FIRST A FREEBIE ANNOUNCEMENT - Click this Amazon link from 12/31/13 through 1/3/14, for a freebie copy of my romantic suspense mystery, Killer Career, for downloading to kindle/pc/e-reader  http://www.amazon.com/Killer-Career-ebook/dp/B002PDOPPG AND NOW BACK TO OUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED POST -  This is a repeat of my original post here on November 10, 2008, but in my part of the country, it still applies. Maybe in yours as well. It happens often enough, but I still can't get used to it. I'm never ready when it comes. Dare I say that naughty, four letter word? SNOW@!# - Yikes, I've said it. My area of the Midwest gets hammered with that pesky stuff quite often, as evidenced by the photo to the left. Instead of looking on it as something evil, which is easy to do since it gets in my way when I want to drive or walk, I'm trying to think of it as an opportunity for better writing. Snow can be useful, that is, if it's included in a manuscript. When doing th...

Good writers ask, "What if?" Great writers ask, "Why?" More than any other detail in your story, readers are captivated by characters the most. They may forget the plot points, the setting, perhaps the ending. However, an unforgettable character will stay with them forever. A few examples: Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, Dr. Who, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Anne of Green Gables, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jack Reacher, Elizabeth Bennett, Jane Eyre, Bilbo Baggins. Boring characters rarely make history. There are many articles here at the BRP that explore the importance of characters. Here are links to a few: Creating Compelling Characters Characters in a Series Calling For Back-Up: Sidekicks and Henchmen Love Your Characters For more information on how to build believable characters, check out Story Building Blocks II: Crafting Believable Conflict and the Build A Cast Workbook . They apply the concept of personality types to building characters t...

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This post originally appeared at The Blood-Red Pencil on January 26, 2011, and since has been updated. Sadly, much of it still rings true for me! Killer Career's new 2013 cover I published my romantic suspense,  Killer Career , in August, 2009. When I was writing that  manuscript, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a four-day work week, which gave me some, but not a whole lot of free hours to write. With the advent of economic uncertainty, my four-day work week turned into five. I barely had time to market Killer Career, perform my day job, and make attempts to continue my work in progress. I'd try to get pages done while commuting, but as soon as I got into the story, it was time to get off the commuter train.  I also found other reasons for not completing my manuscript, such as books I'd rather read, or friends I'd like to converse with, while riding the train. When I got home, more often than not, I was too wiped out to do anythi...

Good writers compose sentences. Great writers craft language. One thing you will find plenty of on this blog is advice on how to edit your manuscript. Tight editing can make all the difference. It is important if you decide to submit to agents and editors. It is essential if you decide to go the independent route. Here are a few of my favorite posts on revision. Self-Editing One Step at a Time: How to Identify Dragging Narrative Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Fine-Tuning Sentence Structure Top Ten Things I Know About Editing Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Analyzing Sentences for Redundancy and Wordiness Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Cleaning Up Those Dialogue Tags I created Story Building Blocks III: The Revision Layers to collate all of the advice I had collected on how to revise my own work. This book will not turn you into a professional editor. It will, however, help you present the cleanest and tightest manuscript to your agent or editor. If you self-p...

Good writers compose sentences. Great writers craft language. One thing you will find plenty of on this blog is advice on how to edit your manuscript. Tight editing can make all the difference. It is important if you decide to submit to agents and editors. It is essential if you decide to go the independent route. Here are a few of my favorite posts on revision. Self-Editing One Step at a Time: How to Identify Dragging Narrative Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Fine-Tuning Sentence Structure Top Ten Things I Know About Editing Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Analyzing Sentences for Redundancy and Wordiness Self-Editing One Step at a Time: Cleaning Up Those Dialogue Tags I created Story Building Blocks III: The Revision Layers to collate all of the advice I had collected on how to revise my own work. This book will not turn you into a professional editor. It will, however, help you present the cleanest and tightest manuscript to your agent or editor. If you self-pub...

This post first ran on Thursday, April 28, 2011 Okay, maybe I’m too picky when I read. My husband keeps telling me to quit reading like an editor and just read to enjoy the book. And sometimes that works. Sometimes I do get so caught up in the story that I overlook little mistakes that would otherwise jerk me out of the story. But when I first start a book and haven’t yet connected to the character or the plot, those little mistakes keep prickling me like the thorns on my blackberry bushes. For instance, we really have to stop and think about the words we are using and what they mean or convey, especially the misuse of reflexive pronouns. “I smiled in spite of myself.”  What exactly does that mean? Perhaps it would be better to write, “I smiled, despite my glum mood.” Inappropriate sensory descriptions can also be a problem. “My own voice sounded dank…” Dank is a smell. It can’t be heard.  “Soft-smelling hair.” Soft is a touch, not an odor. A common dialogue attribut...

