Author: Kristin Wolden Nitz
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A Stretch Goal
Robin McKinley recently posted this: “If I Want to Make Myself Do Something, Mention It on the Blog.” I don’t have her readership, of course. But I’m going to put a stretch goal on my blog: I’m going to wrap up an extremely rough draft of the last 30 pages of Calyn’s story this week. Then…
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Ooo! Sparkly!
Writers are magpies. We can’t help ourselves. If we see something interesting, we want to twist it into our plots, our settings, our characterizations. Weaving these things into story can often be safe. My extended family can’t help but notice little scraps of our lives turning up here and there in my books. In SUSPECT, for example,…
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Poof! 4000 Words Gone with one Click
I probably spent a couple of weeks on the chapter that I just hacked out of my manuscript. I liked it. It had fun and drama. But today I decided that Calyn just wouldn’t risk it–not with what she has at stake. Fortunately, a few other ideas rose up to take its place. Of course, those…
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Naming Characters III
In our last Christmas letter, my son to our family about my troubles with naming characters. I have learned over the years to be very careful about not using temporary names because my characters get attached to them. In fact, I’ve gotten into a smidge of trouble with the naming of one character in SUSPECT. Since…
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Retreating!
SCBWI Michigan put on another lovely retreat at Yarrow Golf and Conference Center. I hope to be posting some insights from the faculty as I go through my notes. I picked up a lot of good information on everything from pacing to social networking.
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Chapter 25: It’s Ragged, but done.
Chapter 24 is definitely part of Calyn’s darkest moment. Chapter 25 definitely covers decision time of the step outline. I have it blocked out. Instead of carefully moving through to work on smoothing out the transitions and polish the interacting sections of action and description, I’m moving on. A lot of dialogue will have to be…
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The Flip Side of Tight and Focused
One of the reasons that there are so many books in the world is that different things appeal to different readers. While the New York Journal of Books reviewer felt that the writing was tight and focused, one blogger felt my book was about fifty pages too short and ended too soon. I have to…
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New York Journal of Books Review Revisited
While I was delighted by the suggestion from THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS that I’d written something with a bit of edge, my publisher pulled out the following quote: The story is sharp and lean; the writing is tight and focused. I’m sure that my mentorship with noted author and all-around great guy Gary…
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Review from NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS
A reviewer from THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF BOOKS had some nice things to say about SUSPECT: “Suspect is a quick and easy read that will satisfy lovers of mystery and suspense. The edgy romantic component will capture the imaginations of others who will certainly want to know, at the very least, how that particular…
Kristin Wolden Nitz 