Category: Writing Tips

Prewriting

Writing Tips

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigDSCN4401

My entire family has suddenly become obsessed with pineapple.  I don’t know what came over them.  It’s like the pineapple fairy visited one night. And they want it fresh.  Not canned or frozen (does it even come frozen)?

So…I started out by buying those containers of chopped pineapple at the grocery store deli.  But I balked at paying $6 for a smidgeon of pineapple that the family consumed in less than a day.

Then I bought the formidable looking fruit whole.  I looked up “how to cut a pineapple” online and the internet immediately coughed up a wiki-How thing with helpful pictures.  However, this process involved a bit of brute strength on my part, a couple of very sharp knives (never smart for a clumsy person), and about thirty minutes since I still had to slice out the tough black “eyes” afterward.Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigBlog

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

New release last week: Death Pays a Visit is now available. :)

A writer on being plagiarized and how to respond:  http://ow.ly/Bc5K5 @TheAubreyRose @passivevoiceblg

5 Cliche Endings:  http://ow.ly/Bc5AC  @grammarly

5 Ways to Get Book Reviews:  http://ow.ly/Bc5xK @SashaLeighS

How to Write a Horror Story:  http://ow.ly/Bc5Qz @harrington_jo              Continue reading

4 Tips for Writing About Unfamiliar Character Issues

Uncategorized, Writing Tips
by Julie Musil, @JulieMusilSoCL
As I plotted my latest release, The Summer of Crossing Lines, I decided to give the main character a stutter. She’d be forced to do some dangerous and questionable things, and I wanted the character to have an extra layer of fear and frustration. My goal was to make this character believable, and to be respectful to people who stutter.
But…I had no experience with stuttering. Lots of research was in order.
If you’re writing about an unfamiliar issue, here are four steps you can take to get it right:
  1. Visit blogs or online diaries. Simply Google your “issue.” One of the most personal aspects of my research involved reading through personal blogs and online diaries of folks who stutter. It gave me profound respect for them and their bravery. It also gave me insight into their personal fears and frustrations. I was able to channel their turmoil when it came to inner dialog. I got a real feel for their view on life and their condition, and how they view the people and the world around them. It also gave me a peek at their lingo.
  2. Research the organizations dedicated to the issue. I spent a lot of time on The Stuttering Foundation web site. They had pages for parents, teens, adults, teachers, etc. This web site gave me a lot of helpful information, including when stuttering develops, what causes it, and ways to cope. It also lists famous people who stutter, including John Stossel, Carly Simon, and the late Marilyn Monroe. I learned that the stutter tends to disappear when the speaker talks quietly, or if they’re acting as a different character–which helped with dialog. Bits of this research made it into my novel.
  3. Read fiction with characters who have the same issue. I searched Amazon for YA stories with a protagonist who stutters. Surprisingly, there weren’t many, which made me realize there was an opening I could fill. I read Tending to Grace, which was a great story. It taught me how to expand on my research and handle technical issues, like how to write a stutter. When we read similar books, we learn how other authors have handled the same situation.
  4. Interview someone with experience. It’s amazing how personal stories can form our perspective. Whatever issue you’re writing about, chances are there’s someone out there who’s willing to share their experiences with you. These experiences can give a glimpse into their world, much like the blogs or online diaries. 
Whatever issue we write about, there are plenty of resources available for research. The folks who live with these issues deserve accuracy, respect, and empathy. It’s our job to get it right.
Have you stuttered, or do you know someone else who does? Have you ever written about an unfamiliar issue? What was it? How did you make sure you wrote with accuracy? Any tips you’d like to add?
BWLF sig
Julie Musil writes from her rural home in Southern California, where she lives with her husband and three sons. She’s an obsessive reader who loves stories that grab the heart and won’t let go. Her Young Adult novels, The Summer of Crossing Lines and The Boy Who Loved Fire, are available now. For more information, or to stop by an say Hi, please visit Julie on her blog, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigBlog

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 23,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Writing the Perfect Description for Your Book:  http://ow.ly/B0slv @shalvatzis

Agents Behaving Badly:  http://ow.ly/B0spj @jamesscottbell

No Excuse Writing:  http://ow.ly/B20Al @dibator @SouthrnWritrMag

Self-Publishing: The Scenic Route: http://ow.ly/B20fK @eileengoudge  Continue reading

Your Novel’s Language: How Can You Beat the Blah?

Writing Tips

Guest Post by Jack SmithWrite and Revise for Publication

You have an interesting and compelling premise for your novel.  Your logline is snappy and fetching.  Your characters are complex with complex relationships between them.  Your plot is lock-step, every thread tied up.  Your setting is interesting.

Yet the writing itself isn’t working—it seems drab.  A sample of ten to fifty pages will most likely not get past the agent or editor.  Great idea, but needs considerable work.  Give this thing some flair.

And so now is the time to do some major fine-tuning on the language itself.

What can you do?  There are probably fifty things, but consider two general areas:Continue reading

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