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Category Archives: Writing

Get motivated to write that novel or short story.

24 Jul

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Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

It is by sitting down to write every morning that one becomes a writer.
—Gerald Brenan

 

You want to start writing that novel but can’t seem to find the time. The kids need ferrying to their soccer games; you have to clean out the garage, and hey you are going on holidays in a couple of weeks and need to plan your itinerary. Or you are beyond hooked on social media.

Meantime that novel sits either deadlocked at Chapter 3 or the novel plot and characters are scurrying around you mind faster than mice in your house.

What do you do? Who do you call?

You need someone to help get you motivated to write. You can get another writer friend who can empathize with your predicament, join a writing critique group. Or hire a writing consultant.

I briefly mentioned in last week’s post that I coach clients in writing. But what exactly does that mean? What exactly do I do?

First I talk to the client (either in person or by Skype or regular phone) to see where they are at (or not at) with their novel, short story, or memoir. We talk about their goals and if that is nebulous we try to get the goals more concrete. I present suggestions for working with them – in person or via Skype or a combination of both.

So, what exactly can happen during the consult?

If the author hasn’t actually started writing, we discuss an outline for our time together based on their story outline. I may get them to write a synopsis of their novel just to nail it down. The next step depends on the client. With one client we brainstormed ideas for each chapter and she took notes. Then she went home, wrote the chapter, maybe with a revision, and emailed that chapter to me to look over before our next consult.

At this meeting, we first went through this chapter with me making suggestions, which we discussed and then she made notes to do so (if the client brings his or her laptop or iPad, he or she can make the changes right then). The rest of the session we brainstormed for her next chapter. And then the process was repeated as we did with her previous chapter.

Another client is well into her manuscript and just needs feedback on what she has written. We work either in person or with Skype. She emails me the chapter she is working on (often a few hours before our appointment) and I look it over. When she is “here” she looks at her copy on her laptop and I look at it on my computer. She gives me a brief synopsis of where this chapter will fit in her book (it is non-fiction), what it focuses on and what she hopes to accomplish with this chapter. I make suggestions and ask questions about the content. Often I will suggest moving something up for the beginning, rewording the beginning or the middle, clarifying different things, adding different things, etc. As we talk, she is making the changes or making note of changes to make if it will take some time to do so (for example, if she has to check her research or do more research). Once we are done with the chapter, if there is still time in our hour together, she might go into what she will be working on next in the book.

The fiction-writing client and I met once a week. The non-fiction-writing client and I meet twice a month. Sure, there is a fee, but the feedback I get from my clients is that it is worth it for them to get going at their writing.

These writing sessions establish regularity in writing and because the author also has to write outside the sessions, a few meetings may be all she needs before she embarks on writing that novel, that memoir, that short story collection, without someone on her case. I see where these sessions also help the writer gain some self-confidence that she can actually do this, and actually write something. The latter ties in with the writing critique part.

So, if you don’t want to hire someone to coach you in your writing, join a writing critique group – it will motivate you to write if you have to produce something for critique every couple of weeks.

 

Sharon A. Crawford

 

You can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html And keep checking http://samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondBlood.html for the latest news on the release of my first mystery novel Beyond Blood, also published by Blue Denim Press http://www.bluedenimpress.com More info on the Beyond Blood page as we get closer to the date. And remember that clicking on the book icon at the top gets you to my Amazon profile.

 

 
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Posted by on July 24, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Uncategorized, Unlock Writer's block, Writing, Writing Time

 

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Author Editor Relationship – keep it professional and respectful

17 Jul
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

Your editor is not your ninth grade English teacher (at least I hope not) and is not there to rap your knuckles for forgetting some arcane rule. Editors are professionals who are accustomed to interacting with authors in a mutually respectful relationship.

– Dick Margulis (Editor)
http://www.intelligentediting.com/editorauthorrelationship.aspx

We authors need editors to edit our fiction because we are too subjective with our stories. A fresh pair of eyes and brain can see what our tunnel vision misses. However, many authors have tunnel vision in how they deal with their editor. Sadly, so do editors with their authors.

I should know as I work both sides of the fence as a writer and an editor. And I also teach writing and coach clients in writing. And balancing on that fence (not barbed wire, although sometimes it feels like it), I have seen some strange situations. So, from my personal experience, here are a few tips (with a few weird anecdotes) to help smooth your relationship with your editor.

1. Be professional. You are hiring the editor to evaluate and edit your writing. So no prima donna activities such as insisting the editor can edit but must not change one comma.

2. Realize that editing takes time. You are not going to get a good edit in a few days or a few weeks – even if the editor works 18/7.

