Photo credit: jake-ingle-w_78KOJiih4-unsplash

A big welcome to Desiree Villena for this amazing guest post!

5 Tips to Help You Win a Writing Contest

For the past year, I’ve had the pleasure of judging a weekly writing contest. This involves reading dozens of short stories all written to themed prompts, culling the good from the bad, and agonizing over which of my favorites is truly the best.

Some days I’m overwhelmed with quality submissions — which is honestly the best kind of torture. I could easily see a number of our participants going on to publish their own books. But while we’re blessed to get so many amazing stories every week, I’ve also seen plenty that is, well… less than stellar.

Today, I’m going to take you behind the curtain and show the kinds of things I watch for while judging. To be sure, while there’s no “one weird trick” to guarantee you’ve penned a winning story in either my contest or any other. However, these tips will at least make your story a much more solid and compelling entry — no matter where you’re submitting.

Tip #1: Keep your copy clean

Nothing will drag me out of a story faster than dumb mistakes.

By this, I don’t mean you’re not allowed a single typo — though you should be sure to edit your story as best as you can before submitting. But when I open a story and immediately see a wall of text with no paragraph breaks, misplaced quotation marks, and half the sentences beginning with lowercase letters, I know I’m not dealing with a professional writer.

Tip #2: Punch up your dialogue

I judge short fiction, so every sentence has to count. This goes double for dialogue. There’s not much time for me to get to know a character, and the worst sin you can commit is writing conversations just to fill space.

It’s true that real people rarely talk in deeply revealing, meaningful exchanges or pithy quips that tell the reader everything about the speaker. If we’re honest, we often don’t speak in complete sentences, at least not around the people to whom we’re close. But, fair or not, characters get held to a higher standard — each line they speak should not only carry the story forward, but also provide insight into who they are.

Tip #3: Understand your form

This may seem self-evident, but if you’re submitting to a short story contest, be sure that you’ve written a short story — not the opening chapter of a novel, and not a summary of a larger work!

Different formats can be tricky to understand, especially if you’re not used to writing in them. But it’s important to wrap your head around the fact that a short story is fundamentally different from a novel: not just in pacing, but in structure, tone, and where the crux of the story lies.

Similarly, poems, flash fiction, and novellas all have their own rules. Be conscious of what you’re writing — and what you’re not writing — when you submit to a contest.

Tip #4: Know the rules

Much like writing clean copy, this is another “quality signal” that judges watch for, whether they realize it or not.

I don’t mean to say there’s no room for creativity — quite the contrary, as we’ll get to in my next tip! But there’s a difference between purposefully breaking convention for artistic reasons and just… not understanding the basic rules of storytelling and grammar.

Before you submit to a contest, make sure your story follows these basics: use strong verbs, show don’t tell, and avoid “purple prose,” among others. Not sure if your work is up to snuff? Before you submit, you could always run it by a professional editor.

Tip #5: But don’t be afraid to experiment!

The best short stories I’ve read in our contest — the stories I still think about months later — are the ones that surprise me. Whether that’s a perfectly spun second-person narrative about the fear women face when confronted by strange men, or a love story about a pill bug, I love to read something I’ve never seen before.

Taking this approach does run the risk that your experimental prose will rub people the wrong way. Still, I don’t think I’ve ever voted for a winner who played it safe. So long as you know what you’re doing, feel free to let your imagination run wild and your prose spool out in thrilling new directions.

So go ahead — take that big swing. And good luck!

 

Desiree Villena is a writer with Reedsy, a marketplace that connects self-publishing authors with the world's best editors, designers, and marketers. In her spare time, Desiree enjoys reading fiction, writing short stories, and giving (mostly) solicited advice to her fellow writers.

Free Resources from Author Alton Gansky

I'm all about free resources. And when I stumble upon an author who shares what they've learned, I like to share those tips with you guys. 

You may not have heard of Alton Gansky. He's published dozens of novels and non-fiction books. He has co-written more. He runs his own writer's conference each year. 

