January is the month for making resolutions and setting goals and, for me, I find it quite helpful to set at least a few loose goals for my writing for the upcoming year, which makes this month’s Beautiful People subject perfect for me. Beautiful People is a writerly link-up hosted monthly by the amazing duo of Cait@Paper Fury and Sky@Further Up and Further In, and this month, it’s all about our resolutions and goals for our writing over the coming year.

What were your writing achievements last year?

Last year I:

Tell us about your top priority writing project for this year?

I have two major writing projects. The first is, of course, Song Of The Crystal Tree, my YA fantasy which is about young magician with a kidnapped sister, an exiled prince, stolen power, magic and song, and a plot to usurp the throne. My plan this year is to get this book to the point where I can send it out to beta readers. It’s going to take at least one more draft to reach this point, possibly two, judging by previous progress.

My other major project is Snow, my YA superhero/Snow White retelling, which is about mutants, politics, hard decisions, and lots of ice and snow. In an ideal world, I’d like to get this book ready for betas as well, but knowing how I edit, I’ll be happy to settle for the much safer goal of getting two drafts of this book done.

List 5 areas you’d like to work the hardest to improve this year.

Showing Emotions: I often find translating emotions onto the page very difficult. My characters generally end up telling their emotions rather than really feeling them, which is honestly making them seem quite dull and flat, and is a problem that’s been bugging me for a while.

Creating Strong Character Voices: I’m editing Snow at the moment, which is told in dual POV, and one of the big problems it has, is that the two narrating characters sound almost identical, which, considering the rest of my planned series also has dual POVs, could be quite a problem in the future.

Writing Humour: While I enjoy humour in books, I find it a lot more difficult to write it into my own stories, which is a pity, because in my head my characters are quite witty and funny and much cooler people than I am. They just don’t come out that way on the page.

Worrying About Equal Chapters: For some reason, I feel the need to make sure all my chapters are the same length, and will even add extraneous fluff if they aren’t going to reach a standardised word count. I want to work on letting go of this and focus on making the chapters interesting rather than the same length.

Sticking To My Schedule: I have very good plans and intentions, but quite often my writing schedule slips a bit, I make some excuses as to why things aren’t progressing as fast as they should, or ignore the fact I’m getting behind, and drift. Creating and sticking to a writing schedule is one of my big goals this year.

Are you participating in any writing challenges?

I’m planning on participating in both of the Camp NaNoWriMos as well as the normal NaNoWriMo in November. That’s probably enough challenges for me at this point, considering I also want to get several tons of editing done during the rest of the year. 

What’s your critique partner/beta reader situation like and do you have plans to expand this year?

Currently, I don’t actually have any beta readers or critique partners, as I’ve never manage to quite reach that stage with my books. However, this is something I’m planning on changing this year, so hopefully, when the time comes, I’ll be able to find a few people interested enough in my books to beta read for me.

Do you have plans to read any writer-related books this year? Or are there specific books you want to read for research

I do indeed plan to read writing related books. The books I would like to read include:

Pick one character you want to get to know better, and how are you going to achieve this?

As I mentioned in my post last week, I’m currently editing my YA superhero novel, Snow. I’ve almost finished the initial read through (which has been taking way, way longer than it should) and so far it’s been a very mixed experience. In many ways, I’m actually quite happy with how the last draft turned out. The overall plot is pretty solid, and I can see where the subplots, character arcs, and the like are going. However, as far as reading experience goes, well, even I don’t want to read my own book. I feel bad about this, because I feel like I should be enjoying myself more, easing my way back into writing with an easy round of reading and note taking.

I think the reason I’m finding it so hard to enjoy editing at the moment is because my expectations are too high. My major writing project last year was Song Of The Crystal Tree, and while I haven’t done a real polishing draft on it yet, after seven drafts, it’s looking much better than its first draft. In contrast, Snow is still only a raw second draft. I’m jumping back a long way in the writing process, and it’s a bit of a shock.

I also have high expectations for this book because it, and the rest of the planned series, are near to my heart. I love the characters and the stories I have planned out for them, and I have such a clear vision for Snow in particular. Which is great because I have a goal, but it also means that I get easily frustrated with the current slow progress. Snow is so far away from that glorious finished version that my high expectations for the finished product are more of a hindrance than a help really.

However, despite my many complaints, I am making good progress. I have about six chapters left before I can get into planning the edit, and while there are definitely loads of things to fix, I’ve already got a pretty good idea of what I need to do. And, apart from the terrible quality of the text, there are several good things in this draft, like an overall plot that makes some sort of sense now, and several scenes that I did enjoy reading and want to expand on in the future. So, despite many wails about how horrible the book is, there’s hope for it yet.

