Writing Links!

It’s time for some links to great articles on writing again…

It’s time to start a new story. (It is NaNoWriMo month after all.) But how to begin it? Hmmm… You want your opening to pop. You want something for the reader to sink their teeth into. Should the MC be on the first page? Start with Dialogue? When does this story start anyway? Is that where you should start? Darn, if only there were some examples! To help you through the mess we call the first page, agent Lucienne Diver gives you the goods (and some examples).

You are clicking those keys along, writing like the wind, and then one day… nothing. There seems to be a brick wall in front of you. Some call it <gasp> writer’s block. No matter which way you move, it doesn’t. Need some ideas on how to get past it? Try Women on Writing’s tips.

I can’t write, my cat ate my pen.

After many arduous hours you declare it finished! You finished your book and you are ready to query it. But hang on a second, what the heck genre is it? Is it a mystery? Thriller? High Fantasy? Commercial Fiction? Agent Jennifer Laughran presents the genre glossary.

Now that you have the genre pinned down, what makes for a good ‘hook’ in a query letter? Again, another lovely face in the biz comes to the rescue! Jane Friedman gives you the basics on what that hook should include.

You’ve sent out your query and crossed your fingers. And it worked! You got a request from an agent! They want to see more. You decide you’d better take one quick look through your manuscript and make sure there aren’t any glaring typos, etc. But how long do you have before the agent says, “Aw. Forget it. They won’t send it. I take back my offer.” Agent Mary at her wonderful Kidlit blog weighs in.

It’s been sent. Your manuscript has been sitting on an agent’s desk for what feels forever, waiting to be read. It’s been hours, days, weeks, even months. Do you give the agent a friendly email nudge to make sure they haven’t forgotten about you? Here’s the scoop on when to nudge from QueryTracker.

Okay, so you’ve beat the odds. You snagged an agent (landing you in the top 1%) and now you have a book deal! (About 50% of represented writers land a book deal on their first book.) But how many copies do you need to sell to stay in the game and not be considered a complete flop? There’s no easy answer, but Bubble Cow gives you a scoop or two of chocolate fudge to keep you going.

And because you are so wiped out from this all, you need a little break. Maybe a laugh. Maybe a gasp or two. And so I present to you, ads from the past.

Tab Purge

I have been totally falling down on my monthly Good Links posts. For some reason the end of the month comes, I think about it, procrastinate, the new month begins, I feel guilty, I get over it. I carry on.

Well, my tabs in Firefox are full of good stuff once again that I would like to share. So, without any formality… here goes.

FICTION: if you hang out on AgentQuery Connect you may have gotten to know Chopsaw, aka, James Kidd. Well, he’s got a great little short story called ‘Holes in the Walls‘ up at Every Day Fiction. It’s worth checking out.

YOUR FICTION: Speaking of fiction, maybe you have some of your own and are wondering whether it is flabby or fit. Well, wonder no longer! You can paste some of your writing into this analyzer and see whether it thinks you use too many adverbs, be words, or commits other writerly sins. The Writer’s Diet Waistline Test.

PUBLISH YOUR FICTION: Moonrat (a recovering editorial assistant) gives the goods on publishing houses whether big, small, or self.

PUBLICIZE YOUR FICTION: John Betcher discusses a few ideas on how to create a buzz around your book at the local level.

MARKET THAT FICTION: TK Richardson begins her marketing tips this week. If you don’t know where to start, take note!

**I recommend keeping a file with good marketing/publicizing tips and advice on your computer. As you come across helpful stuff, pop it in the file and it will all be there when you need it. Saves time!

Now I can close a few tabs–and I didn’t even bombard you with links like usual! Probably because Firefox and I keep fighting about saving my tabs when I shut down which means I forget all about those goodies I wanted to share!

Enjoy!

Good Links: June ’10 Edition

I’ve been neglecting my monthly tradition of posting good links that I’ve come across for several months now. Which means I have a mitt full. To be kind, I will only post a few.