One of the things Gansky offers is 'Writer's Talk' interviews. He chats with other authors, agents, and publishers, giving writers great information they might only get at writing conferences. Check out his YouTube channel for the complete list.

But that's not all Gansky provides. He offers a series of screencast videos where he explains how he uses certain software, and gives other tips for writers. I love his voice, and his calm, teaching manner. Here are a few I found interesting:

Google for Writers: several different Google applications that make a writer's life (and research) much easier. Do you use them?

Pitching Agents & Editors: how to pitch your project in a conference setting--great principles if you're gearing up for a pitch session!

Organize your novel: Gansky explains how to use a free online application called Trello to keep track of your novel's details and structure.

What are page proofs? What writers can expect when they receive page proofs (also called galleys) and what to do with them.

Manuscript formatting: How to format your manuscript in standard form before sending it off to an agent or editor.

Tight Writing: helping writers to look for what clutters manuscripts and invites rejection. Have you ever heard of 'pleonasm'? You'll want to watch for it in your writing.

Kindle Singles: for writers with shorter works, great information on the hows & whys of loading them onto Amazon, and he also demonstrates another platform called Atavist, where readers can choose to read or listen to the book.

What authors do you rely on for writing information?

A good day for a smile: making fun of the writing & publishing process

Photo courtesy of Stock.xchng

It's an unusually rainy day here in Colorado. Most of our rain comes in buckets (we call them 'gullywashers'), and they're over quickly. Today we're enjoying steady rain, which we need, but there's the threat of mudslides due to the damage caused by the Waldo Canyon Fire. The steep mountain pass between my home and my sons' orthodontist could easily be blocked my mud and ash. Hopefully, we'll make it down and back!

Today I have three links for you that should make you smile.

The first one is from author (and former agent) Nathan Bransford (who I posted about a while ago). His blog is a worthwhile one to read. This particular one is Bransford's take on the publishing process, though he adds an extra twist by sharing it in .gif form (that means short video snippets to illustrate his points). Having experienced both the agent and author's sides of publishing, Bransford's insights are completely accurate. I dare you to read it without grinning.

The second one is for all those writers of fantasy. It comes from Dragon Writing Prompts, a great site to visit. This post is a fantasy novelist's exam. The idea is to ask yourself the questions to determine whether your fantasy manuscript is derivative or cliche. Even if you don't write fantasy, the questions will make you chuckle. Like this one:

56. Does anybody in your novel fight for two hours straight in full plate armor, then ride a horse for four hours, then delicately make love to a willing barmaid all in the same day?

 The third link is a post from my hilarious friend, Evangeline Denmark, who waits along with many of us for that elusive publishing contract in her post Drama Much?

 

Anyway, I hope you have a great day, and a drier one than mine. How do you keep laughing while you're waiting?

Don't Miss Brenda Novak's Auction

Katie and Daniel, staying healthy despite diabetes.

If you haven't heard of Brenda Novak's annual Auction for the Cure of Diabetes, you don't want to miss it this year. To raise money for research into a cure, Novak stages an online auction every year. Novak's son has diabetes.

Part of my interest comes from my own personal connection. My son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was 17 months old (he's now 17). Six years later, my daughter was given the same diagnosis at age 11. Diabetes is a difficult disease to manage, and most of that management falls to the family.

The other great part about the auction, besides the benefit of aiding diabetes research is that Novak is an author. Many of the items up for bidding are of interest to writers and readers everywhere. Yes, you'll find jewelry and art, but you'll also discover books, ereaders, and best of all, opportunities to get your writing before agents and editors. Many bids start at only $2. The bidder who makes the most bids (regardless of whether they win anything) receives a brand new laptop.

Here are some items up for bid that caught my eye. Check out the auction site, where you can search for many others. The auction closes on May 31st, but there are some items that are only up for one day.

Enter a sweepstakes for a Kindle or Nook, plus a $250 gift card 

How about having coffee or tea with your favorite agent, editor, or author? Like Tea at the Plaza Hotel in NYC w/authors Eloisa James, Caridad Pineiro, & Ruth A. Casie (ends May 20th)

Choose to bid on one of 48 agent evaluations of your manuscript, from Donald Maass to Kristin Nelson to Holly Root. Kristin Nelson promises a 5-day turnaround and Skype phone call.


