Ka-Boom! Get Creativity-Working at Peak Speed.

By Laura Childs, author of Mumbo Gumbo Murder

One of the great perks of being an author is meeting new people at book signings, bookshops, libraries, and writing conferences. And while I adore folks who are passionate about reading, many of them are also secretly longing to become authors.

So I’m inevitably asked the following questions: How on earth can you write three books a year? How do you keep plots and characters straight in your head? How do you cope with writer’s block? And then there’s the biggie – how do you come up with all those ideas?

The answer, of course, is that most ideas spring from the imagination. And here I’m talking about all sorts of ideas – whether you’re trying to craft a novel, short story, book of poetry, or just want to infuse a spark of creativity into your job or everyday life.

The good news is that revving up your creativity isn’t nearly as tough as you think. But if you’re stuck, here are a few of my favorite tricks to get started:

Carry a notebook around with you. When ideas, words, phrases, or images run through your mind, jot them down. I’ve had concepts like “ghost train” and “shooting party” turn into entire book plots.

Try to work when you’re at your best. (I think this used to have something to do with biorhythms). But, seriously, you know when you’re best able to buckle down and work smart. For me, I start to pick up speed around four o’clock. That’s when my motor kicks in and I can write like the devil for the next four hours.

Doodle your ideas. Use circles, arrows, boxes, whatever. I do this when I’m plotting a book. I take a huge piece of paper and start sketching out murderous openings, then I try to connect them with suspects, plot twists, and a few more nefarious acts.

Don’t be afraid to ditch out and take a break. If you’re working on something and your mind starts to wander, stop and do something else. Take a catnap, read a chapter in a book, go outside and walk around, eat some chocolate. I also find that going to museums, concerts, and movies help recharge my batteries.

Try some collaboration. If you’re in a writer’s group, why not pitch ideas to each other? Often you can help build on each other’s themes and story lines.

Music unlocks the brain and sometimes stimulates it. I write to classical music, Stephen King writes to hard rock.

Go ahead and outline your book, your business plan, or the rest of your life. Write it down on paper, keep tinkering with it, and update as needed. Remember that each of us has been gifted with a brilliant, vivid imagination that’s fizzing with ideas. We just have to unlock those ideas to make our novel, poem, or movie script happen!

Best of luck!

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Laura Childs is the author of the Scrapbook Mysteries, Tea Shop Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. All have been on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller lists. Recently, Book Riot named her mysteries to their list of “25 of the All Time Best Cozy Mystery Series.” In her previous life Laura was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show. She is married to Dr. Bob, a professor of Chinese art history, and has a new Chinese Shar-Pei puppy.

Get Out There and Be a Tiger

By Laura Childs

As an author who writes three successful mystery series, I’m asked repeatedly to share a few of my writing tips. And my answer is always a resounding yes.

Because writing a book – and getting it published – is a brass ring (not gold, just brass) that’s out there for absolutely anyone to grab hold of. But be aware, there are a couple of things to be mindful of: You need to have a clear-cut vision in your head. And you must be utterly dogged in your pursuit.

Put another way, you have to be fearless.

Yes, I know that concept can be difficult for many people. We’re human, after all, so we’re all imbued with a modicum of self-doubt which can masquerade as modesty, timidity, or analysis paralysis.

Here’s the gut-wrenching thing when it comes to writing. You have to absolutely, totally believe in yourself and the book you have inside of you. Because if you don’t have faith, nobody else will either.

So let’s say you’ve noodled around countless ideas and finally settled on one that you think might make an absolutely brilliant novel. But perhaps you’re also experiencing fits and starts when putting pen to paper. Here’s a trick – start with a single paragraph, a kind of elevator test that succinctly explains the gist of your book. Now expand that paragraph into two pages. Is your story starting to gel? Is your concept getting a little more interesting? Do you see a few more possibilities for plot lines and characters? Now see if you can expand those two pages to thirty pages. This will entail writing a flushed-out outline that, along the way, will probably yield some sample dialogue, sub-plots, new characters, and descriptions.

Along the way, you should also be taking a writing course. Try to find one that’s taught by a real author who (ideally) specializes in your genre. Someone who’s been vetted and published by an actual publishing house. You could also ask this person for a critique.

