Killer Questions - What We Find Is The Hardest Part of a Book or Short Story

Killer Questions – What We Find Is The Hardest Part of a Book or Short Story

Heather Weidner - For me, it's not the writing part. It's the revisions. I really have to focus when it's time to polish a manuscript.

Debra H. Goldstein – Finding the perfect first sentence.

Martha Reed - The middle muddle. The first hundred pages is easy and fun because I’m exploring my research, meeting my characters, and tentatively feeling my way forward. I generally know the big bang rush at the end. It’s crafting those two parts together than seem to bog me down. The trick then is to either hit my personal daily word count, or my daily hourly commitment count so that I feel like I’ve kept the momentum going and I’m making progress toward the end goal of finishing the book.

Connie Berry - The first draft. Putting words on a blank page takes courage.

Grace Topping - Description. Since plays don't have description, I would have made a better playwright than a novelist. Another thing is romance. I write mysteries with only a dash of attraction between characters, and even then, I have to work at it. 

Paula G. Benson - Moving from the muddling middle to the conclusion.

James M. Jackson - Creating a one-page synopsis, which for me can take as long as writing the novel (if you don't mind a little hyperbole).

Sarah Burr - The first three chapters are always the toughest. Whether I'm laying the groundwork for the mystery or doing a “recap” for a series, getting past those initial chapters is the real challenge. Once I'm over that hump, it's usually smooth sailing. In fact, those first three chapters often take me longer to write than most of the book!

Annette Dashofy - Whichever part I’m writing at the time. 

Kait Carson - All of the above! There’s a point in every book, and it’s different in each book, where I wonder what I’m doing, why I thought I could do it, and who do I think I’m fooling. 

Lori Roberts Herbst - I imagine many of us will say the same thing — whatever part we’re on. But probably the hardest part for me is overcoming the intimidation of the blank page and just getting started.

Margaret S. Hamilton - The first line.

Korina Moss - Everything beyond the first draft! 

Nancy Eady - The end.  Wrapping up a piece and figuring out the final words can be tricky.  

Mary Dutta - Plotting. I always figure it out, but it’s invariably a challenge.

Molly MacRae - Nothing sticks out. It probably varies from story to story or book to book, and depends on what’s going on in my life. 

Shari Randall - Beginnings! Absolutely the toughest for me.

K.M. Rockwood - The hardest part comes after the first draft is pretty much wrapped up and I sit down to edit and revise. My first reaction is, “How could I have written such drivel? I should just put this one in the never-to-see-light-of-day file.” Always.

What television taught me about writing, by Kait Carson

There’s a benefit to coming late to popular television shows. If they are available on streaming networks, you can watch them at your own pace, or all in a sitting. I admit, I came late to the Downton Abbey craze. About two years late. But hey, at least I arrived.

When I finally arrived at the Abbey door, I expected good television. PBS is famous for period pieces. Downton Abbey is no exception. Once past the famous dog’s bum opening, I was pulled right into pre-WWI Yorkshire. Yum. The opulence of the setting was offset and made human by the behavior of characters. I don’t think there was any poorly acted part in the entire series. Well, maybe Shirley MacLaine’s Mrs. Levinson was a bit over the top, but then, she was American so we forgave her. In fact, even with a degree in history, she was the only stereotype I spotted.

By episode two—which I admit I watched right after episode one—I was enthralled. The enchantment never ended. As you can guess, I binged, and the binging taught me a lot. Not only about how much I enjoyed Downton Abbey, but about writing in general. There is something to be said for a writer having a full-on, multi-year episode visual binge. It lays bare the entire series, triumphs and warts. To paraphrase General Pritchard in 12-O’Clock High, you get it with the bark on.