Similarly, choose from 50 editors willing to look at partial and full manuscripts. Find editors from Harlequin, Grand Central, Kensington, and more.


How about feedback from your favorite author? Browse through 72 authors willing to look at manuscripts from several chapters to fulls.


You'll also find bidding for conference fees and contests, and a list of 59 services like ebook and website design.

I recently bid (and won) an item at a writing conference auction, and I'll be deciding what to bid on in this one. What would entice you to bid in Novak's auction?

Free Resources from Author Jill Williamson

Once you get hooked on writing, it's funny how the world shrinks. The publishing arena is relatively small, and you're likely to bump into the same people on a regular basis.

Several years ago I despaired of finding an "in-person" critique group (now I'm a member of four!). I discovered a group of young adult writers online, and joined the group for a year. That's when I met Jill Williamson. She's an amazing critiquer, and I learned so much from her and the rest of the group. I was a total newbie, yet each of them were kind and helpful. And then she co-wrote a study guide with a friend from my small town. Small world indeed.

Back then, Jill was running two books through the group. I joined in on the very tail end of critiquing her book By Darkness Hid, which went on to receive a Christy Award, and is followed by two more books in the series. The other book is just now being released, and is titled Replication. It's waiting on my Kindle (it's a hardship to share my Kindle with my husband--he always grabs it first!).

I love Williamson's website. When I develop a 'real' one, I'll be using a few things I've learned from her site. But today, I'm highlighting a three-part series Williamson wrote on brainstorming new stories. Here are the posts:

Part One-Brainstorming a story before you write: coming up with a great premise.

Part Two-From premise to characters: developing your characters and their motivation.

Part Three-It's time to plot: the what and where of plot points.

Yesterday, we were discussing how to connect with readers in a personal way. Reading Williamson's blog, it's evident that she does this well by corresponding, using social media, and school visits. Want to add a few ideas of your own?

Interview with Author Jack Remick, Part Two: Timed Writing

Welcome to part two of my interview with author and writing teacher Jack Remick. Remick, along with author Robert J. Ray, run a fantastic writing blog that I've highlighted before (here). Don't miss Bob and Jack's Writing Blog. They offer seven free writing courses.

Jack has a brand new novel releasing this month, called The Deification. Readers interested in California's Central Valley during the 60's will discover the origin of the term 'beatniks', and much more with Remick's literary style. Check the bottom of the post for the book's blurb.

Yesterday Remick mentioned a technique called "timed writing". Today he shares what it is, how to do it, and why it might just make a huge difference in your writing.

Debbie: You use a process called "timed writing".  Can you give us an idea what that is, and how it helps you?

Jack: Timed writing is a gift from the gods. The process is simple—set a timer (I use a standard kitchen timer), put pen to paper and write until the timer dings. Timed writing in my world comes straight out of Natalie Goldberg’s brain. She calls it “writing practice.” I wrote in Taos with her a couple of times. My writing partner, Robert J. Ray introduced me to the process after he had written with Natalie three times. He was already an important mystery writer having created the Matt Murdock series, but he said he needed something else to get him to the next level. Wow. Already working in the stratosphere and he wants to go to the next level. Natalie told him, “Bob, make your writing a practice.” Through Bob’s writing practice I adapted the technique to poetry, novel, short story, memoir, screen play. Using writing practice, Bob and I together wrote The Weekend Novelist Writes A Mystery.

 I can’t say enough about timed writing as a discipline. The way I see it, writers have three problems—getting started, keeping going, finishing. Using timed writing, you train yourself to finish what you start—set your timer for five minutes, finish it. Set it for half an hour, finish it. Natalie Goldberg writes about the “marathon” by which she means write for five minutes, then ten, then fifteen, on up to an hour. When Bob and I first began working together, we developed the idea of a “90 Minute Short Story”. Using timed writing, we worked from opening to climax in 90 minutes. At one point we wanted to sell that process to Bantam Doubleday, but the editors there said no one was interested in a book about short stories, why didn’t we write one on mysteries. So our 90 Minute Story system turned into the process you can find in The Weekend Novelist Writes a Mystery.

