Writing Post Round Up - Week of May 19-25 2013

And I actually posted these on Saturday!  Hooray!

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/24/boundaries-and-burnout/

Burnout.  I have both been there, and done that (actually, I’m still kind of doing that).  Creative pursuits are hard work, yes, but when they’re just hard work, and no longer fun, it’s probably time to take a break.   I want to retain a sense of joy and passion in my creative process.  So here’s a post on the importance of maintaining a balance and suggestions for setting boundaries to help you maintain your best creative self.

http://flavorwire.com/391173/famous-authors-handwritten-outlines-for-great-works-of-literature/view-all

Here’s a really fun look at how some famous authors outline their work.

http://mythicscribes.com/miscellaneous/is-black-and-white-fantasy-dead

There is no doubt that the face of fantasy has changed since Tolkein.  It’s still changing.  And I do love that we have fiction with grey areas – characters who aren’t clear cut good or evil, choices that aren’t clearly right or wrong.  But sometimes, I do like a good old fashioned epic battle of good vs. evil.  What do you think?  Is black and white fantasy dead?

http://www.magicalwords.net/david-b-coe/on-creativity-narrative-fiction-and-life

This is just a really beautiful post on life and fiction, and how we tell stories.  Really thought provoking.

http://www.jimchines.com/2013/05/amazon-jumps-into-the-fanfic-business

An interesting announcement from Amazon – apparently they’re wading into the fanfic waters, as in publishing.  I haven’t read the actual announcement yet, but here are a few reactions from the writing community.  I found John Scalzi’s take on the situation, as well as the discussion in the comments, to be particularly interesting.  I don’t really know enough about any of this to form an opinion – I haven’t read or written fanfic in a long time – but it will be interesting to see how it unfolds.

                http://janefriedman.com/2013/05/23/writing-on-the-ether-91/#2

                http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/05/22/amazons-kindle-worlds-instant-thoughts/

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2013/04/info-dumps-lectures-aykb-and-other.html

Ah, the dreaded info dump.  Here are some things to avoid so as not to annoy (or bore) the heck out of your readers.

http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2013/05/big-writing-or-other-project-heres-how-to-build-momentum.html

Overcoming resistance to writing seems to be a major problem for me.  If it’s a problem for you, too, these suggestions might help.  I’m also kind of intrigued by this Massive Action Day thing.  I might have to get in on that.

http://timetowrite.blogs.com/weblog/2013/05/writing-sessions-get-off-to-a-great-start.html

In this post Jurgen expands  on his advice from the previous post to explain how to build (and keep) momentum for individual writing sessions.

http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/26/lets-talk-about-anxiety-the-creative-process/

I so appreciate blogs like this.  I struggle with a lot of anxiety about this whole writing thing (and other stuff, but that’s neither here nor there).  It’s really nice to know I’m not alone.

http://diymfa.com/community/publish-data

Here’s a little bit about the results of a new publishing survey that recently came out.  Pretty interesting stuff.

http://kriswrites.com/2013/05/22/the-business-rusch-word-of-mouth/

Kristine Katherine Rusch knows a lot of stuff about this crazy business of writing.  This post is long, but well worth reading. 

Well – that was an eclectic group of postings!  I do try for variety!  Hope you’re all having a great week.  Happy writing!

Note: this is a list of blog posts and articles on writing that I collect weekly.  Inclusion on this list does not necessarily mean it was published this week, just that I read it this week and thought it was cool, interesting, and/or useful.