Tag: writing craft

Quickie Writer Tip!

Hi, all!

As an editor, I see a ton of manuscripts, mostly fiction these days. The fun of editing a new author is watching them develop their own style within the framework of writing.

One of the things that many of the beginners I work with is that they have a problem ending chapters effectively.

I have two suggestions: 1) keep your chapters about the same length, which forces you to really think about scenes and pacing and 2) make sure your characters’ business is finished in that chapter before you break for a new one. That is, you want your reader to feel satisfied, as if something was happened and reasonably resolved or at least reasonably explained before sending them to a new chapter.

Aaron Elkins has a good piece over at Writer’s Digest to help you with “chaptering.”

Here’s the link!

Happy writing!

by Categories: Cool articles, Inspiration, Writing tipsTags: , ,

When books go not-so-good: some writing tips

Sigh. I finished reading a mystery today on my Kindle. I won’t say which one or who the author is, because I don’t do book reviews and I’m sure there are people who enjoy this writer’s stories. I was able to try this author’s work for $.99, for which I’m grateful. And if I like an author, I’ll gladly pay full price for his or her work.

In this case, the book started strong — set in Arizona, which is right next to my New Mexico stomping grounds, so I love stories set in the American Southwest. A great premise, too. Double murder at a campsite, internally tortured female detective with all kinds of issues, both professional and personal, and weird stuff about the murder victims and the possible suspects.

The author has a nice eye for detail, and included some great descriptions. That went on and on and on and on and…seriously. Often a tangent that took up 1-2 PAGES, detracting from the narrative and losing the reader. The author also did another no-no in my mystery-writing toolbox — a form of “as you know, Bob.” That’s another form of info-dumping and telling, not showing. It occurs when a writer provides way too much backstory and not enough narrative to move the story along. Your purpose as an author is to MOVE THE STORY FORWARD. You do that in a number of ways. Dialogue with characters to reveal things, action sequences, and subplots tightly woven in to your main plot. This author included a subplot that was a serious red herring and ended up adding probably 80 pages to this book that were unnecessary to the main plot. And it’s frustrating, because the author didn’t effectively tie the two together in a logical way.

Want more? Read on.

Continue reading →

by Categories: Things that might make you think, Writing tipsTags: , 1 Comment

Cool blog alert

Hey, kids–

This is a site I use when I’m doing research or just feeling the need to check out criminalistics and forensic methodology. As some of you may or may not know, every other book (even-numbered) in my New Mexico series stars Chris Gutierrez, a detective in Albuquerque who works a lot of homicides. Now, I do have somewhat of a background in criminalistics and forensic anthropology through my graduate work and outside interest — I’ve taken courses outside my fields and workshops, as well and done a community police program — but when I need some help with research, I can go to this blog and probably find the answers I’m looking for or a way to get that answer. That is, if I can’t find any of my friends in the field to help me out in a pinch.

The Graveyard Shift

That’s veteran police investigator Lee Lofland’s blog. Here you’ll find tips on proper police procedure, crime scene investigation, proper technique and gear that law enforcement and emergency responders use. For example, the current entry is a guest blog by firefighter Joe Collins, who gives you a breakdown of new bunker gear (comparing it to older gear).

Here’s a taste of that, from Mr. Collins, a 12-year veteran firefighter/paramedic:

Modern bunker gear is constructed of space age materials—some of the same used in space suits. It must meet the requirement of not melting, igniting, dripping or separating when exposed to a heat of 500°F for five-minutes. Considering that in structure fires ceiling temperatures as much as 1000 F have been recorded, it doesn’t provide as much protection as you would think. Those temperatures are also why we do most of our work crawling along the floor.

source

There are photos, too.

So if you’re a writer of police procedural fiction, or just interested in how this stuff works, check out Lofland’s blog.

Happy reading, happy writing!

by Categories: Cool blogs, Super cool blogs, Writing tipsTags: , , , , ,

Cool “writers on writing” archive

Hi, folks–

I took Monday off. Kind of a Manic Monday, don’tcha know.

Anyhoo, I came across this really sweet New York Times archive. It’s called “Writers on Writing” and it’s a big ol’ list of articles done by various writers that addresses some aspect of writing. Super cool.

How about E.L. Doctorow on how novels are following films into a land of “fewer words”?

As more than one critic has noted, today’s novelists tend not to write exposition as fully as novelists of the 19th century… .The 20th-century novel minimizes discourse that dwells on settings, characters’ CVs and the like. The writer finds it preferable to incorporate all necessary information in the action, to carry it along in the current of the narrative, as is done in movies.
source

Or Annie Proulx (whose work I deeply admire), on inspiration?

A whole set of metaphoric shovels is part of my tool collection, and for me the research that underlies the writing is the best part of the scribbling game. Years ago, alder scratched, tired, hungry, and on a late return from a fishing trip, I was driving through Maine when a hubbub on the sidewalk caught my eye: milling customers at a yard sale. I stop for yard sales. Pay dirt. I found the wonderful second edition unabridged Webster’s New International Dictionary with its rich definitions and hundreds of fine small illustrations.
source

Or Alice Walker on meditation, John Updike on character, or Carl Hiaasen on plagiarizing from real life?

This archive is a treasure trove of gems from a variety of writers, from a variety of perspectives. Seriously check it out.

Happy reading, happy writing!

by Categories: Cool stuff to read, Coolness, Inspiration, Things that might make you think, Writing tipsTags: , , , , , , , ,

Writing tip! A, B, Cs of plot development!

