Three of My Writing Rules

More Writing Tips--some redundant.

by Jackie King

Rule 1: Don’t allow yourself to be intimidated. Books are written one word at a time, one sentence at a time, and one paragraph at a time. Each day remind yourself that all you have to do is write one sentence, and then one more, and then one more…

Rule 2: Give yourself permission to write a bad first draft. This removes the fear of failure. You can’t fail because it’s okay to write sucky pages. What’s hard is putting your heart on paper. Don’t listen to your internal monitor that says, “You can’t even spell.” (Like that makes any difference? Many successful writers can’t. That’s why God made dictionaries.)

Rule 3: Write every day. Determine to write even in chaos or tragedy, because life is seldom perfect. No matter how busy you are, you have a right to some time of your own; learn to recognize and grasp these moments. Keep either index cards or a notebook close at all times. (I prefer index cards and always carry some in my purse, pocket and car.

For instance: Modern men and women spend a huge amount of time standing in lines, waiting at the doctor’s office, or the dentist or hairdresser, or for a child at private lessons or activities. Apprehend these moments to make character sketches, brainstorm writing ideas, or write a scene or part of a scene. It’s possible to write a scene in 20 minutes. I know one author who wrote her second book waiting at the airport for her next plane.

Other stuff: Get a large collapsible file to keep all of your notes, character sketches, newspaper clippings, etc., together. Writing time shouldn’t be wasted searching for lost notes. Keep that file somewhere handy and drop each scrap of paper or index card into it.

Writing a book doesn’t always happen in an organized way. Writers are creative folk and there are different ways to begin. Many things can trigger a germ of an idea from which a novel can develop: an overheard snatch of conversation; a newspaper or magazine article; a scene flashing through your mind unexpectedly.

Never forget: Trust yourself and follow your intuition while you’re writing. This brings out that precious quality called “voice.”

Also:

• Discipline is primary. 
• Talent is secondary.
• Luck is nice, but a lack of luck can be overcome by persistence.
• Use your experiences plus your imagination.

The Most Important Rule:

THERE ARE NO RULES IN WRITING.

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Mind the gap by Bill Kirton

Last year I was one of the adjudicators at the Scottish Association of Writers’ Conference in Cumbernauld. I spent time with old friends, made some new ones, learned more things about writing and generally had a great time with plenty of laughs. Despite the fact that perhaps most of those present had submitted entries for the various writing categories and were, therefore, in competition with one another, winners were greeted warmly and there were no negative notes or anything other than friends being together and sharing their pleasure in a common interest – i.e. good writing. My brief was to assess entries in the General Article category. There were 61, all interesting and covering a wide range of subjects. Choosing first, second, third, three highly commendeds and three commendeds was hard because standards in all the submissions were high. I was pretty confident that I’d got the right winner, though; a fact that was confirmed when the writer read it aloud to the gathered delegates. Hearing it made it even better.

I had to give a short summary about the submissions. It included my usual mantra of:

• Trust your own voice.
• Read your work aloud as part of the editing process.
• Separate the functions of writer and editor.

But I also called attention to a couple of points which had let some of the entries down. Part of my ‘advice’ was about giving an argument (or a narrative) a tighter structure and a smoother flow, and I suggested that a way of achieving this was to focus on the gaps between sentences.

Here’s an example for you to try. I’ve taken some sentences from an exercise in the book Just Write, which I co-authored with my friend Kathleen McMillan. They’re separate, random notes on the topic of immigration which might form a paragraph in a broader article or essay. The exercise involves putting these notes in a sequence that makes sense and then, crucially, finding words and/or expressions to link them so that, rather than isolated observations on the topic, they cohere into a fluid, unified presentation, all contributing to a central argument. Leave the gaps unplugged or partially plugged and you have a jerky, scattered style which detracts from their impact. And those bits of linguistic mortar which hold the sentences together to give structure to your presentation can be as simple as ‘but’, ‘on the other hand’, ‘paradoxically’, ‘so’ and many others.

The notes are:

• For some Americans, the influx of different ethnicities appears to run counter to God’s intentions.
• Multi-culturalism is a feature of most societies in the modern world.
• It could be argued that America is a nation made up entirely of immigrants.
• Despite its ethnic diversity, the self-image of the USA seems to project the notion of a singular, predominantly ‘American’ culture.
• The USA prides itself on being able to absorb and embrace the most varied arrivals.

You can put them in any sequence you like and when you do, notice how, rather than the notes themselves, it’s your linking words and expressions that ease the reader in the direction you want her to follow. The observations have power and impact in isolation, but it’s the things in the gaps between them that harness and deliver that power. They bring them into closer relationships. Just read them aloud and feel how the flow and rhythms are improved. Don’t lose sight of the simple things.

How Now Purple Cow

A guest blog by Marja McGraw

It seems that something unexpected usually inspires a story for me. I won’t go into titles, for the most part, in the interest of space.

