Category: Uncategorized

Keeping Our Books Current

Business of Writing, Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigclip

My thirteen year old daughter uses an iPod device for most of her communications (which only works when on wi-fi) but also has a basic phone for when she’s away from wi-fi or needs to make calls. But she rarely uses the phone.

She discovered recently that she had voice mails on it.  But she was having a hard time accessing them.

Sadly, I was doing something else every single time she brought this up over a period of several days.  This is something I try hard to avoid as a parent.  My goal is to be 100% focused on my children as they are speaking with me.  But on these occasions I was either driving on an interstate highway in heavy traffic,  cooking something rather complicated, or doing some sort of multitasking (poorly, I’m sure) during these conversations.Continue reading

How to Use Backstory to Keep Readers Reading

Uncategorized, Writing Tips

by K.M. Weiland, @KMWeilandV8374c_JaneEyre.indd

Backstory is a weapon. And just like any weapon, it can end up doing more harm than good to those who wield it without proper experience and care. But in the hands of a writer who knows exactly what it’s capable of and how to wield it to advantage, backstory can take even ordinary stories to extraordinary places.

Arguably, the most important function of backstory is its ability to hook readers’ curiosity. Forget explaining the protagonist’s past and what motivates him. Try not explaining it. When we let readers know there’s something delicious and dark in a character’s past, without telling them what that something is, we’ll hook their curiosity so deeply they’ll keep reading just to solve the mystery.

Charlotte Brontë understood how to wield the weapon of backstory as well any author. In her beloved Gothic romance Jane Eyre (which I analyze in-depth in my book Jane Eyre: The Writer’s Digest Annotated Classic), she creates almost her entire plot out of the tantalizing hunt for the backstory. What can you learn from her and how can you apply it to your own novel? Start by answering the following questions.Continue reading

Write What You DON’T Know (Part One)

Uncategorized, Writing Tips

by Virginia King, @selkiemoonbooksthe-first-lie-cover small

All new writers are advised to “write what you know” because sticking to your own experience is a recipe for authenticity, for not getting lost in unchartered territory. It goes hand in hand with character profiles and plot maps – nailing your story down so the writing is an exercise in fleshing out the bones. But are great stories pre-formed in the minds of their authors? And is this process fun?

Miles Davis told his musicians, “Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.” He wanted them to lose themselves, to let the music take them beyond the notes on the score, carrying their audience with them. Sounds like the same place we want to take our readers.

The Journey of a Thousand Steps

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story,” Beatrix Potter said. “You never quite know where they’ll take you.”Continue reading

10 Great Things about Writing Cozy Mysteries

Uncategorized

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigShear Trouble 2

I’m frequently asked why I chose to write cozy/traditional mysteries.  I’ve always just answered that it was a genre that came naturally to me–I grew up reading these types of mysteries.  It’s the easiest genre for me to write.

But there are other reasons I chose the genre, too, and I explored these reasons further in a guest post for Lori’s Reading Corner today:   “Top 10 Great Things about Writing Cozy Mysteries.”

I would be remiss in not mentioning that I had a release yesterday.  :)  Penguin’s Southern Quilting mystery #4–Shear Trouble, launched August 5th. Living up to its name, it was sheer  trouble to write, but I was happy with the end result.

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