Inspiration
- The Powerful ‘P’ Words [The New Author] More Ps for your writing life. And yes, patience is still here.
- Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Beauty [The Bookshelf Muse] Infuse your writing with symbols for beauty.
- Psychology in Writing: Front Page News [NouveauWriter] Finding inspiration for fiction in papers and magazines.
- Distraction Free Writing [Write Anything » Distraction Free Writing] Four tips to make your writing stronger.
- Becoming An Indie Author: Is Success Based On Luck? [The Creative Penn] Reaching success- no magic necessary.
- Agent Mary Kole On: Putting In the Time to Become a Good Writer [Guide to Literary Agents] First, ‘you’ve got to write about a million bad words.’
- 10 Authors Whose Novels Took Over 5 Years to Write and Publish (Updated Post) [Wavy Lines] Great inspiration from writers who took a while to finish.
- Better Writing Habits: A 31-Day Makeover Challenge [Write It Sideways] YAY! A great way to kick off the writing year in 2011.
- The middle is a lonely road, unless you’re not alone [The Misadventures In Candyland] Great new perspective on the journey.
- Architecture, Writing and Life: Three things that should be hard work. [Claire King] To build is to reveal your soul. Fabulous.
- 4 Reasons Why Best Sellers Get to Suck & You Don’t [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] Write because you love to write.
- Three Writers on Writing and Creativity [How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book] Three pick-me-ups for the holiday.
- What?! A Real Post About Writing?! [Carol’s Prints] ‘You have to write the story you love.’
- Don’t Write Everyday [Elana Johnson, Author] Living is important, too.
- Writers Need This Quality To Reach Publication [Author, Jody Hedlund] Perseverance and it’s main ingredients.
- Finding Courage to Write – 6 Ways to Cope With Writing Fears [Quips and Tips for Successful Writers] Because writing requires bravery.
- Motivation to Write – How Writers Get and Stay Motivated [Quips and Tips for Successful Writers] Six tips you’ll want to read.
Craft of Writing
- Conflict, Keep It Up Front, WAY Up Front [tracy edward wymer] The first sentence matters.
- Basics 101 : Character Creation [Write Anything] Given life, characters pursue experiences you would never dare.
- The Pathway to Showing Emotion [Seeing Creative] Use all the tools, action, dialogue, physical reaction, imagery, thought, and yes, even telling.
- What Should a “Short Bio” Include? [Writer’s Digest Questions and Quandaries] Stick to this formula and you’ll make editors happy.
- Word Count to the Wise: Handling Your Word Count [The Other Side of the Story] Word counts are your friend.
- Brainstorming–Shannon Style [Shannon Whitney Messenger] Getting your ideas and inspiration organized.
- What is the theme of your novel? Miriam Halahmy [An Awfully Big Blog Adventure] Knowing your theme will focus your writing and pitch.
- How to write when you’ve got nothing to say [James Killick’s Blog] The secret to having words come out faster than you can type.
- What Makes a Book Series GREAT? [Write-Brained] Four ingredients in the recipe for success.
- Find Your Plot Fridays: At the Core: The Premise and How it Ties it all Together [The Other Side of the Story] Interesting way to tie subplots to core premise.
- Revisions Week – Characters [unedited] Beginning a character collage.
- A Dark Force Invades the World of Children’s Literature: A Tale of Two James Freys [Anne R. Allen’s Blog] Three tips–what do you think?
- List of dialogue tags [Dark Angel Fiction Writing] Sherry lists all the tags you shouldn’t use.
- Here’s what’s wrong with writing ‘simple’ stories [Time to Write] A word in favor of 3D – adding meaning and drama for a new dimension.
- Letting Action Define Your Characters [The Kill Zone] Five tips for improving your novel.
- Concept Defined [See Scott Write » Concept Defined] Love, love, love the six core competencies!
- How to avoid the research distraction trap [Time to Write] An excellent tip for writing now and researching later.
- Guest Post: Degree Options for Aspiring Writers [NouveauWriter] Educational options to help you improve your craft.
