Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Writing Post Round Up - Week of Apr 7-13, 2013



This post should have gone up on Saturday, but it didn’t.  So I give it to you now.  Enjoy!

                This is long, but good.  It’s kind of about platform, and all those things you “should” do as a professional author, but it’s more about choosing the things that will help you be a happy and productive writer.

                This one actually kind of goes along with the first link.  I love the internet.  I love reading blogs about writing, and hanging out in writers forums, and the fact that I can find almost anything with a Google search.  I enjoy following my favorite authors on Facebook (and also my friends, of course!).  But sometimes, information overload kicks in, and my head is all spinning around and I can’t think straight.  It’s exhausting.  I have to unplug for a while.  In fact, that’s probably the major cause of this post not going up on Saturday – I just DID NOT want to turn on my computer.  So yeah, this.

                First of all, the title of this post just kind of cracks me up – and makes me want to go out and write a story that begins with the line “He put his banjo down…”  But it’s also an entertaining look at several common “beginning” pitfalls.

                And on the other side of the “unplugged” fence, here’s one author’s take on why writers should blog.

                I’m always interested in the process of other writers.  Here’s a nice look at what one author does after coming to the end of a big deadline.  I think I’d like to adopt something similar (I’ve not had a professional writing deadline yet, but I sure wish I’d had some kind of routine like this to get me through the aftermath of my last finals week of grad school!).

                A great set of questions to ask yourself as you’re diving into revisions.

                Here is good post to help you figure out whether your latest idea has a plot or just a premise.  I love Janice’s posts, because she always has such clear examples.  The actual post begins with the green text, after the author intro and a list of other posts in the series you may wish to check out. 

                Sara Megibow of the Nelson Literary Agency details a new idea for agent pitch sessions.  I’ve never actually been to a pitch session, so I have no basis of comparison, but it sounds good to me!

                My current WIP is kind of a mystery, although I’m not sure it fits into the traditional mystery mold.  I’m hoping this post will help me get a better handle on things.

                Okay, I’m sensing a theme.  This post comes at it from a slightly different angle – new writers being overwhelmed by the details of publishing and platform before they’ve even completed a manuscript (ahem, that would be me) – but to me it’s really making the point that writing is the most important thing we do. 

                Of course, in the midst of all the plotting, character development, platform, publishing, etc. frenzy, we still have to get the nuts and bolts right.  So here is a back to basics guide to some common mistakes (most of which I’m pretty sure I make on a regular basis – in the rough draft of course! J)

                Series, series, series.  Publishers like them, readers like them, authors like them.  So how do you know when to start or stop one?  Here’s one author’s tips.

                And to wrap of this collection of links, a question.  What if the things that are getting in the way of your writing could actually help strengthen it?

That’s all folks.  Tune in next week same bat time, same bat channel (well, same bat channel anyway) for more collected links.  Happy writing!

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