Uncategorized

Pre-Writing

September 30, 2016September 30, 2016Mystery Writing Tips, Uncategorized, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

In the past month, I’ve had three writers reach out to me. They were all writing mysteries for the first time.

They asked me about outlining with arcs and three-act sequences and character development sheets. Two writers reported feeling extremely overwhelmed and frustrated to the point of being immobilized.

I suggested that they might be overthinking it, at least when writing traditional mysteries. That’s because mysteries provide their own structure–a very familiar structure that avid mystery readers both know by heart and expect to encounter.

In fact, when we deviate from this structure or pattern, readers usually let us know about it.

I explained my own, very simple process:

I start out by writing the back cover copy. There are a couple of reasons for this. One, it gives me a global view of my story and its set-up. For another…I already have a cover for the book a year before I write it (I like working ahead with my cover designer). So there’s a print cover with copy all ready to go.

Then there’s a simple outline. Nothing fancy.

Here’s the structure for a cozy mystery (if you fill in the blanks with your own characters, victims, suspects, it becomes a very basic outline): Continue reading

Preparing for a Cover Design Meeting

September 23, 2016September 22, 2016Business of Writing, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

There’s a lot to think about and remember for so many different aspects of book production and book release. I recently shared my checklist for releasing a book. Today I thought I’d list the different elements I pull together before meeting with my book designer.

The brainstorming portion:

For a first book in a series or the first time working with a designer, it’s helpful to reference/link to covers that appeal to you or that you feel represent your genre well.

I like to provide general element ideas to help the designer get started. For instance, where is the cover set? Are there any people or animals on the cover? What mood are you trying to set?

Printed books:

Designers will need to know your page dimensions.

If the book isn’t done yet (mine are usually not even started when I get the covers done), make sure to tell your designer you’ll need to check back in with the final page count (including all front matter and back matter) to ensure that the spine is the correct width.

You’ll want your bio and author photo for the back of the printed cover.

What’s your book’s price?

Be prepared with your back cover copy.

Other considerations:

Do you need an audiobook cover?

Do you need promotional extras like Facebook and Twitter cover images or bookmarks?

Payment:

I almost always pay for all book production services through PayPal after the cover is complete. It makes tax preparation easy to go through my PayPal statements at the end of each year.

Finally:

Because good designers book up quickly, I always go ahead set the next appointment with my designer, Karri Klawiter. Having a date on the calendar helps me to come up with a concrete concept for another project before our meeting.

Any other tips for keeping organized before a cover design meeting?

Preparing for a Cover Design Meeting: Click To Tweet

Keep Your Readers Hooked by Dropping the Right Clues

September 19, 2016September 18, 2016Uncategorized, Writing Tips

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Foreshadowing might seem like a technique that applies mostly to mystery writers, but all stories rely on the classic “what might happen next?” question. Even in a romance, there are secrets to be revealed and histories to uncover, and where that information is learned affects a novel’s pacing. It’s the need to know that draws readers in and keeps them reading. Drop the right clues at the right time and readers will be glued to the pages.

Well-crafted foreshadowing puts those readers in the right mindset long before they reach a scene, and makes them anticipate that scene. Secrets unfold in surprising, yet inevitable ways, and readers feel as though the clues were there all along if only they’d seen them—because they were.

Too much too soon and there’s nothing left to learn (and no reason to read). Too little for too long risks frustrating readers, because they never learn anything new.

No matter what type of mystery your novel uses, look at where your clues and foreshadows appear. If you’re unsure how these elements should unfold, consider: Continue reading

Creative Challenges Within a Single Genre

September 16, 2016September 14, 2016Motivation and the Writing Life, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Whenever I talk to anyone about my writing, the question usually comes up: would I like to try writing anything other than mystery?

Then I explain that I actually have written something other than mystery. But it was a one-off, a ‘cozy zombie’ book (yes, I did make that genre up). But that was what’s called an ‘attack book.’ The story had been bothering me for years to write it, and finally I did to get the story to shut up.

What people seem most surprised about is that I don’t get bored writing my genre. That I’m not tired of writing the same types of stories.

I’ve always said that I found it a special creative challenge to work within the confines of genre and series.

In lots of ways, it’s much easier to write in a series. For one thing, it’s a good deal faster. You’ve already got your main/recurring characters. The setting will likely be the same. You put these characters into new situations in the same setting and have them respond.Continue reading

Characters Impact Stories

September 2, 2016August 28, 2016Uncategorized, Writing Tips

facebook_8f3ed689a8

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Wednesday I drove to Flat Rock, North Carolina, to speak with a book club. It was a great event and the group asked some very interesting questions.

One of the questions I received was: “How do you alter your writing for books authored by Craig versus those authored by Adams?”

I have three different series and the Memphis Barbeque Mysteries is a four book series for Penguin that I wrote as Riley Adams. At first, I was tempted to say that there was no difference between the series, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized this wasn’t true at all. There’s a lot of difference between the Memphis series and the Myrtle and Southern Quilting series.

I realized it came down to one key factor. My answer was: “The main character in the Memphis series is an extrovert.”Continue reading