This post first ran on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 A while back, I had the pleasure of attending a workshop given by best selling romance author, Linda Howard . While the focus of the workshop was the Twelve Steps to Intimacy, I've already done a number of blog posts on that topic, (you can read a summary here ) Most of my books are romantic suspense, which puts them under the romance umbrella, which means the majority of my audience is female. I know there's an XY reader contingent of this blog, so any feedback from them is welcome. I write books from the points of view of both men and women. Obviously, it's easier to write "female" but I do try very hard to make sure my men are actually "men" and, as the title of this blog suggests, not women with chest hair. One of the topics Linda Howard covered was writing details. She pointed out that this was one place where men are really different from women. Women write detail in sex scenes, while men...

This post first ran on Sunday, October 19, 2008 Any method of writing is valid if it produces something worth reading. I am a writer who outlines meticulously. But I do know that all of the different methods can work really well for the type of writer that they suit. Call it what you will - pantsing versus plotting, freewriting versus crafted writing, plus the third option (a bit of both: start with the beginning and end in mind, freewrite until you get stuck then plot your way out of it) - all these methods work somewhere for someone. Once you've figured out how you need to write to suit your personality, you've got it made. And when you do reach that point, do not let the so-called pros convince you that you're doing it wrong. Stephen King has said some nasty things in the past about writers who outline before they write. He's softened his tone, though, in the last twenty years. But I'm going to poke back, anyway, with the comment that many of Stephen King...

This post first ran on Monday, June 22, 2009 Excerpt: …That day she dined early, at six, and talked to William as he stood behind her chair, bidding him close the door to visitors in future. “You see, William,” she said, “I came to Navron to avoid people, to be alone. My mood is to play the hermit, while I am here.” “Yes, my lady,” he said, “I made a mistake about this afternoon. It shall not occur again. You shall enjoy your solitude, and make good your escape.” “Escape?” she said. “Yes, my lady,” he said, “I have rather gathered that is why you are here. You are a fugitive from your London self, and Navron is your sanctuary.” She was silent a minute, astonished, a little dismayed, and then: “You have uncanny intuition, William,” she said, “where does it come from?” “My late master talked to me long and often, my lady,” he said; “many of my ideas and much of my philosophy are borrowed from him. I have made a practice of observing people, even as he does. And I rather t...

This post first ran on Tuesday, July 7, 2009 Because top-notch editing is a crucial element in raising the quality bar on independently published books, I modify my writing manual to train editors. Just as all writers are not created equal, neither are editors. Nor do we come to the table with the same training, experience, and education. However, it’s reasonable to assume that all editors started out as readers, and many of us are also writers. The purpose of my manual is to level the playing field, as the cliché goes, and create a win-win-win for writer, editor, and reader. Taking the step from reader/writer to editor requires a significant degree of thought adjustment and introspection. How do we feel about grammar rules? Do they take on new meaning when we learn that they can be broken without garnering a big red X from the English teacher? Can we accept that not only can they be broken, but they sometimes should be broken? Consider this, for example: Those fragments that dr...

This post first ran on Friday, March 16, 2012 When it comes to working methods, what kind of a writer are you ? Broadly speaking, writers fall into one of two basic categories.  On the one hand, there are the Map-makers.  On the other, there are the Trail-blazers. Map-maker Method: The Map-Maker Method is a highly disciplined way of writing. A Map-maker does a lot of thinking up front: you plot the central story arc from start to finish.  At the same time you assemble a body of support material:  character profiles, narrative timelines, maps, etc., so that when you finally sit down to write, you know how the story is going to end. Using the Map-maker Method has the following advantages: Working the bugs out of the plot in advance helps you avoid plot-holes and narrative inconsistencies during the writing process.  Having a comprehensive overview of the story enables you to recognise and exploit opportunities to play with foreshadowing, ...

This post first ran on Thursday, May 16, 2013 In previous posts, we discussed choosing a central question and a story skeleton, also known as genre. We have bent and twisted a premise many different ways. What happens next? That depends on whether you are a pantser or a planner. Developing a conflict outline can keep you from getting mired in the middle. If you are allergic to outlining, you can wait until the end of the rough draft to examine each scene and identify the type of conflict it addresses. The four layer method I use is simply a new way of looking at conflict in the story. It ensures that every scene is earning its page time and is placed in an order that has logical “cause and effect.” First chapters are easy for most writers. The inciting event occurs. The protagonist makes an important decision or takes an irrevocable action. The antagonist knows of this decision/action and is prepared to oppose him. Then the writer loses momentum or doesn't know wher...

