KN Magazine: Articles
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research / Maggie Toussaint
Research is an essential part of writing. Your research contributes to the overall feel of the book, and it’s important to make sure your facts and information are up to date. It’s very easy for readers to get distracted from the plot if they notice something that’s incorrect. However, just because you research a lot of information doesn’t mean it all has to go in your book; overloading it with unnecessary facts or information can also be distracting. Maggie Toussaint talks about how important it is to research before you start writing, but also to keep some of the irrelevant details left out.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research
By Maggie Toussaint
Did you know loggerhead turtles return to the same beach for nesting? They are out there swimming around in the great big ocean, and yet they return to the exact beach (or very close) to lay their eggs. Scientists proved this by tracking nesting turtles with radio transmitters.
Not only that, but turtles spend most of their life submerged but must surface every four to five minutes to breathe air. They can sleep underwater without drowning because their level of activity is less.
More fun facts: Male sea turtles almost never leave the water while females nest every two to three years on beaches. That nesting—depositing about 100 golf ball sized eggs in a pit the turtle digs with her flippers and then covers up—takes about three hours.
Fascinating, right? The babies hatch at night two months later, crawl to the water, and swim away, lickety-split. These turtles don’t reach sexual maturity until somewhere around 12-30 years, when their outer shell grows larger than 90 cm.
Further, the gender of the hatching turtles is determined by the incubation temperature. Hot temps and you get gals, cooler temps and you get guys.
Your eyes may be crossing with turtle facts by now, but my eyes are alight with enthusiasm, even months after I’ve turned in my Turtle Tribbles novella. I knew this would happen when I began researching, so I created a folder of all the fun facts about these endangered turtles. I could go on and on about this topic, but I’ll spare you the biology lesson.
The reason I researched turtles is because down here on the Georgia Coast, college interns get assigned various barrier islands to monitor turtle nests. The plan is to get a better idea of the population and to do our part in protecting the nests so this species doesn’t go extinct.
Anyway, there’s also a serious problem of turtle eggs getting poached, which is a federal crime. A man who turned right around and poached turtle eggs right after getting out of federal prison for the crime sparked my interest in writing a murder mystery around this occurrence.
With a fat folder of turtle facts in hand, I was ready to write my novella. The first draft of chapter one drowned in details. I wanted to use all the cool facts I’d unearthed because they were so interesting.
But … did they advance the plot?
Sadly, the answer wasn’t to my liking. The loggerhead’s life cycle information is the reason there’s a Turtle Girl, but 90 cool facts about turtles don’t belong in a mystery about the death of a Turtle Girl.
So, how could I work in some of this information without the story feeling like science class? I open the story with the Turtle Girl visiting my newspaper editor sleuth, Lindsey McKay, in her office because turtle eggs are being poached. The editor is no biologist, so the Turtle Girl has to explain why people would steal turtle eggs.
The editor feels around the edges of what’s being said, realizing that the chance of catching a poacher on an island are slim in an area with lots of speedboats, decides to use the opportunity to run a feature about the turtles due to their endangered status.
Each time Lindsey and the Turtle Girl meet, a few more turtle facts work their way into the story. I also kept the tone light, as is shown in this brief snip from the story:
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but could you have missed the hatch?” Lindsey said.
“Nope. I hit the beach first thing every morning and monitor the nests. If turtle eggs hatched, I would see the signs. Eggshells would be cracked and left behind. The sand from the nest to the sea would be full of turtle tracks. The nests would look disturbed. I didn’t see any of that at those locations. It’s like the eggs got beamed into outer space.”
As you can see from the tone of that dialogue, I kept the facts light, used nonscientific words, and even added in an element of humor. By not flooding the story with facts, the reader is drawn into the story and cares about the turtles because the Turtle Girl cares about them. And when the Turtle Girl is found dead on the beach, we care a lot about what happened to her.
Making the Turtle Girl passionate about her amphibian charges upped the stakes for readers caring about why she was murdered.
Bottom line? A little research goes a long way. Do the research, but keep the bulk of it out of your story.
Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes mystery, suspense, and dystopian fiction. Her work won the Silver Falchion Award for best mystery, the Readers’ Choice Award, and the EPIC Award. She’s published fifteen novels as well as several short stories and novellas, including the upcoming Happy Homicides 3. The next book in her paranormal mystery series, Doggone It, releases October 2016. Maggie serves on the board for Southeast Mystery Writers of America and Low Country Sisters in Crime. Visit her at www.maggietoussaint.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research / Maggie Toussaint
Research is an essential part of writing. Your research contributes to the overall feel of the book, and it's important to make sure your facts and information are up to date. It's very easy for readers to get distracted from the plot if they notice something that's incorrect. However, just because you research a lot of information doesn't mean it all has to go in your book; overloading it with unnecessary facts or information can also be distracting. Maggie Toussaint talks about how important it is to research before you start writing, but also to keep some of the irrelevant details left out.Happy reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research
By Maggie Toussaint
Did you know loggerhead turtles return to the same beach for nesting? They are out there swimming around in the great big ocean, and yet they return to the exact beach (or very close) to lay their eggs. Scientists proved this by tracking nesting turtles with radio transmitters.
Not only that, but turtles spend most of their life submerged but must surface every four to five minutes to breathe air. They can sleep underwater without drowning because their level of activity is less.
More fun facts: Male sea turtles almost never leave the water while females nest every two to three years on beaches. That nesting—depositing about 100 golf ball sized eggs in a pit the turtle digs with her flippers and then covers up—takes about three hours.
Fascinating, right? The babies hatch at night two months later, crawl to the water, and swim away, lickety-split. These turtles don’t reach sexual maturity until somewhere around 12-30 years, when their outer shell grows larger than 90 cm.
Further, the gender of the hatching turtles is determined by the incubation temperature. Hot temps and you get gals, cooler temps and you get guys.
Your eyes may be crossing with turtle facts by now, but my eyes are alight with enthusiasm, even months after I’ve turned in my Turtle Tribbles novella. I knew this would happen when I began researching, so I created a folder of all the fun facts about these endangered turtles. I could go on and on about this topic, but I’ll spare you the biology lesson.
The reason I researched turtles is because down here on the Georgia Coast, college interns get assigned various barrier islands to monitor turtle nests. The plan is to get a better idea of the population and to do our part in protecting the nests so this species doesn’t go extinct.
Anyway, there’s also a serious problem of turtle eggs getting poached, which is a federal crime. A man who turned right around and poached turtle eggs right after getting out of federal prison for the crime sparked my interest in writing a murder mystery around this occurrence.
With a fat folder of turtle facts in hand, I was ready to write my novella. The first draft of chapter one drowned in details. I wanted to use all the cool facts I’d unearthed because they were so interesting.
But … did they advance the plot?
Sadly, the answer wasn’t to my liking. The loggerhead’s life cycle information is the reason there’s a Turtle Girl, but 90 cool facts about turtles don’t belong in a mystery about the death of a Turtle Girl.
So, how could I work in some of this information without the story feeling like science class? I open the story with the Turtle Girl visiting my newspaper editor sleuth, Lindsey McKay, in her office because turtle eggs are being poached. The editor is no biologist, so the Turtle Girl has to explain why people would steal turtle eggs.
The editor feels around the edges of what’s being said, realizing that the chance of catching a poacher on an island are slim in an area with lots of speedboats, decides to use the opportunity to run a feature about the turtles due to their endangered status.
Each time Lindsey and the Turtle Girl meet, a few more turtle facts work their way into the story. I also kept the tone light, as is shown in this brief snip from the story:
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but could you have missed the hatch?” Lindsey said.
“Nope. I hit the beach first thing every morning and monitor the nests. If turtle eggs hatched, I would see the signs. Eggshells would be cracked and left behind. The sand from the nest to the sea would be full of turtle tracks. The nests would look disturbed. I didn’t see any of that at those locations. It’s like the eggs got beamed into outer space.”
As you can see from the tone of that dialogue, I kept the facts light, used nonscientific words, and even added in an element of humor. By not flooding the story with facts, the reader is drawn into the story and cares about the turtles because the Turtle Girl cares about them. And when the Turtle Girl is found dead on the beach, we care a lot about what happened to her.
Making the Turtle Girl passionate about her amphibian charges upped the stakes for readers caring about why she was murdered.
Bottom line? A little research goes a long way. Do the research, but keep the bulk of it out of your story.
Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes mystery, suspense, and dystopian fiction. Her work won the Silver Falchion Award for best mystery, the Readers’ Choice Award, and the EPIC Award. She’s published fifteen novels as well as several short stories and novellas, including the upcoming Happy Homicides 3. The next book in her paranormal mystery series, Doggone It, releases October 2016. Maggie serves on the board for Southeast Mystery Writers of America and Low Country Sisters in Crime. Visit her at www.maggietoussaint.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research / Maggie Toussaint
Research is an essential part of writing. Your research contributes to the overall feel of the book, and it's important to make sure your facts and information are up to date. It's very easy for readers to get distracted from the plot if they notice something that's incorrect. However, just because you research a lot of information doesn't mean it all has to go in your book; overloading it with unnecessary facts or information can also be distracting. Maggie Toussaint talks about how important it is to research before you start writing, but also to keep some of the irrelevant details left out.Happy reading!
Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Do the Research Right, but Don't Write All the Research
By Maggie Toussaint
Did you know loggerhead turtles return to the same beach for nesting? They are out there swimming around in the great big ocean, and yet they return to the exact beach (or very close) to lay their eggs. Scientists proved this by tracking nesting turtles with radio transmitters.
Not only that, but turtles spend most of their life submerged but must surface every four to five minutes to breathe air. They can sleep underwater without drowning because their level of activity is less.
More fun facts: Male sea turtles almost never leave the water while females nest every two to three years on beaches. That nesting—depositing about 100 golf ball sized eggs in a pit the turtle digs with her flippers and then covers up—takes about three hours.
Fascinating, right? The babies hatch at night two months later, crawl to the water, and swim away, lickety-split. These turtles don’t reach sexual maturity until somewhere around 12-30 years, when their outer shell grows larger than 90 cm.
Further, the gender of the hatching turtles is determined by the incubation temperature. Hot temps and you get gals, cooler temps and you get guys.
Your eyes may be crossing with turtle facts by now, but my eyes are alight with enthusiasm, even months after I’ve turned in my Turtle Tribbles novella. I knew this would happen when I began researching, so I created a folder of all the fun facts about these endangered turtles. I could go on and on about this topic, but I’ll spare you the biology lesson.
The reason I researched turtles is because down here on the Georgia Coast, college interns get assigned various barrier islands to monitor turtle nests. The plan is to get a better idea of the population and to do our part in protecting the nests so this species doesn’t go extinct.
Anyway, there’s also a serious problem of turtle eggs getting poached, which is a federal crime. A man who turned right around and poached turtle eggs right after getting out of federal prison for the crime sparked my interest in writing a murder mystery around this occurrence.
With a fat folder of turtle facts in hand, I was ready to write my novella. The first draft of chapter one drowned in details. I wanted to use all the cool facts I’d unearthed because they were so interesting.
But … did they advance the plot?
Sadly, the answer wasn’t to my liking. The loggerhead’s life cycle information is the reason there’s a Turtle Girl, but 90 cool facts about turtles don’t belong in a mystery about the death of a Turtle Girl.
So, how could I work in some of this information without the story feeling like science class? I open the story with the Turtle Girl visiting my newspaper editor sleuth, Lindsey McKay, in her office because turtle eggs are being poached. The editor is no biologist, so the Turtle Girl has to explain why people would steal turtle eggs.
