NY Times): http://dld.bz/wDSU

2010-09-23 19:01:27
elizabethscraig: Could Konrath Become the First Kindle Millionaire?
http://dld.bz/wDS2

2010-09-23 18:01:24
elizabethscraig: 7 Ways the iPad Can Bring Back Your Writing Mojo:
http://dld.bz/wCCv

2010-09-23 17:20:08
elizabethscraig: 5 questions that always surprise me when I write a book:
http://dld.bz/wKhU

2010-09-23 17:02:49
elizabethscraig: Intimacy and Invasion: http://dld.bz/wCBX

2010-09-23 16:01:23
elizabethscraig: Two Reasons To Update Your Writing Goals On Your Birthday:
http://dld.bz/wCB9

2010-09-23 15:03:37
elizabethscraig: Plotting from Character: http://dld.bz/wCBn

2010-09-23 14:13:50
elizabethscraig: 5 Simple Questions for Revision: http://dld.bz/wCAV

2010-09-23 13:35:03
elizabethscraig: Gauging Your Story’s Marketability: http://dld.bz/wCA3

2010-09-23 12:11:37
elizabethscraig: 13 ways to make characters lovable: http://dld.bz/wCAH

2010-09-23 11:04:03
elizabethscraig: Did John Milton write filthy, innuendo-laden rhyme?
(Guardian): http://dld.bz/wCA9

2010-09-23 10:29:46
elizabethscraig: Woo Your Muse by Killing Your Inner Editor.
http://tinyurl.com/2f2vvev @smaiorca

2010-09-23 10:04:54
elizabethscraig: Personalities and Professionalism: http://dld.bz/wCAh

2010-09-23 09:28:23
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: Adele Speaks http://bit.ly/92QSyO
@LornaBarrett

2010-09-23 09:02:14
elizabethscraig: Some questions to help with characterization:
http://dld.bz/wC9X

2010-09-23 04:45:51
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Cheesy Chicken and Gravy
http://bit.ly/9QNoKB @CleoCoyle

2010-09-23 04:09:34
elizabethscraig: Restart in the Moment: http://dld.bz/wB3h

2010-09-23 03:00:40
elizabethscraig: 8 Books to Sharpen Your Ninja Marketing Skills:
http://dld.bz/wB3b

2010-09-23 02:00:51
elizabethscraig: 4 Articles on Pitching Agents at Conferences:
http://dld.bz/wB2Y

2010-09-23 01:06:10
elizabethscraig: How to respect the craft of writing. Maybe.
http://dld.bz/wEJv @WritingAgain

2010-09-23 01:01:03
elizabethscraig: Tips for diversifying your influences while in an MFA
program and avoiding robotic writing: http://dld.bz/wB2Q @litdrift

2010-09-23 00:23:09
elizabethscraig: Wrangling the Writers’ Brain–Writing Software:
http://dld.bz/wE8m @ultraswan

2010-09-23 00:01:05
elizabethscraig: Things Writers Should Keep Track Of: Part 3:
http://dld.bz/wB2C

2010-09-22 23:01:09
elizabethscraig: Writing Without Using Labels: http://dld.bz/wB28
@Christi_Craig

2010-09-22 22:01:07
elizabethscraig: The importance of knowing our characters’ favorites:
http://dld.bz/wBxV

2010-09-22 21:01:25
elizabethscraig: Dos and don’ts of feedback: http://dld.bz/wAdV
@TheNewAuthor

2010-09-22 20:01:10
elizabethscraig: Could your book be a series? Things to consider:
http://dld.bz/wAdD

2010-09-22 19:00:53
elizabethscraig: Putting together an anthology? Rein in your egotism and
leave yourself from the mix (Boston Globe): http://dld.bz/wAdx

2010-09-22 18:01:01
elizabethscraig: Think your publisher will be filing for bankruptcy? An
agent with some tips: http://dld.bz/wAcX

2010-09-22 17:02:15
elizabethscraig: Approaching agents at conferences–some tips:
http://dld.bz/wAcR

2010-09-22 16:01:09
elizabethscraig: Wonder why you got rejected? An agent says they’re not
required to address that: http://dld.bz/wAc6

2010-09-22 15:01:22
elizabethscraig: E-books, Google, and “The Long Prose Curse”:
http://dld.bz/wAcm