Here goes:

Writer Advice and Other Interesting Writerly Stuff:

Word Counts at Renaissance Learning. Have you been wondering what the word count is on Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business (6603), The Princess Diaries (58,954), Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (169,441), or Pride and Prejudice (121,342)? This great little online store is searchable by title and will tell you the reading level, interest level, and word count of each title. It doesn’t have many adult titles, but it is a great resource for those writing for kids or teens and would like to see word counts for comparison purposes.

Terrible Minds…not so terrible advice on how to get writing down on the page. (If you are offended by f-bombs, etc, this site might not be for you.)

The First Page of your manuscript. A nice little smack upside the noggin by Editorial Ass in case you were deluding yourself that your first page doesn’t truly matter. You have a few pages to get the story right, right? Er… you’d better read this one.

Writerisms and Other Sins. A few things to avoid in your writing by C.J. Cherryh. Some essential tricks and tips that will instantly improve your writing.

Laura Miller weighs on a five things writers need to keep in mind when writing. (What do you mean? Atmosphere/Setting isn’t as important as the story? I’m kidding, but it is a good thing to keep in mind as well as her other tips.)

How do you name that character? Advice from writers on picking that perfect name.

Queries:

Rachelle Gardner offers a few query mistakes that may make you look amateur.

Slush Pile Hell. It’s funny because lines from my worst query hasn’t been included.

Research and Conferences:

60 Awesome Search Engines For Serious Writers: A list of links to publishers, encyclopedias, online communities, and more. A place to go to start your search. (If you visit this link, scroll down to the list. It’s pub date is June 20th.)

Some people I ‘know’ on the internet are creating a wonderful (free?!!!) online conference (Write On Con) for kidlit writers. It sounds like it’s going to be great.

Fun Stuff:

Window Farms: If you are a city dweller bemoaning the fact that you can’t grow your own garden, moan no more. These smart little indoor farms are an earth-friendly solution to your gardening woes. (Those not in a city can build them too, of course.)

How to Make Your Stuff Last Longer from Life Hacker. Because I am the queen of stretching every last bit of life out of my belongings, I pass this on to you. (I have a new Mac waiting for me to use it, but I am still using my PC. Why? Not because I have 32 tabs open in Firefox and can’t be bothered to get them over to my Mac, or because I have literally over 3000 messages in my inbox (807 unread) and don’t want to sift through them or forward them. Okay, yes, that might actually be a large reason seeing as my PC had issues starting up (again) this morning, but I swear, there is still a bit of life left in it! I can keep using it, right? Right? You know, on second thought I’d better finalize switching over before I lose everything…. (again)

Have a great July!

Good Links, February Edition

Okay, okay, so we’re a week into March and this is a little delayed… big deal. I sort of deleted my listing of good links from February in a fit of ‘housekeeping’ and had to restore them from my Mozy backup–something I put off for a week or two thinking it would be difficult. It was actually surprisingly simple. I mean, uh, it was so difficult, it took me weeks of hacking code and recalling passwords, and digging through piles of aged files and… stuff. It did NOT involve two clicks and then voila, it was right back where I had deleted it from. Definitely not.

Um, so, yeah. The links. Here’s what I’ve got for you:

Marketing Yourself

Online Platform: Kidlit posting on some most excellent dos and don’ts in creating an online platform.

Copyblogger’s post on blogging and platform: Why people think you suck. I mean, why nobody reads your blog. I mean, dammit, just be bold and shake things up a little!

Literary agent Elana Roth’s post on how to market yourself. Brand, audience and trust. Everyone sing with me now, “Express yourself, hey, hey, hey, hey!”

Alan Rinzler shares good hooks that brought the publishing world to a writer’s door.

TK Richardson’s multi-post discussion on how to create a book trailer. Aspects of making a trailer and things to consider. The visual aspect (colour, images, and more). Where to get images. More on visuals and choices you make.

Technical Writing Stuff

Problems with spelling? The Oatmeal will help these common misspellings stick to your ribs with goofy comics and jokes to help you remember.

Craft, story, voice. And the difference is? And if you have one, but not the other? And how do you know? And what do you do to improve one? And crap, I think my brain just got tied up in a knot. Fear not, literary agent Rachelle Gardner explains it all.