The editor feels around the edges of what’s being said, realizing that the chance of catching a poacher on an island are slim in an area with lots of speedboats, decides to use the opportunity to run a feature about the turtles due to their endangered status.
Each time Lindsey and the Turtle Girl meet, a few more turtle facts work their way into the story. I also kept the tone light, as is shown in this brief snip from the story:
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but could you have missed the hatch?” Lindsey said.
“Nope. I hit the beach first thing every morning and monitor the nests. If turtle eggs hatched, I would see the signs. Eggshells would be cracked and left behind. The sand from the nest to the sea would be full of turtle tracks. The nests would look disturbed. I didn’t see any of that at those locations. It’s like the eggs got beamed into outer space.”
As you can see from the tone of that dialogue, I kept the facts light, used nonscientific words, and even added in an element of humor. By not flooding the story with facts, the reader is drawn into the story and cares about the turtles because the Turtle Girl cares about them. And when the Turtle Girl is found dead on the beach, we care a lot about what happened to her.
Making the Turtle Girl passionate about her amphibian charges upped the stakes for readers caring about why she was murdered.
Bottom line? A little research goes a long way. Do the research, but keep the bulk of it out of your story.
Southern author Maggie Toussaint writes mystery, suspense, and dystopian fiction. Her work won the Silver Falchion Award for best mystery, the Readers’ Choice Award, and the EPIC Award. She’s published fifteen novels as well as several short stories and novellas, including the upcoming Happy Homicides 3. The next book in her paranormal mystery series, Doggone It, releases October 2016. Maggie serves on the board for Southeast Mystery Writers of America and Low Country Sisters in Crime. Visit her at www.maggietoussaint.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked / Kelly Oliver
Writing with similes or metaphors is like writing without a pen. It’s impossible to compare anything without one of the two. In this week’s blog post, Kelly Oliver describes the process of writing her first fiction novel and compares it to, of all things, the grooming of a Persian cat!
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked
By Kelly Oiver
In the past two years, I’ve learned that writing fiction is a lot like combing a matted Persian cat. It takes a lot of patience and determination. And sometimes the cat bites back.
Let me explain.
For the last twenty years, I’ve written philosophy and nonfiction, and until lately it was very satisfying. But, a few years ago, writing philosophy started feeling a little routine—you know, thinking hard thoughts and writing them down. Anyway, I had always wanted to write fiction. The trouble was, for decades I’d been trained to get right to the point and hit readers over the head with my thesis. With a mystery, you have to do the opposite and hide the point, meander along, and create suspense. Like sneaking up on a weary long-haired cat, to write mysteries you have to have a few tricks in your grooming kit.
I got the courage to switch from writing nonfiction to fiction after attending a Killer Nashville Mystery Writers’ Conference. The 2014 convention gave me just enough ammunition to make me dangerous. The four-hour session on writing your opening line sponsored by Sisters in Crime had me on the edge of my seat. I loved mystery writing already and I hadn’t even written my first word.
Immediately after the convention, I wrote the first draft of Wolf in two months and spent the next two years editing it. During that same time, I also wrote Coyote, and alternated between editing one and then the other. For decades, I’ve relied on nonfiction writing to keep me sane. Now, writing novels, I find even more pleasure in inventing characters and whole worlds. But, like everything fun that’s worth doing, it’s also hard work! And when you’re determined to finish that next novel, you can get saddle sores… not to mention cramps in your fingers. Giving that matty cat a good brushing can be exhausting!
For me, the best way to write is to get something down on the page. Then comes the hard part, revising and editing. After writing quick first drafts, I go back and revise and revise and revise, concentrating on several key aspects of writing, including: consistent point of view, strong action verbs that show rather than tell, and interspersing enough backstory to enrich characters without sacrificing action.
Each chapter or section needs to stay within its main character’s point of view both in terms of what she says, how she says it, and descriptions of place and action. How she describes the situation tells us a lot about her. But it has to be consistent. In a first draft, it’s easy to drop out of your character’s point of view, and that’s why you need to revise. For example, a character probably wouldn’t describe herself using the adjectives “her delicate beautiful hands” or “her exquisite lips and soft silky hair,” unless she was a narcissist. And of course, she can’t describe something she doesn’t see or can’t possibly know. On repeated careful readings, these spots start to stand out like “hot spots” (a polite euphemism for ring worm) on your beautiful Persian kitten’s coat.
It’s challenging and fun to go back through your manuscript to replace common verbs like looked, pulled, pushed, or walked, with more exciting stronger verbs such as glanced or stared, hauled or yanked, shoved or thrust,strode or sauntered, etc., again with an eye to consistency in point of view. So “she looked at him, pulled his hair, pushed him down, then walked away,” becomes “she glared at him, yanked his hair, shoved him down, then strode away.” Speaking of pulling and yanking, you have to keep at it, teasing out those pesky mats that mar the flow of your story.
Finally, balancing backstory and action can be tricky. You have to cut out big matted chunks of backstory to keep the action moving. Then go back and add a subtle dusting of backstory—one-liners are best—throughout the novel. Once you hook your readers on the action in the first few chapters, you can always add more backstory later, still keeping your readers on a “need to know” basis when it comes to the past.
You have to keep brushing, combing, and teasing out the mats in your novel. Like the coat of that Persian cat, with every stroke, it will get smoother and finer until it flows beautifully. But, then there are the days when you just have to say to hell with it and get out the clippers!
Kelly Oliver is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and well-known feminist philosopher. She is the author of fourteen nonfiction books, most recently, Hunting Girls: Sexual Violence from The Hunger Games to Rape on Campus (Columbia University Press, May 2016). Her work has been translated into seven languages, and she has been featured in the The New York Times and on ABC television news. Kelly is releasing a new mystery trilogy featuring kickass heroine Jessica James, a Montana “cowgirl” and philosophy grad student taking on ripped-from-the-headlines crimes like date rape drugs on campus, sex trafficking, fracking and more. The adventure begins with trilogy debut Wolf (Kaos Press, June 2016) and Jessica’s adventures continue in Coyote (August 2016). Read more about Kelly and the Jessica James Cowgirl Philosophy Mystery series at www.kellyoliverbooks.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked / Kelly Oliver
Writing with similes or metaphors is like writing without a pen. It's impossible to compare anything without one of the two. In this week's blog post, Kelly Oliver describes the process of writing her first fiction novel and compares it to, of all things, the grooming of a Persian cat!Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked
By Kelly Oiver
In the past two years, I’ve learned that writing fiction is a lot like combing a matted Persian cat. It takes a lot of patience and determination. And sometimes the cat bites back.
Let me explain.
For the last twenty years, I’ve written philosophy and nonfiction, and until lately it was very satisfying. But, a few years ago, writing philosophy started feeling a little routine—you know, thinking hard thoughts and writing them down. Anyway, I had always wanted to write fiction. The trouble was, for decades I’d been trained to get right to the point and hit readers over the head with my thesis. With a mystery, you have to do the opposite and hide the point, meander along, and create suspense. Like sneaking up on a weary long-haired cat, to write mysteries you have to have a few tricks in your grooming kit.
I got the courage to switch from writing nonfiction to fiction after attending a Killer Nashville Mystery Writers’ Conference. The 2014 convention gave me just enough ammunition to make me dangerous. The four-hour session on writing your opening line sponsored by Sisters in Crime had me on the edge of my seat. I loved mystery writing already and I hadn’t even written my first word.
Immediately after the convention, I wrote the first draft of Wolf in two months and spent the next two years editing it. During that same time, I also wrote Coyote, and alternated between 
editing one and then the other. For decades, I’ve relied on nonfiction writing to keep me sane. Now, writing novels, I find even more pleasure in inventing characters and whole worlds. But, like everything fun that’s worth doing, it’s also hard work! And when you’re determined to finish that next novel, you can get saddle sores… not to mention cramps in your fingers. Giving that matty cat a good brushing can be exhausting!
For me, the best way to write is to get something down on the page. Then comes the hard part, revising and editing. After writing quick first drafts, I go back and revise and revise and revise, concentrating on several key aspects of writing, including: consistent point of view, strong action verbs that show rather than tell, and interspersing enough backstory to enrich characters without sacrificing action.
Each chapter or section needs to stay within its main character’s point of view both in terms of what she says, how she says it, and descriptions of place and action. How she describes the situation tells us a lot about her. But it has to be consistent. In a first draft, it’s easy to drop out of your character’s point of view, and that’s why you need to revise. For example, a character probably wouldn’t describe herself using the adjectives “her delicate beautiful hands” or “her exquisite lips and soft silky hair,” unless she was a narcissist. And of course, she can’t describe something she doesn’t see or can’t possibly know. On repeated careful readings, these spots start to stand out like “hot spots” (a polite euphemism for ring worm) on your beautiful Persian kitten’s coat.
It’s challenging and fun to go back through your manuscript to replace common verbs like looked, pulled, pushed, or walked, with more exciting stronger verbs such as glanced or stared, hauled or yanked, shoved or thrust, strode or sauntered, etc., again with an eye to consistency in point of view. So “she looked at him, pulled his hair, pushed him down, then walked away,” becomes “she glared at him, yanked his hair, shoved him down, then strode away.” Speaking of pulling and yanking, you have to keep at it, teasing out those pesky mats that mar the flow of your story.
Finally, balancing backstory and action can be tricky. You have to cut out big matted chunks of backstory to keep the action moving. Then go back and add a subtle dusting of backstory—one-liners are best—throughout the novel. Once you hook your readers on the action in the first few chapters, you can always add more backstory later, still keeping your readers on a “need to know” basis when it comes to the past.
You have to keep brushing, combing, and teasing out the mats in your novel. Like the coat of that Persian cat, with every stroke, it will get smoother and finer until it flows beautifully. But, then there are the days when you just have to say to hell with it and get out the clippers!
Kelly Oliver is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and well-known feminist philosopher. She is the author of fourteen nonfiction books, most recently, Hunting Girls: Sexual Violence from The Hunger Games to Rape on Campus (Columbia University Press, May 2016). Her work has been translated into seven languages, and she has been featured in the The New York Times and on ABC television news. Kelly is releasing a new mystery trilogy featuring kickass heroine Jessica James, a Montana “cowgirl” and philosophy grad student taking on ripped-from-the-headlines crimes like date rape drugs on campus, sex trafficking, fracking and more. The adventure begins with trilogy debut Wolf (Kaos Press, June 2016) and Jessica’s adventures continue in Coyote (August 2016). Read more about Kelly and the Jessica James Cowgirl Philosophy Mystery series at www.kellyoliverbooks.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked / Kelly Oliver
Writing with similes or metaphors is like writing without a pen. It's impossible to compare anything without one of the two. In this week's blog post, Kelly Oliver describes the process of writing her first fiction novel and compares it to, of all things, the grooming of a Persian cat!Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Like Persian Cats, Writing a Mystery Must Be Brushed and Stroked
By Kelly Oiver
In the past two years, I’ve learned that writing fiction is a lot like combing a matted Persian cat. It takes a lot of patience and determination. And sometimes the cat bites back.
Let me explain.
For the last twenty years, I’ve written philosophy and nonfiction, and until lately it was very satisfying. But, a few years ago, writing philosophy started feeling a little routine—you know, thinking hard thoughts and writing them down. Anyway, I had always wanted to write fiction. The trouble was, for decades I’d been trained to get right to the point and hit readers over the head with my thesis. With a mystery, you have to do the opposite and hide the point, meander along, and create suspense. Like sneaking up on a weary long-haired cat, to write mysteries you have to have a few tricks in your grooming kit.