3. Realize that editing costs money. Editors do not all charge the same rates. I once had an author include me in his extended fishing expedition to find an editor. He was looking for dirt cheap for editing his book-length manuscript. He told me some of his “contacts” charged as low as $300 and I charged the highest. He didn’t go with me, but I wonder which editor he chose. You get what you pay for. However, it is a good idea to check out a few editors.
4. Choose an editor who actually edits in your genre. I do decline work in some areas I don’t edit in (children’s books and erotica to name a couple, but I do edit young adult books. The first one is not in my area of editing expertise – I don’t have the mindset here and the second I just prefer not to edit). But I will sometimes take on other areas I seldom edit in. Maybe the story interests me or maybe I want to help the author. Or maybe the publisher is my client and the author is the publisher’s client.

5. Both editor and author need to be somewhat flexible with time. As they say, stuff happens and the editor might get behind. Ditto the author when he or she has to answer questions about unclear novel content or make changes. (Note: the author is the copyright owner of the novel, not the editor, so if there are major structural changes I suggest them, especially if I am evaluating, not editing, the manuscript).

6. More on time: don’t bombard your editor with constant emails asking how it is going or worse, sending unasked for changes in your novel for the editor to add in while the editor is still editing. I had a client do the latter, but she found it difficult to follow my requests to please source the references she quoted from.

7. There should always be a contract, or at least a written agreement, between editor and author. This keeps both on track re the editor’s tasks, time-lines, fees, etc. I use the contract suggested by the Editors’ Association of Canada.

8.  For the editors – when editing or evaluating a manuscript, do not be sarcastic. Be honest but polite. Keep it professional. Do not play school marm. You are there to help the writer not wave the big stick.

9. And here is the latest bug-a-boo. If you have made an appointment to meet with an editor before hiring him or her, keep the appointment or at least treat it like you would any other business appointment – if you have to cancel, contact the editor and reschedule. The same goes for editors. I had a would-be-client on a constant change-the-time-and-date spree. He would phone up and ask to do so. That would be okay once. Stuff happens. But when the would-be client agreed to a certain time-change and then changed it to something else without telling the editor… Or one and a half hour after the appointment the author called and said he got tied up and could he come to my home office now? You can imagine my answer to that one. On the other hand, people get sick and have family emergencies. One writing client I tutor has medical issues and I respect that. We work around them. I do not dump clients or refuse clients because of health issues; I have enough of my own to work around

I could go on and on but you get the gist.

An author-editor relationship is a business one. Both should be professional in their dealings with the other.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

You can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html And keep checking http://samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondBlood.html for the latest news on the release of my first mystery novel Beyond Blood, also published by Blue Denim Press http://www.bluedenimpress.com More info on the Beyond Blood page as we get closer to the date.

 
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Posted by on July 17, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Get your writing critiqued

26 Jun
Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

Every time I’d get a critique or some redirection, I’d always just take it very personally. Now I have no problem with it.

-Jessica Alba

Besides proofreading which I talked about in last week’s post, another tool for the writer is to get your writing critiqued by other writers. I have posted about this before but it is important enough to do an updated version.

Let me take you to yesterday evening when my East End Writers’ Group met at S. Walter Stewart Library in Toronto. We are basically a writing critique group and that is what writers come here for. Some new members joined us and we had some interesting writing excerpts from some very talented and intelligent writers.

Some of the issues that other writers picked up on and commented about:

For the beginning of a literary novel. Use more dialogue – the author knew this but needed some guidance on how to go about it.

For a non-fiction self-help book which was written in plain language. Some structural changes were suggested by other writers, such as use sub-headings, use more anecdotes and less instruction.
For a synopsis for an opera – yes we have a music composer who also writes short stories. We were all getting lost in all the characters. Suggestions were to make the synopsis shorter (as it would be going on the program) and list the characters and a bit about each separately.
So you can see how more pairs of eyes and ears can pick up what the writer misses. When we write we do so in solitude (we would hope no outside interruptions). We also have tunnel vision (subjective) with our work and sometimes “can’t see the forest for the trees.” Even when we know something isn’t working, we may try and try again, several times, and run out of options to fix it. Others can see what our mind may miss.

This is where a writing critique group comes in. I urge you to join one – online or in person – whichever you prefer. Just a few caveats. You shouldn’t have to pay for this – it is mutual writers helping writers. Maybe everybody can bring food or beverage for a snack. With East End Writers’ Group I ask everyone to bring a gluten-free snack or juice. I usually bring cheese, rice crackers, fruit and peppermint tea bags. Now if I just could get the kettle working at the library – despite being shown it just doesn’t work for me. It is not the straightforward plug in the electric kettle version.