To tell the truth, I can’t wait to get into actually editing the book. The editing process isn’t my absolute favourite part of the process (though it’s certainly the most important), but I do love seeing the book transform into a slightly better version of itself every time I go through it. And I’m really looking forward to getting it to the point where even I can read it without cringing every two sentences. Until then, it’s back to the grindstone. I will edit this book, or die trying.

Where are you at with your book? Do you struggle when going between early drafts and more polished projects? What is your pet project?

Welcome to my new series, Elements Of, where I will be outlining the features that make a genre, character, or subplot great. Today, I want to talk about mysteries. I love mysteries, both reading or watching them, and writing them mystery. In fact one of my projects for NaNoWriMo last year was a mystery. There are many features that go into making a great mystery, from the characters, to the pacing, to the setting. In this post, I’ll  be going through some of the basic elements of good mysteries, and will take a more in depth look at how they can help your writing. Bear in mind, these are just some of the elements that good mysteries have in common. There are plenty more. Maybe even enough for a part two! If you enjoy this post and would like to read a second instalment, let me know in the comments. And now, on to the post!

Ever since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the legendary detective, Sherlock Holmes, readers and writers alike have enjoyed the intricacies of the mystery genre. Whether you’re reading a mystery, watching one, or plotting one of your own, mysteries hold a strange fascination. There are all kinds of mysteries, from police thrillers, to the Sherlockian civilian detective, to the teen sleuth. However, they all have elements in common which, if written right, can make for a compelling mystery that will have readers holding their breath to the very last page. But what are these elements?

Elements Of A Good Mystery

A Limited Cast: Having a large cast doesn’t necessarily mean that your mystery is going to be more interesting, or more complex. In fact, in many cases, having a smaller cast works better, for several reasons.

Firstly, readers need to be able to remember who the major characters are. The larger the cast, the more chance there is that your readers are going to forget who’s who. If they have to stop and flip back through the pages to find out who Coronel Smith is and why he’s important to the story then maybe your characters aren’t interesting enough, or you may have too many of them. Either way, every time your readers have to stop to remember who someone is, they’re being pulled out of the story.

Secondly, having a smaller cast allows for more interaction with each of the suspects, and a tighter plot overall. Ideally, the villain should be present to the readers very early on in the book, along with all the other major suspects. Some of the best mysteries I’ve read, or seen, have involved the villain in person throughout the story, allowing readers to know him, but concealing his true role in the story. It also allows you to give more screen time to the other suspects.

Thirdly, having a smaller cast means that you can’t be lazy with your writing. If you want the final reveal to be effective, and you haven’t got a large cast to obscure the true villain, then you’re forced to be very clever in your writing to keep readers from guessing too early who the bad guy is. And the smarter you have to think, the better the writing will end up being.

Strong Motivations: All the suspects, not just the villain need strong motivations for why they could conceivably have committed the crime. The stronger the motivations of all the suspects, the harder it will be for the detective, and the readers to identify the villain, and the deeper the mystery becomes. This helps create tension and a sense of breathless uncertainty as readers are kept guessing who the villain could be. Giving all the suspects motives for committing the crime is an important part of creating a tightly woven plot, as well as concealing the real villain for longer.

Complex Characters: Apart from having a strong motivation for committing the crime, your suspects should stray into the grey areas morally. Yes, they might not have committed the murder, but they’re also not entirely as blameless, or disconnected from the crime as they would like people to believe. Often, good mysteries give all the suspects something to hide, or an involvement that throws doubt on their innocence. The more complex their background and involvement with the crime, the harder it is to completely rule them out as a suspect. As the clues start appearing and the detective unravels the case, these secrets are then able to come out, and the mystery can thicken naturally, keeping readers mystified but intrigued.

Plenty Of Clues: When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle effectively created the mystery genre, it was acceptable to keep readers completely in the dark about the solution until the very end of the mystery, when it would be presented to the reader through the Dr Watson character in full. The mysteries kept readers intrigued, but never gave them a chance to work out the solution for themselves.

Nowadays, it’s a lot harder to pull that kind of story off. Readers want to have a fair chance of solving the mystery themselves as it’s unravelling on the page. They want the satisfaction of putting together the clues to find the solution before the detective does. And they get a great sense of achievement if they can do so. Which means that you, as the writer, have a difficult balancing act to achieve. On the one hand, you want to be able to surprise your readers with the ending. It is a mystery after all. But at the same time, you also need to make it transparent enough to give them a chance to figure it out for themselves, if they’re smart enough to put all the clues together.

