Is Writing A Team Sport?

My guest today is fellow Sisters in Crime member and author Linda Lovely. Her debut novel, Dear Killer, has just come out. Good story, fun and interesting characters, wonderful setting! 

While many people consider writing to be a solitary pursuit, preferably performed in a secluded garret, I approach writing as a team effort.

Singles tennis is an individual sport. But when tennis players join a team and share a goal—say a league win—it can lift their individual games. Team members practice together, assess strategies, analyze strengths, point out weaknesses, share pointers, root when a point’s won, console when a game’s lost.

Critique partners and writing groups can serve as an author’s team with improved craft and publication as common objectives. To help one another reach these goals, we pinpoint what works in a partner’s plot and what doesn’t. Is a scene funny—or not? Does a heroine stray out of character? Do the dialogue and internal thoughts of our hero ring true, or is he talking/thinking like a woman? (One reason I LOVE having a male writer as part of my critique family.)

Do I make every change my colleagues suggest? No. Yet I consider them all. Even when I don’t take a suggested revision, I may revise to skirt around a word or sentence that made the reader stumble or a scene that slowed pace or seemed “over the top.”

My teammates catch errors I miss because I’m too close to my work. We also share craft techniques and swap info about agents, editors, publishers, contracts, marketing, social networking—all part of the need-to-know mix in today’s entrepreneurial author’s world.

Of course, group activity doesn’t lessen the need to park my fanny in front of a computer for long, solitary stretches. Yet this isolation is never complete. If I get stumped, I can email or pick up the phone. My critique family is generous with their time and respond to even the most trivial worries—like what kind of pens to buy for my first book signing.

I actively participate in the local chapters of Sisters in Crime (SinC) and the South Carolina Writers Workshop (SCWW), too. I’d belong to both organizations even if there were no local chapters. But I can’t say enough about the benefits of attending meetings, gabbing with fellow writers and seizing the opportunity to tap into a wealth of area resources.

Our Upstate SC Chapter of SinC meets in Greenville, SC, and our guest speakers include a wide range of “Law and Order” professionals. We’ve heard from medical examiners, a U.S. Marshall, district attorneys, police officers, arson investigators, crime reporters, FBI agents, private investigators...and the list goes on. These folks not only seem happy to answer our questions at our meetings, they often hand out business cards and invite us to call with any questions we think of after they leave.

Our local SCWW chapter doesn’t address crime—unless we’re talking punctuation felonies. But these meetings are gems as well. Each month, one of our members researches a writing topic and presents it to the group, complete with handouts and examples. During the past year, topics have included pacing, point-of-view, dialogue, the hero’s journey, and hooks as well as digital publishing alternatives. The format ensures everyone contributes and leads to lively meetings.

Most folks who write fiction can attest to the fact that the road to publication—whether it’s for book one, two or ten—is full of twists, turns and more than a few potholes. I find it’s quite comforting to have good company along for the ride.

Linda Lovely’s new book, Dear Killer, is a fast-paced summer read. It dishes up a main course of suspense, action and adventure with generous sides of romance and humor. The Sea Island setting gives the reader a tantalizing glance at the coastal area known as the Lowcountry, famed for its numerous islands, Gullah culture, plantations and resorts. The novel’s the first in a series of Marley Clark mysteries to be published by L&L Dreamspell.

A journalism major in college, Lovely has made her living as a writer, tackling everything from magazine features and ad copy to speeches and brochures. Her manuscripts have made the finals in 15 contests, including RWA’s prestigious Golden HeartÒ and Daphne du Maurier competitions and mystery contests such as Deadly Ink, Murder in the Grove and Malice Domestic.

For more information about the author and Dear Killer, you can visit her website at: www.lindalovely.com.

A note from Ellis. I'll be over at Terry's Place, giving away a Kindle copy of Haunting Refrain.