Category: Uncategorized

Besides this blog, I’m on a few group blogs: Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen (Berkley Prime Crime mystery authors and our recipes), Inkspot (for Midnight Ink authors), Killer Characters (where cozy writers’ characters have taken over the blog), and A Good Blog is Hard to Find (Southern authors).

I love my own blog and feel like it’s my own little front door to the online world. But it’s also fun being part of a group blog of other writers. You have a chance to connect with them (Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen and Inkspot both connect to their members through a closed Yahoo Group—Good Blog uses email) and really develop some online friendships. Plus, you’re getting more online exposure for your writing on another venue—and, depending on the size of the group, you’re not blogging every day.

If you decide to go that route, this is how the ones I’m on usually work:
Everyone has the ability to make changes on the blog and author posts.

Usually, though, there’s one person who is mostly in charge of the design of the blog. We usually run any changes on the blog by them first…otherwise it’s sort of a “too many cooks spoiling the stew” scenario. Major design changes should be decided by the group, though.

If you have a week’s worth of members on the blog, everyone has an assigned day of the week. I know I’m up every Thursday on Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. If you have a month’s worth of members, then everyone has a day of the month…I’m up on the 10th of each month on Killer Characters. Otherwise, the schedule needs to be emailed out each time—usually 5-6 weeks of schedule at a time. Most of the time, this will work out—but sometimes writers will forget their day on the larger group blogs.

Saturdays are usually not popular with writers for posting. It’s thought to be a day that gets less blog traffic (although I haven’t actually noticed this to be true.) Sometimes, rotating out Saturday duties is nice. And some blogs that I’m on actually leave weekends out of the mix…they’ll either have a guest blogger scheduled or will have PR news or announcements from group members posted on those days.

You’re expected as a group member to support the other members by commenting on their blog posts at least every few days.

You’ll be expected to respond to comments on your day.

Promoting the group blog on social media like Facebook and Twitter is also really appreciated.

Trading out guest posts with other group blogs is a nice way to get cross-exposure for both groups.

Have you thought about forming a group blog or asking to join one?

And again, my apologies for being offline more often than not as I’m on my book tour.

Hope you’ll joining me in welcoming Wendy Lyn Watson to Mystery Writing is Murder today. Wendy is a fellow mystery writer and a friend of mine from the Killer Characters blog. Scoop to Kill releases September 7.

First, I want to thank Elizabeth for letting me hang out on her blog today. So many generous writers have helped me over the years (and continue to help me every dang day), so it’s nice to get a chance to pay it forward now and then.

The first time I sat down to hammer out a manuscript (a historical romance), I made a ton of rookie mistakes. One of the biggest was the endless parade of secondary characters I had strolling through the pages. Much of the action of the book took place at a country house party in Georgian England. Between guests and the cadre of servants waiting on them, that meant there’d be a lot of people around.

Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t give every last one a name and back story. But whenever I needed something to happen to my hero or heroine–someone to say something cutting to the heroine, bring the hero a note on a silver salver, or interrupt the couple in a romantic embrace–I created someone new. There’s Mary, the maid of all work, who showed up in Chapter 12 and was never seen again. Lady H who destroyed the heroine’s self-confidence at a musicale and then dropped off the planet. You get the idea.

I’ve come a long way (I hope), and I’ve learned to pare down the roster of characters considerably. But I still struggle with the occasional hanger-on. In fact, I think the challenge is particularly great for mystery writers for two equal but opposite reasons. First, characters are often the conveyers of clues. More clues equals more characters (really, it’s just simple math). But once a character does his job and conveys important information to the sleuth, it’s hard to waste precious words on him. Second, because we do love our quirky townsfolk, it’s hard to resist the urge to create a role for every oddball person we dream up.

When these two forces combine, you end up with tons of characters who pop in for a scene and then disappear, causing confusion to your readers and sapping a lot of the tension from your story.

I learned a great trick for weeding out unnecessary characters in a writing class I took a few years ago. It’s primarily for main characters, and it’s known as “the spaghetti bowl.” Identify the six to ten most important characters in your story and write their names in a circle around the perimeter of a piece of paper. Now, draw lines connecting each character to every other character. (This is where the “spaghetti” image comes from; visually, it’s a mess.)