I got the courage to switch from writing nonfiction to fiction after attending a Killer Nashville Mystery Writers’ Conference. The 2014 convention gave me just enough ammunition to make me dangerous. The four-hour session on writing your opening line sponsored by Sisters in Crime had me on the edge of my seat. I loved mystery writing already and I hadn’t even written my first word.
Immediately after the convention, I wrote the first draft of Wolf in two months and spent the next two years editing it. During that same time, I also wrote Coyote, and alternated between 
editing one and then the other. For decades, I’ve relied on nonfiction writing to keep me sane. Now, writing novels, I find even more pleasure in inventing characters and whole worlds. But, like everything fun that’s worth doing, it’s also hard work! And when you’re determined to finish that next novel, you can get saddle sores… not to mention cramps in your fingers. Giving that matty cat a good brushing can be exhausting!
For me, the best way to write is to get something down on the page. Then comes the hard part, revising and editing. After writing quick first drafts, I go back and revise and revise and revise, concentrating on several key aspects of writing, including: consistent point of view, strong action verbs that show rather than tell, and interspersing enough backstory to enrich characters without sacrificing action.
Each chapter or section needs to stay within its main character’s point of view both in terms of what she says, how she says it, and descriptions of place and action. How she describes the situation tells us a lot about her. But it has to be consistent. In a first draft, it’s easy to drop out of your character’s point of view, and that’s why you need to revise. For example, a character probably wouldn’t describe herself using the adjectives “her delicate beautiful hands” or “her exquisite lips and soft silky hair,” unless she was a narcissist. And of course, she can’t describe something she doesn’t see or can’t possibly know. On repeated careful readings, these spots start to stand out like “hot spots” (a polite euphemism for ring worm) on your beautiful Persian kitten’s coat.
It’s challenging and fun to go back through your manuscript to replace common verbs like looked, pulled, pushed, or walked, with more exciting stronger verbs such as glanced or stared, hauled or yanked, shoved or thrust, strode or sauntered, etc., again with an eye to consistency in point of view. So “she looked at him, pulled his hair, pushed him down, then walked away,” becomes “she glared at him, yanked his hair, shoved him down, then strode away.” Speaking of pulling and yanking, you have to keep at it, teasing out those pesky mats that mar the flow of your story.
Finally, balancing backstory and action can be tricky. You have to cut out big matted chunks of backstory to keep the action moving. Then go back and add a subtle dusting of backstory—one-liners are best—throughout the novel. Once you hook your readers on the action in the first few chapters, you can always add more backstory later, still keeping your readers on a “need to know” basis when it comes to the past.
You have to keep brushing, combing, and teasing out the mats in your novel. Like the coat of that Persian cat, with every stroke, it will get smoother and finer until it flows beautifully. But, then there are the days when you just have to say to hell with it and get out the clippers!
Kelly Oliver is a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University and well-known feminist philosopher. She is the author of fourteen nonfiction books, most recently, Hunting Girls: Sexual Violence from The Hunger Games to Rape on Campus (Columbia University Press, May 2016). Her work has been translated into seven languages, and she has been featured in the The New York Times and on ABC television news. Kelly is releasing a new mystery trilogy featuring kickass heroine Jessica James, a Montana “cowgirl” and philosophy grad student taking on ripped-from-the-headlines crimes like date rape drugs on campus, sex trafficking, fracking and more. The adventure begins with trilogy debut Wolf (Kaos Press, June 2016) and Jessica’s adventures continue in Coyote (August 2016). Read more about Kelly and the Jessica James Cowgirl Philosophy Mystery series at www.kellyoliverbooks.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Cover Story: Heart of Stone / James W. Ziskin
Picking a final book cover is one of the hardest things an author can do. We have so many ideas running through our brain, and we want to fill every bit of space without it looking clunky. Every decision matters. The color isn’t the right shade of white or the font needs to be a little smaller. Those decisions can prolong a book being published because we have a tendency to want to perfect everything, and if the cover we have isn’t a flawless vision of what we want, we keep going until we’re satisfied. In this week’s blog post, James W. Ziskin details the process of picking his newest book cover and how satisfying the whole journey can be.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In the waning days of a lazy August holiday, Ellie Stone is enjoying a bright Adirondack-lake morning. Nearby, two men plummet to their deaths just a few feet short of the water of a dangerous diving pool. A tragic accident, it seems. But the state police quickly establish that the two victims—one, a stranger to the lake and, the other, a teenaged boy from a nearby music camp—surely didn't know each other. That anomaly is strange enough, but what really perplexes Ellie is the out-of-place station wagon parked twenty yards from the edge of the cliff.
Wading into a slippery morass of fellow travelers, free-love intellectuals, rabid John Birchers, and charismatic evangelicals, Ellie must navigate old grudges and Cold War passions, lost ideals and betrayed loves. She sticks her nose where it's unwanted, rattling nerves and putting herself in jeopardy. But this time, it's her heart that's at risk.
Today, I'm discussing the cover of my latest Ellie Stone mystery, Heart of Stone (Seventh Street Books, June 16, 2016). Readers judge books by their covers. They may not choose the book after skimming it, but they certainly pick it up in the first place because of the cover.
Covers attract attention in a variety of ways. The artwork creates mood through images, colors, fonts, and other elements of design. These are the covers of the first three Ellie Stone novels. The amazing Jackie Nasso Cooke of Prometheus/Seventh Street Book designed them all.
What do we see? First of all, there is a consistency in the layout: a clean font, and similar placement of the text. There's also the thematic repetition of women's clothing: shoes and gloves. Jackie strives to maintain the same design basics for each cover to build a look, a branding that readers have come to associate with the Ellie Stone mysteries.
One of many advantages of being published by a press like Prometheus/Seventh Street is that they are willing to discuss cover ideas with their authors. That doesn't happen at every publishing house. Since the Ellie Stone mysteries are set in 1960-61, the marketing folks told me they wanted a stronger nostalgic look for the Heart of Stone cover. They wanted readers to recognize the era instantly.
From the moment I plotted out Heart of Stone, I knew what kind of cover I would like to see. A summer lake with mountains in the background. Ideally, there would be a wooden dock and perhaps an Adirondack chair. And the item I wanted more than anything else was a discarded women's one-piece bathing suit that matched the early sixties era. But the perfect image proved to be elusive. The art department considered thousands of photographs, looking for just the right one.
They found lots of docks with lakes, mountains, and Adirondack chairs. But they didn't look anything like 1961. And there were no bathing suits, except those filled with women.
We tried other ideas. I liked this one, but it wasn't quite right. No lake, mountains, or bathing suit. And no nostalgia.
This one was perfect to illustrate the nude bathing that runs through the book, but the title would have been lost against the text in the image.
Jackie explored several other themes that might fit, but no one was satisfied.
This one is beautiful, but it looks more like a young-adult novel cover. A little too wholesome.
Here's an idyllic Adirondack lake, and it has a nostalgic look. Nice, but still no bathing suit, no mystery, no fun. And the orientation is landscape, which in this case wouldn't have worked for a cover.
Time was running short. We were in danger of having to send out the reviewer copies with no cover art at all.
And then, eureka! I stumbled across the photo below on a stock photography site. It took some imagination to picture the final cover, but I knew Jackie could turn this into a gem. First, we'd need to cut it down to fit a portrait orientation. Then we had to get rid of the hat and flip-flops. They didn't fit the period. But the rest of the photo ticked all the boxes: the dock, the lake, mountains, and bathing suit. The splash in the water was gravy.
Using Photoshop, I made a crappy mock-up and e-mailed it to Jackie to get her thoughts. She responded almost immediately with the comment, "This one is a contender." I was thrilled.
But my version was far from acceptable. Jackie went to work, removing the hat and shoes, and correcting the color. We wanted a faded Kodachrome look to give it more of a retro mood. Here's the concept she came up with.
I loved it. Everyone else seemed to be on board as well. But my brilliant agent, William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates, thought the dock looked a little empty. He said he'd like to see something else there to set the period. He suggested a transistor radio. Jackie worked her magic, found the perfect radio, and slipped it in. It was a home run.
And so the Heart of Stone cover was born. It's sexy without being sexist. It's fun and consistent in style with the covers of the previous books in the series. It even features an article of women's clothing. And it evokes the appropriate time and suggests the nude bathing I wanted. If Heart of Stone fails to set the world on fire, it won't be the fault of the cover.
Heart of Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery arrives in stores and online June 7, 2016. (Seventh Street Books
James W. Ziskin is the Anthony-, Barry-, and Lefty-nominated author of the Ellie Stone mysteries Styx & Stone, No Stone Unturned, Stone Cold Dead, and Heart of Stone. Look for Cast the First Stone in summer of 2017.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Cover Story: Heart of Stone / James W. Ziskin
Picking a final book cover is one of the hardest things an author can do. We have so many ideas running through our brain, and we want to fill every bit of space without it looking clunky. Every decision matters. The color isn't the right shade of white or the font needs to be a little smaller. Those decisions can prolong a book being published because we have a tendency to want to perfect everything, and if the cover we have isn't a flawless vision of what we want, we keep going until we’re satisfied. In this week’s blog post, James W. Ziskin details the process of picking his newest book cover and how satisfying the whole journey can be. Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In the waning days of a lazy August holiday, Ellie Stone is enjoying a bright Adirondack-lake morning. Nearby, two men plummet to their deaths just a few feet short of the water of a dangerous diving pool. A tragic accident, it seems. But the state police quickly establish that the two victims—one, a stranger to the lake and, the other, a teenaged boy from a nearby music camp—surely didn't know each other. That anomaly is strange enough, but what really perplexes Ellie is the out-of-place station wagon parked twenty yards from the edge of the cliff.
Wading into a slippery morass of fellow travelers, free-love intellectuals, rabid John Birchers, and charismatic evangelicals, Ellie must navigate old grudges and Cold War passions, lost ideals and betrayed loves. She sticks her nose where it's unwanted, rattling nerves and putting herself in jeopardy. But this time, it's her heart that's at risk.
Today, I'm discussing the cover of my latest Ellie Stone mystery, Heart of Stone (Seventh Street Books, June 16, 2016). Readers judge books by their covers. They may not choose the book after skimming it, but they certainly pick it up in the first place because of the cover.
Covers attract attention in a variety of ways. The artwork creates mood through images, colors, fonts, and other elements of design. These are the covers of the first three Ellie Stone novels. The amazing Jackie Nasso Cooke of Prometheus/Seventh Street Book designed them all.
What do we see? First of all, there is a consistency in the layout: a clean font, and similar placement of the text. There's also the thematic repetition of women's clothing: shoes and gloves. Jackie strives to maintain the same design basics for each cover to build a look, a branding that readers have come to associate with the Ellie Stone mysteries.
One of many advantages of being published by a press like Prometheus/Seventh Street is that they are willing to discuss cover ideas with their authors. That doesn't happen at every publishing house. Since the Ellie Stone mysteries are set in 1960-61, the marketing folks told me they wanted a stronger nostalgic look for the Heart of Stone cover. They wanted readers to recognize the era instantly.
From the moment I plotted out Heart of Stone, I knew what kind of cover I would like to see. A summer lake with mountains in the background. Ideally, there would be a wooden dock and perhaps an Adirondack chair. And the item I wanted more than anything else was a discarded women's one-piece bathing suit that matched the early sixties era. But the perfect image proved to be elusive. The art department considered thousands of photographs, looking for just the right one.
