by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Cozy mysteries offer a very quiet approach to death for mystery readers. The crimes are never described in gory detail. The methods aren’t ordinarily very grim (I’ve [...]
- Home
- /
- Archives: Uncategorized
by Hank Quense, @hanque99 It may seem odd, but when starting a new non-fiction book project my initial step is to open a mind-mapping program and begin working on the Table of Contents. I [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig As hard as it is for me to believe it, tomorrow marks 14 years since I started blogging. It really doesn’t seem that long when I think [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig From time to time, everyone hits a speed bump in their manuscript. You might have been sailing through, easy as anything. Then, suddenly, you’ve come to a screeching [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig After writing about fifty cozy mysteries, I think I’ve used just about every story opener possible. I’ve opened with the dead body a few times. Sometimes I’ve had [...]
By Debbie De Louise (author of the Cobble Cove and Buttercup Bend cozy mysteries), @Deblibrarian Cozy mysteries are popular among those who prefer less graphic books with clean language and quirky characters. [...]
by Nicholas Rubright Writing a work of fiction is often more of a marathon than a sprint, more of a journey than a destination. The following exercises are designed to develop your creative [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I promise I’m not trying to drag any writers over to the dark side with me. :) I was quite anti-outline myself at the start of my writing [...]
by Jodé Millman, @worldseats As a lawyer, who is also a writer and creator of The Writer’s Law School, I sometimes believe my superpower lies in spotlighting legal issues that simmer beneath [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Unless you’re writing a memoir or a family history, chances are that you’re not writing for your family. Nor, unless your friends are eager readers of your genre, [...]
by Colleen M. Story, @colleen_m_story Difficult subjects. We’d all rather avoid them. It’s easier to write about good things happening to our characters. Falling in love. Getting a new job. Striking out on [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I’ve mentioned before (in 2019) that it’s very helpful for outliners to hold onto their outlines instead of trashing them. I find them very helpful cheat-sheets when I’m [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Apologies in advance for the dry topic. :) But I thought I’d share my thoughts on organizing writing-related computer files, which has helped save me time and keep [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig It’s good to be back from my little sabbatical. Actually, “sabbatical” makes it sound like a peaceful time of reflection, which it decidedly was not, ha. During my [...]
by Alex J. Cavanaugh, @AlexJCavanaugh Sometimes writers take a break. Maybe it’s a short break for a vacation or a month just to focus on other things for a while. On occasion, they [...]
by Joylene Butler, @cluculzwriter Today, we have a collection of helpful tips for writers from thriller writer Joylene Butler: 3 tips for successful self-publishing Write a compelling story, then rely on professional editing [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Writing in series can be rewarding for writers and fun for readers, too. For writers, there’s often not quite as much set-up work involved because main, recurring characters [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Keeping a timeline straight in a mystery can be a challenge. You have suspects giving alibis, victims being murdered, and other assorted chaos. But timeline continuity is important [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig As if writing a book wasn’t hard enough, writers are then faced with the prospect of promoting it. Since any writers are introverts, this is a pretty [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Working with a cover designer can be a great experience. When I was traditionally published, this was part of the process that I never really got to be [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Starting out as a writer can be really tough–there’s so much information out there that it’s easy to get overwhelmed…especially if you’re hoping to be writing for a [...]
by Hank Quense, @hanque99 I’ve written and published a number of books, both fiction and non-fiction, both print and ebook. All of these were text-based, sometimes with a few graphic files scattered about. Recently, [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Happy 2022! Today, I’m talking about plans and goals. For ages, I just set a mid-year goal instead of a New Year goal. June was a better time [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig There’s nothing so awful as being pulled out of a great story by reading a typo. Unless, of course, you’re the author of the story and a reader [...]
by Joanna Fitzpatrick, @Fitzpatrick_jo The long and short of it is: how do you come up with a compelling 5.5″ by 8.5″ book cover suitable for a bookstore window (if you get [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig I started reading the cozy mystery master Agatha Christie at a very impressionable age and loved the construction of her books and the characters she created. There were [...]
by Hank Quense, @hanque99 Self-publishing a book is a complex project. It gets even more complex when you add in the necessary pre-publication marketing tasks. The best way to proceed with a project like [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig Facebook has always been a platform that I’ve struggled with. I rarely use my personal account, but I do maintain my professional account. I know I have a lot [...]
By Jessica Thompson, @jessicathauthor I stumbled across the concept of subverting expectations while studying the movie Knives Out. This movie felt so revolutionary and perfect, and digging deeper, I found the internet a-buzz [...]
by Angela Ackerman, @AngelaAckerman A common writing misconception is that conflict automatically means reader engagement. After all, story experts are always ringing the conflict bell (me included), telling writers to include lots of [...]
Page [tcb_pagination_current_page] of [tcb_pagination_total_pages]