Good Links, April Edition

Oops! I missed posting these at the end of April. However, they are still good links, so up they go.

On Writing:

Best Ever Article in Terms of Improving Your Writing: The Ten Mistakes over on Holt Uncensored. If you are a writer, read the article, then go look at your manuscript and edit. Seriously. Almost everyone is going to find something they can improve.

Agent and author Donald Maass talks about originality over on Writer Unboxed. He finds “many manuscripts go wrong… [if they] …do not go far enough in mining the author’s experience for what is distinctive and personal.” As well, if you (the writer) “ignore yourself…your story will be weak.”

Romance Writers of America (RWA) online classes. Everything from classes on writing the synopsis, to making a book commercial, to writing queries, to making a kick butt heroine, to how a forensic lab operates…. The list is endless and the classes are affordable (most expensive one I’ve seen so far has been $30 US). You don’t have to be a member and you don’t have to be a romance writer. You also don’t have to leave your house–all class lectures and assignments come to your email inbox.

Come In Character Blog: Come as one of your characters. Regular blog posts include prompts to get you thinking about who your character really is. (Or maybe even yourself.)

Autocrit has a free trial of their wizard. Pop in a few paragraphs from your manuscript and it will spit out info on the length variation of your sentences, overused words, repeated phrases and more. (You get EVEN more with a subscription.) It’s a great way to mix up your writing as well as pinpoint where you might be echoing yourself.

Along the same lines is Topicalizer which is quite the little analyzer as well. This puppy checks a section of pasted text for most used words, phrases, etc. Similar to Autocrit but also includes readability level of the pasted text.

Business Side:

Editors, Agents and Blog, Oh My! A blog with interviews with agents and editors. A great place to learn more about those folks in the world of books as well as the world of publishing.

Penguin Authors Guide to Online Marketing. This is a big ol’ 64 page PDF with piles of tips on how to get noticed online.

For fun:

Author Diana Peterfreund takes on the character of Prince Charming (who is flat and without personality) in this amusing guest blog feature over on the Knight Agency blog.

Enjoy!

Focus, Focus…Theme!

When I wrote one of my stories, I didn’t know what the theme was while I wrote it. Or rewrote it. Or rewrote it again. It lacked focus and it was incredibly frustrating writing my query letter. What the heck was my story about anyway? I had all these great events, but where did they go and why were they there? What was I trying to illustrate? How come I could get it all to pull together?At some point I kind of figured out my theme, but then I had more rewriting to do to make sure I illustrated it. It was a loooong haul. And I had the wrong theme. Yeah, I know. The things we learn on the journey to writing a cohesive story, right?

And then, bang. I got it. I had been looking at each scene in a new way and how they related to each other and suddenly I knew what my theme was. Everything instantly became clearer. I could focus. I could see where things were flawed, not holding up their part of the bargain, where they were right on. And was my query letter ever easier to write after that!

So, if you are looking for a way to focus a manuscript you are editing, or working on a new story, don’t underestimate the power of knowing your theme to pull everything into focus.

The First Five Pages: Style

Style is something I’ve never given much thought to. Most of the clothes I purchase because they are affordable, comfortable and hopefully at least mildly flattering. As for home decor, well, it is surprising how well all our given-to-us furniture goes together. Add a few pieces from Ikea’s As Is section, and we have a home!

Oh right, writing. Yep, haven’t consciously thought about style there either. Okay, well, maybe. But not as ‘style’. More like the feel or tone or my voice or the main character’s voice and how that all fits and flows to make the story compelling.

I was reading an article last night about mood. Hadn’t really thought about that too much either. Not consciously at least. Wow. Talk about hard.

Ever tried to consciously define style or mood? Ugh. Not so easy. Ever looked at your own work and tried to definitively put your finger on the exact mood or style of the piece? chapter? paragraph? sentence? word?

Kill me now. For me, it feels as daunting and impossible as trying to pull one particle of water out of a moving river. (Hey, look at me using comparison!)