They found lots of docks with lakes, mountains, and Adirondack chairs. But they didn't look anything like 1961. And there were no bathing suits, except those filled with women.
We tried other ideas. I liked this one, but it wasn't quite right. No lake, mountains, or bathing suit. And no nostalgia.
This one was perfect to illustrate the nude bathing that runs through the book, but the title would have been lost against the text in the image.
Jackie explored several other themes that might fit, but no one was satisfied.
This one is beautiful, but it looks more like a young-adult novel cover. A little too wholesome.
Here's an idyllic Adirondack lake, and it has a nostalgic look. Nice, but still no bathing suit, no mystery, no fun. And the orientation is landscape, which in this case wouldn't have worked for a cover.
Time was running short. We were in danger of having to send out the reviewer copies with no cover art at all.
And then, eureka! I stumbled across the photo below on a stock photography site. It took some imagination to picture the final cover, but I knew Jackie could turn this into a gem. First, we'd need to cut it down to fit a portrait orientation. Then we had to get rid of the hat and flip-flops. They didn't fit the period. But the rest of the photo ticked all the boxes: the dock, the lake, mountains, and bathing suit. The splash in the water was gravy.
Using Photoshop, I made a crappy mock-up and e-mailed it to Jackie to get her thoughts. She responded almost immediately with the comment, "This one is a contender." I was thrilled.
But my version was far from acceptable. Jackie went to work, removing the hat and shoes, and correcting the color. We wanted a faded Kodachrome look to give it more of a retro mood. Here's the concept she came up with.
I loved it. Everyone else seemed to be on board as well. But my brilliant agent, William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates, thought the dock looked a little empty. He said he'd like to see something else there to set the period. He suggested a transistor radio. Jackie worked her magic, found the perfect radio, and slipped it in. It was a home run.
And so the Heart of Stone cover was born. It's sexy without being sexist. It's fun and consistent in style with the covers of the previous books in the series. It even features an article of women's clothing. And it evokes the appropriate time and suggests the nude bathing I wanted. If Heart of Stone fails to set the world on fire, it won't be the fault of the cover.
Heart of Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery arrives in stores and online June 7, 2016. (Seventh Street Books
James W. Ziskin is the Anthony-, Barry-, and Lefty-nominated author of the Ellie Stone mysteries Styx & Stone, No Stone Unturned, Stone Cold Dead, and Heart of Stone. Look for Cast the First Stone in summer of 2017.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Cover Story: Heart of Stone / James W. Ziskin
Picking a final book cover is one of the hardest things an author can do. We have so many ideas running through our brain, and we want to fill every bit of space without it looking clunky. Every decision matters. The color isn't the right shade of white or the font needs to be a little smaller. Those decisions can prolong a book being published because we have a tendency to want to perfect everything, and if the cover we have isn't a flawless vision of what we want, we keep going until we’re satisfied. In this week’s blog post, James W. Ziskin details the process of picking his newest book cover and how satisfying the whole journey can be. Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
In the waning days of a lazy August holiday, Ellie Stone is enjoying a bright Adirondack-lake morning. Nearby, two men plummet to their deaths just a few feet short of the water of a dangerous diving pool. A tragic accident, it seems. But the state police quickly establish that the two victims—one, a stranger to the lake and, the other, a teenaged boy from a nearby music camp—surely didn't know each other. That anomaly is strange enough, but what really perplexes Ellie is the out-of-place station wagon parked twenty yards from the edge of the cliff.
Wading into a slippery morass of fellow travelers, free-love intellectuals, rabid John Birchers, and charismatic evangelicals, Ellie must navigate old grudges and Cold War passions, lost ideals and betrayed loves. She sticks her nose where it's unwanted, rattling nerves and putting herself in jeopardy. But this time, it's her heart that's at risk.
Today, I'm discussing the cover of my latest Ellie Stone mystery, Heart of Stone (Seventh Street Books, June 16, 2016). Readers judge books by their covers. They may not choose the book after skimming it, but they certainly pick it up in the first place because of the cover.
Covers attract attention in a variety of ways. The artwork creates mood through images, colors, fonts, and other elements of design. These are the covers of the first three Ellie Stone novels. The amazing Jackie Nasso Cooke of Prometheus/Seventh Street Book designed them all.
What do we see? First of all, there is a consistency in the layout: a clean font, and similar placement of the text. There's also the thematic repetition of women's clothing: shoes and gloves. Jackie strives to maintain the same design basics for each cover to build a look, a branding that readers have come to associate with the Ellie Stone mysteries.
One of many advantages of being published by a press like Prometheus/Seventh Street is that they are willing to discuss cover ideas with their authors. That doesn't happen at every publishing house. Since the Ellie Stone mysteries are set in 1960-61, the marketing folks told me they wanted a stronger nostalgic look for the Heart of Stone cover. They wanted readers to recognize the era instantly.
From the moment I plotted out Heart of Stone, I knew what kind of cover I would like to see. A summer lake with mountains in the background. Ideally, there would be a wooden dock and perhaps an Adirondack chair. And the item I wanted more than anything else was a discarded women's one-piece bathing suit that matched the early sixties era. But the perfect image proved to be elusive. The art department considered thousands of photographs, looking for just the right one.
They found lots of docks with lakes, mountains, and Adirondack chairs. But they didn't look anything like 1961. And there were no bathing suits, except those filled with women.
We tried other ideas. I liked this one, but it wasn't quite right. No lake, mountains, or bathing suit. And no nostalgia.
This one was perfect to illustrate the nude bathing that runs through the book, but the title would have been lost against the text in the image.
Jackie explored several other themes that might fit, but no one was satisfied.
This one is beautiful, but it looks more like a young-adult novel cover. A little too wholesome.
Here's an idyllic Adirondack lake, and it has a nostalgic look. Nice, but still no bathing suit, no mystery, no fun. And the orientation is landscape, which in this case wouldn't have worked for a cover.
Time was running short. We were in danger of having to send out the reviewer copies with no cover art at all.
And then, eureka! I stumbled across the photo below on a stock photography site. It took some imagination to picture the final cover, but I knew Jackie could turn this into a gem. First, we'd need to cut it down to fit a portrait orientation. Then we had to get rid of the hat and flip-flops. They didn't fit the period. But the rest of the photo ticked all the boxes: the dock, the lake, mountains, and bathing suit. The splash in the water was gravy.
Using Photoshop, I made a crappy mock-up and e-mailed it to Jackie to get her thoughts. She responded almost immediately with the comment, "This one is a contender." I was thrilled.
But my version was far from acceptable. Jackie went to work, removing the hat and shoes, and correcting the color. We wanted a faded Kodachrome look to give it more of a retro mood. Here's the concept she came up with.
I loved it. Everyone else seemed to be on board as well. But my brilliant agent, William Reiss of John Hawkins and Associates, thought the dock looked a little empty. He said he'd like to see something else there to set the period. He suggested a transistor radio. Jackie worked her magic, found the perfect radio, and slipped it in. It was a home run.
And so the Heart of Stone cover was born. It's sexy without being sexist. It's fun and consistent in style with the covers of the previous books in the series. It even features an article of women's clothing. And it evokes the appropriate time and suggests the nude bathing I wanted. If Heart of Stone fails to set the world on fire, it won't be the fault of the cover.
Heart of Stone: An Ellie Stone Mystery arrives in stores and online June 7, 2016. (Seventh Street Books
James W. Ziskin is the Anthony-, Barry-, and Lefty-nominated author of the Ellie Stone mysteries Styx & Stone, No Stone Unturned, Stone Cold Dead, and Heart of Stone. Look for Cast the First Stone in summer of 2017.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
What’s a Writer to Do When Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf? / Felicia Bridges
Writers tend to think of themselves as the creators of worlds and characters, to some degree or another. But what happens when your characters take on lives of their own? How do you realign your expectations and allow them, and your story, to develop organically? In this week’s guest blog, author Felicia Bridges explores those questions and shares her advice.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
What’s a Writer to Do When
Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf?
By Felicia Bridges
Writing fiction is a process of discovery as much as creativity for many writers, myself included. My creative process begins with a main character in a predicament, possibly facing a villain, and then allows the characters to lead me down the paths they choose. I usually have a rough outline of my plot in mind, but sometimes my character’s path leads in directions I never expected and really changes my idea of how the story will play out.
In my current work in progress, BoliviaKnight, I started with a character named Hector that I identified as the villain: a drug-dealing, human trafficker who is witnessed at the scene of a murder by my protagonist. Then I discovered he was the younger brother of my damsel in distress, Ranza, and equally a victim despite the opening scene that depicts him as a murderer. He turns out to be a good guy who rescues his sister and helps bring down a human trafficking ring.
So what’s a writer to do when her villain turns over a new leaf?
I started by allowing Hector to reveal who he was. When it first occurred to me that he was Ranza’s little brother, I spent some time interviewing him about his childhood to understand how he ended up where I found him on the first page of BoliviaKnight in an alley with a dead body at his feet. Hopefully this doesn’t sound as crazy as I think it does. Basically, I pose a series of questions about the character and my imagination responds with the answer. It’s a little bit like a psychological test where you respond with the first thought that comes to mind following a prompt, but the initial thought is just a lump of clay that you may shape, refine, crush and reshape until it becomes usable.
Some of the questions I thought through to understand Hector were: What had happened in their early years that led him to work for a crime boss? Why didn’t he try to escape the control of this kingpin? What would have to happen in order for him to stand up to the real villain and overcome evil with good? What would the consequences be if he did stand up to the villain? How does he feel about his sister and why? What experiences has he shared with his sister that impact their relationship now?
As the story unfolds, I gradually reveal to the reader the relationship that I’ve discovered and the backstory that brought them to this predicament. I sprinkle in hints of the relationship before the big reveal to entice the reader along the path. Understanding the history that led my erstwhile villain to get involved with the wrong crowd helps the reader move from a perspective of judgment and condemnation to empathy for the character. In the end, the story becomes more powerful and the character gains greater depth and dimension as the reader recognizes that, like all of us, every villain has a history and often times, the villain was once the victim. It also communicates an important truth: Each of us is capable of good and evil.
Once I’ve completed the first draft, I go back through the story from the first page and revise the scenes so that any reference to this character shows his behavior and character is consistent throughout the book, even if aspects of his character aren’t revealed yet. I look for opportunities to add subtle clues that will give the reader a sense of discovery and the thrill of solving the puzzle before the relationship is made clear, without making them feel as if they’ve been clobbered over the head with it.
I have at times tried to stick with my original plan despite the character revealing something different. It resulted in the dialogue and action sounding forced and mechanical instead of flowing naturally from what I know of the character. Regardless of whether it is your villain, your heroine, or a side character, understanding their history is essential to writing a story that will resonate with readers and will sound believable. Numerous character interview guidelines are available online to suggest questions for you to walk through in order to better understand the psychology of a character. Not all writers are psychologists, but the more you understand why your character is who he or she is, the more plausible their words and actions will seem.
So when your villain turns over a new leaf, pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea and ask them to tell you all about it.
Felicia Bridges began writing as an Army BRAT learning to enjoy life overseas. Her nomadic childhood created a passion for missions and travel that energizes her writing. Felicia will release CzechMate: The International Mission Force Series on May 16, a thriller that reflects stories as dangerous and frightening as tonight’s world news with a healthy dose of God’s sovereignty and supernatural power and a dash of romance. She is a contributing author for Then Along Came an Angel: Messengers of Deliverance and God’s Provision in Tough Times, a finalist for the 2014 Selah Awards.