Debbie: I love the marathon idea! How do you structure your timed writing to produce finished work?

Jack: Getting Started: Timed writing gets you going. Set the timer, write. Then we do another extraordinary thing—we read what we’ve just written aloud. If we’re working in a group, we go around the table, each person reads the piece. There’s a reason for this—get it out. Put it on the table. Speak it. Let someone else hear it and the fear of exposure disappears. Sure you’re nervous the first time but you get over it.

Keeping the juice flowing: One big addition that Bob Ray and I made to Natalie’s Writing Practice was the idea of structure. We saw that the writing marathon carried in it an inherent notion of structure. For example—what if you wanted to write a dramatic scene and you decided to devote a five minute writing to the stage set up, another five minute writing to character and description, a five minute writing for action and dialogue, a five minute writing developing  complication, five minutes to bring on the intruder and to resolve the problem and the last part, a three minute writing hooking the scene you just wrote to the next one. You’d have a structure that looks like this:

                  Setting

                  Character description

                  Action and Dialogue

                  Complication and problem,

                  Climax and Resolution

                  Hook

In twenty-eight minutes you have a complete dramatic scene. You’d know the time and place (setting); you’d have a couple of characters onstage working;  you’d know the action—what the characters do, and you’d have dialogue—what they talk about. Bring on a third character –the Intruder—to complicate the situation—the two on-stage characters have to determine the fate of the intruder; you’re one beat away from the climax and resolution.

You’ve used the timer and the timed writing to push out a complex but complete dramatic scene built on a number of parts. This is the idea of structure relating to time, and it is the key to the second problem—how to keep going.

Finishing what you start: At this point, you can see that you don’t have a problem finishing if you use the timed writing/structural technique on the front end.

Debbie: I can see that being really helpful for me. Okay, you have a way to get a scene written, but how do you use timed writing to put it all together into a book? Novel? Screen play?

Jack: We’ve developed a number of techniques for stringing scenes together into an organic piece. We use a technique called “writing about the writing” to develop a “through line” for the story. You can see some of this on Bob andJack’s Writing Blog where we work out points in the linear structure of a couple of novels. Then, we adopted a technique from screen writing that we call the “Cut-to” technique. This is a dynamic way to use writing practice to push your way through a story. Set your timer for half an hour. Go. Write “my story opens in a scene called Backlash. The objects in the scene are…” Cut to…well, here’s an example of the Cut to technique that I used when I was working out my new novel  Blood which is available on Amazon.com or directly from the publisher Coffeetown Press:

1. The story starts in a Laundromat on Third Avenue in a City that might be San Francisco, but it’s not important, where Mitch gets arrested when he steals a tubful of white women’s underwear.

2. Cut to: Mitch’s apartment. The objects are the underwear as varied as a Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogue, but all white. The action is the tossing of Mitch’s apartment by the police. The hook is to the courtroom scene.

3. Cut to: The courtroom where the Judge sentences Mitch to five years because, he says, every woman has a right to the privacy of her undies. Mitch doesn’t fight the sentence. The object is the handcuffs (opens the manacle plot track) on Mitch’s wrists as the guard hauls him away. The hook is to the prison cell.

4. Cut to: Mitch’s prison cell where he sees René Grosjean for the first time. The objects are René’s hair, his arms, and the metal objects in the cell—bunk, sink, head. The hook is to the measuring scene.

5. Cut to: Mitch recounting how he’s measured the cell. It is 15 by 9. The objects are the bunk, the head, the nail scratches and smears on the walls. The hook is to René’s possessing Mitch.

6. Cut to: The cell at night. René seduces Mitch who lets him because René is the first man who ever made Mitch feel little. The hook is to Mitch’s discovery of the Camus novel. Hook is to killing René.

