Links of Interest to Writers

Love to write? Here are some great articles about writing!

• Writers Helping Writers:  Story Midpoint & Mirror Moment:  Using a Hero's Emotions to Transform Them by Angela Ackerman @AngelaAckerman

• Mythic Scribes:  Names in Fantasy - 3 Ways to Invent Names for Characters and Creatures by Grace Robinson @StorytellerGRL @Mythicscribes

• Writer's Circle:  6 Free Writing Podcasts 

• Charlotte Rains Dixon:  Building Your Fictonal World @Wordstrumpet

• Lynnette LaBelle:  8 Things to Do Before Launching a Book @LynnetteLaBelle

• Bestseller Labs:  10 Key Questions That Can Determine Your Success As a Writer by Jonathan Gunson @JonathanGunson

Links of Interest to Writers

Fascinating reading about writing from writers' blogs:

• Reading and Writing are Fattening:  6 Ways to Entice Readers (How much of an e-book is read before it is tossed aside?) by Marla M. Madison

• Jane Friedman:  10 Apps to Help You Stay Focused on Your Writing by Frances Caballo @CaballoFrances @JaneFriedman

• Woven With Pixie Dust:  Picture Book University:  Character Driven Picture Books by Pam Calvert @PammCalvert

• Path of Possibility:  Are You Making Enough Mistakes? by Sage Cohen @SageCohen 

• Writers Digest/Guide to Literary Agents:  Word Count for Novels and Children's Books:  The Definitive Post by Chuck Sambuchino @ChuckSambuchino @Writersdigest

• Publisher's Weekly:  Children's Books:  A Shifting Market by Jim Milliot @PublishersWkly

Links of Interest to Writers

What are you going to write next?

• Creative Writing With The Crimson League:  First Person Narration:  Is It Like Dialogue? by Victoria Grefer

• Writers Helping Writers:  Good Heavens--Another Post About Opening Lines? by Becca Puglisi

• The Write Now! Coach:  Your Query Letter:  How to Write An Irresistible Offer by Rochelle Melander

• Writer's Digest - Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents Blog:  7 Tips for Pitching to an Agent or Editor at a Conference by Peggy Eddelman

• Publishers Weekly:  DiCamillo, Floca, Sedgwick Win Newbery, Caldecott, Printz (Awards) by Diane Roback

Links of Interest to Writers

How is that writing going?

• The Other Side of the Story:  Real Life Diagnostics:  Would You Read on? A Look at a Science Fiction Opening  by Janice Hardy

• Blogging Funk:  Tips For Writing Picture Books:  Picture Book Length by Joe Funk

• Writer's Digest:  7 Ways to Create a Killer Opening Line for Your Novel by Jacob M. Appel 

• Author Jody Hedlund:  5 Top Ways To Rivet a Reader

• Winning Edits:  Author MBA Podcasts    (Conversations about the business of books)

• Moody Writing:  The Long and Short of Writing The Middle

Links of Interest to Writers

What will you write today?

• My Book Therapy:  Getting Past Stuck by Reba J. Hoffman

• The Daring Novelist:  Story Game:  Plot Structure & Finding The Wow by Camille LaGuire

• Novel Matters:  Hunting Adjectives With Elephant Guns by Patti Hill

• Scribbles from Jenn:  Top Ten Tips How to Survive a Relationship With a Writer

• Positive Writer:  Why You're Not Finishing The Writing You Started by Shanan Haislip

• Moody Writing:  What a Story Needs to Begin

Links of Interest to Writers

Writing today? Why not read some inspiration first?

• Charlotte Rains Dixon:  The Creative Trance

• How To Plan, Write, & Develop a Book:  Patterns of Change -- How Do You Create Strong Conflict in Your Fiction or Memoir? by Mary Carroll Moore

• Writer's Digest:  7 Ways To Create a Killer Opening Line for Your Novel by Jacob M. Appel

• Marcy Kennedy:  What To do When Your Loved Ones Want You To Quit Your Dream

• Positive Writer:  How To Motivate Yourself Right Now! by Bryan Hutchinson

• Wordserve Water Cooler:  Ten (Plus) Tips on Humor Writing by Dena Dyer

Links of Interest to Writers

Here's some great writing advice from blogs I love.

• How to Write, Plan, & Develop a Book:  Your Writing Voice:  how to Develop It, Recognize It, Not Copy Someone Else's by Mary Carroll Moore

• Writer's First Aid:  What Type of Writer Are You? by Kristi Holl

• Elizabeth Spann Craig:  Twitterific Writing Links

• Writers in The Storm Blog:  Advanced Craft Tips - Writer Strong by Laura Drake

• Adventures in YA Publishing:  Inspired Openings:  Care About Your Character by Jackie Garlick-Pynaert
• Babbles from Scott Eagan:  How Will You Sell Your Story In This Competitive Market?

Special Note:  Because so many bloggers are celebrating the holidays, their postings become less frequent at this time of year. I will only post links when I have gathered several I think are of interest to writers. Posts will pick back up after the new year. Please have a happy holiday season whatever your beliefs and traditions! 

Links of Interest to Writers

Take a moment to learn something new about writing.