Serving in ministry for over twenty years alongside her husband, and the mother of four children, Felicia’s vision is to inspire the next generation to carry the gospel to all nations. Her blog focuses on living on mission wherever life’s adventure leads and is at: www.AdventuresThatInspireAction.wordpress.com.
BoliviaKnight will be the second book in the International Mission Force series, and is scheduled for release in December 2016. CzechMate, the first novel in the International Mission Force series, will be available May 30, 2016.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
What’s a Writer to Do When Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf? / Felicia Bridges
Writers tend to think of themselves as the creators of worlds and characters, to some degree or another. But what happens when your characters take on lives of their own? How do you realign your expectations and allow them, and your story, to develop organically? In this week’s guest blog, author Felicia Bridges explores those questions and shares her advice.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
What’s a Writer to Do When
Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf?
By Felicia Bridges
Writing fiction is a process of discovery as much as creativity for many writers, myself included. My creative process begins with a main character in a predicament, possibly facing a villain, and then allows the characters to lead me down the paths they choose. I usually have a rough outline of my plot in mind, but sometimes my character’s path leads in directions I never expected and really changes my idea of how the story will play out.
In my current work in progress, BoliviaKnight, I started with a character named Hector that I identified as the villain: a drug-dealing, human trafficker who is witnessed at the scene of a murder by my protagonist. Then I discovered he was the younger brother of my damsel in distress, Ranza, and equally a victim despite the opening scene that depicts him as a murderer. He turns out to be a good guy who rescues his sister and helps bring down a human trafficking ring.
So what’s a writer to do when her villain turns over a new leaf?
I started by allowing Hector to reveal who he was. When it first occurred to me that he was Ranza’s little brother, I spent some time interviewing him about his childhood to understand how he ended up where I found him on the first page of BoliviaKnight in an alley with a dead body at his feet. Hopefully this doesn’t sound as crazy as I think it does. Basically, I pose a series of questions about the character and my imagination responds with the answer. It’s a little bit like a psychological test where you respond with the first thought that comes to mind following a prompt, but the initial thought is just a lump of clay that you may shape, refine, crush and reshape until it becomes usable.
Some of the questions I thought through to understand Hector were: What had happened in their early years that led him to work for a crime boss? Why didn’t he try to escape the control of this kingpin? What would have to happen in order for him to stand up to the real villain and overcome evil with good? What would the consequences be if he did stand up to the villain? How does he feel about his sister and why? What experiences has he shared with his sister that impact their relationship now?
As the story unfolds, I gradually reveal to the reader the relationship that I’ve discovered and the backstory that brought them to this predicament. I sprinkle in hints of the relationship before the big reveal to entice the reader along the path. Understanding the history that led my erstwhile villain to get involved with the wrong crowd helps the reader move from a perspective of judgment and condemnation to empathy for the character. In the end, the story becomes more powerful and the character gains greater depth and dimension as the reader recognizes that, like all of us, every villain has a history and often times, the villain was once the victim. It also communicates an important truth: Each of us is capable of good and evil.
Once I’ve completed the first draft, I go back through the story from the first page and revise the scenes so that any reference to this character shows his behavior and character is consistent throughout the book, even if aspects of his character aren’t revealed yet. I look for opportunities to add subtle clues that will give the reader a sense of discovery and the thrill of solving the puzzle before the relationship is made clear, without making them feel as if they’ve been clobbered over the head with it.
I have at times tried to stick with my original plan despite the character revealing something different. It resulted in the dialogue and action sounding forced and mechanical instead of flowing naturally from what I know of the character. Regardless of whether it is your villain, your heroine, or a side character, understanding their history is essential to writing a story that will resonate with readers and will sound believable. Numerous character interview guidelines are available online to suggest questions for you to walk through in order to better understand the psychology of a character. Not all writers are psychologists, but the more you understand why your character is who he or she is, the more plausible their words and actions will seem.
So when your villain turns over a new leaf, pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea and ask them to tell you all about it.
Felicia Bridges began writing as an Army BRAT learning to enjoy life overseas. Her nomadic childhood created a passion for missions and travel that energizes her writing. Felicia will release CzechMate: The International Mission Force Series on May 16, a thriller that reflects stories as dangerous and frightening as tonight’s world news with a healthy dose of God’s sovereignty and supernatural power and a dash of romance. She is a contributing author for Then Along Came an Angel: Messengers of Deliverance and God’s Provision in Tough Times, a finalist for the 2014 Selah Awards.
Serving in ministry for over twenty years alongside her husband, and the mother of four children, Felicia’s vision is to inspire the next generation to carry the gospel to all nations. Her blog focuses on living on mission wherever life’s adventure leads and is at: www.AdventuresThatInspireAction.wordpress.com.
BoliviaKnight will be the second book in the International Mission Force series, and is scheduled for release in December 2016. CzechMate, the first novel in the International Mission Force series, will be available May 30, 2016.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
What’s a Writer to Do When Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf? / Felicia Bridges
Writers tend to think of themselves as the creators of worlds and characters, to some degree or another. But what happens when your characters take on lives of their own? How do you realign your expectations and allow them, and your story, to develop organically? In this week’s guest blog, author Felicia Bridges explores those questions and shares her advice.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
What’s a Writer to Do When
Her Villain Turns Over a New Leaf?
By Felicia Bridges
Writing fiction is a process of discovery as much as creativity for many writers, myself included. My creative process begins with a main character in a predicament, possibly facing a villain, and then allows the characters to lead me down the paths they choose. I usually have a rough outline of my plot in mind, but sometimes my character’s path leads in directions I never expected and really changes my idea of how the story will play out.
In my current work in progress, BoliviaKnight, I started with a character named Hector that I identified as the villain: a drug-dealing, human trafficker who is witnessed at the scene of a murder by my protagonist. Then I discovered he was the younger brother of my damsel in distress, Ranza, and equally a victim despite the opening scene that depicts him as a murderer. He turns out to be a good guy who rescues his sister and helps bring down a human trafficking ring.
So what’s a writer to do when her villain turns over a new leaf?
I started by allowing Hector to reveal who he was. When it first occurred to me that he was Ranza’s little brother, I spent some time interviewing him about his childhood to understand how he ended up where I found him on the first page of BoliviaKnight in an alley with a dead body at his feet. Hopefully this doesn’t sound as crazy as I think it does. Basically, I pose a series of questions about the character and my imagination responds with the answer. It’s a little bit like a psychological test where you respond with the first thought that comes to mind following a prompt, but the initial thought is just a lump of clay that you may shape, refine, crush and reshape until it becomes usable.
Some of the questions I thought through to understand Hector were: What had happened in their early years that led him to work for a crime boss? Why didn’t he try to escape the control of this kingpin? What would have to happen in order for him to stand up to the real villain and overcome evil with good? What would the consequences be if he did stand up to the villain? How does he feel about his sister and why? What experiences has he shared with his sister that impact their relationship now?
As the story unfolds, I gradually reveal to the reader the relationship that I’ve discovered and the backstory that brought them to this predicament. I sprinkle in hints of the relationship before the big reveal to entice the reader along the path. Understanding the history that led my erstwhile villain to get involved with the wrong crowd helps the reader move from a perspective of judgment and condemnation to empathy for the character. In the end, the story becomes more powerful and the character gains greater depth and dimension as the reader recognizes that, like all of us, every villain has a history and often times, the villain was once the victim. It also communicates an important truth: Each of us is capable of good and evil.
Once I’ve completed the first draft, I go back through the story from the first page and revise the scenes so that any reference to this character shows his behavior and character is consistent throughout the book, even if aspects of his character aren’t revealed yet. I look for opportunities to add subtle clues that will give the reader a sense of discovery and the thrill of solving the puzzle before the relationship is made clear, without making them feel as if they’ve been clobbered over the head with it.
I have at times tried to stick with my original plan despite the character revealing something different. It resulted in the dialogue and action sounding forced and mechanical instead of flowing naturally from what I know of the character. Regardless of whether it is your villain, your heroine, or a side character, understanding their history is essential to writing a story that will resonate with readers and will sound believable. Numerous character interview guidelines are available online to suggest questions for you to walk through in order to better understand the psychology of a character. Not all writers are psychologists, but the more you understand why your character is who he or she is, the more plausible their words and actions will seem.
So when your villain turns over a new leaf, pull up a chair, pour a cup of tea and ask them to tell you all about it.
Felicia Bridges began writing as an Army BRAT learning to enjoy life overseas. Her nomadic childhood created a passion for missions and travel that energizes her writing. Felicia will release CzechMate: The International Mission Force Series on May 16, a thriller that reflects stories as dangerous and frightening as tonight’s world news with a healthy dose of God’s sovereignty and supernatural power and a dash of romance. She is a contributing author for Then Along Came an Angel: Messengers of Deliverance and God’s Provision in Tough Times, a finalist for the 2014 Selah Awards.
Serving in ministry for over twenty years alongside her husband, and the mother of four children, Felicia’s vision is to inspire the next generation to carry the gospel to all nations. Her blog focuses on living on mission wherever life’s adventure leads and is at: www.AdventuresThatInspireAction.wordpress.com.
BoliviaKnight will be the second book in the International Mission Force series, and is scheduled for release in December 2016. CzechMate, the first novel in the International Mission Force series, will be available May 30, 2016.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Just Start Your Novel / Cyn Taylor
We all have those moments of self-doubt—the moments where we feel like our work isn’t good enough. To contest the self-doubt, we’re constantly revising words, characters, plots. . . and it still never feels adequate. Cyn Taylor understands that feeling. No matter where you are in your creative process, you’ll appreciate Cyn’s outlook and advice about starting and finishing something you think is worthwhile.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Just Start Your Novel
By Cyn Taylor
Many folks live by the mantra that life is all about the journey. As a writer, I beg to disagree. The journey to becoming a published author is fraught with perils. You begin a story with joy and elation; much like bringing a first child into the world. (Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration — but it’s my analogy, and I’m sticking to it.)
Soon we come to the middle of our tale. Let’s correlate this period of time with the teen years of the child you birthed earlier. Joy and elation gives way to gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair. This may be why there are so many bald authors. Look it up.
We made it through the meat of our story. Now let’s wrap this up in a nice package and put a bow on it. But finding the perfect ending can be as elusive as that candy bar that keeps sliding just out of reach under the seat of your car. Sure, you’re the one that hid it there due to a complete lack of ability to share. But you didn’t know at the time how far into the clutches of darkness a car floorboard could go.
Then, finally, the perfect words fly from your brain, down your arms and to your fingers as you tap the computer keyboard as fast as the Flash can dart. The beginning is tempting, the middle moves the story along and the ending, well, IMPAC Dublin Award here we come.
Sit down, have a nice cup of tea and take a moment to catch your breath. Because now the real work begins — finding a publisher that agrees with your assessment of that book.
I wrote my first novel more than 25 years ago. I rewrote that book ten years ago. Then revised said book a couple of years ago. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep changing the basic story. What had to change was certain terminology due to technological advances, i.e., cell phones, etc.
Having first written the book as Romantic Fiction, I submitted it to Harlequin. In those days, a submission was double-spaced and printed on 8.5 x 11 paper. Talk about going through the ink. And printing paper still had holes on the side! Yes, I’m old. Get over it. Harlequin’s response was along the lines of “We have numerous books at this point. We’ll get back to you.” They didn’t. Hence the first rewrite.
Inspirational Romance was hitting the market big time. I jumped in and put my characters into a Christian setting. I added humor and a bit of suspense. I began to get to know my characters better and started to feel an attachment to them. I submitted, now via email, to different Christian publishers. Responses varied from “Not what we’re looking for at this time” to “We would love to help you self-publish.” BLAH!