The first thing that stood out to me about Downton Abbey was that the characters listened to each other. I know they were reciting a script, but they listened, left time for the first speaker to finish while the demeanor of the listener was clearly attentive to the words. The habit struck me first because it is so different to how conversations take place today. Not just the digital distraction aspect, but because with rare exceptions, the listener seems more intent on thinking up their next comment! Perhaps in a slower time, listening intently was usual. I can’t say, but it struck me as something would benefit my writing.  What a great glimpse into personality. An engaged character can tilt a head, make eye contact, consider before responding. Other characters demonstrate indifference with one eye on the cell phone and the other on the door.

Season three was a lesson in pacing. Writers are admonished to keep the action flowing, but to remember to give the reader a break. I keep a plus/minus chart to help me with this. If a scene ends on a big bang, a respite is needed both to let the reader catch their breath and to let the characters emotionally adjust. In Downton Abbey season three was a rollercoaster of higher climbs and massive drops. The viewer never got a rest, and it was exhausting. So much so, that I wondered if I could make it through to the fourth season. I did, and I later discovered that the actors were signed to three-year contracts. Some were ready to move on and so, constant…drama.

In the way of well-crafted mysteries, especially serial mysteries, the last season was a time of closure. All the storylines wrapped nicely in the last show. We were left in a comfortable place, feeling that all would come right for the Abbey in the future. As 1925 drew to a close and 1926 opened, the Crawley family had been through a lot and the viewer was happy to rejoice with them in the way it all turned out. For the time being. Like any good mystery writer, the series writers left the door open to a return to the Abbey. For every answered question their remained a tail. A thread that if the writers elected to tug would open the door to another season. The viewers were satisfied, but the ending did not slam the doors, merely closed them gently with the thought that a light breeze would open them wide.

Writers, do you watch shows with an author’s eyes?

Readers, do you see the potential in endings?

NaNoWriMo and the End

Today is November 1, otherwise known as the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo or just NaNo). During November, writers around the world aspire to write 50,000 words (aka a novel-length piece) in a single month.

There’s an official signup where you can track your progress, encourage others, and “win” by completing the task, but there’s also plenty of people who do it unofficially, working on their own with the hopes of cranking out nearly 2,000 words daily to complete the task.

Though I’ve never officially done NaNo, I think it’s a great tool for many writers, especially those particularly affected by writers’ block, or who thrive on a community banded together for a common goal. I also love the spotlight it gives to the writing world and the work and artists who fill it.

That said, I’ve noticed that in years past, most people are focused on crossing the finish line.

They just want to get to 50,000 words in a month—quite the feat, indeed. (Even though 90 percent of the people who do NaNo most likely know that 50,000 words is normally too short for a novel and that they will have to add another 10,000 words at least, and that they will have to do extensive revision before sending anything written in a month out to agents and editors. RIGHT?)

And, with all this focus on “the end,” I thought I’d share a conversation I had this week with a coworker. We went for a walk on our lunch break and began to discuss books. She’s an avid reader, and involved in a book club. When we discussed what she was currently reading, she said she was halfway through Gillian Flynn’s Dark Places. This, of course, led me to ask if she’d read Flynn’s monster hit Gone Girl. She nodded, but then chewed on her words for several seconds.

“Did you like it?” I asked, before adding, “I loved it.”

She bit her lip. “I did—until I got to the end. I mean, what the heck?”

Now, I won’t give it away, just in case there’s someone reading this who hadn’t read the ending. But basically, and this is what I told her, the ending, as innocuous as it is, is the most twisted thing about the novel—which is saying something.

Many people I know didn’t like it. In fact, I didn’t like it, per se, though I totally respect the genius stroke Flynn had in leaving so many readers uncomfortable.

For me, even with the ending, the book was brilliant and I recommended it to many, many people. But for this reader, it left her too uncomfortable. She didn’t recommend it and she didn’t see the movie when it came out, even though it was nominated for all sorts of awards and had an all-star cast. And yet, she was giving the author another chance. Because even though she didn’t like the ending, it, like the book, stuck with her, and propelled her to read more.

So, dear NaNo warriors, when you get to the end—whether it be this month or next—make sure it counts. No two readers will view your ending the same way, so make sure it’s the right one for you.