As you can see this technique forces you to push through the reticence you have as a writer to commit to the unknown. Once you get over that, you can write a pretty thorough story line. Once you have the Cut-to sequence down, you have something resembling a “scene list.” Once the scene list is in place, you work it—always and always using the clock to guide your hand. Here is the first Cut-to of Blood developed into scene material:

It’s hot in the laundromat. Hot and moist as the inside of a woman’s mouth. Sitting on the hard-backed metal chair beside the door, I wait for the red-headed woman to return. The magazine, an old issue of Car and Driver lays open on my lap to an article on the Audi R8, a street version of the racing machine that re-wrote the history of auto racing at Le Mans making it the perfect vehicle of the upward bound young man with two hundred thousand dollars to burn on new wheels. But I’m not interested in the R8 or the Audi record book or anything to do with wheels. I am interested in the contents of the red-headed woman’s dryer. The huge dryer spins to a stop.

              I check the wall clock: 11:30 PM. Maybe she fell asleep at the TV. Maybe her lover called. Maybe they are having phone sex, their words burning up the cell towers. Maybe he paid her a surprise visit and their moans are scorching the walls of her apartment.

Notice that I’ve followed my own structure for a scene:

Setting-time, place, characters on stage, objects, character with a problem. As the scene develops there are intruders, an arrest, conflict, resolution…It’s all there, all growing out of timed writing working the parts to produce the novel. On our blog, Bob and Jack’s Writing Blog, we lay out all of this for writers to take as they will.

Debbie: Jack, thank you for being so generous with advice on the craft of writing. Definitely check out Bob and Jack's Writing Blog. Find out more about Jack Remick with these links:

The Deification
About the book:

 

To be a writer in America, you have to bleed. Eddie Iturbi, a young car-thief obsessed with the dark magic of Beat culture in a mythic San Francisco, sets off on a spaced-out crusade to connect with the Beat gods. En route Eddie links up with living legend Leo Franchetti, the last of the Beat poets. Leo sends Eddie to the Buzzard Cult where a mysterious mentor reveals the writers' ritual of blood and words. Changed and invigorated and back in the City, Eddie falls in love with a snake dancer at the Feathered Serpent. She can't save him from Scarred Wanda, jealous bad-girl of literature, whose goal is to destroy Eddie before Jack Kerouac relays all the magical secrets of the literary universe. Immortality is just a book away. Will Eddie live long enough to write it?

Jack's Books

Bob and Jack's Writing Blog

Writing Tip Tuesdays on Shark Radio Network
Blood, the Novel
The Weekend Novelist

Do you think timed writing might work for you? I'm definitely going to give it a try.
Check out Part One of the interview.

Become a Better Writer

I know that to become a better writer, I have to write. So that's what I'm going to do today. I'm deep in revisions and plotting, and I'm determined to spend as much time as I can getting them done.

But I don't want to leave you hanging. My daughter (a Creative Writing major) recently sent me this link to 25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer. It offers advice on motivation, routine, organization, discipline, and fear, among many others. All the quotes are short, so it's a great way to jumpstart your day!

Do you have days where you clear the calendar just to write? How do you manage it?

Free Resources from How to Write a Book Now

Whether you're just starting out, or have been in the writing game for a while, it's nice to find good writing instruction in one place. Happily, Glen Strathy has done just that. A fiction and non-fiction writer, trained in theater, Strathy compiles a huge amount of writing advice on his site, How to Write a Book Now.

I found Strathy's site while browsing around the internet, and I'm glad I did. Readers will find not only a blog full of helpful writing articles, but pages dedicated to topics like:

How to write a synopsis of your novel.

How to create a plot outline in 8 easy steps.

How long should a book be?

How to become a writer: where to start.

This is a site you'll want to bookmark and browse from time to time. It's like a handful of writing books all in one place. 

What are your most-visited writing sites?

I've been told that some readers are having trouble leaving comments. If it's a problem, please let me know via email, and I'll work on it (dallenco[at]gmail[dot]com). Thanks!

Three Fiction Powerhouses Answer Deep Writing Questions

They're called 'storymasters'. Agent and author Donald Maass, along with authors James Scott Bell and Chris Vogler. Together, these men comprise decades of experience as writers and writing teachers. 