Hey, all–

Found this groovy writing tips site that includes this:

The ABCs (and Ds and Es) of Plot Development.

Here’s an excerpt:

Plot develops out of conflict, either external, such as a person or an event that precipitates a series of actions the main character undertakes, or internal, driven by the protagonist’s wants and/or needs. How that character, and others, makes choices and otherwise responds to stimuli determines the course of events.

The traditional structure of a plot is linear, in which the protagonist’s actions are charted in a more or less straight line, although many stories shift from that person’s point of view to that of one or more other characters as the tale progresses. Others involve one or more flashbacks, introducing new elements to the overarching plot.

Here’s the quick n’ dirty:
A = Action
B = Background
C= Conflict
D = Development
E = End

Go on and check it out.

Happy writing, happy reading!

by Categories: Inspiration, Things that make you think, Writing tipsTags: ,

Want to catch more in your writing? Tips for that!

Hi, folks!

Editing tips can actually help you recognize not-so-great stuff in your writing so you can make it better. Dustin Wax says that learning to edit can help you write better.


source: Kathleen Grieve

QUOTE:
The best writers know differently, of course — their memoirs and biographies and writing manuals are filled with stories of books that needed to be cut in half to be readable, sentences that took weeks or months to get just right, and lifetimes spent tinkering with a single work that never strikes them as “just right”. To paraphrase a common saying among writers, there is no good writing, only good re-writing.

But if writing isn’t taught well enough or often enough these days, editing is hardly taught at all. This is too bad, since editing is where the real work of writing is at. More than just proofreading, good editing improves the clarity and forcefulness of a piece.

One of those tips, which I find particularly useful for writing better dialogue, is reading out loud. Wax also recommends reading in reverse. And CUT, don’t add. Another of my faves, get rid of adverbs.

More awesome tips at Wax’s blog at Lifehack.

Have fun!

Happy writing, happy reading.

by Categories: On editing, Writing tipsTags: , , ,

Fun (I hope) stuff: some interviews with my characters

Hey, folks. I’m working a few different writing projects at once, so I’m running around like a freak at the moment. For those of you who are not familiar with my work, you can check the “books” section of my site here and the “stories” section to get a taste of it. I offer excerpts from my novels and a few freebie short stories. Sort of a “try before you buy” thing.

And, at the blogsite Women and Words, where I spend a lot of time (this month, we’re blogging the alphabet and tomorrow I’ll be posting the entry for S), I talk about the publishing business and about my work and some other things. So, with that in mind, I’d like to introduce you to a couple of my characters, who I had the good fortune of sitting down and chatting with. One, K.C. Fontero, is the main character in the first and third books of my New Mexico mystery series. The first is Land of Entrapment and the third is The Ties that Bind. Sage Crandall is K.C.’s love interest, but she has a rep as being a force unto herself. In a good way. 🙂

So here are the links to those interviews, for funsies.

K.C. Fontero

Sage Crandall

I do chats with my characters because it helps me work some stuff out with regard to that aspect of writing. So, for writers, give it a try and for readers, hope you find it at least interesting.

Happy writing, happy reading!

by Categories: Books, Inspiration, Writing tipsTags: , , 2 Comments

Secrets revealed…

Hi, kids!

Today is TMI day. Wait! Come back! No, I’m just going to tell you a bit about my own writing process. Sometimes people who read my stuff like to know how I write. That is, if I’m like a superstitious baseball player and I have to go through all kinds of rituals and stuff like that.

Um, no. Although I do have a few rituals, but not many. Anyway. So let’s get to it. Click it!

Continue reading →

by Categories: Inspiration, Writing tipsTags: , 2 Comments

Cool blog with some good writing tips

Hi, folks. Monday and it must be a writing tip day. Looks like a lot of other bloggers do that, too, and here’s Maria McKenzie with a really good one from Read and Write Romance at Blogspot:

AVOID PERFECTIONISM.

Here’s the link to her blog.

Using Anne Lamott’s points about avoiding perfectionism, McKenzie notes:

Being too tidy, according to Ms. Lamott, suggests that something is as good as it’s going to get. In a previous post here, not looking back when writing a manuscript was discussed.

The important thing is to finish. Plow ahead, make a mess! Don’t worry about every little detail or whether or not it’s polished enough. That comes later, at revision time.

Have fun with that first draft; avoiding perfectionism allows a really great story to unfold! Do you struggle with perfectionism? Thanks for visiting and have a great day!

So true. Thanks, Ms. McKenzie. And thanks, too, Ms. Lamott.

by Categories: Writing tipsTags: , , ,

Quickie Writer Tip

Hi, folks–

I find short stories really difficult to write. I don’t really consider myself that good at them, and it’s an art form I’d like to get a handle on. So I came across this blog today that provides some good fuel toward that goal:

Short Stories: 10 Tips for Creative Writers

Good stuff. Like, doing catchy first paragraphs. And emergency tips, like getting your theme nailed down ASAP. Oh, and developing characters (basically, you need to know way more about your character than you’ll use in the story). Includes tips on dialogue, point-of-view, and how to use setting and context.

So there you go. Get crackin’ on your short stories! (ditto for me)

Oh, and don’t forget the “Blog the Alphabet” tour is under way at Women and Words. Today’s letter is D!

Happy writing, happy reading!

by Categories: Writing tipsTags: , 2 Comments