Funnies

And because laughter is the best medicine, here are some writer jokes.

And that’s about it! Enjoy! Spring is on the horizon, the days are getting longer, the urge to stuff oneself with everything in the cupboard in order to make it through the long winter are subsiding. Take care, and have fun!

Good Links: January Edition/New Blogs Edition

Hi. Well, there goes January, eh? Spring is on the horizon, groundhogs rearing their funny shaped heads, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, whatever. Pull me out of my cave when the sun starts shining again.

As it turns out, I didn’t end up with a ton of good links for January. However, a nice handful of AQers (Agent Query members–writers) started blogs in January (or a month or two previous to that), so instead of sharing writing links this month, I will honour these brand new bloggers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kid’s Book Junky by Charlie Eve. This kids book review and news blog is not yet one month old, but will quickly become a resource for kid lit writers seeking industry news, as well as mothers seeking a good book for their youngsters.

Layinda’s Blog. This is another developing blog that is under a month old. Layinda discusses writing, contests and everything writing.

The Forever Blog by Shawna. Inspiration, motivation, technical aspects of writing and much more.

Random Thoughts to String Together by Lisa Gibson. The name expresses it all as writer Lisa pulls random writerly thoughts together as blog fodder.

Writer/lawyer Pete Morin’s blog. The man shares what is on his mind. Burst pipes, writing and the law, short stories, and more.

RS Mellette’s Dances with Blogs. A handy blog for filmmakers (and that includes screenwriters) who are wondering what recently submitted trends might be as well as more information on the Dances With Films Festival.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There you have it. Six young blogs worth checking out. As well, you will find more great writing blogs on my blogroll to the right.

Thank you everyone!

Good Links: December Edition

Was Santa Claus good to you this year? He was very good to me. I must have been a very good girl. Okay, this is sounding a bit off to me.

<clears throat>

Moving on… I haven’t spent as much time on the Internet this month as I have in the past, but I still managed to find some great writing sites and links to pass on for December.

Writing:

Details make the character. Good details make a character memorable and bad details that don’t fit… well, yikes! Read the full article over on Behler Blog.

From Roz Morris’ Nail Your Novel blog the post on making the reader care about the message from December 9th is quite good. It has great tips on how to make the reader care about the message your scene is trying to convey.

Are you blocked? Stumped? Frozen with indecision? Don’t know what to write next? Mind blank? Try Women On Writing’s Beating Writer’s Block tips.

Querying:

Ulysses shares a most excellent query critique from The Rejectionist.

J. Martin weighs in on how to write a perfect(ly dreadful) query. Funny. You’ll actually find yourself picking up some good how-not-to tips.

Networking:

7 Ways to Create a Professional Twitter Presence. Good tips for the beginner. I’m not down with posting your phone number though. Unless, of course, your Twitter account is for a separate business. (What I’m saying: Don’t post your home number, but do post a business number if appropriate.)

Tips on how not to commit social networking suicide from PR guru Sasha Muradali. This should be a must-read for anyone thinking about using online social networking.

Fun:

Liana Brooks reposted my quiz on whether you are a book slut. As it turns out, I am also a plot whore as per Liana’s quiz. Cool beans. Are you?

Ten Gifts to Give a Writer by Margaret Atwood as well as commenters suggestions as well. Who knew she had a blog? It’s for her new book. Cool.

Good Links: November Edition

Well, so much for November. I was so peeved at November ending because I wasn’t over the 50K hump for my NaNoWriMo novel, I totally forgot to put up my favourite November links. Or maybe it was spending all that time under brain-numbing fluorescent lights (as I finished up almost all of my Christmas shopping) that has caused this small oversight.

Without further ado, here are some good writerly things found on the Internet.

Writing:

NaNoWriMo
Of course, there was NaNoWriMo where crazy writers such as myself tried to juggle the real world all while writing 50,000 words during the month of November. Did you participate? Did you finish? Already planning for next year?

Handling Feedback
Got feedback? (On your writing, that is.) Agent Nathan Bransford dishes advice on how to handle feedback from your critique partner, agent or editor. Good advice. In fact, it makes make good life advice too.

