by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Every so often a writer asks me whether their book is really a cozy mystery. It’s a fair question, since crime fiction covers a lot of ground. Knowing [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig The best transitions are the ones readers never notice. They carry readers from one scene to the next, and it’s easy to overlook them until one goes wrong. Linking [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com Clichéd scares are everywhere: racing hearts, creaking floorboards, things that go bump in the night. The best fear tends to come from somewhere quieter and more specific than [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com I had a small moment of panic when drafting my latest mystery. It occurred to me that sharp readers might figure out who the killer had really meant [...]
by Kelsie Oshinsky Even when you think you have the perfect idea for a story, actually starting to write — and seeing the idea through to a finished novel — can be a [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com I’ve written a lot of murder victims over the years, and most of them weren’t particularly nice people. In a cozy mystery, an unlikeable victim means plenty of [...]
by Nick Bailey 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 McCarthy’s [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig I was speaking at a writers’ guild meeting in May when a question from the audience stuck with me. A woman shared that she’d completed a mystery novel two [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig I often sense a lot of anxiety for writers about promo and having an online presence. Many feel overwhelmed by the idea of trying to be everywhere at once—blogging, [...]
by Mike Martin Note from Elizabeth: Mike Martin is a regular contributor here and a wonderful mystery writer. He’s back today with news of an anthology that sounds like a perfect end-of-summer read. [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com It seems counterintuitive, but unlimited creative freedom often leads to making us freeze up, not making us innovate. Those genre guidelines that feel restrictive might actually be keeping [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com The advice to “build your author platform” can feel overwhelming when you’re naturally private or introverted. Constant social media presence, networking events, and personal sharing might seem like [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig After 16 years, I’m winding down my daily link curation for writers. August 8th was the last day and this is the final LitLinks. My first roundup, [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com It’s easy sometimes to feel like time away from writing is wasted time. But pushing yourself leads to diminishing returns, and eventually burnout. Resting isn’t laziness. It’s [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig LitLinks are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 70,000 free articles on writing related [...]
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 [...]
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 When you see other writers posting about their daily word counts or announcing their latest book deals, it’s easy to feel like you’re falling behind some invisible timeline. [...]
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 When something feels overwhelming or intimidating, our natural response is often to avoid it entirely. But that just makes the task loom larger in our minds. The antidote [...]
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 Mike Martin, @mike54martin People often ask me what kind of mysteries are the Sgt. Windflower Mysteries. And I stumble and fumble and give them one of a variety of answers. My go-to is that [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig LitLinks are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 70,000 free articles on writing related [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethspanncraig.com I use Draft2Digital for a lot of different things: formatting, distributing to multiple retailers, and entering promo opportunities. What I love most is that it handles all the [...]
by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig LitLinks are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 70,000 free articles on writing related [...]
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 [...]
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