- Agent Donald Maass On: Your Tools for Character Building [Guide to Literary Agents] Three tips to help you transform your first five pages–and the rest of your ms.
- Detail your settings Disney style… [The Secret Archives of the Alliterati] Spice them up and make them 3-D.
- Outlining: Straightjacket Or Lifeline? [www.publetariat.com] What do you think?
- Chekhov’s Gun – How to Make this Technique Work for You [Let The Words Flow] Fantastic perspective–what NOT to include in your novel.
- Publishing — The Synopsis [Magical Words] How to craft yours using Stuart’s powerful process.
Self-Editing
- Friends Don’t Let Friends Overwrite* [* Fiction Groupie *] Seven things to look for in your own writing.
- A Tiny Note on Style [Through The Wardrobe] Murder your darlings. Directly from the source.
- Getting Some Distance from Our Words [Mystery Writing is Murder] Four ways to get perspective.
- Re-Write Wednesday: Re-Envisioning a Scene Without Rewritting it: Guest Blogger Juliette Wade [The Other Side of the Story] Changing motivation and meaning without changing dialogue or action.
- Tip Tuesday #64 [Literary Rambles] More excellent tips for effective writing.
- 7 Tips for Editing Your Way to the Best Story on the Planet [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Seven good posts on editing, rewriting, and accepting criticism.
- Verb Agreement with Compound Subjects [edittorrent] Easy-peasy breakdown on this grammar issue.
- Use the Reverse Dictionary: NaNoWriMo Tip #18 [GalleyCat] Good tip!
- Being in love with a fictional character is probably not a good thing. But I’m not really in a position to judge. [Steph Bowe’s Hey! Teenager of the Year] Does it happen to you while writing?
Critiquing
- Desperately needed: Distance [Writer Unboxed] Important reminder about critiquing, editing, and putting your work in a drawer.
To Market
- Getting The Call Means Your Work Gets Harder [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Be sure you are ready to go pro.
- Agent Spotlight: Ann Behar [Literary Rambles] Looking for children’s PB to YA as long as it’s beautifully written.
- How To Write A Back Blurb For Your Book [www.publetariat.com] Nine things commonly included–with examples.
- How To Write A 1-Page Synopsis [Let The Words Flow] Fill in the blank worksheet!!!!
- Agent Kimberly Shumate On: How to Create a Professional Submission [Guide to Literary Agents] Excellent list of Do’s and Don’ts
- Ultimate Blog Series on Novel Queries (#9) [There Are No Rules] Read actual queries with revision suggestions.
- New Agent Alert: Molly Jaffa of Folio Literary [Guide to Literary Agents] Looking for YA/MG that challenge the reader intellectually.
- Project to Published: Querying Publishers Directly [Emma Michaels] Good idea or bad?
- Breaking up is hard to do [Call My Agent!] But before you pull the plug on your agent…
- Agent Michelle Brower On: 10 Tips for Attending Writers Conferences [Guide to Literary Agents] Don’t be a pushy pitcher.
- Smaller Presses, Bigger Authors [www.publetariat.com] Where does the midlist author go today?
- Interview with Senior Editor at Dial: Liz Waniewski [Market My Words] Wonderful interview plus great summary of Dial’s list.
- Best Literary Agents on Twitter [GalleyCat] Work in progress.
- Online Pitches [Writers’ Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] Seven easy steps to an online pitch.
- Making the Most of Media Exposure [BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency] Don’t give up when you’ve got requests, you’re getting closer.
- If You Can’t Define Your Genre – How do you expect us to market it? [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Is it something an agent can sell?
- NeoAgent YAHighway Interview [Neverending Page Turner] Insight from Elizabeth Jote and Kathleen Ortiz.
- Agent Spotlight: Victoria Marini [Literary Rambles] Good opportunity for YA, commercial, mystery and NF writers. Loves paranormal & edgy.
- Agent Terry Burns On: When NOT To Stand Out From the Crowd [Guide to Literary Agents] Follow submission guidelines.
- Publishers That Accept Writers Without Agents – IFWG Publishing [BubbleCow] Speculative fiction, horror, SF and fantasy. YA, adult, and children’s.