2010-09-22 14:34:18
elizabethscraig: Publishing’s Big 12 (Huff Post): http://huff.to/9L7xvj via
@MermaidHel

2010-09-22 14:01:49
elizabethscraig: Top 10 stories about sisters (Guardian):
http://dld.bz/wAb2

2010-09-22 13:01:40
elizabethscraig: Finding a market for your short fiction:
http://dld.bz/wAbh @bmillerfiction

2010-09-22 12:07:31
elizabethscraig: What’s hot? Who cares: http://dld.bz/wAbb

2010-09-22 11:02:41
elizabethscraig: 18 Types of Posts That Get More Comments:
http://dld.bz/w6Pu

2010-09-22 10:04:11
elizabethscraig: For a Good Read, Let the Characters Shape The Plot:
http://dld.bz/w6Pq

2010-09-22 09:01:38
elizabethscraig: The Publishing Catch-22: http://dld.bz/w6NX

2010-09-22 05:27:04
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: EPIC CUPCAKE WAR:  PART 2
http://bit.ly/bA41bi @CleoCoyle

2010-09-22 04:27:17
elizabethscraig: Back Up Your Files Now: http://dld.bz/w6NR

2010-09-22 03:27:17
elizabethscraig: 3 Tips for Character Relationships: http://dld.bz/w6NE

2010-09-22 02:27:30
elizabethscraig: How to Comment on Blogs (and Drive Traffic Back to Your
Author Website): http://dld.bz/w6Nw

2010-09-22 01:27:30
elizabethscraig: How many writers does it take to change a light bulb?
Taking responsibility for our writing: http://dld.bz/w6MC

2010-09-22 00:27:24
elizabethscraig: Polishing up your short fiction: http://dld.bz/w5Jx
@bmillerfiction

2010-09-21 22:27:27
elizabethscraig: Writing a book–getting started: http://dld.bz/w5Je

2010-09-21 21:27:25
elizabethscraig: Pacing ourselves as writers: http://dld.bz/w5HC

2010-09-21 20:55:20
elizabethscraig: RT @ComicSocialClub: Top 10 Writing Tips for Comic Book
Writers: “You can’t pass off bad writing as ‘style'” http://mysp.ac/9boGyY
– #ma …

2010-09-21 20:53:09
elizabethscraig: A writer’s dilemma–characters vs. plot:
http://dld.bz/w6Qt @duolit

2010-09-21 20:27:41
elizabethscraig: An Agent Explains What Platform Means for Writers:
http://dld.bz/w5H2

2010-09-21 19:27:30
elizabethscraig: How to read a publishing contract (25): http://dld.bz/w5GZ

2010-09-21 18:27:21
elizabethscraig: Writer’s Digest’s best tweets for writers (week ending
9-17): http://dld.bz/w5GN

2010-09-21 17:28:11
elizabethscraig: Tips for writing suspense: http://dld.bz/w57N

2010-09-21 16:28:06
elizabethscraig: The best way to measure your growth as a writer:
http://dld.bz/wxyW

2010-09-21 15:01:37
elizabethscraig: Why conflict is so important to your novel:
http://dld.bz/wyta

2010-09-21 14:01:37
elizabethscraig: An agent with some query quantification:
http://dld.bz/wysu

2010-09-21 13:22:07
elizabethscraig: Tips for smooth transitions in our story:
http://dld.bz/w4q5 @authorterryo @Paize_Fiddler

2010-09-21 12:16:33
elizabethscraig: The quick and dirty guide to story structure (everything’s
in sets of 3): http://dld.bz/wxyN

2010-09-21 12:08:38
elizabethscraig: Why Being Too Diligent About Your Facts Can Hurt Your
Content: http://dld.bz/wxyJ

2010-09-21 10:32:43
elizabethscraig: The editorial letter (or how to take suggestions):
http://dld.bz/wxyA

2010-09-21 09:01:56
elizabethscraig: 4 Effective Email Spam Filter Tools: http://dld.bz/wxyf

2010-09-21 04:51:12
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: Newly Released http://bit.ly/9aldD8
@LornaBarrett

2010-09-21 04:05:47
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: WELSH CHICKEN http://bit.ly/9aixhM
@CleoCoyle