Now, on each of those lines, identify the relationship between the characters. That’s right, every single pair. And here are the rules:

(1) If there isn’t a relationship between two characters, you either need to cut a character or make a relationship. No obvious connection between the butcher and the Sunday school teacher? Maybe they’re having an affair. Or maybe they dated in high school, and he’s never gotten over her. This will increase the tension in your story and add layers of motivation and intrigue.

(2) If two characters are fulfilling the same role in the story, one of them has to go. Your sleuth has two brothers, they’re both cops, and they both give her grief for throwing herself in harm’s way? One of the brothers must go. In the alternative, you can make the brothers different: perhaps one gives her grief while the other eggs her on. Aha, now the brothers are like the angel and devil on your sleuth’s shoulder, and they’re both pulling their weight.

For your minor characters (the ones with names), identify what each one adds to the story. It may be a clue or a bit of insight into a main character. But whatever it is, each named character should do at least 3 things for your story. If a character pops on scene to provide one piece of information and then disappears? She gets the ax. Or, in the alternative, give her two more tasks. This will add richness to the story and make even your minor characters seem more alive.

We write mysteries, and we’re going to have a lot of characters. But each one needs to earn his or her keep. Put them to work to make your story stronger.

Wendy Lyn Watson
I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM – Oct. 2009, NAL
SCOOP TO KILL – Sept. 2010, NAL
www.wendylynwatson.com
www.killercharacters.com
www.facebook.com/iscreamyouscream

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.

Novel Done, Soundbite? Handle? Aargh!! http://dld.bz/rHkv

Lessons from Queryfest: http://dld.bz/rHkq

Top Six Reasons Your Book is Not in the School Library…http://dld.bz/rHjX

Why You Should Understand Your Weaknesses: http://dld.bz/rHjS

The Craft of Writing: Structure, Shape, and Interest: http://dld.bz/rHjQ

Mystery writer’s guide to forensic science–ballistics: http://dld.bz/rHjK @clarissadraper

Dos and Don’ts of Twitter: http://dld.bz/rHj6

The Dark Side of Writer’s Conferences: http://dld.bz/rHj3

Questions to ask yourself before you start a revision: http://dld.bz/rHjw

The Writer’s Forensics Blog–Bang! You’re Dead! Or Not? http://dld.bz/rHjr

Do You Suffer From One of These Writing Maladies? http://dld.bz/rHjp

Bang! Pow! Blog like a Comic Book! http://dld.bz/rHjh

Magazine and Book Publishing Rights: http://dld.bz/rHjg

A few words on genre and literary fiction: http://dld.bz/rHhW

Are You Developing for Android? http://dld.bz/rHhU

Surviving the Draft: Pushing Your Book Over the Finish Line: http://dld.bz/rHhM

5 Ways to Use Book Trailers to Drive Sales: http://dld.bz/rHhJ

Tips for writing a query letter: http://dld.bz/rHhs

10 Book Writing Tips From Published Book Authors and Freelancers: http://dld.bz/r5p5

It’s The Little Things: http://dld.bz/r5pJ

What Makes Writing Art? http://dld.bz/r5p2

Ray Bradbury Rejects eReaders: http://dld.bz/r4Sm

Borders Cuts Employees at Corporate Headquarters: http://dld.bz/r4SP

China’s Biggest E-Publisher Launches Bambook E-Reader and E-bookstore: http://dld.bz/r5pb

What Does The Romance Genre Say About the Good Life? http://dld.bz/r5nV

Does Your Novel Suffer From Flat Writing? http://dld.bz/r5nK

5 Reasons Why No One Is Reading Your Email Newsletter: http://dld.bz/r4WY

Tight Writing for Good Tweets: http://dld.bz/r4UE

Conflict–the fuel of your story: http://dld.bz/r4WK

Women in Publishing Twitter Directory http://dld.bz/r4St @galleycat

Tight Writing for Good Tweets– http://dld.bz/r4UE

Common Excuses For Not Using Social Media: http://dld.bz/r4Uw

A little goes a long way–writing laughs in chick lit: http://dld.bz/r4Ud

Contemplating new publishing models (interesting look at money in publishing): http://dld.bz/r4T9

How Stieg Larsson Changed One UK Publishing House: http://dld.bz/r4Rd @GalleyCat

A post that looks at writers who were jailed: http://dld.bz/r4Jw @micheleemrath

Simon & Schuster Publisher Reorganizes: http://dld.bz/r4SD

Supporting other writers–it’s not about reciprocity: http://dld.bz/r4HX @authorterryo