I took a job as a journalist for a community paper and I started looking at my book through fresh eyes. Hence the next revision.
My characters needed more depth. I tried reading Christian Romantic Fiction and found myself falling asleep. While this was good for my health it did nothing towards helping me become a better writer. I gave up reading that genre.
Then I read Stephen King’s book On Writing. I had always found his stories terrifying and was never a fan. Now when I am asked what helped me most in improving my writing, I recommend this book. King is still the master at turning a phrase.
As I worked on redeveloping my first book, I was struck with the idea of making it into a series set in the Great Smoky Mountains, my area. Before I had rewritten book one I was well on my way through books two and three. Things kind of unfolded from there. I finally finished book one. Again. Then I started searching for a publisher. Again.
I received an assignment to interview recently published author Brooke Cox. Her first book Deadly Doll was picked up by Mantle Rock Publishing. After the interview I bought the book and saw her publisher listed. My feeble brain thought, “Why not?”
I submitted my first book Blue Mountain Sky in October of 2015. Editor Kathy Cretsinger liked it well enough to send me a contract in December. Blue Mountain Sky is set for release mid-July. The next two books in the series are planned for later this year and first of next. The genre is Contemporary Romantic Suspense.
So here we are at the end of my story. That of a soon-to-be published author. How do we wrap this up all nice and tidy? Let’s not. I believe that our stories are never ending. All of us play a small part in the greater story woven by God. (Yes I’m a believer.)
If you have words stuck in your brain get them out. Put them on paper. Share them. Open yourself up to change. Don’t be afraid to self-promote. It may be you that writes the next great American novel. You won’t know if you don’t start.
Cyn Taylor lives and plays in Knoxville Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She and husband Brent live on his family farm at the peak of Thunder Ridge along with a feral cat and many other woodland creatures who come round to visit. They have two adult children and seven grand-children.
Taylor is a freelance journalist for a community newspaper. She has written faith and feature articles for the past eight years. Taylor says she gets some of her best inspiration when she accompanies Brent on fly fishing excursions to the Smokies. He fishes. She writes. Life is good.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Just Start Your Novel / Cyn Taylor
We all have those moments of self-doubt—the moments where we feel like our work isn't good enough. To contest the self-doubt, we're constantly revising words, characters, plots. . . and it still never feels adequate. Cyn Taylor understands that feeling. No matter where you are in your creative process, you'll appreciate Cyn's outlook and advice about starting and finishing something you think is worthwhile.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Just Start Your Novel
By Cyn Taylor
Many folks live by the mantra that life is all about the journey. As a writer, I beg to disagree. The journey to becoming a published author is fraught with perils. You begin a story with joy and elation; much like bringing a first child into the world. (Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration — but it’s my analogy, and I’m sticking to it.)
Soon we come to the middle of our tale. Let’s correlate this period of time with the teen years of the child you birthed earlier. Joy and elation gives way to gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair. This may be why there are so many bald authors. Look it up.
We made it through the meat of our story. Now let’s wrap this up in a nice package and put a bow on it. But finding the perfect ending can be as elusive as that candy bar that keeps sliding just out of reach under the seat of your car. Sure, you’re the one that hid it there due to a complete lack of ability to share. But you didn’t know at the time how far into the clutches of darkness a car floorboard could go.
Then, finally, the perfect words fly from your brain, down your arms and to your fingers as you tap the computer keyboard as fast as the Flash can dart. The beginning is tempting, the middle moves the story along and the ending, well, IMPAC Dublin Award here we come.
Sit down, have a nice cup of tea and take a moment to catch your breath. Because now the real work begins — finding a publisher that agrees with your assessment of that book.
I wrote my first novel more than 25 years ago. I rewrote that book ten years ago. Then revised said book a couple of years ago. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep changing the basic story. What had to change was certain terminology due to technological advances, i.e., cell phones, etc.
Having first written the book as Romantic Fiction, I submitted it to Harlequin. In those days, a submission was double-spaced and printed on 8.5 x 11 paper. Talk about going through the ink. And printing paper still had holes on the side! Yes, I’m old. Get over it. Harlequin’s response was along the lines of “We have numerous books at this point. We’ll get back to you.” They didn’t. Hence the first rewrite.
Inspirational Romance was hitting the market big time. I jumped in and put my characters into a Christian setting. I added humor and a bit of suspense. I began to get to know my characters better and started to feel an attachment to them. I submitted, now via email, to different Christian publishers. Responses varied from “Not what we’re looking for at this time” to “We would love to help you self-publish.” BLAH!
I took a job as a journalist for a community paper and I started looking at my book through fresh eyes. Hence the next revision.
My characters needed more depth. I tried reading Christian Romantic Fiction and found myself falling asleep. While this was good for my health it did nothing towards helping me become a better writer. I gave up reading that genre.
Then I read Stephen King’s book On Writing. I had always found his stories terrifying and was never a fan. Now when I am asked what helped me most in improving my writing, I recommend this book. King is still the master at turning a phrase.
As I worked on redeveloping my first book, I was struck with the idea of making it into a series set in the Great Smoky Mountains, my area. Before I had rewritten book one I was well on my way through books two and three. Things kind of unfolded from there. I finally finished book one. Again. Then I started searching for a publisher. Again.
I received an assignment to interview recently published author Brooke Cox. Her first book Deadly Doll was picked up by Mantle Rock Publishing. After the interview I bought the book and saw her publisher listed. My feeble brain thought, “Wh
y not?”
I submitted my first book Blue Mountain Sky in October of 2015. Editor Kathy Cretsinger liked it well enough to send me a contract in December. Blue Mountain Sky is set for release mid-July. The next two books in the series are planned for later this year and first of next. The genre is Contemporary Romantic Suspense.
So here we are at the end of my story. That of a soon-to-be published author. How do we wrap this up all nice and tidy? Let’s not. I believe that our stories are never ending. All of us play a small part in the greater story woven by God. (Yes I’m a believer.)
If you have words stuck in your brain get them out. Put them on paper. Share them. Open yourself up to change. Don’t be afraid to self-promote. It may be you that writes the next great American novel. You won’t know if you don’t start.
Cyn Taylor lives and plays in Knoxville Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She and husband Brent live on his family farm at the peak of Thunder Ridge along with a feral cat and many other woodland creatures who come round to visit. They have two adult children and seven grand-children.
Taylor is a freelance journalist for a community newspaper. She has written faith and feature articles for the past eight years. Taylor says she gets some of her best inspiration when she accompanies Brent on fly fishing excursions to the Smokies. He fishes. She writes. Life is good.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Just Start Your Novel / Cyn Taylor
We all have those moments of self-doubt—the moments where we feel like our work isn't good enough. To contest the self-doubt, we're constantly revising words, characters, plots. . . and it still never feels adequate. Cyn Taylor understands that feeling. No matter where you are in your creative process, you'll appreciate Cyn's outlook and advice about starting and finishing something you think is worthwhile.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Just Start Your Novel
By Cyn Taylor
Many folks live by the mantra that life is all about the journey. As a writer, I beg to disagree. The journey to becoming a published author is fraught with perils. You begin a story with joy and elation; much like bringing a first child into the world. (Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration — but it’s my analogy, and I’m sticking to it.)
Soon we come to the middle of our tale. Let’s correlate this period of time with the teen years of the child you birthed earlier. Joy and elation gives way to gnashing of teeth and tearing of hair. This may be why there are so many bald authors. Look it up.
We made it through the meat of our story. Now let’s wrap this up in a nice package and put a bow on it. But finding the perfect ending can be as elusive as that candy bar that keeps sliding just out of reach under the seat of your car. Sure, you’re the one that hid it there due to a complete lack of ability to share. But you didn’t know at the time how far into the clutches of darkness a car floorboard could go.
Then, finally, the perfect words fly from your brain, down your arms and to your fingers as you tap the computer keyboard as fast as the Flash can dart. The beginning is tempting, the middle moves the story along and the ending, well, IMPAC Dublin Award here we come.
Sit down, have a nice cup of tea and take a moment to catch your breath. Because now the real work begins — finding a publisher that agrees with your assessment of that book.
I wrote my first novel more than 25 years ago. I rewrote that book ten years ago. Then revised said book a couple of years ago. It wasn’t that I wanted to keep changing the basic story. What had to change was certain terminology due to technological advances, i.e., cell phones, etc.
Having first written the book as Romantic Fiction, I submitted it to Harlequin. In those days, a submission was double-spaced and printed on 8.5 x 11 paper. Talk about going through the ink. And printing paper still had holes on the side! Yes, I’m old. Get over it. Harlequin’s response was along the lines of “We have numerous books at this point. We’ll get back to you.” They didn’t. Hence the first rewrite.
Inspirational Romance was hitting the market big time. I jumped in and put my characters into a Christian setting. I added humor and a bit of suspense. I began to get to know my characters better and started to feel an attachment to them. I submitted, now via email, to different Christian publishers. Responses varied from “Not what we’re looking for at this time” to “We would love to help you self-publish.” BLAH!
I took a job as a journalist for a community paper and I started looking at my book through fresh eyes. Hence the next revision.
My characters needed more depth. I tried reading Christian Romantic Fiction and found myself falling asleep. While this was good for my health it did nothing towards helping me become a better writer. I gave up reading that genre.
Then I read Stephen King’s book On Writing. I had always found his stories terrifying and was never a fan. Now when I am asked what helped me most in improving my writing, I recommend this book. King is still the master at turning a phrase.
As I worked on redeveloping my first book, I was struck with the idea of making it into a series set in the Great Smoky Mountains, my area. Before I had rewritten book one I was well on my way through books two and three. Things kind of unfolded from there. I finally finished book one. Again. Then I started searching for a publisher. Again.
I received an assignment to interview recently published author Brooke Cox. Her first book Deadly Doll was picked up by Mantle Rock Publishing. After the interview I bought the book and saw her publisher listed. My feeble brain thought, “Wh
y not?”
I submitted my first book Blue Mountain Sky in October of 2015. Editor Kathy Cretsinger liked it well enough to send me a contract in December. Blue Mountain Sky is set for release mid-July. The next two books in the series are planned for later this year and first of next. The genre is Contemporary Romantic Suspense.
So here we are at the end of my story. That of a soon-to-be published author. How do we wrap this up all nice and tidy? Let’s not. I believe that our stories are never ending. All of us play a small part in the greater story woven by God. (Yes I’m a believer.)
If you have words stuck in your brain get them out. Put them on paper. Share them. Open yourself up to change. Don’t be afraid to self-promote. It may be you that writes the next great American novel. You won’t know if you don’t start.
Cyn Taylor lives and plays in Knoxville Tennessee in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. She and husband Brent live on his family farm at the peak of Thunder Ridge along with a feral cat and many other woodland creatures who come round to visit. They have two adult children and seven grand-children.
Taylor is a freelance journalist for a community newspaper. She has written faith and feature articles for the past eight years. Taylor says she gets some of her best inspiration when she accompanies Brent on fly fishing excursions to the Smokies. He fishes. She writes. Life is good.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue / Susan Mills Wilson
We read thrillers because of the way they make us feel. Our hearts pound. Our blood races. We itch to turn each page. Sometimes, though, it’s hard for us to enjoy a good thriller without stimulating dialogue.