Kettles no matter – what does matter is you pick a group that suits your needs. Find out if the group is open to all writing genres or just fiction or poetry, etc. Which do you prefer? Do you pre-submit your writing excerpt for critique or just bring it to the gathering? If online, how do you submit it – in a form online or as a Word attachment? What about copyright online? It should remain with you the author. If online, are you expected to critique other writers’ work? How many? Check the timeline for these and see if you can work within the group’s timeline. For groups meeting in person, look at when they meet and how often. Do you want to go every week (some do meet once a week and that can prove hectic and too much), once a month or? And do you prefer weekday daytime, weekday evenings or Saturday mornings or afternoons. Will you fit in with the group, i.e., are they giving constructive criticism? Are they negative? Are they nasty?

Give the group a test drive. Attend for a few sessions or sign up online for a few sessions and if you don’t like, bow out.
Where do you find these groups? For in-person, check your area library branches – their websites should have them all listed. Or check the library branch itself – often they have a flyer posted. Or ask a librarian. A librarian can often tell you what other branches are offering. Universities that offer writing courses often have writing groups as well. Check their bulletin boards. Also some writing organizations also offer writing critique groups, often online – these would be open to members. There is also Meet-up if you have that in your area, which has writing groups.

Or go to Mr. Google and just try “Writing Groups” (that one also gets you some links for info how groups operate and what to look for) or “Writing Groups (your location here)”. When I add “Toronto” to “Writing Groups” my East End Writers’ Group is listed as the top two and three. Guess that is good SEO.

You can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com.

More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on June 26, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Dialogue in Fiction, Fiction Characters, Uncategorized, Writing, Writing Critique Groups

 

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Proofread your writing – always

19 Jun
Click on the book cover to go to amazon.com

Click on the book cover to go to amazon.com

Imagine that everything you are typing is being read by the person you are applying to for your first job. Imagine that it’s all going to be seen by your parents and your grandparents and your grandchildren as well.
– Tim Berners-Lee

The manuscript of my first mystery novel Beyond Blood came back again for more proofreading. I didn’t complain but got right down to doing another proofreading. As a former proofreader for a legal publishing company for seven years in the 1990s I know the importance of many proofreads of a manuscript by several readers. Even the same readers having another crack at it.

Because the old eyes don’t always catch something the first go-round. And what one person doesn’t catch another person can. It is not something to be lazy about if you want your published novel to be nearly perfect.

I say “nearly perfect” because nobody is 100 per cent perfect. But you have to aim high or you might be embarrassed what gets published. True, with electronic publishing there is room for some changes later on. But most trade publishers publish both e-copies and print copies and it’s the latter which can land the author in hot water. Readers for the most part tend to be smart and will catch errors. However, it is the author they usually go after. Maybe the author is at fault, maybe not. But, if enough pairs of eyes haven’t proofread the manuscript several times, it really doesn’t matter who is to blame. The error is there.

Back in the days of my proofreading for the legal publishing company, a few things did slip through to print. We were reading from the galleys, often from manuscripts scanned and then printed out for proofing. In those days of the early scan, sometimes weird things came out. One (and this one was not from a manuscript I was proofing) was “the Crown Attorney” as “the Clown Attorney.” It wasn’t caught. As you can imagine that didn’t go over very well with the president and other big wigs in the company, not to mention the “Crown Attorney” himself or herself.

And my current manuscript?
Most of the snafus are apostrophes and backward quotation marks with a few mea culpa’s thrown in. I mean you would think that I, a “child” of the late 1950s and 1960s would know how to spell the late singer Bobby Darin’s name and his big hit “Mack the Knife.” I came out with Bobby Darrin and Mac the Knife. I caught it on this last round of proofreading. It doesn’t help that I know why I goofed. There is also a singer (still living) from the same era – James Darren (hence the two r’s) and some of you younger readers may remember him better as an actor on TV series such as T.J. Hooker (William Shatner and Heather Locklear also starred), The Time Tunnel, and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Mac error comes from the more common spelling of Mac. I have to list all these proofreading errors in a separate sheet for my editor at the publisher’s to fix as he has done some formatting on the manuscript. Any that were my spelling errors like in this Darin case, and content errors (I also had one character sitting in a chair and a few paragraphs down she got up from the chesterfield), I have put “Mea Culpa” in brackets after it.

Proofreading your writing-in-progress before even submitting it is a very good idea. Editors of magazines and publishing houses, as well as agents, are turned off by a lot of typos and actual miss-spellings in a manuscript.

Happy writing and proofreading.

 

You can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on June 19, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Writing Contests a way to get fiction published

05 Jun
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

The real contest is always between what you’ve done and what you’re capable of doing. You measure yourself against yourself and nobody else.

– Geoffrey Gaberino

Short Story Writing Contests are a good way for fiction writers to break into getting published. Some of you may think it is a catch-22 situation but hear me out.

