Anyone game?

Here’s what you do:  I give you three simple facts. You spit them out in an opening paragraph that can be a) funny, b) scary, c) deep.

Ready?

1) Tim

2) 16 years old

3) Due to a recent accident, Tim is unable to walk.

~Elizabeth

That said, I do have a general plot–which sewing circle member will be involved, who the crime affects, who the murderer is, who the victim is, why it happened, why others are viable suspects, and how it wraps up in the end.

Once I know those things, I step back and let the characters start guiding me through the book (sounds weird, I know). Any “outlining” I do is in the form of bullet points like this very crude example from REAP WHAT YOU SEW:

Chapter One

*Introduce Annabelle and make reader and Tori aware of her “problem.”
*Introduce notion of movie being shot in Sweet Briar.
*Set up conflict (Leona out for female lead’s role).

By bullet-pointing my way through each chapter like this, I know the major things I need to hit in each chapter but allow myself and my characters the opportunity to fill in around these points with their flavor.

Sometimes a chapter might look like this:

*Murderer appears in scene (physically or verbally)
*Red herring # 1 placed

When I get to that chapter (and provided nothing has changed during the writing or previous chapters to warrant one here) I know I need to work those two points in, but I do it within the framework of a sewing circle meeting, or a date with Tori and Milo, or an event at the library, etc.

So that’s how I do it. And that’s exactly the kind of things I’ll be working on the next few weeks as I prepare to write Sewing Circle # 8 while simultaneously working on some editing projects. This overall plotting and chapter-by-chapter bullet pointing process normally takes me a few days when it is my only focus.

Any questions?

~Elizabeth
*Have a few of the major players in this opening scene

*

Every year, cozy and traditional mystery fans (cozy = no gore) gather in the D.C. area to celebrate the genre. Fans come from all over the country to sit in on panel discussions with their favorite authors. There are book signings, meet and greets, the annual Agatha Awards banquet, etc. As a writer there are also industry events (agent and publisher dinners/meetings). It’s the place to connect with your readers and to hang out with folks who do the same thing you do every day.

It’s busy. It’s crazy. And it’s a whole lot of fun.

Last year, I didn’t attend, but I’ve attended a handful of these since my first book was published in 2005. Since that time, I’ve met tons of amazing readers (so many I can’t wait to see this year!), been nominted for an Agatha (at the 2006 Malice), and met my personal mystery-writing inspiration–Mary Higgins Clark.

So it’s a good time. A very good time.

I will post pictures when I return (includng the loot one I mentioned yesterday–but forgot to take before securing everything in my car).  In the meantime, there will be a regular Bits & Pieces tomorrow so be sure to come back!  If I have wi-fi at the hotel, I’ll be checking in!

~Elizabeth

* I’m in the home stretch with the manuscript for Amish # 2 (which I’ve yet to title). I’m loving the story and the way it’s come together over the past two months. My goal is to have it finished on Tuesday so I can have a solid week for edits.

* I just turned in line edits for my upcoming romance, STORYBOOK DAD. The next time I see this story will be when my author copies arrive on my doorstep in mid-September. All that’s left between now and then is seeing the cover for the first time (which should happen mid-way through summer).

*Once I turn in the completed manuscript for Amish # 2, I turn my focus toward edits for Sewing Circle #7 (LET IT SEW, November 6th). I’ll have about a week to get that book re-read and tweaked and then it’s back to that editor so I can get to work on writing Sewing Circle # 8.  Having just read through # 7 when I sit down to write will make things a lot easier in terms of. a) getting back into the heads of the sewing circle members and b) getting my own head out of the world I’ve created in my Amish series.

*Once I start actively writing # 8, I’ll divide my day between writing (from 8-noon) and editing my old Jenkins & Burns books (from noon-2:30) in preparation for their late summer eb00k release.

*And finally, when I look beyond August 1st (and the deadline for # 8), I see a two-and-a-half month window where I’ll be diving into a women’s fiction project that’s been begging for my attention before getting back to Amish # 3 and Sewing Circle # 9.

So that’s where I’m at.

Oh, and come late next week, I’ll be in Bethesda, MD for the annual Malice Domestic Mystery Conference. Can’t wait!

~Elizabeth

Which, of course, made me laugh. Not because the question was silly (I imagine  it could actually happen as I get deeper into the Amish Mysteries), but because the concept is a hoot.

I mean, can you imagine Leona Elkin showing up in an Amish community? Or An Amish man (who, if you think about it, kinda wears a uniform of sorts) suddenly attending a sewing circle meeting? I can almost hear Leona now… LOL!!!

So here’s my question for all of you. Think of two series you enjoy (different authors is fine) and tell us of a character cross over that would have you laughing out loud.

~Elizabeth

As everyone knows, the information found on a driver’s license is rather superficial. Name, hair color, eye color, height, address. It gives you the shell, but tells you nothing of what’s inside.

So here’s some shell stuff about a character I’ve made up. It’s up to you to tell us what’s inside (be funny, be creative, it’s up to you). But the more you play off each other’s details, the more potential for fun.

Morris Schumacker
1165 Hillside Drive
Sunnytown, USA
Hair color: Brown
Eye color: Hazel
Height:  6’0”

Go!

~Elizabeth

Finding the place to “start” your book isn’t always easy because when you present a character,  he or she has history (as in backstory) that may or may not be relevant to the story you are telling. If it’s relevant, we don’t need it. If it is relevant we still don’t need it thrown at us in a big lump. Writers who do throw it in a lump, kill the pacing of the story and risk losing their readers before the “good stuff” ever comes.