There are exceptions to this rule however, as there are with many of these elements. Alexander McCall Smith’s No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series, for example, never gives readers a chance to solve the mystery for themselves. However, it compensates for this by presenting the mysteries with a beautifully unique setting, placing the stories in Botswana. By including cultural elements and stories, and weaving it together inside a more relaxed storytelling style, McCall gets away with keeping his readers mystified. However, should you want to break this rule yourself make sure you include some other element to the story to keep readers intrigued and interested.

A Ticking Clock: Every good mystery needs a good ticking clock driving the plot forwards. If your mystery doesn’t need to be solved in a certain timeframe, then it becomes much, much harder to create a sense of tension and urgency in the investigation. Whether your detective has to solve the crime before a bomb goes off, or a killer strikes again, or even before unscrupulous relatives steal the inheritance, they need some deadline. Without this, it’s very difficult to create enough suspect to keep readers on the edge of their seats. If your mystery could be solved at any time, or there’s no repercussions of it not being solved, then you’re missing out on a big tool that can give your story tension and drive the plot along.

A Clear Solution: Throughout the mystery, you’ve been working to give your readers enough clues to solve the mystery on their own, while simultaneously trying to hide the solution from them so you can surprise them. But, at the end of the book, your readers need to be able to understand the solution, and how you got there. You can plot the most unique mystery, have the best villain, have great tension and keep your readers guessing beautifully until the end of the book, but none of that counts for anything if, by the last page, your readers still don’t understand whodunit and how.

Much of the satisfaction of reading a mystery comes from the ending. All the plot threads must be drawn together, the solution needs to be logical, and it all needs to be laid out before the reader in an easy to understand fashion. Readers want and deserve answers at the end. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to rehash the entire plot in a huge summary at the end of the book, as Sherlock Holmes does when explaining his process to Dr Watson, but by linking clues logically throughout the book, when the final pieces fall into place at the end of the book, readers should be able to finally see the whole picture. And, after all, a satisfying ending is what every reader deserves at the end of a book. 

Thanks for reading the first post in my new series. Let me know what you thought of it! Are you excited to read more of these in the future? What genres, or topics would you like me to cover in the future? Are you interested in seeing a part two to this post? Or more posts on other parts of writing a mystery, such as how to plot one? Who is your favourite mystery writer? And tell me, have you ever written, or considered writing, a mystery of your own?

How Often Do I Comment On Your Blogs?

I’m so, so glad to see that I respond to most of your comments most of the time. I try very hard to comment back on everyone’s blogs when they leave me a comment, but sometimes I don’t get around to it, or I can’t find a link to your blog from your commenting profile, which is the main reason why I wouldn’t leave a return comment. Definitely going to work on commenting back more though. And if I’ve never been to your blog, or you’d just like me to come and visit, leave me a comment with a link to your blog and I’ll hop right over!

What Are Your Favourite Posts?

My posts on writing advice are definitely my more popular posts which is great! (seeing as this is a writing blog and all.) I was surprised to see that discussion posts were so popular though. However, as there’s such a positive response to them, I will be turning them into a regular feature, and expanding on them a bit more. I’ll probably be posting them once a month or so. I’m also planning on posting more about my own writing, something I’ve started on already. I’ll be posting about my personal projects on Wednesdays. Probably not every Wednesday, but whenever I have something interesting to say, or some progress to report. (You can check out my first post HERE).

What Are Your Least Favourite Posts?

It came as no surprise to me that Writing Music posts are the least popular posts on this blog by a long way. I won’t be eliminating the posts completely, but I will be cutting down on the number I post. It will either be a monthly or a biweekly feature from now on. That will be the most major change for the regular posts on this blog, as people seem to enjoy most of the other regular features equally.

If I Added A New Feature, What Would You Like To See?

Videos were a surprisingly popular choice here, with most people voting for them. I’ll be working on some video ideas, so keep an eye out for them in the future. I’m also hoping to be able to host some guest posters this year, so we’ll see what happens there (if you’re interested in guest posting, I would love to hear from you!). Book reviews were also surprisingly popular. I may try and work something out there, but I make no promises.

General Comments

Thank you everyone who left me some personal feedback. You’ve been such a big help and an encouragement to me.

In response to: What do you want to hear about?

Consider this done. I’m currently in the middle of planning a brand new series for this blog called Elements Of, which discusses the elements of good fiction in a variety of genres. It’ll be a more in depth, analytical look at genre conventions, elements of good writing, and ways to make your writing even better. Keep an eye out for the first post in the series coming next week. It’s going to be looking at the elements of good mysteries.