There are many short story writing contests – online or in print. They are run by writing organizations, magazines (particularly literary magazines), newspapers (the Toronto Star annual short story contest is well known), libraries, corporate organizations (such as airlines), etc. Most are open to any writer, although some are age specific (not discriminating, but more as an outlet for youth or younger and/or budding writers).

Which brings me to submission rules. Ah, here is the catch. You can’t just submit any old story of any old length in any old form. Some entries will accept electronic and even have an online form to insert your story. Some, including the Toronto Star, want hard copies. For the latter the entry date is the mailing date. And for some (I have done this for Toronto Star entries) you can roar down to their address at the last minute to hand it in. The Toronto Star has a convenient closed bin with a slot for this purpose. Keep the contest deadline in mind.

Most contests have maximum lengths for their stories. That doesn’t usually include your name and address. But for print it is usually double-spaced and what you put at the top for your running head can vary. If the stories are being blind-judged (judges don’t know the writers’ names with the stories) you better not have your name anywhere in the story itself – including the running head – or it will be disqualified. Don’t worry. They’ll keep track of you as you do a title page with your name and story title. And you do put the story title with your story entry and in the running head. Don’t forget to number your pages and double-space them or whatever the entry requirements are.

One more big rule. Many contest rules state this but even if they don’t – NEVER enter the same story in the more than one contest at the same time. I know of one case where one writer did – one to the Toronto Star and the Canadian Authors Toronto Branch contest. She won (not necessarily first place) for both, but the organizations involved did not take kindly to it. I don’t think she was disqualified, but that could happen. At the very least it could blacklist the writer, at least with the two contest organizers. The rule here is – once you get word from the contest organizer that you didn’t win, place or show, then you can enter your story elsewhere. Often the notification isn’t a blunt “sorry, but you didn’t win,” but a list of those who did win.

Some writing contests have an entry fee; some don’t. Many writers go by the rule of not entering unless they can do for free. My take is maybe pay a fee of up to $30 if the contest organizer is a literary magazine. Most literary magazines give any entrants (winners or not) a “free” one-year subscription to their magazine. The yearly cost is usually around the contest-entry fee. Outside of that you might want to give yourself a limit in what you will pay – especially if you are a prolific story writer and want to enter several contests.

Just visit Mr. Google for short story contests worldwide. For those in Canada writing instructor and editor Brian Henry offers for sale a calendar of all the writing contests (not just short story) in Canada. Go to Brian’s blog at http://quick-brown-fox-canada.blogspot.ca/ You can email him to subscribe to a monthly e-newsletter and to purchase the calendar at Brian Henry brianhenry@sympatico.ca.

I’m attending the dinner at one writing conference (MagNet) and also the big she-bang at Bloody Words Mystery Writing conference, both in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At the latter, I will be moderating a panel on short stories at Bloody Words. Fodder for another post.

Meantime, you can read about my characters and their stories in my short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.

More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html
Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.
Cheers.
Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on June 5, 2014 in Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Writing

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Series Characters – Part 4

22 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

It begins with a character, usually, and once he stands up on his feet and begins to move, all I can do is trot along behind him with a paper and pencil trying to keep up long enough to put down what he says and does.

– William Faulkner
When writing series fiction, particularly novels, how do you keep the continuity going with your main characters from novel to novel? As mentioned in last week’s post, you need to put some reference to previous novel(s) plot and characters or the reader is left confused.

For example, in novel No. 1, let’s say your main character, a police officer, is shot during the story’s climax. It is touch and go, but he wakes up in a hospital bed and is able to talk to his partner, his girlfriend, etc. However, he has been shot in the chest and it just missed his heart, but he still has a long recuperation period.

Unless you are skipping a period of time until he is up and around, you need to include this recuperation period in your next novel. Perhaps your detective is put temporarily on a desk job or he is still on sick leave. His (or her) colleagues get a case or two that he wants to be involved in and they need his help. But he is supposed to stay put. You can work around that by having him act as a consultant – his colleagues can drop into the hospital or recuperation facility (if he is not home yet) or his home to talk it over with him. He could be on the phone constantly to his colleagues or at least his partner. They can be doing all this behind the back of their supervisor and you know how that can pan out. You can hype it up with his shooter still out there (that would have to be clear at the end of the previous novel) and trying to get him. He has to get through the recuperation period but you don’t want a novel all about that if you are writing a mystery novel. You need to blend in what is happening with the characters, how they are developing based on what goes on in their lives. An injured detective recuperating and somewhat immobilized would have much to face, especially if he is used to being active.