You see where we’re going here? You’re learning while you write, and getting professional feedback. Which will eventually land the ball squarely in your court. Because now that you’ve got an outline and some newly acquired writing skills, you’ve got to seriously buckle down and write your novel. This could take several months, it could take years, depending on your circumstances. (My first novel took three years because I was still running an ad agency.) Please don’t get disheartened along the way – this is the writing process that we all go through. If you begin to experience serious doubt or burnout, set your manuscript aside for a few weeks. When you finally go back to it I promise it won’t be nearly as bad as you think.

Once your novel is finished, do not pop that bottle of champagne, do not think that all the hard work is over. Now you have to find an agent. You need to hi-ho yourself to a writer’s conference – mystery, romance, whatever, and pitch your little heart out to anyone who’ll listen. Again, put your self-consciousness on the back burner and sing and dance the heck out of that manuscript! 

You also need to mine your friends, business colleagues, and acquaintances for publishing contacts. When I was trying to sell my first thriller, I had an advertising friend who put me in touch with Mary Higgins Clark. Mary advised me to attend the Mystery Writers of American Symposium and, when I arrived, took me by the hand and introduced me to a dozen publishers, agents, and editors. I also worked the room like crazy and passed out little postcards that showed my book’s cover and featured a short synopsis. In the end I connected with a terrific agent who wasn’t able to sell my thriller, but did get me a three-book deal that jump-started my Tea Shop Mystery series – and my entire fiction writing career.

Thanks so much for reading this. Now go ahead and write that book so you can get out there and be a tiger!

Love,

Laura Childs

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Laura Childs is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Recently, Book Riot named her mysteries to their list of “25 of the All Time Best Cozy Mystery Series.” In her previous life Laura was CEO of her own marketing firm, authored several screenplays, and produced a reality TV show. She is married to Dr. Bob, a professor of Chinese art history, enjoys travel, and has two Chinese Shar-Pei dogs. Released December 4^th – Laura’s new Cackleberry Club Mystery Eggs on Ice! Connect with Laura Childs at www.laurchilds.com or on Facebook at Laura Childs Author

The Art of Creating Character

By Gerry Schmitt

Of all the ingredients that go into writing a novel, I think character may be the most critical. An engaging plot and dynamic storyline are absolutely critical, too, since your main purpose is to entertain readers. But job one is to create a main character – your protagonist – that readers will either love, root for, or identify with. After all, great characters not only make us think, feel, and see things differently, they help up fall in love with the story.

If you’re writing a mystery or thriller, which is my specialty, it’s even an advantage to have a character that’s somewhat flawed, that reveals a touch of human frailty. And as your story progresses, your main character never has to evolve into a perfect human being, they just have to possess a good moral compass. You want your main character to be angry, outraged, or upset enough to take up the cause of going after the antagonist/killer and solving the mystery. Your character’s desire for final justice can be a powerful engine that drives the entire story.

When I begin writing a novel, I develop a loose outline on a large sheet of paper. I jot out notes for my first grab-my-reader-by-the-throat scene as well as a bang-up conclusion for my final chapter. And then I start adding secondary characters. I create scenes where my protagonist begins to rub elbows with various other characters, any number of which could be suspects as well as the antagonist/killer himself. These scenes also give me prime opportunities to sprinkle in clues along the way, as well as a few red herrings. When my paper outline starts to feel fairly gelled, I transfer it to my computer and tighten it up. Sometimes I even take that initial outline to around eighty pages. Then, I go back to chapter one and start writing. I judiciously put in character names and descriptions. But I never do a lot of back story on my characters. It’s always better to let their personalities be revealed by their actions. And sometimes, as you’re typing along, those pesky characters will begin to come alive and you end up with a little bit of magic on your page!

