50 Things I Learned about The Writing Life...

I had a milestone birthday this week. So in celebration of that, here are the 50 things I learned about the writing life...

1. Publishing is a business. The goal is to sell books.
2. Make sure that you're writing your next book.
3. Writing is a lot of work. The first few "sloppy" drafts need a lot of work.
4. Build relationships through your social media platform. They make a difference!
5. Set a blogging and social media schedule that works for you. These sites need care and feeding, but they shouldn't be a 24x7 job.
6. Everyone has an opinion. Comments and reviews can sting, but learn what you can from them and then move on.
7. Try to write something every day.
8. Keep a notebook or electronic notes of names and story ideas. You never know when you'll encounter something that'll work in your next book or story.
9. Look at your social media posts. Make sure that they're not all "buy my book."
10. Make sure that you share others' celebrations on your social media sites.
11. Writers have to network, market, and build their platforms. Just make sure you leave enough time for writing.
12. Collect email addresses at your events for your newsletter's mailing list. Get a clipboard and make sure you take it with you to signings.
13. Writing is often lonely. Find your tribe. Look for other authors or groups who will assist and support you. (I am so fortunate to have my Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia, Sisters in Crime, Guppies, and James River Writer friends.)
14. Find beta readers or a critique group to help you revise and edit your work.
15. Look for volunteer opportunities to give back to your community. It's also a great way to meet new people. The writing life is often solitary.
16. Build a street team or an advance team to help you with early marketing and reviews.
17. Volunteer to do guest blogs or interviews. It's a great way to keep your name in front of people.
18. Remind yourself that you do not have to do everything. There are lots of opportunities, but you can burn out if you're constantly on the go. Take care of yourself.
19. Keep one master calendar for all of your events and deadlines. It helps me stay organized.
20. There are going to be setbacks and disappointments. You need to persevere.
21. Learn from your mistakes. Make note of how you'd do it differently next time.
22. I try a lot of events and marketing ideas. If it doesn't work for me, I see what I can learn from it and move on.
23. Order bookmarks and postcards. Make sure you always have them with you.
24. Check out Canva. It's a great tool for websites and social media banners and post artwork. It's easy to use, and a lot of the backgrounds are free.
25. Make a list of the words you overuse. Then use your word processor to root them out of your manuscript.
26. Keep a chart or list of your characters and settings (especially if you write a series) to ensure you keep the details correct.
27. Take pictures at your events or on your adventures to share on your website or social media platforms.
28. Review your website from time to time to ensure your content and photos are current.
29. Check all of your links on your website and social media sites to verify they are correct.
30. Review your social media biographies or descriptions to ensure that they are current.
31. Make sure that you backup your computer files. It's devastating when you lose your work.
32. Make sure you keep your author headshot current. (People will comment if your picture is ten years old and no longer looks like you.)
33. Don't burn bridges. You never know who you'll encounter later.
34. Always be professional. Be on time and strive to meet all deadlines.
35. Most of my correspondence is done via email. I keep lots of folders to ensure I can find the email when I need it. I also add new contacts to my address book immediately, so I don't lose them.
36. Post a link to your blog to Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Facebook to drive traffic to your blog/website.
37. Read your work aloud to find issues with wording and dialog.
38. I create a Pinterest board for each of my stories/novels, so I have a visual of the setting, characters, and other story elements.
39. Print your manuscript and proofread line by line after each round of editing to catch issues.
40. When you are revising, check the last paragraph of each chapter. Make sure it compels the reader to keep reading and not find a stopping place.
41. Use your word processor's view feature to make your pages small (e.g. 25%). Look at each chapter to make sure the lengths are relatively similar. You don't want a 30-page chapter and then a 6-page one.
42. Get readers or writers to read your manuscript. You'll get a better critique than if you ask a friend or family member.
43. Don't rely on your word processor's spell or grammar checker. It's not always correct.
44. Keep all of your receipts and be diligent about tracking your mileage. You'll be glad when it's tax time.
45. Keep a box of books in the trunk of your car. I've encountered times when the bookseller couldn't get books in time for an event. Also, at several events, the bookseller sold out, so it was nice that I had some extras to provide on consignment.
46. Take time to celebrate your wins and successes.
47. I use Etsy to find book- and mystery-themed gifts that are easy to mail for give-aways.
48. Look to see if your neighborhood, work, club, or alumni association has a newsletter. If there's an announcements or celebrations section, submit your next book launch or release.
49. If you have a chance, participate in a Facebook hop. It's a lot of fun, and I met lots of new readers and fans.
50. Don't give up. The writing life is a challenge, and it's difficult sometimes, but it is worth it. I still squeal when that box of books arrives.

Beware of mystery author with a knife!

What Are Your Overused Words?

When I'm proofreading and editing my work, I often am blind to the overuse of some words. I can spot them in seconds in others' works, but not always in my own. So as part of my review, I've created a list of words that are my offenders, and I use Word's search feature to help me find them. When you do that first search, you will be amazed at the number of times they appear in your manuscript.