This post originally appeared here at The Blood-Red Pencil on January 4, 2010, but still applies, although I've since retired from my day job. As I was walking to work in Downtown Chicago and doing my best to bypass the slippery remnants of the latest snowfall, I realized how distance can be relative. Here are a few examples: 1. Temperature – What would ordinarily be a short walk seems endless on an extremely hot or cold day. Even a drive is torture, if the heat or air conditioning in the car won't function when needed. 2. Terrain – A few steps can take forever if you're trying to negotiate an icy patch. I know this for a fact. (grin) Swimming a few feet against the current can seem like a mile. 3. Injury or Illness – If you’ve hurt your hip, leg, foot, ankle, etc., walking a short distance can be time consuming. If you’ve injured your shoulder, arm or hand, lifting that member or moving it a few inches can be a nightmare. It may seem like traveling to the end of...

We are having fun here at BRP revisiting some older, popular posts. This one was originally published in March of 2009, about the time we decided it would be fun to have a little humor now and then. Did you know how beneficial it is to laugh or smile every day? That releases a whole lot of endorphins, so let some of yours go. ----- Years ago when I first started writing, my children were all young and the formidable task of "writing around them" was daunting. I remember one time in particular when one of my two-year-old twins, Danielle, known lovingly as Chicky, had just settled down beside me to help or hinder my writing. That depended totally on one's viewpoint. She contributed a few words of dialogue consisting mainly of a few well-placed “Mommys,” spiced with a few unintelligible words of praise or criticism. Also, dependent on POV. When she left the room, I breathed a sigh of relief and raced to get a few thoughts on paper before she came back....

In today's world, credentials are king, marketability (your ability to make people believe in your product) comes a close second, and publication completes the trifecta. With less than two months to go until The Art of Falling releases, I am in the throes of answering interview questions for my blog tour. Now that I have a book coming out, it’s as if I’ve tripped over a line of wisdom, and people want to know what I have to say. But advance degrees and marketing savvy are artificial qualifications as concerns gaining wisdom. Wisdom comes from the school of hard knocks, when life pushes you up against a wall and says, "this is NOT working!" Since this is the place we send our characters to see what they are made of, quotes arise from our stories as our characters fight towards hard-won wisdom. People love such quotes, that they can print out and paste on their wall. Just look at the number of “highlighters” that litter the pages of your Kindle. Here’s one from Rol...

This post first ran on Tuesday, November 15, 2011. Have you ever noticed the rhythm of an author's writing? There's something about the "rule of three" that seems ingrained in us as human beings, from the Three Little Pigs, the Three Stooges, to the Third Time's the Charm. (Did you notice the use of three examples?) When writing, giving three examples of things seems to make the narrative flow better. We'll often list three things a character does or says. Somehow, it doesn't feel as "right" with more or less. The three-act structure is the basis for plays and writing books. Repetition helps readers remember. Things presented in threes just seem to stick with us: Faith, Hope. and Charity. Winken, Blinken, and Nod. Blood, Sweat and Tears. Stop, Look and Listen. Stop, Drop and Roll. How many more can you name? Dozens I'm sure. Here are some examples of using the rule of three in writing fiction: He took off his boots, sank onto the ...

To plot or not to plot, ah, that is a thorny question. There is no right or wrong answer. If you prefer to sit down and wait for the muses to visit, what you end up with as a first draft may need some reverse engineering. If you plot first then write, the story may change and your first draft is dramatically different than the plan you started with. Both are perfectly acceptable, as is any method in between. The important part is to keep writing, growing your craft, and enjoying it. Over the years, our contributors have weighed in on the debate: Pantsing Versus Plotting Types of Writers Layering Conflict For more information about the layering method, check out Story Building Blocks I: The Four Layers of Conflic t, which is available in print and e-book versions. It would make a terrific addition to your Christmas wish list or a gift for other writers in your life. Diana Hurwitz  is the author of  Story Building Blocks: The Four Layers of Con...

This post, originally published on February 25, 2011, is chock full of advice that will ensure that you are communicating well with your readers.  As your reader engages with the first of your 100,000 words, she wonders where to look for meaning. She seeks clues that will orient her. And she is counting on you as author to point the way toward the material that is most important. First let me say this: all your words should be important. But while all words must serve a function, you’ll want some information or images to linger. Here are some of the tools authors use to throw a spotlight on the most important info, with some links to previous BRP posts that explore these techniques further: Word count The more words you devote to a character or situation, the more important the reader will expect it to be. This is as true for a paragraph as it is a whole book. A telling detail Whether an anachronism or the only detail offered, one detail made prominent will stick in t...