Susan Mills Wilson understands how hard it can be for authors to thread tension through their story from beginning to end. In this week’s blog post, Susan Mills Wilson details how she creates tension through dialogue.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue
By Susan Mills Wilson
I love the recent Geico commercial where a Jason Bourne-like character receives a call on his cell phone. He thinks it is his partner coming to rescue him from the bad guys who are chasing him on top of a high-rise building. While his mother is talking about squirrels in the attic, the spy-guy single-handedly fends off the “muscle” sent to kill him. He tells Mom it’s a bad time and asks if he can call her back later. The conversation between the two is routine and ordinary. It is the action that piques our interest. This can be true in writing stories.
A writer can’t have car chases, explosions, fistfights, or murder in every scene, but it is important to have tension on every page. Imagine a man and a woman having a conversation in a restaurant. Their dialogue might be important to advance the storyline, but suppose their discussion is amicable, and even worse, there is no chemistry between them. Boring, huh? A writer can turn up the heat to make the scene more interesting by adding simple things. For instance, picture this scenario: Their server is the man’s ex-girlfriend. To make matters worse, she is still angry about their break-up and has been waiting for the opportunity to seek revenge. Do you think he is going to get the pasta he ordered set down on the table, or dumped in his lap?
If you’ve ever sat through a meeting, you know it can be dull. Your mind wanders and you hope you’re not asked a question because once the boss starts talking about unrealistic goals for next
year, you’ve already tuned him out. I don’t like to write dialogue between characters in an office unless it is a heated exchange or I can add something interesting like the distraction of a window washer hanging precariously on his platform.
In my latest novel, Meltdown , I have written about a conversation between two homicide detectives as they drive through traffic on their way to question someone about a shooting. There is nothing earth-shaking about their dialogue. My purpose is to reveal one of the detectives’ attraction to a beautiful female suspect. While his partner drives, he presses him about unflattering, sexist remarks made about the woman. However, his partner is determined to get off the subject by complaining about the driver ahead of him. He rants because the woman has plenty of time to make her left turn but waits to make her move in front of an approaching tractor-trailer just in the nick of time. He shouts at the lady, even though she can’t hear him. It is nothing more than simplistic nonsense to add a little punch to the scene.
Of course, dialogue itself can add tension. Because I write romantic suspense, I try to keep the sexual tension present not only in body language, but in spoken words. Even the tone makes a difference in setting the scene and the emotion. Sometimes there is a hidden meaning or double meaning in what the character says. In Meltdown, Detective Chris Lagoni is frustrated with Megan Moore, a beautiful young woman who has impeded his murder investigation at every turn. After he blows up at her for withholding information, she walks away in protest. He finds her meditating on her living room floor. He says to her, “Maybe it will help your inner peace if you just come clean.”
Dialogue also can be deceptive and throw us off scent. In another novel of mine, Her Lying Eyes, a Southern belle socialite makes sweet naïve remarks, looking more like Melanie Hamilton than the manipulative Scarlet O’Hara. She is never considered to be dangerous. In a twist near the end of the story, her claws come out.
Think about the impact of dialogue in movies. Everyone likes to recall favorite memorable lines. It is not only what is said, but what is happening at the time the actor gives the line. My favorite is from Jaws when Police Chief Brody says, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The line is simple but says a lot. What makes the line so effective is the look on Brody’s face when he first gets a glimpse at the massive size of the great white shark.
It is a challenge for a writer to keep the tension going throughout the story, but as an author of gritty suspense, I feel an obligation to do so or end up disappointing my readers. I hope I always listen to my own advice: Turn up the heat to make the story sizzle, or risk having it sit on the back burner (or shelf, collecting dust).
Susan Mills Wilson is a native of North Carolina where she lives with her husband and pampered golden retriever. An avid football fan, she pulls for the Carolina Panthers as long as they’re winning. She cannot function or be approached by another human being until she has her morning coffee. In addition to writing gritty novels and short stories, she enjoys writing a blog on a range of topics. She is the leader of the Charlotte Writers Club Mystery Critique Group.
She has published three romantic suspense novels: Good Gone Bad, Her Lying Eyes, and Meltdown . Much of her research on law enforcement came from attending Killer Nashville and participating in three citizen police academies where she was given a certificate of completion, but thankfully no gun or shield. She is currently working on her fourth novel, Hunt for Redemption, which is due out later this year.
She can be found on Facebook, on Twitter @smillswilson, and on her website at http://susanmillswilson.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue / Susan Mills Wilson
We read thrillers because of the way they make us feel. Our hearts pound. Our blood races. We itch to turn each page. Sometimes, though, it’s hard for us to enjoy a good thriller without stimulating dialogue.Susan Mills Wilson understands how hard it can be for authors to thread tension through their story from beginning to end. In this week’s blog post, Susan Mills Wilson details how she creates tension through dialogue.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue
By Susan Mills Wilson
I love the recent Geico commercial where a Jason Bourne-like character receives a call on his cell phone. He thinks it is his partner coming to rescue him from the bad guys who are chasing him on top of a high-rise building. While his mother is talking about squirrels in the attic, the spy-guy single-handedly fends off the “muscle” sent to kill him. He tells Mom it’s a bad time and asks if he can call her back later. The conversation between the two is routine and ordinary. It is the action that piques our interest. This can be true in writing stories.
A writer can’t have car chases, explosions, fistfights, or murder in every scene, but it is important to have tension on every page. Imagine a man and a woman having a conversation in a restaurant. Their dialogue might be important to advance the storyline, but suppose their discussion is amicable, and even worse, there is no chemistry between them. Boring, huh? A writer can turn up the heat to make the scene more interesting by adding simple things. For instance, picture this scenario: Their server is the man’s ex-girlfriend. To make matters worse, she is still angry about their break-up and has been waiting for the opportunity to seek revenge. Do you think he is going to get the pasta he ordered set down on the table, or dumped in his lap?
If you’ve ever sat through a meeting, you know it can be dull. Your mind wanders and you hope you’re not asked a question because once the boss starts talking about unrealistic goals for next
year, you’ve already tuned him out. I don’t like to write dialogue between characters in an office unless it is a heated exchange or I can add something interesting like the distraction of a window washer hanging precariously on his platform.
In my latest novel, Meltdown , I have written about a conversation between two homicide detectives as they drive through traffic on their way to question someone about a shooting. There is nothing earth-shaking about their dialogue. My purpose is to reveal one of the detectives’ attraction to a beautiful female suspect. While his partner drives, he presses him about unflattering, sexist remarks made about the woman. However, his partner is determined to get off the subject by complaining about the driver ahead of him. He rants because the woman has plenty of time to make her left turn but waits to make her move in front of an approaching tractor-trailer just in the nick of time. He shouts at the lady, even though she can’t hear him. It is nothing more than simplistic nonsense to add a little punch to the scene.
Of course, dialogue itself can add tension. Because I write romantic suspense, I try to keep the sexual tension present not only in body language, but in spoken words. Even the tone makes a difference in setting the scene and the emotion. Sometimes there is a hidden meaning or double meaning in what the character says. In Meltdown, Detective Chris Lagoni is frustrated with Megan Moore, a beautiful young woman who has impeded his murder investigation at every turn. After he blows up at her for withholding information, she walks away in protest. He finds her meditating on her living room floor. He says to her, “Maybe it will help your inner peace if you just come clean.”
Dialogue also can be deceptive and throw us off scent. In another novel of mine, Her Lying Eyes, a Southern belle socialite makes sweet naïve remarks, looking more like Melanie Hamilton than the manipulative Scarlet O’Hara. She is never considered to be dangerous. In a twist near the end of the story, her claws come out.
Think about the impact of dialogue in movies. Everyone likes to recall favorite memorable lines. It is not only what is said, but what is happening at the time the actor gives the line. My favorite is from Jaws when Police Chief Brody says, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The line is simple but says a lot. What makes the line so effective is the look on Brody’s face when he first gets a glimpse at the massive size of the great white shark.
It is a challenge for a writer to keep the tension going throughout the story, but as an author of gritty suspense, I feel an obligation to do so or end up disappointing my readers. I hope I always listen to my own advice: Turn up the heat to make the story sizzle, or risk having it sit on the back burner (or shelf, collecting dust).
Susan Mills Wilson is a native of North Carolina where she lives with her husband and pampered golden retriever. An avid football fan, she pulls for the Carolina Panthers as long as they’re winning. She cannot function or be approached by another human being until she has her morning coffee. In addition to writing gritty novels and short stories, she enjoys writing a blog on a range of topics. She is the leader of the Charlotte Writers Club Mystery Critique Group.
She has published three romantic suspense novels: Good Gone Bad, Her Lying Eyes, and Meltdown . Much of her research on law enforcement came from attending Killer Nashville and participating in three citizen police academies where she was given a certificate of completion, but thankfully no gun or shield. She is currently working on her fourth novel, Hunt for Redemption, which is due out later this year.
She can be found on Facebook, on Twitter @smillswilson, and on her website at http://susanmillswilson.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue / Susan Mills Wilson
We read thrillers because of the way they make us feel. Our hearts pound. Our blood races. We itch to turn each page. Sometimes, though, it’s hard for us to enjoy a good thriller without stimulating dialogue.Susan Mills Wilson understands how hard it can be for authors to thread tension through their story from beginning to end. In this week’s blog post, Susan Mills Wilson details how she creates tension through dialogue.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Adding Sizzle to Dialogue
By Susan Mills Wilson
I love the recent Geico commercial where a Jason Bourne-like character receives a call on his cell phone. He thinks it is his partner coming to rescue him from the bad guys who are chasing him on top of a high-rise building. While his mother is talking about squirrels in the attic, the spy-guy single-handedly fends off the “muscle” sent to kill him. He tells Mom it’s a bad time and asks if he can call her back later. The conversation between the two is routine and ordinary. It is the action that piques our interest. This can be true in writing stories.
A writer can’t have car chases, explosions, fistfights, or murder in every scene, but it is important to have tension on every page. Imagine a man and a woman having a conversation in a restaurant. Their dialogue might be important to advance the storyline, but suppose their discussion is amicable, and even worse, there is no chemistry between them. Boring, huh? A writer can turn up the heat to make the scene more interesting by adding simple things. For instance, picture this scenario: Their server is the man’s ex-girlfriend. To make matters worse, she is still angry about their break-up and has been waiting for the opportunity to seek revenge. Do you think he is going to get the pasta he ordered set down on the table, or dumped in his lap?
If you’ve ever sat through a meeting, you know it can be dull. Your mind wanders and you hope you’re not asked a question because once the boss starts talking about unrealistic goals for next
year, you’ve already tuned him out. I don’t like to write dialogue between characters in an office unless it is a heated exchange or I can add something interesting like the distraction of a window washer hanging precariously on his platform.
In my latest novel, Meltdown , I have written about a conversation between two homicide detectives as they drive through traffic on their way to question someone about a shooting. There is nothing earth-shaking about their dialogue. My purpose is to reveal one of the detectives’ attraction to a beautiful female suspect. While his partner drives, he presses him about unflattering, sexist remarks made about the woman. However, his partner is determined to get off the subject by complaining about the driver ahead of him. He rants because the woman has plenty of time to make her left turn but waits to make her move in front of an approaching tractor-trailer just in the nick of time. He shouts at the lady, even though she can’t hear him. It is nothing more than simplistic nonsense to add a little punch to the scene.
Of course, dialogue itself can add tension. Because I write romantic suspense, I try to keep the sexual tension present not only in body language, but in spoken words. Even the tone makes a difference in setting the scene and the emotion. Sometimes there is a hidden meaning or double meaning in what the character says. In Meltdown, Detective Chris Lagoni is frustrated with Megan Moore, a beautiful young woman who has impeded his murder investigation at every turn. After he blows up at her for withholding information, she walks away in protest. He finds her meditating on her living room floor. He says to her, “Maybe it will help your inner peace if you just come clean.”