Here are my repeat offenders...

1. almost
2. appear
3. as is
4. begin
5. down
6. even
7. felt
8. few
9. got
10. just
11. like
12. nearly
13. only
14. quite
15. really
16. seem
17. so
18. stuff
19. that
20. then
21. thing
22. very
23. was

What would you add to the list?

Get Rid of the Blahs and Get Your Writing Life Organized

My living room and foyer look bare without all of the holiday decorations. It doesn't help that it's gray outside, and we're expecting a bunch of snow tonight. Winter is my fourth favorite season. It seems that January is the time that I start to count down to spring. It's just blah, and I want to hibernate.

You may be stuck inside, but there are lots of things you can do to get your writing life organized and kick start your creativity. Here are some ideas...

1. Clean off your desk. Get rid of the clutter, so you have a place to work.
2. After you clean up your desk, work on your electronic files. I bought an external hard drive, and it's where I store all of my archived photos. At the beginning of each year, I migrate last year's photos to free up space on my computer. And don't forget all the old photos on your phone.
3. Look at your blog, website, and social media sites. Do they need an update? It's a new year, and it's time for a new look. Nobody revisits a site with outdated content.
4. Look at your biography - especially on your social media sites. Is it current and consistent across your platform?
5. Organize your book marketing supplies. I designated shelves in my office closet. It's where my posters, flyers, bookmarks, prizes, and extra books live now. I'm all ready to go for my next event.
6. Make sure that you back up your electronic files regularly. It is devastating when you lose your work. There are lots of backup and storage options these days. Make an investment and ensure that your work is secure.
7. Look at your author photo. Is it current? It may be time for a new one. It surprises readers when you show up at an event, and you look fifteen years older than your photo.
8. Organize your calendar. I have way too many electronic calendars, and it was difficult to keep them all in synch. I bought a pocket calendar, and all my writing commitments go there.
9. Dig out an old project. We all have those files of unfinished work. Maybe it's time to give it a new life.

I hope you enjoy your weekend. Here in Central Virginia, we're expecting about eight inches of snow. It sounds like a writing weekend to me.

Confesssions of Binge Writer - A Style That Works for Me

It's the last day of 2016, and folks are getting their resolutions ready. I have a confession. I am a binge writer. I try very hard to write every day, but I don't always work on my current WIP (work in progress). I write on weekends, holidays, vacations, and during lunch. Life and my day job get in the way sometimes. I write something every day, but it's often blog posts, marketing materials, or guest blogs/interview questionnaires (or performance evaluations, executive summaries, or project proposals).

When I start a new short story or novel, I try to keep working on that project until I have a solid first draft. I start out as a plotter with an outline (that's often color-coded), then as I write, I turn into a pantser (one who writes by the seat of her pants). I tend to go where the story and characters take me.

I don't revise it until the first draft is completed. My friend Mary Burton calls this the "sloppy copy," and it is. I comb through a printed copy for plot and grammatical errors. I also look for other inconsistencies. When I'm done, I change the view in Microsoft Word to 25%, and I look at chapter lengths to make sure that none are too short or too long. Then I reread the last paragraph of each chapter to make sure it compels the reader to keep reading after her bedtime. I learned long ago that you don't want to provide the reader with a convenient stopping place. There needs to be a reason to turn the page.

After my third or fourth draft, I'm ready to submit it to my critique group. They're all mystery readers and writers. I admire the folks in this group who can submit fifty pages and continue to write the manuscript. I like to have the whole novel or story drafted before I submit it.

I then submit the manuscript to a private line editor. She also reads a lot of mysteries, so I appreciate her insight. When those revisions are done and I've checked it one last time, the work is ready for submission.

I've read a lot of "how to write" books and blogs over the years, and I know that I should write every day. I an envious of those who have a word count goal and stick to it. But I've come to the realization that I have to use the style and techniques that work for me. So for now, I write when I can. Sometimes, I take a break to network, learn new things, do marketing, or have an adventure. But even if I'm not writing, I find something interesting that I add to my idea file - bits of dialogue, character names, setting ideas, and interesting places to hide a body.

So figure out what your style is and what helps you meet your goals and deadlines. Other writers' ideas are great. Try them, but if they don't fit your style, try something else.

Are there any other binge writers out there? Happy writing and happy New Year!

What's in a Character Name?

Naming characters, even minor ones, takes some thought. There are lots of hidden meanings and information that can be transmitted by names. Here are eight things I've learned through the years about choosing monikers.

1. If you give random characters names with little or no significance, be sure that you don't over use the choices. I always end up with too many Bills, Bobs, and Mikes that I have to change during revisions.

2. I keep a character master list that's in alphabetical order. It's actually a Word table, and I add columns for each book in the series. I can track which names I used in what book. I can also easily see which characters return in later books. And it helps me locate names I've already used, so I don't have repeats.