2010-09-21 03:00:40
elizabethscraig: Writers Belong To The Professional Waiting Society:
http://dld.bz/wxwE

2010-09-21 02:01:18
elizabethscraig: 5 ways to make your novel unforgettable:
http://dld.bz/wxd5 @victoriamixon

2010-09-21 01:01:00
elizabethscraig: Character arcs and suspension of reader disbelief:
http://dld.bz/wxbW @authorterryo

2010-09-21 00:01:12
elizabethscraig: Gender bias in the literary world: http://dld.bz/wxvn

2010-09-21 23:27:33
elizabethscraig: 10 ways to annoy a literary agent: http://dld.bz/w5Jt

2010-09-20 23:00:56
elizabethscraig: 5 things a writer always overlooks: http://dld.bz/wxdh
@VictoriaMixon

2010-09-20 22:01:31
elizabethscraig: The use of flashbacks in crime fiction: http://dld.bz/wxc6
@mkinberg

2010-09-20 21:01:49
elizabethscraig: Writing and revising in layers: http://dld.bz/wun8

2010-09-20 20:01:17
elizabethscraig: Looking for extra writing time? 10 Benefits of Rising
Early, and How to Do It: http://dld.bz/wun7

2010-09-20 19:00:52
elizabethscraig: How to write descriptions vividly and well:
http://dld.bz/wunk @dirtywhitecandy

2010-09-20 18:01:08
elizabethscraig: Journaling Techniques to Improve Your Writing:
http://dld.bz/wumV @thecreativepenn

2010-09-20 17:01:45
elizabethscraig: 6 New Thoughts That Will Get Your Book Published:
http://dld.bz/wumT @bubblecow

2010-09-20 16:01:24
elizabethscraig: Anatomy of a Book Contract: http://dld.bz/wum6

2010-09-20 15:01:18
elizabethscraig: Is a Writer’s Conference Worth the Money?
http://dld.bz/wumg

2010-09-20 14:01:29
elizabethscraig: Write what you don’t know: http://dld.bz/wukP

2010-09-20 13:01:22
elizabethscraig: 4 Reasons to Appreciate Your Self-Doubts:
http://dld.bz/wkpp

2010-09-20 12:01:08
elizabethscraig: How to make an agent happy: http://dld.bz/wnD7

2010-09-20 11:07:48
elizabethscraig: 7 Ways Freelance Writers Can Get Inspiration from the
‘Ellen Show’: http://dld.bz/wnDn

2010-09-20 10:08:23
elizabethscraig: For the disorganized writer: 9 Clutter Clearing Tips for
Good Feng Shui: http://dld.bz/wnCT

2010-09-20 09:01:06
elizabethscraig: 10 of the best umbrellas in literature (Guardian):
http://dld.bz/wnCN

2010-09-20 04:39:03
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Pineapple & Ham Quiche from The Long
Quiche Goodbye http://bit.ly/ajkSiY @CleoCoyle

2010-09-20 04:15:40
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: The Name Game http://bit.ly/crJiIe
@LornaBarrett

2010-09-20 04:09:13
elizabethscraig: 5 Rewarding Social Networks for Book Lovers:
http://dld.bz/wnCE

2010-09-20 03:00:33
elizabethscraig: 10 books you have to read this fall (Boston Globe):
http://dld.bz/wnC6

2010-09-20 02:00:39
elizabethscraig: How To Disarm Your Inner Writer’s Worst Fear:
http://dld.bz/wnCx

2010-09-20 01:00:51
elizabethscraig: Writers reflect on their favorite paintings (Guardian):
http://dld.bz/wnCs

2010-09-20 00:00:48
elizabethscraig: How To Use Book Trailers Effectively: http://dld.bz/wnCn

2010-09-19 23:39:08
elizabethscraig: Twitterific–the week in tweets: http://dld.bz/wruf

2010-09-19 23:00:44
elizabethscraig: “The Hunger Games” Series–Lessons for Writers:
http://dld.bz/wkqE @thecreativepenn

2010-09-19 22:00:52
elizabethscraig: Fitting Promotion into Your Writing Life:
http://dld.bz/wkp3

2010-09-19 21:00:57
elizabethscraig: Life’s missing white space: http://dld.bz/wkpy

2010-09-19 20:01:22
elizabethscraig: Tying Up Loose Ends With Your Plot: http://dld.bz/wkpw