• Angela Booth's Writing Blog:  Writing Tip:  Schedule Time To Think and Brainstorm

• Digital Book World:  Trident Media Group Chairman Robert Gottlieb on Re-Engineering The Rold of Literary Agents

• Copyblogger:  Here's How Elizabeth Gilbert (Bestselling Author of Eat, Pray, Love) Writes by Kelton Reid

• Fiction Notes:  Hope, Optimism, Despair:  Writer's Emotional Roller Coaster by Darcy Pattison

• Writer's Digest:  Try These 30-Minute Writing Prompts

• Publisher's Weekly:  Fabulous First Lines (2013) by Elizabeth Bluemle

Links of Interest to Writers

Here are today's offerings. Writing stuff I found on the Internet:

• The Kill Zone:  Crafting an Effective Opening  by Clare Langley-Hawthorne 

• Mental Floss:  Famous Novelists on Symbolism in Their Work & Whether It Was Intentional by Lucas Reilly

• Kirkus:  Best Children's Books of 2013

• Publishing Crawl: Twisting Your Plot by Marie Lu 

• Stavros Halvatzis:  How to Choose Character Names

• The Bane of Your Resistance:  No Time to Write -- Really?  by Rosanne Bane

Links of Interest to Writers

Learn something new about writing!

• Adventures in YA Publishing:  Inspired Openings:  Write to Discover by Todd Mitchell

• All Write - Fiction Advice:  How to Write Dramatic Dialogue

• Brain Pickings:  How Hans Christian Andersen Revolutionized Storytelling, Plus the Best Illustrations from 150 Years of His Beloved Fairy Tales

• Anne R. Allen's Blog:  Are Your Family & Friends Sabotaging Your Writing Dreams?

• Writer's Circle:  Tech Tools for Writers:  Storyometer by Stephanie Ostroff

• Author Magazine:  An Interview with Andre Dubus III

Links of interest to Writers

Here are some writing nuggets to inspire you.

• Writer's Fun Zone:  Want To Write a Novel? (But Don't Know How To Begin?) by Beth Barany

• Writability:  Why Do Your Characters Like Each Other?

• Time to Write:  Is This The formula for Creativity?

• Word Serve Water Cooler:  5 Writing Rules I've Learned from Pixar

• Wise Ink:  Our Favorite Online Resources for Writing Mechanics

• Nathan Bransford:  Favorite Writing Tips (from readers)

Links of Interest to Writers

Read a little before diving into your writing.

• Writer's Digest:  10 Dos & Don'ts For the Aspiring Novelist by Chuck Sambuchino

• Mystic Scribes:  Achieving NaNo Success:  Schedules, Approaches, Top Tips

• QueryTracker:  Your Author Playlist by Sarah Pinneo

• Nathan Bransford:  How to Find a Writing Style That Works for You

• Institute of Children's Literature:  Don't Start This Way -- Unless it Works by Jan Fields

• Nick Daw's Writing Blog:  The Submission Grinder -- A Free Alternative to Duotrope

• Rebeca Schiller:  Tools for Writers Presentation (Scrivener, Aeon Timeline, Scapple, & Tinderbox)

Links of Interest to Writers

Learn from great articles on writing!

• The Other Side of the Story:  Real Life Diagnostics Week:  Developing Conflict & Character in an Opening Scene by Janice Hardy

• Daily Writing Tips:  What's the Difference Between Writing and Editing? by Mark Nichol

• From the Write Angle:  Change is Good by by Jemi Fraser

• Get Me Writing:  Crafting an Epic - Perils & Pitfalls
• Free Planning Template for Your Story

• The Picture Book Academy Presents Mondays with Mandy (or Mira):  Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books

• Shelli Johnson:  My Favorite Writing Advice - Learn Dialogue By Studying Plays

• Kristen Lamb's Blog:  How Sick is Your Novel? Can It Be Saved?

• Project Mayhem:  The Elusive Hunt for Character Awesomeness!

Links of Interest to Writers

Looking for a little insight into writing? Try reading one (or more) of these:

• Angela Booth's Writing Blog:  Habits:  Build Your Writing Career Day by Day

• Mary Caroll Moore: Writing Strong Suspense:  The Difference between Speed & Tension in Story

• Jamie Gold, Paranormal Author:  How to find the Start of Our Story

• Copyblogger:  The 3 Steps to Success at Anything by Brian Clark

• Inkygirl:  Comic - Back to School by Debbie Ridpath Ohi

• Nathan Bransford:  Bestselling Novels by Year (1900 - 2012)

• Moody Writing:  Bad Characters Do Bad Things

• The Write Practice:  What Clothes Say About Your Characters

Links of Interest to Writers

Stuff I found interesting, and I thought you might find it interesting too!

• The BookBaby Blog:  Networking Tips for Shy Authors by Chris Robley

• All Write - Fiction Advice:  Are Rules Made to be Broken? by A. J. Humpage

• An Awfully Big Blog Adventure:  Creating a Page-Turning Novel by David Thorpe

• Anne R. Allen's Blog:  Anthologies are Hot:  How to Tell a Great Opportunity from a Pay-to-Play Scam

• Adventures in YA Publishing:  Mapping Your Book to Ensure it Works

• Sara Zaske's Blog:  Top 5 Mistakes in the First 5 Pages

• QueryTracker:  Writing and the Rule of Three by Ash Krafton

• Babbles from Scott Eagan:  Creating a Work Environment that Promotes Creativity

Links of Interest to Writers

Here are some links I enjoyed discovering today:

• Margaret Atwood's 10 Rules of Writing (Brain Pickings)

• 10 Inspiring Bookshops around the World (Messy Nessy Chic)

• When Comparison is Good & Necessary (Rachelle Gardner)

• Top Two Pieces of Writing Advice (Jody Hedlund)

• 4 Big Pitfalls in Story Openings (Jane Friedman)