by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com It’s tempting to look at successful books in your genre and try to write something similar. But the thing that actually makes readers remember your work isn’t how [...]
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by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Most writers default to the obvious emotions—happiness, sadness, anger, fear. But readers connect more deeply with stories that explore the subtle, complex feelings that fill real life. [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com It’s so easy to get stuck in revision limbo, convincing yourself the manuscript needs just one more pass. But sometimes all that extra polishing actually makes things worse [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com When you’re deep in a manuscript, every word feels precious and every plot decision seems brilliant. This closeness to your work makes writing possible, but it also makes [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Tropes get a bad rap, but they’re actually storytelling shortcuts that readers understand instinctively. The problem isn’t using tropes—it’s using them lazily. When you add fresh details and [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Characters who stumble through scenes without clear intentions leave readers feeling equally lost. When your protagonist just “goes with the flow” or reacts to whatever happens next, [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Perfect protagonists bore readers. Characters with rough edges and realistic problems create the memorable personalities that readers think about long after finishing your book. Give Them Believable Contradictions [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig We’ve all read mysteries where a thunderstorm conveniently knocks out the power just as the sleuth is about to make a breakthrough, or where fog rolls in to create [...]
by Loretta Bushell The most beloved fictional characters aren’t faultless heroes. They’re complex characters who feel real — they have flaws, quirks, likes, and dislikes. Many authors turn to handpicked development questions to [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Complex murder schemes might seem clever, but they often backfire with readers who prefer believable motives and realistic methods. The best mysteries feel like they could actually happen. [...]
by Angela Ackerman Fear is one of the most powerful emotions we can write about. When readers sense a character is experiencing it, they practically lean in, waiting to see what will happen [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Long setting descriptions make readers’ eyes glaze over. Mine do, too. Usually I’ll skim settings as a reader. The key is to keeping reader attention is weaving essential [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Self-editing can’t replace professional editing, but it can make your manuscript stronger before it reaches your editor. Also, the less time your editor spends with your manuscript, the [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Timeline errors can derail even the best mysteries. When your sleuth interviews a suspect on Tuesday but refers to it happening on Wednesday two chapters later, readers notice. [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Good dialogue does a lot of work at once; it reveals character, moves the plot forward, and keeps readers turning pages. When conversations go flat, readers start skimming [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com We’ve all written flat characters before. You know, the helpful librarian who exists only to hand over a crucial book, the grumpy neighbor who complains on cue. [...]
by Shannon Symonds ,@shannonsymonds7 I love creating a killer, even if he is a cozy killer. I believe the why behind your bad guy can make or break your story. To show you how [...]
By Nina Amir It would be easy to claim that most books written with the intention of creating change fall into nonfiction genres. However, every fiction book has the potential to move [...]
by Elizabeth Spann Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Filter words sneak into your writing and create distance between readers and your story, turning vivid scenes into secondhand reports that readers experience from the outside looking in. [...]
by Hank Quense, @hanque99 If you’re learning to write fictional stories, no matter what genre, one of the worst things you can do is use AI to help write the stories or to develop [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com The last thing we want for our books is to have readers abandoning them halfway through. I’ll admit that, as a reader, if a book hasn’t grabbed me [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Nothing kills reader enjoyment faster than confusion. We lose readers when readers have to stop and figure out who’s talking, where they are, or what just happened. [...]
by DiAnn Mills, @diannmills Throughout time, the world has provided us with real people who attempted feats of courage to survive the odds against them. Those heroes and heroines tapped into mental, [...]
by Michele Pariza Wacek Are you one of the many cozy mystery authors who would rather write another book than write your Amazon book blurb? You’re definitely not alone. On the one hand, [...]
by Nick Bailey It was a dark and stormy night… reading this opening, you might be tempted to roll your eyes. But there’s a reason the phrase has endured long enough to become [...]
Today I’m over at the Insecure Writer’s Support Group with a post on plot devices. When done wrong, they drive me crazy. But when they’re done right, they can make a story very [...]
by Jenna Maeson The paranormal is a big deal in books right now. Like a really big deal. And it seems to be infiltrating all genres, even the ones that don’t usually include [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com It’s a scenario every writer dreads: you’ve sent your manuscript to several beta readers, and their feedback arrives with contradictions that leave you more confused than before. One [...]
by Nick Bailey @ReedsyHQ Every writer has that moment when they wonder: what would happen if I tried something completely different? Whether it’s Stephen King’s pivot to alternate history with 11/22/63, or Cormac [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig If you’ve written cozy mysteries (or read them) for any length of time, you’ve probably encountered this common character dynamic: your amateur sleuth is busily investigating a murder while [...]
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