Analyzing a few books

bcarnan1 Comment

This pile encompasses a big chunk of my cozy mystery collection.  (At least, the ones that aren’t in storage.)  I picked them because they’re all about the same size, which makes them easier to stack in a nice pile for pictures like this:

20151004_142440

For the next three ‘writing’ posts, I thought I’d look through them to answer three questions I am constantly second-guessing myself on about my own writing- how early should the precipitating murder occur, how long should the book be, and should I write it in first or third person?  (No need to ask Kevin’s opinion on that third one- he adamantly loathes first person.  Won’t read it for anything.)

This isn’t going to be scientific, I’m just going to see what my personal collection says and share it with you all.Read More »

I am not fast

bcarnanLeave a comment
10321160_2262173845041_5431561774118412738_o
My preferred use of down time.

I am not a natural athlete.  This is something of a disappointment to my family, all of whom play volleyball (except my grandfather who was such a great basketball player that the navy shipped him from base to base to play games to increase morale).  I flinch when there’s a ball headed at my face, run like a turtle in molasses, and have a defective knee that protests when I try to do things like squats.  My favorite pastime is sitting somewhere comfy, reading, and snacking on something tasty.  When my friends invite me to do things like, “Let’s run this exhilarating 5k!” or “Want to go camping this weekend?” I have to choke back hysterical laughter.
Read More »

It’s not a short story!

bcarnan3 Comments

NaNoWriMo lied to me.
When I first started writing 50,000 words was my end goal. After all, that’s what NaNo said was required for a book, and a non-profit writing competition wouldn’t lie to me, right?
Mind you, 50k might as well have been a million for all my ability to write that much. Twenty, sometimes thirty, thousand was about the height of my ability. But 50 seemed plausible, if I stretched.
Unfortunately for short-winded me, I learned that 50k was considered underachieving, unless what you wanted to achieve was a novella. All the cool kids write to 75-95k nowadays, and novellas don’t have a particularly impressive hard copy market.
Feeling overwhelmed, as I often do when I try to look to far ahead in my writing career, I did some research and asked around for advice. Here’s what I came up with:
Read More »