Social Media, Twitter, and Blogging
- Seven Tips on How to Build a Following Online [Nathan Bransford] Excellent advice for any blogger.
- Five questions you should ask about your online brand [OJR] Start with your 1st online post.
- 23 (More) Websites That Make Your Writing Stronger [www.publetariat.com] In case you missed this post on Write It Sideways.
- The Power of the Internet – A Modern Day Social Media Morality Tale [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] A lesson in playing nice online.
Just for Smiles
- OMG! Did You Hear About Nathan? [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Fascinating interview and continuing faith in the future of books.
- Dear James Frey: Suck It, or, Writing and Fear [Myra McEntire] EXCELLENT reasons to hate James Frey’s “writing factory.”
- Why Alpha Males are ASSHOLES [Hello Ello] Great post about stereotypes and unrealistic characters.
- 15 Writers [Ingrid’s Notes] Who are your writerly influences?
- Write or Die for Motivation: NaNoWriMo Tip #24 [GalleyCat] Need someone to nag you into writing?
- The Nine Circles of Writing Hell [Nathan Bransford] Too darn funny to pass up!
- Revision Makeovers [Written In Lipstick] What makeover type are you?
- The Many P’s of Publishing [.W.I.P. It] Four more P’s that go along with Practice,Perseverance, Patience, and Perspiration. Can you guess?
- Query as haiku [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] You have to see these.
- When we talk about clueless, this is what we mean [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] This one you have to see.
After the Sale
- Lessons from a Reading [Getting Past the Gatekeeper] What NOT to do at a book talk.
- Your Manuscript is Ready. Are you? [Ingrid’s Notes] Recap of the excellent SCBWI-LA session with Jill Alexander and Michael Bourret.
Book Reviews
- Book Review: Wildwing by Emily Whitman [Novel Novice] ‘Escapist fantasy at its very best.’
- Matched by Ally Condie [Frenetic Reader] ‘Fabulous world-building and enticing writing.’
- Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick — Review [Reading, Writing and Waiting] If you like naughty bad-boy angels, this is the book for you.
- Torment by Lauren Kate –Review [Reading, Writing and Waiting] Stronger character action and familiar faces.
- Review: Invisible Things [In Bed With Books] Dark secrets, an eve-of-war setting, eye-opening start, but not as much of a page-turner as expected.
- Fiction Friday: WHEN YOU REACH ME [Writer on the Side] Couldn’t agree more on this glowing review!
Congrats
- National Book Award Winners for 2010 [GalleyCat] Four great book picks!
- Congratulations to Greyhaus Author [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Congratulations, Helen Lacey!
Contests
- Kick Bridget’s cancer! [Natural/Artifical — Stephanie Perkins] Donate for a good cause and win Anna and the French Kiss!
- Want an ARC of Supernaturally? [Kiersten Writes] Be the first to win- and it’s for a good cause!
- Interview & Giveaway with Caridad Ferrer, Author of When The Stars Go Blue! [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] Great interview. Enter by 12/5 for chance to win.
- Get A Partial Read by Agent Sara! [* Fiction Groupie *] Opportunity for 30-page read.
Other Weekly Round-Ups:
- Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest also does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week.
- Alice Pope does a Wednesday Tweet Roundup for the SCBWI Children’s Market Blog.
- Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing World every Friday.
- Jennifer Roland does a Writing Roundup on Fridays.
- Ricki Schultz does an “In the Blogosphere” post on Fridays where she lists posts she’s stumbled across during the week.
- Elizabeth Craig has started posting a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
- And don’t forget to check Nathan Bransford’s blog later this morning for his weekly recap of publishing news and information.
- Saturday Link Party [Forever Young] Jessica rounds up fun and interesting links.
- Stina Linddenblatt does a Cool Links Friday. This week, she caught a lot I wish we had on ours. I know what I’m doing for the next few minutes!
- DuoLit does a weekly list of links with some emphasis on self-publishing and marketing.
- YA Highway’s Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
- Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations does a Cynsational author and book news review.
Did we miss anything? Anyone? Please leave a comment!
Happy reading and joyous writing,
Martina & Marissa