Donald Maass is the author of The Fire in Fiction, Writing the Breakout Novel, Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, The Breakout Novelist, and The Career Novelist. 

James Scott Bell, besides numerous novels, has written Plot and Structure, Revision and Self-Editing, and Writing Fiction for All You're Worth.

Christopher Vogler is the author of The Writer's Journey,  Memo from the Story Department, and Myth and the Movies, among others.

These amazing instructors will teach a three and a half day workshop called Storymasters in Houston, Texas on Novemeber 3-6, 2011. To give you a taste of what they offer, they answer the following questions. Each of them have some fascinating answers.

Q: There are lots of dark protagonists around lately.  Is this a fashion or an archetype?  What makes them popular?  What makes them work?

Q: Is there really any such thing as plot, or is that just an easy label for something else? 

Q: In constructing character arcs, what’s the most important consideration?

Q: Beginner story mistakes are obvious, but even pros have weaknesses.  What’s their most frequent shortcoming?

Q: You three Story Masters each teach universal principles but also singular techniques.  What dimension of storytelling is most important to you?   

To find out what they say, go to the Writer's Digest article. And for a fun read, check out Bell's new novel, Pay Me in Flesh, about a female zombie lawyer. It'll make you laugh.

My favorite points: Bell's discussion of 'layers of character', Maass' explanation of how authors wimp out with their plot, and Vogler's explanation of why some professional writers overthink and overwrite. How about you?

Writing Groups: David Farland's Writer's Groups

It's funny how I come across resources some days. The other day I was perusing Deana Barnhart's blog. I love reading her "Firsts Fridays" interviews. She recently interviewed Robin Weeks, and in that interview I learned about David Farland.

David Farland is a bestselling science fiction and fantasy author, and a writing instructor, who counts authors like Stephanie Meyer (of Twilight fame) among his students. He founded a forum, David Farland's Writer's Groups, where writers could join together for feedback and encouragement.

Writers who join the group get to specify the type of group they'd like, depending on size, genre and sub-genre, the audience they write for, how frequently they'd like critique, experience, length of submissions, and content. This helps to fashion a group that specifically meets that writer's needs. Members can ask to join an existing group, or recruit for a new one. Beyond critique groups, there are many other topics: compare your first page to others, discuss writing software, daily writing prompts, and many more.

But that's not all. Connected to the forum is another website (not requiring a sign-in), called Farland's Author Advisory Conference Calls. On this site, once or twice a month, an author is interviewed via conference call. Readers can dial in and listen live, asking questions if they want. If you've missed a call, the highlights are posted on the site, along with a recording of the entire call. 

I spent a wonderful hour the other day, listening to an interview with author Aprilyyne Pike. I had some papers to organize, so I played the interview while I worked (interviews can also be downloaded to your computer for playing on an iPod). You might be interested in this particular interview, as Pike explained in detail how she learned to plot and outline her books from a master author. Highly recommended.

I can't wait to listen to more of the interviews. The right side of the site lists the upcoming interviews through December. Several of them are going on my calendar.

So thank you Deana Barnhart and Robin Weeks! It would have taken me a lot longer to find these sites without you!

Are you a member of an online writing group? If so, which one?

Free Ebook: 279 Days to Overnight Success

Some people achieve success. Some people achieve success and tell others how they did it. Chris Guillebeau is one of those.

Guillebeau is an entrepreneur, world traveler, and writer. His newest book is The Art of Non-Conformity: Set your own rules, live the life you want, and change the world. But Guillebeau also gives away two books on his website, along with dozens of articles on writing, entrepreneurship, and the traveling life. His website is listed on Writer's Digest Top 100 Websites for Writers.

279 Days to Overnight Success: An Unconventional Journey to Full-time Writing is a book for bloggers and writers seeking to expand their presence online using social media. From Guillebeau's site, here's what you'll learn:

* How he became a full-time writer in 279 days

* How to establish your brand

* Avoiding the 'vampires' who would like to see you fail.