Six Myths About Publishing: http://dld.bz/rqDj

10 things not to do if you want to get published: http://dld.bz/rqDa

The Publishing Death Spiral–part one–The Cold Equations: http://dld.bz/rqCU

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Too Hot to Bake Oreo Ice Cream Cake http://bit.ly/dzEGz0 @CleoCoyle

“5 Self-Publishing Lessons I Learned From My Toddler” : http://dld.bz/rqC9

A Truly Public Monster or Why Are Zombies Fun to Talk about? http://dld.bz/rqCz

Home is where the writer’s heart is: http://dld.bz/rq6F @hownottowrite

In Defense of YA-Reading Adults: http://dld.bz/rq6A

How one writer (who is now an agent) got started as a writer–and his 3 big writing tips: http://dld.bz/rq63

More Detail, Please: http://dld.bz/rq6r

The emailed book pitch: http://dld.bz/rq6d @bubblecow

5 things I’ve learned about writing — writing is a business: http://dld.bz/rq5U

Trusting Authorial Voices: http://dld.bz/rq5K

Winds of change in publishing: http://dld.bz/rq5A

The 17 Principles of Success (Part 1): http://dld.bz/rq5x

Setting–getting the details right: http://dld.bz/rq5j

What makes a good head shot? http://dld.bz/rq4y @alexisgrant

Facebook 101 for Business: Your Complete Guide: http://dld.bz/rq4q

Pitching beyond plot: http://dld.bz/rq3M

5 BS Indicators for Writers Conferences: http://dld.bz/rq2G @VictoriaMixon

On writer’s voice: http://dld.bz/rq35

The Death of (Another) Format: http://dld.bz/rq3B

Showing love to your fellow writers: http://dld.bz/rq3s

What if you forgot everything you ever wrote? http://dld.bz/rq3Z

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: A book cover celebration with cupcakes! http://bit.ly/aTIesv @CleoCoyle

How to Be a Super Competent Author: http://dld.bz/rq2p

How Post its can help writers: http://dld.bz/rq2a

8 tips for getting your books into bookstores: http://dld.bz/rq2k

10 Top Novel Writing Mistakes: http://dld.bz/rqzE

Writing tips–writing out loud: http://dld.bz/rqzC

Crime fiction–depicting the murderer’s reaction to killing: http://dld.bz/rtCj @mkinberg

9 Productivity Techniques for Freelancers: http://dld.bz/rqxV @sixrevisions

Protagonist IQ–how important is it, and how can we show, not tell it? http://dld.bz/rtjf @MsMystery

Map Your Reading: http://dld.bz/rqxN

5 Mistakes That Weaken Your Writing: http://dld.bz/rqxj @UrbanMuseWriter

Top 10 urban fantasy pet peeves: http://dld.bz/rqwm

How Google Counted The World’s 129 Million Books (Wired): http://dld.bz/rqvZ

Tips and checklist for writing a middle grade novel: http://dld.bz/rqv5 @4KidLit

9 Ways to Make Your Blog Work Harder for You: http://dld.bz/rquU

“A few things I learned about life as a poet from watching ‘Bright Star'”: http://dld.bz/rquG

Literary Movement Series: The Lost Generation: http://dld.bz/rqPJ @micheleemrath

Research or Background: http://dld.bz/rqu5 @__Deb

Tips for making your characters stand out from the crowd: http://dld.bz/rqND

Lessons from SCBWI-LA: How to Sell Your Novel: http://dld.bz/rmFQ @4KidLit

Snarketing for marketing? Is being snarky an effective way to draw people to your blog? http://dld.bz/rq7F @WritingAgain

Excellent series on plot and the 36 dramatic situations: http://dld.bz/rqwS @msforster

Copyrights (and wrongs): http://dld.bz/rmFg

Finding time to write: http://dld.bz/rmEX

What Should I Write About? Focusing Your Ideas: http://dld.bz/rmEK

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Chef for a Night http://bit.ly/9pmPj3 @CleoCoyle

New Writing Challenges: http://dld.bz/rgFb

How to Cut Your To-Do List in Half: http://dld.bz/rgEY

The Phenomenology of Writing by Hand: http://dld.bz/rmEw : @ichibanbrianne

Editing Your Own Novel: The Importance Of Self Editing: http://dld.bz/rgEU

Thoughts on quiet books–how to keep readers turning the pages when your book is slower-paced: http://dld.bz/rmEn @micheleemrath