Multiple Points of View
Do multiple point of views have you muddled? If so, Vicki Hinze has an article that provides lots of great advice when it comes to writing character point of views.

Firsts
This blog post became a discussion over on AQ, in an AQ chat, as well as a post on my blog. Whew! That’s a lot of action. What was Aprilynne Pike’s post about? It’s about desperation (in writers, not daters) and firsts: first agent, first contracts, first books, etc.

Reasons for Chapter Rejection
Wondering why you’re first chapter isn’t making the grade and keeps getting rejected? Check out Chuck’s blog with guest blogger Livia Blackburne who provides 7 reasons why you might be getting rejected.

Word Counts
Editorial Ass discusses word counts and what the cap might be for a debut novel. Want more specific info on the genres and their ballpark word count lengths? (Use Word to generate your word count, by the way–this is the new standard.) Check out Lee Masterson’s article on word counts.

Publicity:

Interviews
An exclusive interview was granted to me by future YA fantasy writing sensation, TK Richardson. Coincidentally, on the same day she posted an exclusive interview with moi. Remember, you heard it hear first.

Blogs
50 ways to take your blog to the next level by Chris Brogan. Layout, content, promotion and much more.

Attitude:

Stay Positive
With the skies turning grey, the weather chilling, the rejects piling up, and the publishing industry tanking, agent Rachelle Gardner reminds us to stay positive. Don’t allow yourself to turn to negativity and allow bitterness to overrun you–it won’t get you what you want. Like Nathan’s post on feedback (mentioned above) this also works as life advice.

Rejection
Need a little pick-me-up in your querying blues? Check out this post which shares quotes and stats from published authors on rejection. Personally, some of them are not inspiring, but I must say Ray Bradbury is pretty amazing.

Because it can’t be all business, all the time:

Rejection Contest
The best, worst form rejection letter contest. And, of course, the winners.

Character Apology
Have you ever done something to your character that you felt pretty bad about? You know, like killing off the love of their life or say, having them arrested three times while they are trying to do good deeds? Maybe you should take a page out of Abby Librarian’s book and write your character an apology letter.

Where Will You Be?
Although NaNoWriMo is over and you may not need the same number of distractions as you did last month, here’s a fun game I dreamed up while visiting my favourite bookstore: Where will you be? Take a look at the shelves in your local bookstore. Where will you be shelved? Me? I’ll between Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient) and George Orwell (1984). Sweet company! Wondering where you’ll be and can’t wait to visit the bookstore? Wikipedia has author lists.

Banned Books
Totally cool. This kid rocks. I love what she is doing with an extra locker–building readers. Check it out.

Strange Signs
And lastly, Oddly Specific. Need I say more? Well, yes. These signs are hilarious.

Good Links: October Edition

Happy Halloween everyone! It’s that time again. No, not trick-or-treating. Good links time!

Here are a few good posts, articles, etc I came across this month. I hope they help you out.

Writing Tips:

Tighten up that manscript, folks. Here are some words to be on the lookout for, courtesy Rachelle Gardener.

I love the name of this blog: Writinghood. What’s more to love, how about writing tips on creating curisoity, empathy and anticipation.

Another cool blog name: Men with Pens. Har, har. Anyhoo. They help you think about story theme and its importance.

What the heck is narrative anyway?

Character names, they aren’t just for newborns anymore. 15 tips on how to select a good one.

Career:

Hey, woman, get a job. A freelance job. Check out WOW’s (Women on Writing) job board.

Be realistic! Yes, you want to write, you want to publish, you want film deals. You want to read this and get your cart in order.

Take your heart pills before reading this one. All about the money. Well, and also about rights and royalties for ebooks, traditional publishing, self publishing and basically some numbers that will make you want to put your head in your hands and cry like a little baby. Or, come up with a game plan to make you millions. One or the other.

Thinking of making an author website? Be sure to check out this one. There is a great list of things any great author website should have.

Fun:

Challenging road signs. It is said a good, challenging road sign makes better drivers of us all because we have to actually think about them. Come on folks, think and drive.

And finally, because most writers have a cat, I thought I had better share this with you. Please, take care and read carefully.