* Whether to use web advertising or not

* How to become a problogger in 10 months

Basically, Guillebeau shares how writers can create an online community in less than a year, without resorting to paying for advertising. He shares what he did right, along with the mistakes he made.

If you're interested in Guillebeau's other book, check out A Brief Guide to World Domination. Tour around his site for many more articles on all kinds of topics.

How important is it for you to establish an online community?

"I'm a Failed Writer" Video Series

Thanks to the blog of Robin Lee Hatcher, I found a funny and encouraging video series by writer Yuvi Zalkow.

I'm a Failed Writer #1-Revisions

Episode 1: Revisions (I'm A Failed Writer Series) from Yuvi Zalkow on Vimeo.

I'm a Failed Writer #2-Time Management
Episode 2: Time Management (I'm A Failed Writer Series) from Yuvi Zalkow on Vimeo.



I'm a Failed Writer #3-Bucket Writing
Episode 3: Bucket Writing (I'm A Failed Writer Series) from Yuvi Zalkow on Vimeo.

I'm a Failed Writer #4-Failed Book Trailer
NOT IN MY LIFETIME Book Trailer from Yuvi Zalkow on Vimeo.


 Other Zalkow videos to check out:

I'm a Failed Writer #5-Writing in the Cold
 
Balancing Writing and Marketing

The Coolness of Scrivener

Desk Envy: Making a Creative Space

Writing a Novel When Busy

Serious Creative Writing With a Computer

What aspect of the writing life most brings on feelings of failure for you? The actual writing? Time management? Finding an agent or publisher? Marketing?

Free Resources from Wordserve Water Cooler

I've already blogged about the amazing blog from agent Rachelle Gardner. You'll miss a lot if you don't read her daily. Happily, there's an additional resource connected with her agency, Wordserve Literary. More than forty of Wordserve's clients have joined forces to create a group blog (or Glog), called the Wordserve Water Cooler. It's focused on building a community for writers, and sharing their knowledge of the publishing process.

The blog is only a week old, but already writers can find some great topics covered. Things like:

Tips for Landing an Agent- twenty-nine authors share their advice.

Preparing for an Interview- how to relax and have fun.

How to Find the Perfect Publisher- two things to do, and one thing to avoid.

Becoming a Nationally Syndicated Columnist- how it can help with book sales.

Up a Creek Without a Paddle- advice on the marketing game.

A Time for Every Purpose- Dealing with time management.

This is definitely a blog to put in your reader. What a wonderful way for these authors to give back. If you'd like to see who they are, check the list of contributors.

When you're published, how would you like to give back?

I Wanna Be a Writer: Free Novel-Writing Videos

Authors Traci Hall and Kathleen Pickering have teamed up to give new writers the tools they need to get started. Each video is only a few minutes long, and will give the 'big picture' steps for writing a book, starting with the idea, and going all the way to submission.

Visit the authors' websites at Traci Hall and Karen Pickering for more information on these helpful ladies.

 

 

 

 

What's the best tip on novel-writing you've received?

 

 

It's Your Turn: Share Your Best Post on Writing

It's been more than a month since I put up a post about your blogs (here and here, if you missed them). This week, I'd like to do something different. If you have a blog, scroll through your posts and pick one you'd like to share.

The topic can be anything related to writing: craft, finding time to write, querying, motivation--whatever might be helpful to the rest of us writers.

Post the link to your specific post in the Mr. Linky below. It's my first time using Mr. Linky, so I hope it works. If it doesn't just leave a comment with the post address.

I'll leave the linky up all week. Depending on the response, I'll select three posts to use as guest posts next week. I can't wait to read what you share!

Here's the linky:

The Ins and Outs of Internal Dialogue

There's what we do, and what we think about what we do. One is active and the other is passive. Someone can guess our intentions by our actions, but it's only if they were to read our mind, that they would really know our motivations, our insecurities, and our secrets.

I've been thinking a lot about internal dialogue, since my current novel has quite a bit of it. Granted, it's told in first person, but I've been wondering: How much is too much?