Dialogue also can be deceptive and throw us off scent. In another novel of mine, Her Lying Eyes, a Southern belle socialite makes sweet naïve remarks, looking more like Melanie Hamilton than the manipulative Scarlet O’Hara. She is never considered to be dangerous. In a twist near the end of the story, her claws come out.
Think about the impact of dialogue in movies. Everyone likes to recall favorite memorable lines. It is not only what is said, but what is happening at the time the actor gives the line. My favorite is from Jaws when Police Chief Brody says, “We’re gonna need a bigger boat.” The line is simple but says a lot. What makes the line so effective is the look on Brody’s face when he first gets a glimpse at the massive size of the great white shark.
It is a challenge for a writer to keep the tension going throughout the story, but as an author of gritty suspense, I feel an obligation to do so or end up disappointing my readers. I hope I always listen to my own advice: Turn up the heat to make the story sizzle, or risk having it sit on the back burner (or shelf, collecting dust).
Susan Mills Wilson is a native of North Carolina where she lives with her husband and pampered golden retriever. An avid football fan, she pulls for the Carolina Panthers as long as they’re winning. She cannot function or be approached by another human being until she has her morning coffee. In addition to writing gritty novels and short stories, she enjoys writing a blog on a range of topics. She is the leader of the Charlotte Writers Club Mystery Critique Group.
She has published three romantic suspense novels: Good Gone Bad, Her Lying Eyes, and Meltdown . Much of her research on law enforcement came from attending Killer Nashville and participating in three citizen police academies where she was given a certificate of completion, but thankfully no gun or shield. She is currently working on her fourth novel, Hunt for Redemption, which is due out later this year.
She can be found on Facebook, on Twitter @smillswilson, and on her website at http://susanmillswilson.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Bailey Harris, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Using the Enneagram to Develop Characters / Margaret Mizushima
We all have different methods of analysis to make sense of the human mind—both the one we live in, and the ones we create when writing. When writing her new series, author Margaret Mizushima turned to the inside-out character development of the Enneagram personality types for her leads. Whether you’re an armchair psychologist or a personology neophyte, you’ll find Margaret’s thought process full of valuable character creation techniques for your own work.
Happy reading!
Clay Stafford
Founder Killer Nashville
Publisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Using the Enneagram to Develop Characters
By Margaret Mizushima
When preparing to write Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, I used a familiar tool to develop my two protagonists, Deputy Mattie Lu Cobb and Cole Walker, DVM. This tool is a character profile that starts out like a job application with identification, educational, and historical background, and a wide variety of physical characteristics, including gestural and speech habits. Most writers have seen this type of profile before. I also include a section for internal and external goals, conflict, and motivation.
But before writing my first Timber Creek K-9 mystery, I knew I wanted to create a series, and I knew I wanted to be with these characters for several years. So I tried something that was new for me: I decided to assign a personality type from the Enneagram to my two protagonists, so that I could really get inside them and recognize how they interpreted their worlds. This would help me identify how the two would react in given situations.
Personality typing wasn’t new to me, since I’d participated in team-building exercises where the Myers-Briggs personality inventory had been used. But I discovered the Enneagram on my own by reading Helen Palmer’s book, The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life. Palmer describes nine basic personality types and labels them the Perfectionist, the Giver, the Performer, the Tragic Romantic, the Observer, the Devil’s Advocate, the Epicure, the Boss, and the Mediator. (Other authors have written about the Enneagram and have labeled the points differently.) Palmer adds the caveat, “The Enneagram, however, is not a fixed system. It is a model interconnecting lines that indicate a dynamic movement, in which each of us has the potentials of all nine types, or points, although we identify most strongly with the issues of our own.”
Purposely avoiding my own type, I assigned Mattie and Cole different points on the Enneagram. Mattie became a One, which Palmer calls the Perfectionist, and Cole became an Eight, the Boss. Then I researched Palmer’s chapters on these two types and created four to five page lists of characteristics for each.
Here are a few examples of characteristics that make up Mattie’s type: “Ones learned to behave properly, to take on responsibility, and be correct in the eyes of others.” “Ones are convinced life is hard and ease must be earned, that virtue is its own reward, and that pleasure should be postponed until everything else gets done.” “Preoccupied with what ‘should be’ and what ‘must be done’.”
Thus, when Mattie is presented with an invitation to a party, it holds no interest for her. She’s a loner with a stiff set of expectations for herself and others. She knows right vs. wrong and doesn’t trust others to make decisions for her—a downfall in her partnership with a patrol dog, but a characteristic that she learns to come to grips with. Something I found most interesting is that many Ones choose careers in law enforcement, which came in handy for creating this deputy.
On the other hand, as a point Eight, Cole Walker comes into situations with a different mindset. A few characteristics of his type are: “Eights feel secure when they can control a situation by calling the shots and making other people obey.” “Love is more often expressed through protection than through demonstrations of tender feelings. Commitment means taking the beloved under their wing and making the way safe.” “Their central issue is control. Who has the power and will that person be fair? The preferred position is to take charge.”
Eights have often grown up in an environment where others, such as siblings and parents, exert power and authority in a way that forces them to learn how to stand up for themselves at an early age. They are focused on justice, being fair, and protecting those they love. Think of the alpha wolf in the pack, the dealer of tough love. When Cole is faced with raising his two daughters on his own—daughters he’s not spent much quality time with, since he views himself as provider of food, shelter, and material comforts—he finds himself at a loss for how to express love and tenderness.
Palmer gives a detailed description of this complex system of personality types, as well as illustrations of how each type reacts in times of stress or comfort. I found reading the entire book and typing myself helpful before trying to apply the information to characters. There are many other books on this subject, but this is the one I’ve found most useful for this purpose. I’m by no means an expert in this field of study, but when applying it to character development, a writer doesn’t have to be. The system can become another tool to provide depth.
Margaret Mizushima is the author of Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, which was named Debut Mystery of the Month for December 2015 by Library Journal, and has been nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice award for Best First Mystery. She lives in Colorado where she assists her husband with their veterinary practice and Angus cattle. She can be found on Facebook, on Twitter @margmizu, and on her website at www.margaretmizushima.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
Using the Enneagram to Develop Characters / Margaret Mizushima
We all have different methods of analysis to make sense of the human mind—both the one we live in, and the ones we create when writing. When writing her new series, author Margaret Mizushima turned to the inside-out character development of the Enneagram personality types for her leads. Whether you’re an armchair psychologist or a personology neophyte, you’ll find Margaret’s thought process full of valuable character creation techniques for your own work.Happy reading!Clay StaffordFounder Killer NashvillePublisher / Editorial Director Killer Nashville Magazine
Using the Enneagram to Develop Characters
By Margaret Mizushima
When preparing to write Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, I used a familiar tool to develop my two protagonists, Deputy Mattie Lu Cobb and Cole Walker, DVM. This tool is a character profile that starts out like a job application with identification, educational, and historical background, and a wide variety of physical characteristics, including gestural and speech habits. Most writers have seen this type of profile before. I also include a section for internal and external goals, conflict, and motivation.
But before writing my first Timber Creek K-9 mystery, I knew I wanted to create a series, and I knew I wanted to be with these characters for several years. So I tried something that was new for me: I decided to assign a personality type from the Enneagram to my two protagonists, so that I could really get inside them and recognize how they interpreted their worlds. This would help me identify how the two would react in given situations.
Personality typing wasn’t new to me, since I’d participated in team-building exercises where the Myers-Briggs personality inventory had been used. But I discovered the Enneagram on my own by reading Helen Palmer’s book, The Enneagram: Understanding Yourself and the Others in Your Life. Palmer describes nine basic personality types and labels them the Perfectionist, the Giver, the Performer, the Tragic Romantic, the Observer, the Devil’s Advocate, the Epicure, the Boss, and the Mediator. (Other authors have written about the Enneagram and have labeled the points differently.) Palmer adds the caveat, “The Enneagram, however, is not a fixed system. It is a model interconnecting lines that indicate a dynamic movement, in which each of us has the potentials of all nine types, or points, although we identify most strongly with the issues of our own.”
Purposely avoiding my own type, I assigned Mattie and Cole different points on the Enneagram. Mattie became a One, which Palmer calls the Perfectionist, and Cole became an Eight, the Boss. Then I researched Palmer’s chapters on these two types and created four to five page lists of characteristics for each.
Here are a few examples of characteristics that make up Mattie’s type: “Ones learned to behave properly, to take on responsibility, and be correct in the eyes of others.” “Ones are convinced life is hard and ease must be earned, that virtue is its own reward, and that pleasure should be postponed until everything else gets done.” “Preoccupied with what ‘should be’ and what ‘must be done’.”
Thus, when Mattie is presented with an invitation to a party, it holds no interest for her. She’s a loner with a stiff set of expectations for herself and others. She knows right vs. wrong and doesn’t trust others to make decisions for her—a downfall in her partnership with a patrol dog, but a characteristic that she learns to come to grips with. Something I found most interesting is that many Ones choose careers in law enforcement, which came in handy for creating this deputy.
On the other hand, as a point Eight, Cole Walker comes into situations with a different mindset. A few characteristics of his type are: “Eights feel secure when they can control a situation by calling the shots and making other people obey.” “Love is more often expressed through protection than through demonstrations of tender feelings. Commitment means taking the beloved under their wing and making the way safe.” “Their central issue is control. Who has the power and will that person be fair? The preferred position is to take charge.”
Eights have often grown up in an environment where others, such as siblings and parents, exert power and authority in a way that forces them to learn how to stand up for themselves at an early age. They are focused on justice, being fair, and protecting those they love. Think of the alpha wolf in the pack, the dealer of tough love. When Cole is faced with raising his two daughters on his own—daughters he’s not spent much quality time with, since he views himself as provider of food, shelter, and material comforts—he finds himself at a loss for how to express love and tenderness.
Palmer gives a detailed description of this complex system of personality types, as well as illustrations of how each type reacts in times of stress or comfort. I found reading the entire book and typing myself helpful before trying to apply the information to characters. There are many other books on this subject, but this is the one I’ve found most useful for this purpose. I’m by no means an expert in this field of study, but when applying it to character development, a writer doesn’t have to be. The system can become another tool to provide depth.
Margaret Mizushima is the author of Killing Trail: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery, which was named Debut Mystery of the Month for December 2015 by Library Journal, and has been nominated for an RT Reviewer’s Choice award for Best First Mystery. She lives in Colorado where she assists her husband with their veterinary practice and Angus cattle. She can be found on Facebook, on Twitter @margmizu, and on her website at www.margaretmizushima.com.
(To be a part of the Killer Nashville Guest Blog, send a query to contact@killernashville.com. We’d love to hear from you.)
Thanks to Tom Wood, Emily Eytchison, and publisher/editorial director Clay Stafford for their assistance in putting together this week’s blog.
For more writer resources, visit us at www.KillerNashville.com, www.KillerNashvilleMagazine.com, and www.KillerNashvilleBookCon.com.
And be sure to check out our new book, Killer Nashville Noir: Cold-Blooded, an anthology of original short stories by New York Times bestselling authors and newbies alike.
*Killer Nashville is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. If you purchase a book from the links on this page, Amazon will give Killer Nashville a small percentage of the total sale. Killer Nashville receives zero compensation (other than sometimes the book to review) from publishers who have been selected for the Book of the Day.
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