In my Sandi Webster series, stories were inspired by (get this) the Red Light District in Old Los Angeles, something that actually happened to me in another book, meeting an elderly female private investigator, a photo of a vintage, abandoned house in Nevada, and an admiration for Humphrey Bogart. Another was inspired by what used to be an ostrich ranch in Arizona. An ostrich ranch? It became a llama ranch in short order and included ghostly sightings and a house with character.

Back to the admiration for Humphrey Bogart, a book titled, The Bogey Man was so well received that I started another series involving a Bogart look-alike who wanted nothing more than to become a private investigator. In his case, not all of his dreams came true, but he, his wife and young son went on to become involved in crimes, although against his better judgment.

Chris Cross, known as the Bogey Man, started a forties-themed restaurant with his wife, Pamela. Right off the bat they discovered a body in a basement. That was the beginning of an interesting life. In one book, some Church Ladies tried his patience and skills when they wanted him to find a missing friend. Some Church Ladies in my own life inspired that one. Chris’s eccentric mother came to town and more adventures followed. Yes, I know a few eccentric people, and I should probably include myself in that category.

However, let me tell you that I never expected ceramic purple cows and a dream to inspire a story, but that’s exactly what happened. Many years ago my grandmother gave me some old ceramic figurines, including two purple cows. There should have been three, but apparently the bull was broken somewhere along the way. They were begging to be included in a book. I can’t explain it, but the idea simply wouldn’t let go of my imagination.

How could a writer use purple cows in a mystery? Well, if you add a dream about two close friends being spies, all kinds of doors can open.

After doing a lot of research about spies and spying, I found that only a minimal part of that research would fit the story. However, it gave me a feel for what things were like during the Cold War and what agents were up against. Maybe I’ve watched too much television, but it all seemed to fit together in a neat little story package.

Purple cows and elderly spies were a natural. Oh, and they needed just a little humor to pull it all together. If you include the young son and two Labrador retrievers in the mix, you’ve got some unusual puzzle pieces to fit together.

                                  ~~~

What could purple cows and elderly spies possibly have to do with each other?

When young Mikey Cross discovers ceramic purple cows, a ring, and investigative notes left by a mystery writer popular in the 1950s, his parents’ and grandparents’ lives are turned upside down.

Pamela and Chris Cross become involved in vintage intrigue with trepidation and more than a little angst when they find out there’s an elderly assassin on the prowl and the situation isn’t quite as vintage as they thought.