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Gerry Schmitt is the author of Shadow Girl, an Afton Tangler Thriller, and Little Girl Gone, the first book in the series. Writing under her pen name Laura Childs, she is the New York Times bestselling author of more than forty mysteries that include the Tea Shop Mysteries, Scrapbooking Mysteries, and Cackleberry Club Mysteries. Her books have also been on the USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller lists. Gerry is the former CEO of her own marketing firm, has won dozens of TV and radio awards, and written and produced two reality TV shows. Social Media:  Author Website www.laurachilds.com Facebook laurachildsauthor

Why a Book’s Setting Counts as a Character

By Laura Childs

I think every author worth his/her salt constantly strives to create that all-important “sense of place.”  You want your readers to vividly picture your novel’s setting as seen through your eyes.  You want every word to be so filled with imagery that they drink in each scene – tasting the salt on the breeze, smelling the perfumed jasmine in the early evening dusk, and detecting that ominous crunch of footsteps on gravel behind them.  You want your readers’ hearts to pitty-pat a little faster and think to themselves, “Who’s that following me?  What’s happening here?”

When I set my Scrapbooking Mysteries in New Orleans, I hit the jackpot. Seriously, nowhere else in this country is there a spookier, decrepit, elegant, and highly atmospheric city all rolled into one.  Setting a mystery in New Orleans means you can borrow lonesome-sounding tugboat whistles from the Mississippi River or allow faint notes of jazz to bump along on the breeze.  You can impart the grandeur and old world elegance of the Garden District, the raucousness of the French Quarter, and the danger and solitude of nearby bayous.

But there’s so much more to work with. 

I particularly love the infamous aboveground cemeteries in New Orleans.  First of all, they’re bizarre.  I mean, you can’t even bury a body in New Orleans.  If you do, the water table will send it right back to you.  So there’s a nasty concept to play with.  The cemeteries are also a strange amalgam of stately marble crypts, tumbled-down tombstones, oven crypts (you don’t even want to know), and ancient statues whose faces have long since been eroded by hurricanes, rain, and relentless heat.  Yes, a cemetery in New Orleans is always the perfect setting for a somber funeral, a dangerous tiptoe-through-the-tombstones chase, or even a nighttime ghost sighting.

I particularly love the contrast between the French Quarter and the Garden District.  The French Quarter is where the city of New Orleans dug in hard and put down roots.  There are ancient warehouses that have been turned into lofts and apartments, narrow alleys, tiny shops, four-star restaurants, haughty hotels, a genuine cathedral, and cobwebs of wrought iron draped everywhere.  Some of the old brick buildings began life as absinthe bars, houses of ill repute, and voodoo shops.  Interesting enough, some of them are still absinthe bars, houses of ill repute, and voodoo shops.  There’s honest-to-gosh history here and it’s all there for the taking.  And here’s a tidbit that always makes me smile: some of the French Quarter’s interior courtyards are utterly breathtaking with their pattering fountains, marble statues, and riots of flowers, but they’re never seen by anyone except a small handful of privacy-minded residents. 

Even though the Garden District consists of big homes and big money, it is equally private and closed.  When I attended the Rex Ball during Mardi Gras, I came to realize that the real Mardi Gras takes place in these magnificent mansions.  All that hoo-haw down in the French Quarter?  The beads, balconies, drinking, and music you see on TV?  That’s for the benefit of the tourists and the cameras.  No self-respecting member of the Rex, Comus, or Bacchus krewe would ever throw open the doors to their float den, or invite the public in to their elegant parties. 

But there is a way you can partake of these magical, hushed settings.  An author who’s been there can put down the words, take your hand, and gently pull you in for a good long peek.  Are you interested?  Then come along, let’s both enjoy the spectacle of the debutantes, dine on oysters Rockefeller and crab etouffee, and step inside the drop-dead gorgeous mansions and drink twenty-four year-old Bourbon in Baccarat crystal.  Let’s crash this fine eccentric city known as the Big Easy.

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Laura Childs is the author of the Scrapbook Mysteries set in New Orleans, LA, the Tea Shop Mysteries set in Charleston, SC, and the Cackleberry Club Mysteries.  Her books have been continually named to the New York Times Bestseller List and have been featured selections in the Literary Guild’s Mystery Book Club.  She is a former Cleo Award-winning advertising writer and CEO of Mission Critical Marketing. She is currently co-executive producer of two reality television shows. Her website is www.laurachilds.com Laura Childs’ newest Scrapbooking Mystery, Gossamer Ghost released in October by Penguin Random House.