In response to: What would you like to say to me?

You make a fair point. I usually try to keep my blog posts on the shorter side with the word count, because I know people are busy and I don’t want to make them wade through a huge post. However, I’ll definitely work on making my posts a bit more comprehensive in the future, especially my posts on the craft of writing.

Thank you! And thank you to everyone who left me lovely, encouraging comments through the survey. So many of you say that you enjoy my blog and you like the way I do things, which was so nice to hear. This blog wouldn’t exist as it does if you guys weren’t here supporting me. I’m really looking forward seeing what we get up to together this year.

Aw, thank you! When I do eventually reach the stage of needing betas, I will certainly send the call out through my blog. Feel free to let me know if you’d like to be one of my beta readers then. I’m always grateful for any help!

And that about wraps it up. Again, thank you to everyone who took the time to help me out, and hopefully you’re all getting as excited for the new things I’m planning for this year as I am! If there’s anything else you’d like to say about this blog, a suggestion for something you’d like me to cover, an idea for one of my new features (video ideas are especially appreciated), or anything else, leave me a comment! I’d love to hear what you have to say.

What are you looking forward to seeing on this blog in the future? Are you trying anything new on your blog this year? And tell me, what is your favourite blog?

If you read my last post, in which I listed ten of my resolutions for this year (which you can view HERE), then you may have seen that one of my resolutions for 2016 is to share more about my own writing on this blog. It’s a bit of a scary goal, because for me, it’s so much easier to talk about writing as an abstract process than it is to share the intimate details of my personal projects. But I am determined to give it a go. Hopefully some of you will find these more personal posts interesting to read. So today, I thought I’d talk a little about where I am at the moment with my writing.

After NaNoWriMo last year, I decided to take the entire month of December off from writing. Mostly because December is the busiest time of year what with Christmas, the school holidays, and many, many musical commitments, but also because, after writing 175k odd words in a month, I really needed to give myself a break from writing and creating and just let my tired brain relax and become reinspired. And the rest was really nice, and definitely needed. But I have to admit, by the end of the month, I was missing writing a lot.

Now that we’re into the new year though, I’m trying to get a start on editing one of my books again, which so far has meant pulling out my superhero/fairytale rewrite, Snow and reading it through, making notes as I go. It’s always quite an experience reading through a drafts after a long time away. Sometimes a very cringe worthy experience at that. Snow is only a second draft, so I wasn’t expecting beautiful prose or anything like that, but the amount of melodrama, info dumps, and exposition I can pack into even just the first three pages is quite staggering, and frankly makes me wince to read it. I definitely know one of the big areas I’ll be working on in this draft.

But at the same time, even though I know the writing is terrible and half the plot still won’t make sense, I’m really excited to dive back into this story world. Snow is the first book in a whole series of fairy tale rewrites I have planned. It’s a huge project, seriously. But I really love the ideas, the characters, and the whole way I’m trying to present these fairy tales. I grin to myself every time I manage to work another fairy tale element into the book. I have a picture in my head of where I want these stories to go, and every word I rewrite, every time I cringe at a melodramatic line, or stumble across another plot hole, is getting me one step closer to reaching that goal.

So that’s where I’m at with my writing at the moment. Progress is pretty slow as I ease my way back into writing and start slotting it back into my schedule, but I’m enthusiastic about getting to work on editing again, or any kind of writing really. I’m hoping to have an excerpt or two to share in the next couple of weeks, when I get to actually editing the book properly, so we’ll see what happens.

Where are you up to with your writing? Do you have a book idea, or a series idea that you’re in love with? Are you interested in reading more post like this about my personal writing in addition to the other posts I write for this blog? Let me know in the comments!

Also, have you taken my blogging survey yet? If you haven’t, and you have a few minutes to spare, please consider checking out this post and giving me some feedback on this blog. The survey is only short, and your feedback will help me better plan what I’m going to write on this blog this year.

The beginning of a new year brings a fresh start, and most people, me included, start taking a close look at what worked in the previous year, as well as what didn’t, and make resolutions to achieve specific things in the upcoming year. This week, in the spirit of the new year, I’m participating in the Top Ten Tuesday link up, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, which is all about our resolutions for the new year. So, here are ten of my writing/book related goals for 2016.

1. Send Song Of The Crystal Tree to Beta Readers

I’ve been working on this book for over three years now, and I still haven’t managed to get this book to the stage where it’s ready to go out to beta readers yet. It is getting there, just very, very slowly. This year, I’m resolving to edit it to the point where I’m ready to have other eyes than mine look it over and give feedback.