So I decided to see what other, more experienced writers had to say. Here is a sampling of what I found:

Author Gail Gaymer Martin shares eight significant reasons to use internal dialogue.

Author C. Patrick Schulze gives some do's and don'ts when using internal dialogue.

Novelist and writing teacher Marilynn Byerly explains how to format a character's inner thoughts.

At Writer's Digest: using inner dialogue to help reveal a character's backstory.

Sheri has a well thought out philosophy about internal dialogue.

And author Margot Finke gives a nice explanation, with some good examples.

Do you have your own ideas about how much to use internal dialogue? Or an article you've found that made a lot of sense? Leave a comment below.

Free Resources from Holly Lisle

I love authors who give back. I've got a whole list of them. Authors who've reached their goal of publication, and despite the crazy schedule of promoting their books while writing new ones, still pass on vital information through their blogs, free courses, ebooks and workshops.

Holly Lisle is one of these. Yes, she offers some courses for a fee, but this author gives away a staggering amount of informations. Lisle is a fantasy, science fiction, and suspense writer, but she is an excellent teacher of writing. No matter what your genre, you'll learn something from this hard-working author.

Newsletter. Holly's free newsletter is full of information on the craft of writing. And when you sign up, she'll send you a free ebook called 396 Books and Other Resources Writers Recommend to Kickstart Your Writing, Stand your Thinking On Its Head, and Vastly Increase Your Ability to Write What You Know. Despite the incredibly long title, the list of books (and why they are helpful) is a great resource that I've referred to often.

Articles and Ebooks. Holly offers a long list of articles for authors to read.

Assess Your Novel-Writing Progress With These Four Questions 

Create, Complicate, Resolve: The Keys to Keeping Your Readers Interested

4 Thinking Barriers That Keep You From Writing...And Succeeding 

4 Steps To Finding Your Novel's Market 

Life, Passion... Deadline 

Planning A Heart-Stopping Story 

Interweaving Your Novel's Themes And Subthemes 

Dig Deeper With Your Novel's Subthemes 

Playing Chicken With Your Story 

Burying Your Novel's Message 

How To Find Your Novel's Pulse 

Does Your Novel Have A Heartbeat? 

Besides the free ebook that comes with Holly's newsletter, she has another free one called Mugging the Muse: Writing Fiction for Love AND Money. The same page has links to a great writer's forum called Forward Motion. In case you're curious about her writing, Holly has posted two of her novels free online.

Workshops and Courses. Are you having a hard time with writing dialogue? Holly offers a free Dialogue Workshop to help you finetune what your characters are saying. For writers in the middle of plotting their novel, check out Holly's free Professional Plot Outline Mini-Course. Writing fantasy? Do your characters speak a different language? Don't miss Holly's free Create a Language Clinic.

What would you like to give away when you're an established author?

Free Resources from Josh Vogt at Write Strong

In my quest to find the best resources for writers, I'm so glad to have discovered Josh Vogt and his Write Strong site. And to make it more interesting, I've discovered that Josh's mom and I were critique group partners for a year. However, I "met" him through my posts about your blogs a few weeks ago.

Josh Vogt is a writer of speculative fiction. Recently agented, and with his first manuscript currently being sent out to editors, he's in the perfect place to share what he knows and what he's learning at the moment.

Vogt's website has a fantastic page called The Fiction Writer's Virtual Toolbox. It's filled with over 150 links collected on all kinds of topics on the craft of writing and the business of writing.

Wanting to post even more resources for writers, Vogt set up a website called Write Strong. It's well-worth a visit for articles like these:

Juggling Your Priorities as a Writer

Literary Agent Overview(Part 1)

Literary Agent- Are Agents Necessary? (Part 2)

Literary Agent- How to Seek Representation (Part 3)

Literary Agent- What Does Rejection Mean? (Part 4)

Literary Agent-Scams (Part 5)

Literary Agents-How to Find and Research Agents (Part 6)

Agent Secrets: Want to Land an Agent? Follow These Guidelines

DropBox: A Great Way to Keep Your Writing Files Synced

What are your go-to sites for writer's tools?