Here’s an example.  Let’s say you’re writing a suspense novel with a woman as your lead. Perhaps she’s a vigilante of sorts regarding abused kids. It’s the reason she’s relentless about tracking down a pedophile. The motivation behind this passion? She was abused, herself, as a child OR perhaps her own child from ten years earlier was and that child was killed.  Either reason makes a powerful motive for her choices in the here and now and they are important (builds empathy for her as a character, making the reader cheer louder when she wins in the end).

But does the book need to open with her as a kid? Does it need to open with her being a sad parent? No. That stuff can be woven in along the way, building your character and the reader’s feelings for your character. By weaving, you layer.  Shove that backstory down your reader’s throat from the beginning and it’s too much.

Think about it. You meet someone new who is sick. The first thing they launch at you is their health issues. Turn off? Maybe. Now take that same person and meet them…talk about your kids…your jobs…regular stuff. And then find out about the person’s health issues. You care more, don’t you? Well, it’s the same with a book.

Layer.
Layer.
Layer.

A ton of butterscotch sauce on the top of an icecream is great, but once that’s all gone and you’re into the middle of your sundae–it’s just regular icecream.  Layer the sauce along the way and the whole thing is good.

So your starting point is not backstory. Your starting point is now. Maybe the story opens with the woman flipping channels on her tv and hears a report about a little kid who has gone missing. Or maybe, even better, the story opens with her getting bumped in a park by a guy who has a kid with him–a sleeping kid that, upon closer inspection, appears drugged perhaps. It sets off warning bells. You start the book in a place that feels real, where your scene and tone get be set, while grabbing the reader into the story or making them curious or whatever.

Make sense?

Any questions?

~Elizabeth

*If you didn’t catch yesterday’s post, or even all the comments…scroll down and check it out. Fun!

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk about how. As in, how (and where) to get ideas. My advice? Stay away from the “my life” stories. So many people I meet along the way think their lives would make great books. And maybe they would. But it’s the rare person who truly has a book-worthy life.

So, this means you need to find something to write about. Assuming you’re writing fiction, the “finding” is half the fun. Truly.

Start listening. Really listening. Listen to what, you ask? Conversations at the next table in a restaurant, cell phone calls on the train, newsy things on the radio, etc. If something intrigues you, listen harder.

Then, start thinking. And plotting.  Who is the person on the phone fighting with and why? Why does the one person keep glancing over their shoulder like they’re nervous? The elderly woman dug up what in their backyard?

Don’t have the real answers? Make some up.

Maybe he’s fighting with his boss…or an old college friend who sold him out with a friend or a colleage (sold him out in what regard and why, being the next line of questions).

Maybe the person keeps glancing over their shoulder because they did something awful and they can’t shake the feeling that someone was watching (what did they do and who was watching?)

Maybe the elderly woman was planting a garden and found a skull. Or a suitcase with a million bucks (where’d the money come from, why did someone bury it, was the skull that of a person who died naturally or some other way?).

Each time you come up with your answer, you ask yourself another set of questions (who? what? when? where? why?). Come across a sticking point? Toss it out at dinner with your friends or family and see what they come up with. Maybe you’ll like what they say…or maybe it will serve as a springboard you didn’t see on your own at first. Either way, though, this part of the brainstorming process is always fun.

Jot notes. Draw it out. Just do something to keep your ideas in order.

Next week, I’ll talk about finding your starting point.

Questions so far?

~Elizabeth

“I’ve always wanted to write a book.”

Honestly, if I had a dollar for every person who has said that along the way, I’d be doing pretty well. But, see, here’s the thing. If you want to write a book, write one. Because like everything else in life, talk is cheap. Or, to go the route of the trite phrase: actions speak louder than words.

So how do writers do it? How have some of us “written a book” while others merely talk about it?

Well, we write. We write in the mornings, we write in the evenings, we write on the weekends, we write on vacations, etc.

Now, notice I didn’t say, we write when we have a chance. Because that is a key difference between one who “writes” and one who “wants to write.”

Yes, people’s lives are busy. But if you want to write, you make the time. My first (and my second and my third) book was written in twenty minute spurts while my kids (whom I spent every waking hour interacting with–and interacting doesn’t mean planting them in front of the television) entertained themselves looking at books or exploring their toys. When they grew tired of what they were doing, I stopped writing.

That first book took me nearly five years to write. But I made it happen.

When I wrote the first Southern Sewing Circle book I was a single mom working five different jobs (Borders, two different teaching gigs, free lance business writing and, of course, my fiction writing). And I worked all those jobs in such a way that I was still home with my kids after school and all but one evening per week. Toss in the fact I was in the early stages of my M.S. diagnosis at that point and, well, making the time to write wasn’t always easy. But I made it happen.

I’m not writing this post as a lecture. I’m writing it in the hopes of motivating anyone out there who may “want to write a book.”

Not sure where to carve out the time? Think. Is there a thirty minute span where you tend to veg? Or watch a television program you really don’t need to watch? Or a time when you’re sitting in your car waiting for a kid to come out of dance or baseball or whatever? If so, you just found your time.

Seriously.

Thirty minutes a day is better than no minutes a day. And thirty minutes a day will have you actually writing your book instead of simply talking about it.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

~Elizabeth

Write the opening paragraph of a story, setting the scene in regards to whatever season you choose. Be descriptive, be funny, be whatever you want to be. Just write it…and post it in the comments.

~Elizabeth