How Writing Keeps Us Well: http://dld.bz/rgEG

A filter for your writing well: http://dld.bz/rgEA

“One tiny sign that I’m a writer”: http://dld.bz/rgE4 @RebHargreaves

The Art of Characterization: http://dld.bz/rgEw

What to ask an agent when you get the call: http://dld.bz/rgEn

Pursuing the Dream When Time is Scarce: http://dld.bz/rgD8 @KatieGanshert

Tips for writing conferences: http://dld.bz/rgDe

Why an Online Presence Can Help Every Kind of Writer: http://dld.bz/rgCA @JodyHedlund

The Three-Step Process To Surprising Your Readers: http://dld.bz/rgC8

Orientation for Writers–a Checklist: http://dld.bz/rgCw

The 15 Most Overrated Contemporary American Writers (PHOTOS)–Huff Post– http://dld.bz/rdWV

Why do novelists hate being interviewed? (Salon): http://dld.bz/rdWJ

The Language of the Senses: http://dld.bz/rdWE

Selling out? http://dld.bz/rdW9

Best Tweets for Writers (week ending 8/6/10)–Writer’s Digest: http://dld.bz/rdWx

5 Tips for Managing Your Facebook Privacy: http://dld.bz/rdSA

Myst. Lov. Kitchen: Timothy O’Shea’s Goat Cheese Mushrooms http://bit.ly/9KLX8t @CleoCoyle

Take care of your verbs, and they’ll take care of you: http://dld.bz/rdRZ

8 Tips to Expand Your Personal Capacity: http://dld.bz/qYRW

5 steps to dazzling minor characters: http://dld.bz/rdRH

A character chart for your main characters: http://dld.bz/rdRB

10 Tests a Novel Must Pass to Prove It’s REALLY Ready for Submission to Publishers: http://dld.bz/rdQU @4KidLit

The Woman Who Paid Actresses to Read Her Book: http://dld.bz/qYSv

Ten of the best motorbikes in literature (Guardian): http://dld.bz/qYSK

Staying Organized: 8 Tips for Daily Sanity: http://dld.bz/qYSE

Terms and Definitions Every Writer Should Know: http://dld.bz/qYSs

Your Taste in Books Does Not Make You Better Than Anyone. http://dld.bz/qYSc

A life without rejection is…dull: http://dld.bz/qYQH

12 dos and don’ts for making the first page of your novel more compelling: http://dld.bz/qYQF

The lying art of historical fiction (Guardian): http://dld.bz/qYQ8

How to Start Your Mystery Novel: http://dld.bz/qYPW

What’s the difference between querying an agent and querying an editor? http://dld.bz/qYPS

Novel endings (thorough discussion): http://dld.bz/qYPA

5 Ways to Use Your Friends to Better Your Writing: http://dld.bz/qN3a

Building an Audience (and a Case) for Translations: http://dld.bz/qN2J

Three Tests That Can Help Us Handle Difficult Feedback: http://dld.bz/qN2B @JodyHedlund

Setting writing standards for ourselves: http://dld.bz/qNzd

How Social Media Can Help Writers Get Their Mojo Back: http://dld.bz/qCYK

Going With Your Gut to Sell that Book: http://dld.bz/qCXM

Anchors and Hooks: http://dld.bz/qNyU

Busy day on Friday, but we really covered some ground!

First of all, actually, was the signing Avery and I did at Joseph Beth bookstore in the South Park area of Charlotte.  They did a beautiful banner for us, which you can see in the background.  Great crowd came out and they asked wonderful questions.

I think that really I never need to follow a presentation by Avery!  She (as her alter-ego Daryl Wood Gerber) was a professional actress on television.  And me? I need to work on my presentation a little!  :) 

Friday we signed in Winston-Salem, NC and Greensboro, NC before driving to a tea in Raleigh.  Great tea, great staff and readers at the Barnes and Noble there!

I’m going to crash now….full day tomorrow.

Killer Cozies Tour:  Ellery Adams, Avery Aames, Krista Davis, Riley Adams (and no…I don’t turn around when someone calls “Riley!” because Avery tried it.) :) 

One of the group blogs I’m on, A Good Blog is Hard to Find, is re-launching and asked its members to tell a little about themselves and how they started writing.  Mine is up today and I kept it pretty brief! :)  Hope you’ll pop by.

I’m traveling for the next four days on my book tour, so I won’t be as active online as I usually am (and probably going through internet withdrawal!)