2010-09-19 19:00:50
elizabethscraig: 4 Reasons to Appreciate Your Self-Doubts:
http://dld.bz/wkpp

2010-09-19 18:01:01
elizabethscraig: Are you a writer? How we define ourselves as writers:
http://dld.bz/wkpk

2010-09-19 17:02:54
elizabethscraig: 12 Social Media Buzzwords Redefined: http://dld.bz/wkpb

2010-09-19 16:01:39
elizabethscraig: Grammar and You: http://dld.bz/wknU

2010-09-19 15:00:57
elizabethscraig: Creating Compelling Characters: http://dld.bz/wbGJ

2010-09-19 14:01:15
elizabethscraig: Peeking Inside a Successful Crit Partnership:
http://dld.bz/wknR

2010-09-19 13:01:05
elizabethscraig: The Fail-Safe Guide to Overcoming Procrastination:
http://dld.bz/wknH

2010-09-19 12:02:50
elizabethscraig: Chapter Breaks and Pacing: http://dld.bz/wbHF

2010-09-19 11:07:21
elizabethscraig: The importance of good posture for writers:
http://dld.bz/wbHC

2010-09-19 10:03:52
elizabethscraig: The 5 Questions Every Book Proposal Must Answer:
http://dld.bz/wbH2

2010-09-19 06:01:48
elizabethscraig: On Killer Char’s: I Never Thought I’d be Dead At This
Point In My Life http://bit.ly/bQXRNV @LornaBarrett

2010-09-19 04:19:24
elizabethscraig: Myst. Lov. Kitchen: PTA Driving You Crazy?  Meet Laura
Alden! http://bit.ly/93gjxu @CleoCoyle

2010-09-19 04:09:13
elizabethscraig: Fancy is Not Always Better: http://dld.bz/wbHx

2010-09-19 03:00:23
elizabethscraig: Bookish loyalties: http://dld.bz/wbGC

2010-09-19 02:00:32
elizabethscraig: How to make dialogue tags work for your story:
http://dld.bz/wbGh

2010-09-19 01:00:38
elizabethscraig: Editing Filler Words: http://dld.bz/wb7x

2010-09-19 00:00:43
elizabethscraig: Horror Writing Tips: http://dld.bz/wb7m

2010-09-18 23:00:50
elizabethscraig: Noun Clauses: http://dld.bz/wb7g

Last week, I posted some resources for finding agents.
It’s really tough to find representation.  I think, honestly, there are lots of reasons for this.

One is that agents need to believe they can find a buyer for the manuscript you’re pitching.

I have a strong suspicion that another reason is because just one author is a lot of work.

My agent, Ellen Pepus, spends a lot of time just with me.  I know this because of the number of emails that we send back and forth when we’re really at fever pitch before deadline.

Ellen likes to edit.  Not every agent is like that, but a lot of them are. So she’s making editorial suggestions for me before we send the manuscript to the editor.

Ellen also does other things I don’t want to do—like make friends with industry professionals.  I’m really uncomfortable schmoozing and who knows…she might be too.  But she does it a heck of a lot better than I do.

She keeps track of my checks—what I’ve been paid for, what I’m due for.  Ellen sends me a statement for my taxes.  I have a hard time keeping up with the money side of the business.  I’m familiar with my contract, of course, but I don’t really want to spend my time hunting down manuscript-acceptance checks, or Kindle-version royalties, or my author copies, or whatever.

If I have any questions about release dates or deadlines or what exactly my editor is looking for?  She takes care of that, too.

Basically, Ellen gets to do the dirty work and I get to just write and promote books.   Which works out really well…for me, anyway.

There are some weeks that I’m a lot less time-consuming than others.  But then—it seems like everything happens at once and I’ve buried my agent again.

Thanks to Ellen for all that she handles for me.  And best of luck to everybody on their agent search.  It does take a long time to find an agent (years, in my case), but in the end the effort is definitely worth it.

During my August book tour, I visited lots of different bookstores and talked to many different managers.

Several of them mentioned, with some concern, the e-book revolution.  One manager went so far as to say that their bookstore would likely resemble an Apple store or a cell phone retailer in a few years—with e-readers and e-reader accessories on display. 

