April 6, 2012

I was pleasantly mystified this week when a good number of $7 e-books on Writing Mysteries for Young People were sold.

Then I read Jan Field’s free newsletter, where she mentioned the Middle Grade Mystery Writing Contest with a grand prize of $500!

[That prize money sounded like a good reason for an extra post this week. Next Wednesday we'll continue with our discussion on motivation and commitment.]

Follow the Rules

According to the contest website:

The contest is for a well-constructed fictional mystery that will engage readers 9 to 12, to 900 words. Entries will be judged on structure, appeal for the audience, use of the best elements of the mystery genre, and an interesting protagonist.

Among the possibilities are a scary but age-appropriate story, a puzzle the reader is asked to solve using problem-solving skills, or a mix of mystery with another genre, such as historical, inspirational, or humorous fiction. The judges will look for originality, and publishability. 

Entries must be received by April 30, 2012.

Specifics of the Mystery Genre

Hopefully you will be one of the five people who wins a free copy of Writing Mysteries for Young People that Jan is giving away. In case you aren’t, these are the topics covered in the ebook. It can take the mystery out of writing mysteries!

• Introduction: “Once Upon a Mystery”
• Chapter One: “Amateur Sleuths: The Basics”
• Chapter Two: “Amateur Sleuths: Tricky Traits”
• Chapter Three: “Villains: the People You Love to Hate”
• Chapter Four: “The Perfect Victim: Do’s and Don’ts”
• Chapter Five: “Setting: Scene of the Crime”
• Chapter Six: “Choosing Your Crime”
• Chapter Seven: “Pre-Thinking Your Plot”
• Chapter Eight: “Plots and Subplots”
• Chapter Nine: “Avoid Plot Clichés Like the Plague”
• Chapter Ten: “Planting Clues”
• Chapter Eleven: “Climax and Denouement”
• Chapter Twelve: “Finding Ideas for Mysteries”
• Chapter Thirteen: “Killer Openings”
• Chapter Fourteen: “The Magazine Mystery”
• Chapter Fifteen: “Cracking the Case”
• Chapter Sixteen: “The Mystery Notebook”

June 30, 2010

Is the advice “write what you know” valid? Yes, definitely. And no, not always.

It’s confusing advice!

Practical Knowledge

“Write what you know” makes sense when you’re ignorant in some area. For example, I know nothing about vampires, have never read a vampire book, can’t understand the whole vampire movie thing, and can’t for the life of me figure out why a blood-sucking boyfriend would be romantic. It’s just me.

This is the point though: I don’t know about vampires, and I have no business sitting down today to write a vampire novel. It would be so full of ridiculous ideas and mistakes that it would be laughable. I don’t care to look that foolish.

Use Yourself

On the other hand, says Ursula K. Le Guin in “Make your fiction truthful” (The Writer, July, 2010), “Write what you know doesn’t mean you have to know a lot. It just tells you to take what you have, take who you are, and use it. Don’t try to use secondhand feeling: use yourself.” So, does ”write what you know” mean “write exclusively about your personal experiences”?

No, I don’t think so. What you “know” can come from your personal experience–that’s true. But it also comes from other people’s experiences, from books you’ve read and movies that moved you, from research and travel–all blended together when you use your imagination.

The Best of Both Worlds

I believe in “write what you know,” but I’ve also had eleven mysteries published. I will swear to you that I’ve never stolen, kidnapped, set a place on fire, or blackmailed anyone, but I’ve written about it.

However, I made aspects of those stories familiar too. I set those mysteries in the midwest, where I lived all my life. Five are set in real places I’d visited many times. I used many people I knew for my characters. I developed themes that were coming true in my own life or my children’s lives. The character growth and change was real–and it was often me.

Get to Know Yourself

Le Guin says it this way: “If you take it in its deepest meaning, ‘write about what you know’ means write from your heart, from your own real being, your own thoughts and emotions…If you don’t know who you are and what you know, if you haven’t worked to find out what you yourself truly feel and think, then your work will probably be imitation work, borrowed from other writers.” (I hope you’ll get a copy of The Writer and read her entire article.)

You may not think you know much or have had enough interesting experiences, but you’d be wrong. If you have my Writer’s First Aid book, read the chapter on “Getting to Know You…” Take the lengthy survey about your life and keep the information in a writer’s notebook.

The answers to that survey will unearth enough information about YOU to last you a writer’s lifetime.

April 5, 2010

To thrive in the present publishing climate, our manuscripts need to be submitted in the best condition possible. I’ve written previously about the need to continue studying the writing craft. [Strong Writers Do This, Self-Study Advanced Writing Program]

“But how do you find the TIME to study on top of writing and marketing?” I’ve been asked time and again. Actually, it’s simple.

Shorten the Learning Curve

Whenever possible, I piggyback on someone else’s research. For example, I prefer a book like Time to Write by Kelly L. Stone, who interviewed more than 100 professional writers about how they fit writing into their busy lives. All that experience condensed into one book is a gold mine.

Likewise, last week I put together two e-booklets that could also shorten your learning curve. First is 50 Tension Techniques: Hold a Reader’s Attention from Beginning to End. I teach a writing workshop called “Tension Techniques,” based on my thirty years of writing and selling 35 books. A few months ago in Austin, I met a woman who had attended that workshop years ago; she told me she’d worn out her hand-out and wished she had another one. I use the hand-out myself in my fiction writing when I come to spots that drag or when things are too calm for too long!

Editors tell us that we need tension on every page in order to keep readers hooked. But what exactly is tension? And how can you possibly increase tension on every page? The fifty simple techniques in this e-booklet show you how to infuse page-turning tension into your dialogue (15 techniques), your plot (14), your characterization (12), and setting descriptions (9). I’ve gathered these techniques from years of reading how-to and writing craft books. (I have six bookcases full of writing books in my office.)

Special Tension Needed

I love mysteries and have had eleven mysteries published (one won a children’s choice award), and mystery stories and books never seem to go out of fashion with kids. A few years ago I wrote a monthly magazine column on mystery writing. I’ve gathered those columns into a 50-page e-booklet called Writing Mysteries for Young People.

I’ve studied close to two dozen books on mystery writing, and these sixteen short chapters are the best techniques I’ve found. Writing Mysteries for Young People will show you how to construct a mystery. This includes the development of heroes, victims and villains, plotting and planting clues, creating the setting and scene of the crime–and then how to solve the mystery in a believable way.

Smarter, Not Harder

Yes, it’s important to study, and you need to always work to improve your craft. Sometimes, though, we need to study smarter, not harder. Strive to only spend your time and hard-earned money where you get the most “bang for your buck” (and your time.)

October 1, 2008