The late Robert Parker in his Spencer series did this very well. His private detective, Spencer, was shot in the chest in one novel and the next novel incorporated his recuperation with how it affected his relationship with his girlfriend, Susan, a psychologist, plus the novel’s mystery. Parker was good at writing complicated.

Most of the TV series now follow the main characters’ development and well, private life, and incorporate these into the story. The hit series Rookie Blue (now back on for the summer, 22 episodes this year), does that very well, even if you don’t agree with what they do. The five original rookies are still there and each season they add one or more new rookies. One of the original rookies has been promoted to detective. But all have personal lives and with all these characters who work closely together, their personal lives become entwined and changes occur. It is complicated, but well done. I suggest you watch it. The Good Wife is another TV series that has work and personal lives intermingle with a lot of complications. This time the characters are lawyers, instead of police officers. They even killed off one of the series main characters this season. Rookie Blue did that a couple of seasons ago as well. Killing off a main character is not always a good idea, but if you do, you need to incorporate the repercussions from that and how it affects the other characters in future books or TV episodes.

All these things will affect your plot. It’s the chicken and egg situation. Which comes first – the plot or the characters? It is a combination of both – either can lead – but both are connected and drive each other.

Meantime, read any of the mystery series novels by Peter Robinson and see how he handles continuity and consistency in character and plot.
Also, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on May 22, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Series Characters novels and short stories, Writing

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Series Characters – Part 2

08 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

You learn by writing short stories. Keep writing short stories. The money’s in novels, but writing short stories keeps your writing lean and pointed.

– Larry Niven

 

After all my time-line tips last week I goofed. I put the wrong year for the four linked short stories in Beyond the Tripping Point. Ditto for the related series novel. It should be 1999 for the short stories and 1998 for the novel. At least I had it correct which came first. The years are now corrected on last week’s blog post.

Mea culpa, mea culpa.

This post will deal with length of short stories versus novels and start the discussion about series characters for both. The latter is complicated and we won’t cover everything today.

First length.

Short story length can be anywhere from the flash story of 50 words to longer stories of 8,000, even 10,000 words. Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine stories tend to run in the upper word count limit. However, some authors take the short story up to 18,000 words. In this case, many are self-publishing – either e-copy or online or in print or all of those. To me, this is a variation of the traditional poetry chap book publications. This is all good. The only caveats I offer here are: if submitting to publications or short story contests, follow the submission guidelines; and watch you don’t make the stories too long or you will be writing a novella.
Novel lengths vary from 65,000 words to 120,000 words (think Elizabeth George for the longer novels). Most novels are somewhere in between and it depends on the publisher or the author if self-publishing. My publisher, Blue Denim Pressm tends to go for the lower page count. Personally I like any length as long as the story flows and doesn’t read as if it is padded with plot lines, character development and points of view that are way too much and detract from the story. Shorter novel requirements sure make the author learns how not to be overly wordy, as I’m finding out. But as a former journalist, I always wrote long and then rewrote to fit the editorial requirements. Writing too short here would create the dilemma of insufficient information and it is harder to add than to subtract – believe it or not.

Characters in novels versus short stories

This is a loaded one. Novels and short stories written in the literary vein are more about the characters than the plot. However, the trend today in commercial fiction (including genres such as mystery and romance, particularly in novels, is to develop characters more). While I like Agatha Christie mystery novels – they were what I grew up on, what got me interested in mysteries (along with the old Perry Mason TV series), her characters, although intriguing and original, were not fully developed. The exceptions are her two main series characters – Hercule Poirot and Miss Jane Marple.

So, how many characters do you put in a novel and in a short story? Obviously because of length, you wouldn’t cram many characters into a short story. War and Peace crunched down to a short story it is not. Take two or three main characters and a few minor characters and go from there, i.e., you will develop the three main characters fully but not the few minor ones. By “develop fully” I mean it wouldn’t hurt to do an extensive character sketch of your main characters before you start writing – with the caveat that they are not sealed in cement, granite or avalanche. When writing stories, characters sometimes take over and you as a writer have to respect that. Key question to ask here: is what this character is doing characteristic of him or her? That’s when you may have to return to your character sketch.

And you won’t use everything in your character sketch in your short story – or even in your novel, but you will use more in your novels. With a short story, every character element and development has to tie in with your basic story plot. With a novel you can add in the extras, although they have to tie in with the plot, but you have more leeway.

For example, in my prequel novel Beyond Blood, Dana Bowman has more space to show how she feels about a certain situation with her son as well as the conflict she has with being a mother of a six year old and a private investigator, especially when the two collide. If I didn’t do this, Dana would come across as shallow, one-dimensional and unbelievable. In the four linked stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (remember these are the year after the novel occurs), Dana is still reacting over what happened to David, but in the interest of space and plot, the whole story can’t be about her reaction. So I weave it in with the case she is investigating. In “Saving Grace,” while she is following a lead on a country road outside Goderich, Ontario, she stops the car and has a mini-break-down. But it doesn’t last long; she has to pull herself together and get on with it.

