Writing Tip 9: Write it Down Says Terrie Moran

Author Terrie Farley Moran offers some sage advice she learned from another author.

"My writing tip comes from author Gillian Roberts (ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS). Her advice is: DON'T WRITE IT RIGHT, WRITE IT DOWN.

"I have that phrase stuck to my monitor on what is probably the tenth or twelfth grungy looking 3x3 sticky. This one is written in blue ink. The predecessors have been in black, brown, green, red, and even pencil. Some were written in script, but I find block letters work best for me."

Writing Tip 9: DON'T WRITE IT RIGHT, WRITE IT DOWN

Moran says the phrase stops her from interrupting her work.

"It stops me leaving my work in progress to check the thesaurus, or the dictionary, or to 'search' some exotic point. Side trips are distractions that interrupt my flow, and can lead to a less than stellar story all because I stopped to research at exactly the wrong moment."

** Good idea! How many times do we get up to check the fridge or just wander around to avoid - writing?

** What are your "side trips" that keep you from getting your story down on paper?


-- Terrie Farley Moran is author of numerous short stories. Her latest, "Just Call Me Nick," is in the Wolfmont Press anthology of holiday crime stories, DYING IN A WINTER WONDERLAND. All proceeds are being donated to the USMC Toys for Tots.

Eye Candy: Miniature Chocolate Shoppe

Nothing beats chocolate. It's been called the food of the gods and better than... well, better than anything.

Agreed. I love chocolate!

Besides eating chocolate, the fun is seeing it interpreted in miniature.

My friend Kitty has been working on making a fancy Chocolate Shoppe sure to make any chocoholic drool. The chocolate box kits and furniture kits are from Lisa's Little Things, (a real addiction in itself!)



Kitty makes her own chocolate and cakes from FIMO polymer clay. She also is making some of her own chocolate boxes from vintage labels. Convincing, huh?

You can see other pix of her food and more of her chocolate shop items at her blog.

From the supreme Godiva Chocolates, to Hershey's chocolate, there's something for every taste. (Check out the tiny Hershey's logos on the front page.)

For miniaturists, the fascination is in making a scene look real. Dollhouse printies are always fun to make - and see.

* Check out these modern chocolate candy wrappers (full size). (The Belgian chocolate link below also has small labels.)

* Or how about the perfect 1900's era Hershey bar wrapper. (full size).

** What's your favorite chocolate? I'll take Belgian chocolate anytime.

* See Part 2

Writing Tip 8: Plan says Roberta Isleib

Back to the Writing Tips today. Hope everyone had a nice holiday!

Writing is something that you have to plan. It doesn't always come naturally. It seems that if you don't make yourself sit and write, you'll find that there is always a reason NOT to do it. Procrastination is not a writer's friend.

Roberta Isleib, author of ASKING FOR MURDER, (Berkley) the latest in her new advice columnist series, has some simple, direct advice for writers.

Writing Tip 8: Set up a regular schedule and stick to it--do not wait for the muse to strike!

** More advice on novel writing

** Other basic writing tips, the things that are often overlooked

** Your Turn: What's your writing schedule?


-- In ASKING FOR MURDER, Rebecca's good friend, a social worker who does sand play therapy, is found beaten and left for dead. Rebecca searches for clues in her patients' sand trays to track a would-be killer.

She can only hope the clues are buried within easy reach.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a wonderful, blessed Christmas!

See you on 12/29 for more Writing Tips!

Blog Award - Honest Scrap Award

I'm taking a break from the Writing Tips until after Christmas. They will resume on Mon, 12/29.

Morgan Mandel passed this Honest Scrap award on to me. Thanks, Morgan.

The award is for “scrappy honesty.” To accept it, the recipient has to:
1. List 10 honest things about him/herself (make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!)
2. Pass the award on to 7 bloggers (I hope I don’t pass it to someone who already has it! If I do, I apologize).


10 Things About Me:
1. I like fruitcake, so there!
2. I'll take fish over meat.
3. I procrastinate.
4. Some women like shoes, I like purses. Never have enough.
5. I still like dolls and toys, but with grown-ups, it's called being a collector.
6. The dog is the boss.
7. I can't eat any meat with pink in it. Yuck!
8. I love to watch Smallville! Wish I'd saved those Superman comics I had as a kid!
9. I love old movies.
10. Clutter is my friend. ha!


Now I'm supposed to tag 7 people. I'll see how many I can come up with:

* Terrie Farley Moran @ Women of Mystery

* Evelyn David @ The Stiletto Gang

* Mayra Calvani @ Mayra's Secret Bookcase

* Beth Groundwater @ Beth Groundwater

* Rob Walker @ Acme Authors. Let's see if he bites.

* That's enough for me. See you after the holidays. Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!

Writing Tip 7: Character Guidance - Mary Cunningham

When you're writing, characters should come alive. The author often can hear the characters' voices. The question is, what are they saying?

Writer's Tip 7: Let Your Characters Guide You

Mary Cunningham, author of the young reader Cynthia's Attic series, (THE MISSING LOCKET, THE MAGIC MEDALLION, CURSE OF THE BAYOU, Quake/Echelon Press) readily admits her characters talk to her - and she listens.

"Authors sometimes complain that they have the characters nailed down, but the plot drives them crazy!," she says. "They get to a certain point and hit a wall.

"It made me think about how I wrote the plot for the first two Cynthia's Attic books. I also had my characters in mind, but, strangely enough, they told me where they wanted to go and what they wanted to do (anyone but a writer would think I'm nuts).