The dead just may come back as the living when it’s least expected.

~~~

I’ve tried to write all of my books so they can be read in any order. The only thing you might miss by reading them haphazardly would be the growth of the characters. That’s livable.

I enjoy being entertained when I read, and that’s what I’ve tried to do for readers of my books. I hope I can make you laugh, or at least chuckle, and in addition I hope the puzzles keep you guessing.

Hmm. I did write one book where the killer was fairly easy to spot. Ah, yes, there was an unexpected twist at the end. Always keep the reader guessing.

So, if you’re inspired as a reader, you might try How Now Purple Cow to see how purple cows and elderly spies fit together.

Jean, thank you so much for inviting me in today. I had a wonderful time talking about inspired stories.
_____________

Marja McGraw was born and raised in Southern California. She worked in both civil and criminal law, state transportation, and most recently for a city building department.  A resident and employee in California, Nevada, Oregon, Alaska and Arizona, she wrote a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Northern Nevada, and conducted a Writers’ Support Group in Northern Arizona. A past member of Sisters in Crime (SinC), she was also the Editor for the SinC-Internet Newsletter for a year and a half.

Marja has appeared on KOLO-TV in Reno, Nevada, and KLBC in Laughlin, Nevada, and various radio talk shows. She says that each of her mysteries contains a little humor, a little romance and a little murder! She and her husband now live in Arizona, where life is good.

20 years, 25 mysteries

by Carola

I had been writing Regencies for 15 years when my first mystery came out, in 1994.  The 25th comes out in June.  I've been working with the same editor at St Martin's Minotaur for TWENTY years, the longest of any of his authors!

Just in time for that anniversary, the first of the Daisy Dalrymple mysteries is being reissued in trade paperback with a brand-new cover, by the artist who has been doing the art for the series since the 12th, Die Laughing.

In comparison, here is the original hardcover, as well as the large print, audio, UK, Polish, and a couple of German translation covers:

original

large print

audio

first German edition

second German edition

UK

US paperback

Interesting to see what different artists make of the story--or at least of whatever they've been told about it! I think the new one is far and away the best, though I don't recall giving Daisy a red scarf. I've already been asked for suggestions for the reissue of the second in the series, The Winter Garden Mystery, and I can't wait to see it (not coming out till Dec. 2016 so I guess I'll have to wait!).

Death at Wentwater Court trade pb due out March 17th, available for preorder.

Putting Yourself in Your Book

By Chester Campbell

I'm often asked how much of myself gets into my books. Obviously an author's ideas fill his or her work, but not much of the writer's personal life winds up in the fictional world. My new book out shortly turns all of that around.

Hellbound is a suspense story that, except for the ending, takes place over a five-day period. The action during that time occurs in settings that mirror almost exactly a similar five days of my life back around 1995. The book's plot involves a busload of seniors from a suburban Nashville church who head down the Natchez Trace on a carefree journey to The Big Easy. By the fourth day they become aware that a Mafia hit squad has been playing a deadly game of tag with them.

Except for the Mafia angle and the hurricane and its aftermath, the bus journey to New Orleans follows exactly the trip my wife and I took with a group from City Road Chapel United Methodist Church in Madison, TN twenty years ago. It includes the tour of the French Quarter we took aboard a mule-drawn carriage, right down to some of the driver's spiel that I taped with a small recorder. I changed the name of the church and created new characters for the driver and bus passengers, although a few resemble actual people.

This book is more personal to me than anything I’ve written. It’s almost biographical in some respects. One of the two main characters, Marge Hunter, lived in East Nashville on Gartland Avenue in a house similar to the one in which I grew up. She attended East Nashville High School in the early years of World War II, as I did. She graduated from the University of Tennessee and moved to Madison after she was married. Same as me.

The seniors on the bus know one passenger as Bryce Reynolds, a retiree who lives not far from the church. He is really Pat Pagano, a successful Las Vegas stockbroker who was lured into handling investments for a New York crime family. After his two grown sons are killed in an attack by a rival gang and his wife succumbs to cancer, Pagano decimates the mob with his testimony in federal court. He disappears, then resurfaces in Nashville as Reynolds, a retired businessman from Oklahoma. But after years of searching, an old Mafia capo tracks Pagano to the church bus en route to New Orleans.

Hellbound is currently available for pre-order as an ebook for the Kindle at this link. It will be available shortly in paperback.

ChesterDCampbell.com
Mystery Mania blog

WHAT STORY TO WRITE NEXT?

by June Shaw

After you finish writing a book, do you always know what you'll write next?

If you're writing a series, you'll know who your main character are, and you might have an idea of where your plot will go. In fact, if you're like me, while creating one book in the series, you're getting plot points or new characters for the next one. I love when that happens.

But suppose you're done with that series and you want to start another. Or you're ready to write a single title. Do you know where you'll go with it?

Possibly like me, you have an idea file or a synopsis or opening scenes or characters for new works.

And possibly like you, you've really just gotten to the end of a stand alone and have revised until you can't look at it any longer, and then..... What?

I think I'll go out to eat tonight. I'll also catch up on a movie or two.

Soon--very soon, I promise--I will begin that diet, and I'll exercise. Oh, maybe I could go and start that right now. But nothing too strenuous so I'd be tired to go out tonight. I will, though, stop exercising my fingers right now, and I'll go and move my body.

Next time maybe I'll tell you how much weight I've lost: ) And what new book I've started on.

What about you? How do you handle ending one book and starting on another? Or starting to do exercise?

Falling in Love with Revision

by Jackie King

Do you love or hate revision? When I first started writing I hated what seemed to me a tedious and mostly unnecessary exercise. What could need correcting except perhaps, punctuation and spelling? I had stories to tell and a passion to write these tales from the depth of my heart. I did a fair job of it, too, I thought. I even managed to sell a couple of short stories. (This was some time ago and the short story market was good.)

My mother, an English teacher, also wrote and hung around with folks having the same inclination. One of her more successful writer friends, a local journalist named Vera Holding, dropped by with a draft she’d just banged out on her typewriter. (Those were the clickety-clackety, non-electrical machines that writers, businesses and students used for letters, manuscripts and such back in the dark ages.)

“Would you listen to my story and give me some feedback?” Vera asked, and we agreed, so she began to read aloud. I had seen this woman’s published work and expected smooth and polished prose, but that didn’t happen. Her story was so bad I couldn’t think of anything to suggest that might help. Her work was unsalable in my opinion. So I decided to be kind and lie. “That’s just fine,” I said, and smiled.

Mother, who knew the woman and her work much better than I did, made some suggestions to strengthen the plot, but nothing could save that story. Or so I thought. Her work had no plot; her characters were shallow and her writing seemed lifeless. But bless her heart, I thought, she’d not learn that from me.

The next day Vera came back and asked to read her revised story aloud. I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes, disappointed that I had to listen to that drivel a second time. But I was raised to be polite, so I folded my hands in my lap, crossed my ankles, and pasted a smile on my lips.

When Vera began to read something magical happened. The day before I’d been bored and even a little embarrassed by her writing. Now I was transfixed. Somehow this author had breathed life into her characters, their dialogue and the narration. The plot was still weak, but the protagonist was so compelling that I knew the story would sell. And it did.

That day I became a devotee to the power of revision. I also learned the difference between a wanna-be writer and a professional writer. Learning and applying good writing technique takes time and many, many hours of writing. But anyone who is willing to make the effort and to revise their work until its right, can master this skill.

Years have passed and revision is my favorite part of writing.