In the novel Beyond Blood, after the actual event that triggers all this has happened, Dana has many instances of having difficulty dealing with the situation. In one scene (without giving it away), she wakes up and is somewhat disoriented and depressed so she acts a bit strangely. She also has nightmares that act as a sort of premonition of what will happen. The time she spends with her son and her feelings about him there, as well as developing a possible relationship with Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding, all tie in with the plot. Without this character development, some of the future plot lines would have the reader saying, “This doesn’t make sense. How would she know how to do that? This action is not credible.”

These pointers are more for commercial fiction than literary fiction.

Next week we will delve more into the makings of series characters appearing in novels and short stories.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 

 
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Posted by on May 8, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Series Characters novels and short stories, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Short Story and Novel Writing with Same Characters

01 May
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

You can’t write a novel all at once, any more than you can swallow a whale in one gulp. You do have to break it up into smaller chunks. But those smaller chunks aren’t good old familiar short stories. Novels aren’t built out of short stories. They are built out of scenes.

—Orson Scott Card, September 1980

Transitioning series characters from short story to novel or vice-versa presents challenges for fiction writers. It requires the combination of imagination and keeping facts straight.

Unless you are time-travelling with your stories or are deliberating putting them at an earlier or later age, time-lines can be tricky. Where in your characters’ story timeline do you want the short stories to appear? Or if the short stories came first, then your novel needs to be kept in the time-line. That can affect your characters development. For example, you don’t want one character to be divorced in the short story and newly married to the same person in a novel obviously set at a later date. You need to be consistent and realistic. If you mess up, your readers will find it.

My story situation has the timeline and consistency problem in spades (and I don’t mean the spade that digs the graves for bodies dead from murder). My short story collection Beyond the Tripping Point was published first. In it are four linked stories featuring fraternal twin PIs Dana Bowman and Bast Overture, Dana’s son David and a few other series’ characters. It is David I have to be concerned with because these four stories happened after the novel Beyond Blood, which I call the pre-quel novel. The four stories occurred in 1999 and the novel in the summer of 1998.

David is psychologically mute in Beyond the Tripping Point. In Beyond Blood, the reader finds out why. So, obviously he is talking at least for the first part of Beyond Blood.

Then there are the other characters, such as the ones I kill off in Beyond Blood. Obviously they didn’t appear in Beyond the Tripping Point.

Characters are supposed to grow and develop, so in a prequel novel, the characters have to be a few steps behind in that area. For example, in Beyond Blood, Dana could not be at the point where she is dealing with a mute David – that comes in BTTP. Things happen to characters and that’s what changes them one way or the other. But the event must happen before the change – something to keep in mind when transitioning from novel to short story or vice-versa.

To make the situation more complicated with me, I had actually written an earlier version of the pre-quel novel before those four linked short stories. So, when writing the stories, I had to keep the novel’s content in mind. When I returned to rewriting the novel for the publisher (after BTTP was published) I then had to make sure I was consistent – even though I was expanding the plot, making it more complicated. One of my base lines was why David became psychologically mute and when he is mute.

There is also the obvious difference in short stories and novels – length. The short story has to be more succinct because you do not have novel-length. You can’t have multiple plots in a short story or multiple points of view. How much about characters do you include?

Next week’s blog post will deal with some of those issues.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

 
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Posted by on May 1, 2014 in Beyond Blood, Beyond the Tripping Point, Credible Fiction Characters, Fiction Characters, Plot and Characters, Writing

 

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Fiction Characters Interviewing Fiction Characters – Part 45

24 Apr
Amazon.com link to Sharon A.'s short story collection

Amazon.com link to Sharon A.’s short story collection

All fiction is about people, unless it’s about rabbits pretending to be people. It’s all essentially characters in action, which means characters moving through time and changes taking place, and that’s what we call “the plot.”

– Margaret Atwood
–

The missing Bast has suddenly appeared at the dining room table with Robbie Stuart and the ghosts of Roger Stuart and Susan Stuart. Bast looks pale.

Dana, staring at the dining room table: Bast, are you okay? How did you get here?

Swan: Yeah, how? Did Robbie make you materialize somehow?

Fielding: Shut up Swan. You’re in no position to ask questions. Bast, answer your sister’s questions.

Dana, slightly agitated: Wait a minute. I need to ask Mr. Swan a question first. Who is sitting at the table with Bast?

Swan: Why Robbie Stuart of course.

Dana: Nobody else?

