Almost no one writes in a vacuum anymore. Very few of us can retreat to the manor house on a solitary island in the middle of nowhere to pen our masterpiece with Mozart, Morissette or Muddy Waters playing quietly in the background. Fortunately for those of us who live in a demanding, absorbing work-a-day and ‘connected’ world, we don’t have to. The internet, libraries, weekend workshops, and writer’s groups are chock full of authors, editors and publishers with expertise and a willingness to help the aspiring writer.
Here are only a few of the books, authors and links I have found helpful in my own writing. I hope they inform, aid or inspire your writing as they have mine.
Books
- Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg *** (Still one of the best!)
- Elements of Fiction Writing by James Scott Bell
- Writing Children’s Books for Dummies by Buccierie and Economy
- Elements of Fiction Writing, Beginnings, Middles and Ends by Nancy Kress
- Writing Fiction for Dummies, Ingermanson and Economy
- Writing Fiction: The Practical Guide by Gotham Writer’s Workshop
- Writing from the Inside Out by Dennis Palumbo
Some Links (for finding/discovering great Writer’s workshops/Critique groups in your area)
- http://writing.shawguides.com
- http://www.newpages.com/writing-conferences/
- http://www.writingclasses.com/index.php?gclid=CLS8yIGXlbICFWVgTAodQEwADA
- www.writingclasses.com/
- https://lighthousewriters.org/
- www.writer.org/
- http://critique-group.meetup.com/cities/us/or/portland
- http://www.ntsfw.com/
- www.dfwwritersworkshop.org/
Individual Genre organizations for writers: (this lists only a FEW of the hundreds of great writer’s groups and organizations available today). Do an internet search, talk to writers in your chosen genre. Somewhere out there is the perfect support group for you and your writing; in person, online, Skype, Facetime…somewhere out there…
- RWA (Romance Writers of America) http://www.rwa.org
- MWA (Mystery Writers of America)
- SinC (Sisters in Crime) http://www.sistersincrime.org/
- SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) http://sfwa.org/
- Children’s books (http:/write4kids.com/aboutchi.html)
- (http://www.scbwi.org/ The Society of Children’s book writers and illustrators) ****
- Non-fiction books: http://www.wga.org/
- http://www.writingclasses.com/index.php?gclid=CJ2I8q3nrrQCFSWoPAoddj4ATQ
Links (to formatting and marketing ebooks)
Smashwords.com offers excellent free downloadable guides on formatting, publishing and marketing e-books. They also are a distributor to major e-bookstores such as Barnes and Noble, Sony, iBooks, Kobo and others in correct EPub format.
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooksauthor/id490152466?ls=1&mt=12
iBooks and Barnes and Nobel also have their own formatting-for-ebooks solutions, so check them out!
Recommendations:
- Find, form or participate in a professional writer’s critique group. In person is best, or online if you have nothing available locally.
A good critique group is your best support. If you levitra to buy rx participate in constructive (not destructive) reading-and-critique of your’s and other’s writing, you begin to hone your perspective and improve your writing/descriptive/communication skills, and also broaden your understanding of the writing world.
Writers’ groups can help you learn “how to”:
- paint better pictures with your words
- better engage your audience with just the smallest amount of tweaking
- condense your writing to the ‘essentials’
Constructive critique can turn a wonderful rambling collection of beautifully crafted words into a coherent terrific story. Other writers can often see and are able to point out the one big glaring hole or omission that you, as the creator, cannot see because you are too close to it.
- Attend interactive writer’s workshops in your chosen genre.
- Join a support group of writers for great networking and marketing opportunities (I know, a repeat, but worth repeating)
- Enlist the aid of an experienced proof-reader and editor (in your genre!– Each genre has its own style and rhythm, word use and formatting)
- Obtain multiple critiques from people experienced in your genre BEFORE http://www.cialisgeneriquefr24.com/cialis-en-andorre/ submitting anything to be published. Take every critique as helpful and with a thank you, whether you choose to use the advice or not. Also, write the critique down, let it gel a while, try it on a separate paragraph, let it gel some more, then come back to it. Sometimes ‘time’ helps us see that hey, they were right! (and also takes some of the sting out of having your ‘perfect’ work critiqued or dismantled.)
- And most important, don’t forget to HAVE FUN! Your readers can tell if you enjoy writing, by the quality of the tale, the characters and the environment. Even if your subject matter is serious, it should bring satisfaction in putting just the right words together to convey your message, and it should bring joy that you have done the very best you can do. No matter if it isn’t Pulitzer, Hugo, RITA, Poe or Nobel quality. If you’ve done your best and it pleases you, that is enough…until the next time. Best wishes! Cooper Hill