2. Edit a Book During Camp NaNoWriMo

The ability to edit during Camp NaNo rather than drafting something new, is a relatively recent addition to the event, but it’s not one that I’ve taken advantage of so far. But I’m at the point with my writing where I have so many books waiting to be edited that I really don’t need to draft yet another new one, despite the fact that I always have dozens of ideas for books hanging round. So instead, I’m setting myself the challenge of editing for a month instead of writing something new.

3. Write Book 4 in My Retelling/Superhero Series

It may be a highly impractical goal, seeing as I haven’t yet edited the first three books aren’t edited yet, but I would like to write the 4^th book in the series anyway. I’m pretty passionate about this series, and I’d like to keep writing them, even just for myself. I’m excited to see where the overall story is going, and I have so many ideas for it that I really just want to write the next book already.

4. Read More Books

I’m not setting a specific number of books for myself to read this year yet, mostly because my reading habits are terrible. I used to read an awful lot, right up until the second half of last year really, and then everything got busy and reading went out the window. So I really want to try and get back into better reading habits and make time to explore more books this year.

5. Create a Better Blogging Schedule

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you probably noticed that things have been all over the place for a while now, with patchy uploads, mixed content, and general confusion. One of the big things I’m trying to do is to create a better blogging schedule that will allow for forwards planning, variety of content, and regular posting. A win-win for everyone! (You can help me with this by taking my survey here.)

6. Comment on Blogs More

I read almost all the blog posts on the blogs I follow, and often start my day with a mass blog reading session. But you’d never tell that, because most of the time I don’t end up leaving a comment, even if I loved the post and promised myself I was going to leave a comment later on. Actually remembering to comment is one blogging thing I mean to greatly improve on in the coming year.

7. Spend Less Time Procrastinating On YouTube

I love YouTube. All the music, the funny videos, and movies trailers. Glorious. I can spent literally hours lost in a maze of videos. Which is great, until I realise six hours later that I really should have been writing and editing and doing useful things with my life. This year, I’d like to move YouTube watching around so that I don’t give up my fun time, but also make sure that I actually get some other things done as well.

8. Worry Less About Being like Other Bloggers

Sometimes, I have to admit, I get envious of other bloggers. They have fantastically regular content, a really strong, unique blogging voice, and awesome content. And honestly, sometimes I want to be just like them. This year, I’m resolving to work on the identity of my own blog and concentrate on finding my own voice, rather than wasting time and energy trying to be someone I’m not.

9. Be Proud Of My Creative Achievements

Creative achievements are very personal. I know, for me, it’s hard to share my writing because it’s so personal to me that I worry about what people are going to think, rather than being proud of the things that I have achieved. And being a creative person is hard enough as it is, without more self-doubt being lumped on top. So this year, I want to make a conscious effort to stop and actually be proud of what I’ve done.

10. Be A Writer

This year, I resolve to be a writer, connecting with other writers, sitting my bottom in a chair with my fingers on the keys, even when I don’t feel like it, putting words on the page and bringing worlds to life. I resolve to finish things, and to be proud of my profession, no matter what. I’m a writer. And I’m going to act like one. 

These are some of my goals for the coming year. What resolutions have you made? Are any of your goals the same as mine? Are you participating in Top Ten Tuesday this week? Leave me a link to your post in the comments and I’ll visit you!

Welcome back to our regularly scheduled Monday posts. As you may have noticed, after all the discussion about writing in the holiday season, I did end up taking time off from blogging. But we’re back! And it’s 2016, which means, happy New Year! It also means that I’m starting to plan things for this new year of blogging. I’d like to try some new things this year, but I’m not quite sure where to start. So I really need your help with planning where I’m going to take this blog.

I know a lot of blogs have been asking readers to fill out surveys, or give feedback on what they have and haven’t enjoyed, so I hope you’ll forgive me asking you to fill out yet another one. But I truly am interested in what you have to say about my blog, the content I’m producing, and what you personally would like to see from me in the future. So if you have five free minutes, I would be so grateful if you would fill out my survey and let me know what you think of my blog. It’s all anonymous, so feel free to be as truthful as you like.

Also, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all. I’ve made so many new friends through blogging, written many, many posts, and connected with the blogging community even more than before. And that’s because you guys are so amazing and comment on my blog, chat about bookish things with me, and suggest blogs for me to explore, and new people to get to know. So thank you all for sticking with me. I appreciate every comment, every follower, and every visitor to this blog. I hope you’ll all stick with me into 2016, because I have a feeling it’s going to be the best year yet.