Swan: Who else would there be? The rest of us are over here. That’s why I want to know…

Fielding: I said shut up, Swan. Now, Mr. Overture, please answer your sister’s questions.

Bast: I’m fine, a little tired and weak. I had help getting here from Susan and Roger.
Swan: Wait a minute. You’re telling us that a couple of dead people helped you?

Bast: Yes. Susan and Roger are sitting right with me here. I gather you can’t see their spirits.

Susan’s Spirit: Bast, you’re right. Both Dad and I working together managed to keep you out of harm’s way temporarily and bring you back safely here. Sorry, Dana and you three cops, but we couldn’t say anything until you had Swan under control for Bast’s safety.

Dana: But you are really back, Bast?

Bast: Yes.

Fielding: Now, Mr. Overture, you have some explaining to do.

Bast: What Susan, Roger and Robbie said is true. Robbie has a memoir accepted for publication and I was to do another newspaper article on it with a sort of update. What you don’t know is Robbie also wanted me to write the Forward to the book. Both these, particularly the newspaper article, would give details of Swan’s shenanigans in the past and current. And he didn’t want that happening, so he took measures. Susan and Roger helped me. (He turns to them). Thank you. But you know me, Dana, the old crime reporter, I have to find out what is going on, so sorry, I had to disappear from Susan’s protection to find out and I couldn’t tell you for safety’s sake. Swan caught up with me and tried to use David’s and Aunt Doris’ safety as a lever. You know the rest.

Dana: So, you will be writing the story?

Bast: Oh yes, but maybe it will be delayed for a bit until Hutchinson or Fielding take Swan into custody.

Hutchinson (standing up): Get up Swan. I am arresting you for kidnapping, pointing a firearm, blackmail, uttering threats. And there will be more added later. You have the right to a lawyer…”

After Hutchinson finishes his spiel, Dana stands up and walks over to the table: Thank you Susan and Roger and Robbie, too.

Susan and Roger: You are welcome.

Susan: Now that we see justice is being done, we will leave you. But I will be keeping an eye on you Dana and Bast and your family. If you need me, just touch the painting in the library boardroom and I will appear.

Roger: Yes, it feels good to finally come clean with the full story. Now, as Susan said we must leave.

Susan’s and Roger’s spirits disappear. Dana sits down beside Bast.

Swan: What just happened? Are you all nuts? I see just Bast, Dana and Robbie at the table.

Hutchinson: Shut up, Mr. Swan.

Robbie looks up finally and glares at Swan: My sister and Dad didn’t keep you in the spirit loop because you are bad. And I’m glad I wrote the memoir to set the record straight.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

Dana, Bast and the others will take a rest for a bit. But they will be back with more original stories based on the stories and characters in Beyond the Tripping Point.

Next week’s blog will talk about fiction writing – short story versus novel, particularly when both use the same series characters. So, in a way, Dana and Bast will be back to illustrate some ideas here. Watch for upcoming posts with guest bloggers. Stay tuned. Meantime…

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on April 24, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Freefall Writing, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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Interview with Fiction Characters by Fiction Characters Part 43

10 Apr
Cover of Sharon A. Crawford's mystery short story collection

Cover of Sharon A. Crawford’s mystery short story collection

There is no Idea Dump, no Story Central, no Island of the Buried Bestsellers. Your job isn’t to find these ideas, but to recognize them when they show up.
— Stephen King, On Writing

In the last post, suspect Cory Swan suddenly appeared pointing a gun at the interviewing/séance session with Dana Bowman, Detective Sergeant Donald Fielding, Detective Larry Hutchinson, Robbie Stuart and the spirits of Roger Stuart and Susan Stuart. PC Oliver is still present but has remained silent, as if in a stupor, from seeing the spirits.

Hutchinson: Put that gun down, Swan before someone gets hurt.

Swan: Why? So you can arrest me? No. I have something to say and I’m going to say it.

Dana: You’re going to tell us all.

Swan: That’s right.

Dana: You’re going to tell Detective Hutchinson, Detective Sergeant Fielding, PC Oliver, Robbie Stuart, and me.

Swan: Of course. You’re all here, all five of you.

Dana (looking at Susan’s spirit. They nod at each other as if in cahoots): Very well. Speak.

Fielding, clearing his throat: Okay, please sit down over there and put that gun down.

Swan: No, no, no, no. I remain standing and keep the gun. You three cops though, take out your guns slowly and put them on the side table over there. Or I start shooting you one by one and Robbie Stuart is first.

The three police officers comply.

Swan: Good choice. Okay, I heard you discuss my story – so far, but not all of it. And I want immunity before I go any further.

Hutchinson: We can’t promise you that.

Swan: Then I don’t talk.

Fielding: We can probably reduce the blackmail charges to a plea bargain.