The End Game

Today Salad Bowl Saturdays welcomes author and website designer Karen McCullough. In the past we have had authors who swore by plotting and others who wrote by the seat of their pants. Karen tells us why she thinks the right answer for her is somewhere in between. I'm looking for a lively discussion...

~ Jim

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I don’t watch a lot of television. Between family and a job, every day comes down to a choice: will I write or will I watch television? Writing has almost always won out.

But there have been a few series I’ve gotten addicted to over the years. Crime dramas and mystery series, especially if there is a paranormal angle, have been guaranteed to suck me in, so among my favorites over the years were both The X-files and LOST.  

Both series featured intriguing episodic stories, a terrific group of characters, some very good writing (not always, but sometimes) and a continuing plot running in the background that kept me tuning in, week after week, for the next hint at what was going on.

One other thing the two series have in common is that after a while it became lamentably clear that those who ran the show had no idea where they were going with the continuing plots. They’d set up a lot of wildly fascinating questions and possibilities, but as the shows were renewed and extended over a number of years, the plots expanded and it appeared the writers in charge had no end-plan, or if they did, they’d managed to veer too far from it. The guide was no longer relevant by the time either series reached its end. Sadly, the finales of each show proved those suspicions correct.

As an author, and a mystery writer in particular, I have to have an end plan right from the beginning. Even for “pantsers,” authors who write by the seat of their pants, some idea of where you’re going is necessary. It’s undoubtedly easier for the plotters, the people who write from carefully constructed outlines, since they know exactly how everything will work out before they begin.

I firmly believe that if you don’t know where you’re going with the story, you’re never going to get there.

Although I don’t fit either category of author perfectly, I lean more toward the seat-of-the-pants side. I tend to start a book with the opening scenes clear in my mind, a rather misty idea of what happens next, but a pretty strong idea of where the story is going and how it will end. It’s getting there that’s fun, and what I discover as I write beyond the opening scenes. Without some idea of the destination, though, moving forward is more likely to mean going in circles or haring off in too many directions at once.

Most of the time, my stories move along until they get to the planned end. Almost always there are surprises along the way, but it concludes as I intended.

Sometimes the unexpected happens. As I was writing A Gift for Murder, I was sure I knew who the murderer would turn out to be. I was wrong. About two-thirds of the way through, I realized that while I’d set things up for one person to be the guilty party, everything I’d done until then could point another way, and it would make much more sense as well as being a bit less obvious.

But that wouldn’t have been possible if my story hadn’t already been trending in a certain direction. I knew the series of events that had led to the murder, and that still held true. I did have to go back and revise some details of the story in light of the change, but not in a major way. A few things had to be foreshadowed differently and one bit of evidence added to make the ending I now had seem logical and inevitable.

It was because I knew where it was going from the beginning, if not exactly how it would get there, that my brain had enough freedom to take what I’d already written and remix it just enough to find another possible solution.

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Karen McCullough is a web designer by profession and the author of a dozen published novels and novellas in the mystery, romantic suspense, and fantasy genres as well. She has won numerous awards, including an Eppie Award for fantasy, and has also been a four-time Eppie finalist, and a finalist in the Prism, Dream Realm, Rising Star, Lories, Scarlett Letter, and Vixen Awards contests.

Her short fiction has appeared in several anthologies and numerous small press publications in the mystery, fantasy, science fiction, and romance genres. She has three children, four grandchildren and lives in Greensboro, NC, with her husband of many years. Her most recent release is the ebook version of A Gift for Murder, originally published in hardcover by Five Star/Cengage and mass market paperback by Harlequin Worldwide Mysteries.

Website: http://www.kmccullough.com

Blog: http://www.kmccullough/kblog

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenMcCulloughAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kgmccullough

Buy Links for A Gift for Murder (Available in hardback, trade paperback, mass market paperback, and ebook):

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGKYNT6
B & N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/gift-for-murder-karen-mccullough/1100204419?ean=2940016665269&isbn=2940016665269