"For instance, in the second chapter of Cynthia's Attic: THE MISSING LOCKET, I still wasn't sure of the plot. I sat, hands poised on the keyboard. All at once, my fingers started moving. I looked at the computer screen and read what had been typed: 'Clara? Is that you?'

"Believe it or not, when I read those four words, the whole story fell out in front of me. It can happen that unexpectedly. Oh sure, you still have to write the story, but, if you get stuck, let your characters guide you."

** Good advice and it gives us a reason to talk to ourselves, right?

** What do your characters say to you?


-- Mary Cunningham is the author of the Cynthia's Attic series and co-author of the humor book WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty.

In THE MISSING LOCKET, best friends, Gus and Cynthia snoop in Cynthia's parents' attic, discovering an old trunk that leads them to various adventures. A fun time-travel/fantasy.

Writing Tip 6: Nicknames, Mary Reed/Eric Mayer

Writing Tip 6: A Rose By Any Other Name...


Authors Mary Reed and Eric Mayer know something about names, having written seven books in their John the Eunuch mystery series set in 6th century Constantinople, beginning with ONE FOR SORROW and the latest, SEVEN FOR A SECRET (Poisoned Pen Press).

Reed says, "In deciding what to call one's characters, nicknames can be very useful.

"Take for example stylites, holy men who lived atop lofty columns, standing there in all weather and never descending to earth.

"Two such stylites are Leo the Castigator and Luke of the Silver Tongue. Both, alas, came to bad ends.

"In the short story 'Leap of Faith,' published in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Leo is murdered in full view of Empress Theodora and half the court while standing alone atop his pillar in an open air/locked room-type mystery. Luke is killed by spontaneous combustion under similar circumstances in our second novel, TWO FOR JOY.

"We venture to suggest their nicknames -- based upon their respective ways of addressing the faithful -- not only add color to their brief appearances, but also indicate their personal characters by employing what we recommend as a useful sort of literary shorthand."


-- Mary Reed and Eric Mayer, authors of the John the Eunuch Mystery series.

In the current, SEVEN FOR A SECRET, Lord Chamberlain, John spends his days counseling Emperor Justinian while passing the small hours of night in conversation with the solemn-eyed girl depicted in a mosaic on his study wall.

He never expected to meet her in a public square or afterwards find her red-dyed corpse in a subterranean cistern. Can he find the truth in time?

** Do you give your characters nicknames? How much do they reveal their character?

Writing Tip 5: Camille Minichino's Take on Time

Time is in short supply these days. We're rushing to stores, rushing to prepare for the holidays, rushing to... write?

Not exactly. You can be eager to write, but take your time about getting to it. More realistically, it can be hard to devote the time to writing, especially when it's a larger project like a novel.

Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace author of The Dollhouse Mystery Series, MURDER IN MINIATURE, MAYHEM IN MINIATURE and the upcoming MALICE IN MINIATURE (Berkley Feb. 09), says you don't need a lot of time to write.

Writing Tip 5: Use Every Minute

She says, "learn to use small amounts of time to further your work in progress. If you wait until you have 'the ideal' setting or block of time, you'll never finish!

"Even if you have only fifteen minutes, make use of it to reconnect with the book."

Good advice! Every minute can add up.

** Your Turn: how/when do you squeeze in writing time?


-- Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace, MAYHEM IN MINIATURE: In Book 2, Gerry and granddaughter Maddie try to help one of Gerry's students who's accused of murder.

In Book 3, MALICE IN MINIATURE, Gerry is going to a reunion at the high school where she taught for more than two decades. But trouble makes an appearance when a former student is accused of murdering an old flame. Gerry and granddaughter Maddie, now 11, find their lives turned upside down as they try to find the answers.

Writing Tip 4, Description, Author Norm Cowie

We think in pictures. A book with just the right words can conjure up the perfect image in our minds. But too much "color" and too much setting can leave the reader...

Well, let Norm Cowie, author of THE NEXT ADVENTURES OF GUY (Draumr Publishing 2007) and the upcoming funny (yes, funny) Young Adult vampire book, FANG FACE (Echelon Press, Aug.'09) tell it his way:

Tip 4: Cut the Description

"Too many people put way too much description in their stories, and run the risk of boring their reader," says Cowie.

Cowie points to author Elmore Leonard who once said the following about writing: "I try to leave out the parts that people skip."

"So, don't describe it unless it needs to be described! It sounds easy, but..."

We know, try it, right?

** What's your take on it?

-- Norm Cowie, THE NEXT ADVENTURES OF GUY, a zany adventure/fantasy continuing the quest of Guy and his college buddies taking on sinister forces and working to save Earth from aliens.

12 Days of Writing, Tip 3, Make it Count

Go to a grocery store or anywhere else and it seems that everyone is talking and talking. People everywhere are on the phone or texting. What do they have to talk about?

These days, talk is cheap - and plentiful. When it comes to writing, though, too much verbiage can be a problem.

Tip 3: Make Every Word Count

"Challenge every word," says Joanna Campbell Slan, author of PAPER, SCISSORS, DEATH (Midnight Ink).

"When I worked in advertising, we had so little space that I learned to 'challenge' every word, to ask each word, 'Can you be deleted or replaced?'

"In school, most of us pad to meet the assigned word length. Our papers are bloated with excess. We are rewarded for being verbose. That model is all wrong.

Unless you are being paid by the word, you should make every word pay its own way by being lean, clean and specific."

** Look for more tips for writers at Joanna's blog

-- Joanna Campbell Slan, author of PAPER, SCISSORS DEATH, A Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-N-Craft Mystery (Midnight Ink).

Kiki Lowenstein, scrapbooker, mother, killer? Now she must find who killed her husband - and his girlfriend - before the killer closes in on her.