Swan: A good start, but I expect more.

Dana: And I expect my brother back safe and sound and alive.

Swan: All in due time, Ms Private Eye. Okay. What you guys were talking about is somewhat correct as far as it goes. Sure I blackmailed Roger Stuart and made a pretty penny until he had the audacity to croak. (He looks at Dana). That’s your brother’s fault for interviewing him and getting a lot more details from him.

Dana: And were you there hovering and hiding for that interview.

Swan moves closer to Dana and waves the gun a few inches from her face: Shut up. This is my story.
Dana, her voice shaking: Very well. Continue.

Swan: Thank you. Yes, I was around when your brother interviewed Roger but not hiding. Bast and I arrived together as he wanted me to take pictures of Roger. But that’s not all I did. I took photos of her, too.

Dana: Her?

Swan: Yeah, the second bogus Mrs. Roger Stuart. She walked in right near the end of the interview. She was furious, ranting and raging about Roger blabbing family secrets. She threatened him and Bast if the story got printed and me if the photos got printed. Then the bitch grabbed my camera and pulled out the film. Too bad we didn’t have digital then but I guess she would have just smashed the camera. Then she went after Roger. She picked up a lamp and charged towards him. Bast and I managed to grab the lamp and stop her. We were going to call the police but Roger said, “No, please don’t do that. I can calm her down.”

Roger’s spirit is nodding “yes” at this.

Swan: Bast and I left when she appeared to be sitting calmly at the table. But… we should have stayed because Roger Stuart died later that evening of a heart attack.

Hutchinson: Are you saying that the second Mrs. Stuart scared her husband into a heart attack?

Swan shrugs his shoulders.

Roger Stuart is nodding again: She attacked me again that evening. She knew I had a heart condition. She hated my first wife and my kids. I couldn’t take it and so I died.

Hutchinson: So, you wanted all this to be suppressed in Robbie Stuart’s memoir? And so that’s why you kidnapped Bast Overture?

Swan: No, you got that all wrong. I wanted the memoir to be published. But Mrs. Stuart No. 2 got wind of it and…

Dana: She’s in prison.

Fielding: Ms Bowman, you should know that doesn’t stop anyone.

Swan: You got that right Detective.

Fielding: So, where does Bast Overture fit into all this?

Dana: Yes, why did you kidnap my brother after he returned from his first disappearance?

Swan: I didn’t kidnap your brother. He suddenly appeared in my office demanding answers. He didn’t want to co-operate with me…
Dana: So you tied him up and kept him prisoner?

Swan: What choice did I have? He was going to have me arrested? And that didn’t fit in with my plan.

Dana: But he got away.

Swan: Yes, damn him.

Fielding: But that’s when you started threatening Doris Bowman and David Bowman?

Swan (smiling): Of course. Nothing like a little family pressure to get someone to come round.

Dana (standing up): You scum.

Swan: Sit down Ms Bowman or you’ll meet the same fate as your brother.

Dana: What’s that? What have you done to Bast?

Swan: Not telling right now. First, I need police co-operation – no charges against me and you put me in witness protection – or whatever you call it here in Canada.

Hutchinson: No, you’re wrong. First you tell us where Bast Overture is now because it is obvious you have him somewhere.

Swan: Not yet. I still need him.

Dana: What for?

Swan: Why he is going to come out of retirement and write another newspaper story about the Stuart saga, sort of a preliminary to Robbie’s memoir and also with some updates about what really happened during that other interview.

Susan’s spirit, looking at Dana: Time for Dad and me to step in.

Roger’s spirit, Robbie and Dana nod. Detective Sergeant Fielding and Detective Hutchinson both stand up. Swan raises the gun and fires into the air.

PC Joseph Oliver suddenly becomes alert to what is happening.

Cheers.

Sharon A. Crawford

Sharon A. Crawford’s prequel novel Beyond Blood, featuring the fraternal twins will be published fall 2014 by Blue Denim Press. Stay tuned.

Meantime, you can read more about the characters and their stories in from Beyond the Tripping Point (Blue Denim Press, 2012). Click on the book at the top and it takes you to Sharon A. Crawford’s profile – including book reviews – at http://www.amazon.com. The book is available there in print and Kindle. For Kobo e-book go to http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/beyond-the-tripping-point or go to any bricks and mortar store and order in a print copy. Spread the word.
More info on Sharon A.’s upcoming gigs, workshops, guest blog posts, etc. at http://www.samcraw.com/Articles/BeyondtheTrippingPoint.html

 
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Posted by on April 10, 2014 in Beyond the Tripping Point, Blue Denim Press, Interviewing fictional characters, Plot and Characters, Sharon A. Crawford, Short Story Collection, Writing

 

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