She added that bookstore staff would be needed to sell and offer customer support for the readers.  They’d have a service department to fix or replace broken e-readers.

And she said, of course, they’d need a lot less retail space.  Although they might keep the cafes open since that brought people in.  So customers could read books on their e-readers and drink coffee and study.

Although I’ve thought a lot about the e-reading revolution, I’d never really thought of bookstores actually changing.  I think I’d just sadly written them off as closing their doors and having an online storefront only.

The one thing that I did hear consistently from the managers was their concern over book browsing.  Which is understandable—you wouldn’t be able to pick up an e-book, feel it, or flip through it. 
Or could you?

I’m not going to get into the e-reader debate, mostly because I’m resigned to the fate of books at this point and just planning on going with the flow—at least, in this computer-centered future, people are still reading—but I have noticed that my own book-buying habits have been changing, even with the physical books that I buy.

I look online a lot for book recommendations.  In fact, I look almost exclusively online for book recommendations.  Our newspaper here seems determined to review books that are heavy lit fict (not my current cup of tea), so I’ve had to find reviews elsewhere…and the book bloggers do a bang-up job at it.

I like sites like “What Should I Read Next” which help direct readers to books similar in style and genre to books they’ve enjoyed.

You can frequently read an online preview—a first chapter or an excerpt of the book you’re interested in—of the book you’re interested in. Not quite the same as flipping through a book at the store, but I could get used to it.

And for those of us who say covers can make a difference in our book buying?  The covers aren’t going away—they’re right there, online, in living color.  So we can judge a book by its cover as often as we like.

I’m fond of the automatically-generated “people who bought this book also bought these books” lists.  Frequently I find some really interesting series that way. 

What about those specialty bookstores and Mom and Pop bookstores?  It kills me, it really does. I love those bookstores. But eventually—maybe they’ll move their stores online?  Maybe they’ll still be offering their incredible expertise to readers and directing them to great books…just in a new and different way.

No, there’s nothing like picking up a book—or a pile of books—and flipping through them at the bookstore.  Bookstores and libraries have always been my favorite places.  I still  hope that there would be a need for libraries a long time into the future.  It’s hard to be upbeat about all the changes.

But as long as we still have books and readers—that’s the most important thing.  We’ll just have to find new ways to discover good books.

How do you shop for books?  Online?  In a bookstore?  How are you finding books to read? 

Every time I write a book, I’m surprised by the problems I run into—even though the problems are always the same. And actually, looking at my list of issues, I’m not sure there’s a whole lot I can do to prevent them from cropping up, unless I really wanted to change my approach to writing a book. Maybe that’s why they keep recurring!

5 Questions that Always Pop Up Once While Writing My Books

1. Where do I go next? I’m guessing this is a problem faced more frequently by folks who don’t outline…people like me. Usually I have an idea in my head about where I want to go next with the plot and the characters. But a few times in each book, I have an uhhhh moment where I’m really not sure what I’m writing in the next scene. Or the one after that.

2.What’s this character’s deal? Sometimes my characters aren’t well-behaved. In every book, a character will either try to steal scenes, act out of character, try to change their character, or exhibit a stunning lack of motivation. This is one of those problems I look out for while I’m writing a book—and I fix it when I see it, going forward from that point in the manuscript. Otherwise it can make a huge mess in a story. But I’m always so surprised when it happens!

3. Whodunit? Okay, this is going to be specific to mystery writers—but I don’t usually have a killer planned out until much later in the story. I like it that way because it means that I set up all my suspects as possible murderers. But—it means that at the end of the book I’m going back and forth…and back and forth…and back and forth on the killer’s identity.

4. How am I going to wrap this up? Writing endings is tough for me. Beginnings I like, but wrapping up a book? Ugh. I manage to conveniently forget what a pain it is for me until it’s time for me to write another one.

5. How many more pages are there left to write?! It’s actually pretty easy for me to get overwhelmed when writing–which is why I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about the unwritten pages stretching ahead of me…it’s easy to freak myself out. But I don’t feel overwhelmed when I start a project—but I sure do about a third of the way through.

Maybe forgetting these things is my subconscious way to ensure I keep writing books. Because if I remembered my struggles with this stuff, then I’d probably start a new book with a lot more trepidation than I do.

Are there problems that you always encounter when writing? Do you find that you forget about them in between projects?