Category: Writing Tips

Passages of Time and Transitions

Writing Tips

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigfile9271237667217

Transition issues are common problems in first drafts (later drafts, too).  I’ve been guilty of a couple of different transition fouls in past manuscripts.

Transitions that are too long and boring:

When I was writing my first book, I had a lot of trouble with getting characters where they needed to be. This resulted in a lot of really boring, pointless scenes where the narrative went something like this:  Jenny decided to head over to the restaurant to find out more about what Thomas was doing the night of the murder.  She found her keys and hurried out to her car.  On the trip to the Italian restaurant, she mulled over what she was going to ask Thomas.  Upon arrival at the restaurant…blah!  Dreck.

I think I believed it would be too choppy to suddenly pick up with the character at the Italian restaurant.  Or that it was cheating.  I’m not sure what was going through my head, but it took an editor to tell me to get rid of it all.Continue reading

My Mistakes and Procrastinated Bits

Business of Writing, Writing Tips

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigfile8851246481245

The last time I ran a post on mistakes I’d made, it helped illuminate areas I’d fallen behind on so that I could stick them on my calendar as to-dos.  I’m hoping that will be the same today, too (some things can’t really be fixed, but can serve as a warning to others).

Here we go:

Not making sure I’m updating all the pages in my website.  Embarrassingly, a reader emailed me on this.  She wanted to see immediately, on my site’s home page, when I had an upcoming release.  She’s right—that’s really the point of the site.  I had the information on my books page, but the welcome page is a bit better.  Plus, I hadn’t updated that page often, thinking I’d left it as a static generic welcome.  Not so…it listed “recent releases” from a year ago. Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigBlog

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search alengine(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.

An Agent’s Role in Shaping an Author’s Career and the Second Book:  http://ow.ly/vOEIT  @ElisabethWeed @writerunboxed

Are Your Stakes High Enough?  http://ow.ly/vOCeB  @janice_hardy

Why a Writing Routine Matters and How to Start One:  http://ow.ly/vMsYi  @stacyennis

5 qualities important to successful self-publishing:  http://ow.ly/vMoOt  @ninaamirContinue reading

A Tip for Avoiding Plot Holes

Writing Tips

By Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigDanger

As I’ve mentioned before, I have a love-hate relationship with outlining.  For me and the speed with which I’m writing, it’s become a necessary evil. But I dislike it.

I dislike it enough to happily deviate from my outline whenever I feel like it.  And frequently, the story is better when I do.

The only thing is that my outlines don’t have any plot holes in them (at least, they haven’t so far) and my deviations do. Continue reading

Twitterific Writing Links

Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraigBlog

Twitterific links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search alengine(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.

And a happy Easter to all who celebrate.

It’s Only A First Draft:  http://ow.ly/vHDHn @slynberg

For Soon To Be Published Authors: http://ow.ly/vHsIs @RLLaFevers @writerunboxed

Do Big Publishers Make Sense Anymore?  http://ow.ly/vHEdm @wherewriterswin    Continue reading

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