3. It is often confusing to readers to have the same or similar names (even similar sounding ones) in the same work. My friend, Kathleen Mix, creates an alphabetical list of characters for each of her books. Her rule is that only one character gets a name that starts with a particular letter. (Example: A: Alice, B: Bob, C: Cherrie...)

4. I try to make sure that my names are age appropriate. If you Google ​popular baby names by year, you'll see the top names of each year. If a character is in her late 40s and American, Michelle, Jennifer, Heather, and Laurie are all good choices.

5. My friend likes to make all of her character names unusual and unique. She's had multiple editors ask her to change them. It's usually okay to have one unique name or spelling, but multiples often attract the attention of editors.

6. I name my minor characters after friends and family. Sometimes, I sneak in famous names from pop culture. My coworkers often find their names sprinkled through my books.

7. I like to pay homage to literary greats. My sleuth, Delanie Fitzgerald, is named after F. Scott Fitzgerald. Her firm is called Falcon Investigations. I named that after Dashiell Hammett's ​The Maltese Falcon.

8. I also Google names to see if the meaning fits the character that I'm describing. I look for connotations that the name has to make sure it fits my character.

Best wishes with your writing and your character names.

15 Things I Learned about Writing Short Stories from Art Taylor

I had the pleasure of hearing Art Taylor speak recently at our Sisters in Crime - Central Virginia meeting about crafting short stories. Here's what I learned.

1. Edgar Allan Poe is not only the father of the American mystery, but the father of the American short story.
2. For detective stories (whether it's a murder, caper, or puzzle), it all hinges on the clues.
3. Every word counts.
4. Character descriptions should be part of the single effect of the story.
5. The plot drives the detective story.
6. Think about what you can suggest without explicitly saying it.
7. Every story needs conflict. There should always be an escalation of conflict in the story.
8. Always up the ante. Shovel on more grief and conflict.
9. Check out he Art and Craft of Fiction by Michael Kardos and riting Fiction by Janet Burroway.
10. Narration is the stage direction and description is the scenery of the story.
11. Exposition is telling. It is a way to provide information, but it should be done in small bits. What does the reader need to know?
12. When you're revising your story, look at everything and ask, "Does this need to be here?"
13. Use jump cuts. (Jump the action to the next scene.) You don't have to describe every detail of every day.
14. Watch films and how the stories are plotted. This can help you with pacing your story.
15. Look at your draft. Can you cut the first and last paragraph? You should strive to start your story closer to the action.

27 Things I Learned about Writing at the James River Writers Conference

I had the pleasure of being a part of two panels at the recent James River Writers Conference. I also sat in on some other great sessions. Here's what I learned about writing...

1. Write first; edit later.
2. Practice. Practice. Practice. Keep writing - no matter what happens.
3. Your editorial voice and your writer voice have to be in harmony. It was recommended to just write during the first few drafts. Go back and fix things later.
4. Read your work out loud to find issues with your dialog and pacing.
5. You and your work are your brand.
6. Your brand is your promise to your readers. They expect a certain type and style of writing from you. That's why if you switch genres, many publishing houses want you to use a new name and develop a new brand.
7. Finding your own voice is key. It has to be your story.
8. Your job is the writing.
9. Know who your audience is.
10. You need to balance the creative and the business sides of your writing life.
11. Find your tribe - a group of authors who support each other.
12. Turn off the TV and write.
13. Writing should be your focus.
14. Take care of yourself.
15. If you're having trouble pacing your novel, take a screenwriting course or workshop. Screenwriting has a tight timeframe to work with, and pacing is key. It will also help with dialog.
16. Marketing and what's hot in the industry are lways changing. Do not write to what is currently in vogue. It will have changed by the time your work gets published.
17. Create a mailing list. This is the most valuable tool for an author.
18. Make sure that your blog is on your author website.
19. Be able to describe your book in an enticing way. Make sure you have practiced your elevator speech.
20. Publishing is a subjective industry.
21. While you're querying, make sure that you're working on your next book.
22. Make connections. They are important. Get to know bookstore owners, librarians, bloggers, and readers.
23. Market your book heavily during the presale period. Don't wait until its launch.
24. Don't over-extend yourself. Your job is to write. It's okay to say no.
25. Do your research.
26. Keep writing. Make sure that you're always working on your next book.
27. There is no magic secret to writing. You will know what works for you.

My Fan Girl Moment - I Met Nikki Giovanni

I had the pleasure this month to meet and hear Nikki Giovanni speak at the Library of Virginia's Literary Awards Luncheon. She received the well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award.

Nikki Giovanni is a Virginia and national treasure. Here's what I learned from her discussion.

• We all get old. Otherwise, we die young.
• Don't hold things in.
• Build a community. Relationships are important.
• She decided as a young girl to be happy. She controlled her outlook.
• She was friends with Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou. And her stories of friendship were priceless.
• She talked about her speeding tickets on I-81.
• Read something every day. (She likes the comic strip "Pickles.")
• You have to let people know you love them while you can.
• Keep writing!
• You have to write your story.