5 Unexpectedly Valuable Books for Writers. Writers are expected to read a certain type of books. Beyond reading within their own genres, there are writing guides that seemingly every writer has read and raved about. (Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott is amazing, but I’ve read it a few times!) There are so many other wonderful, thoughtful books for writers available to us, though. There is so much more to discover! I thought I would share some of the books that have been helpful to me on my journey as a writer. Respect for Acting by Uta Hagen I first read this book in one of my college acting classes (theatre major, y’all.) The Reason I Jump By Naoki Higashida, translated by K.A. In writing fiction, you must put aside yourself to step into the heart of another.
With great tenderness, Higashida shares his observations of his world, and how it works for him. The Writer’s Tale: the Final Chapter by Russell T. Yes, “writer” is in the title, but this is not exactly a book for writers. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. Writers Tips #94: 9 Writing Tips From James Frey. All Posts. How to Write. Limyaael Rants Archive - Curiosity Quills Press. The Very Best Articles on Writing in 2014. Practice means what it says: writing is something to be done over and over, something that improves through the repetitive doing but that needs not be done perfectly.
~Julia Cameron It’s that time again, it’s the end of the year roundup! (Oh, my bad, this is the very first ever end of the year roundup from Positive Writer. Enjoy!) I wanted to do something a little different with this roundup: Instead of me choosing my favorite articles of 2014, I thought it would be cooler, funner, and, well, overall just plain better to have you, the readers, choose the best articles of the year. The way I’ve done that is by selecting the posts with the most “shares,” which was easy to do by analyzing the ‘sharethis’ plug-in stats. Before we get to the articles I want to say thank you for reading Positive Writer and thank you for making my first book on writing, “Writer’s Doubt,” #1 on Amazon during the week when I did the review promotion.
Thank you. Runners up: Happy New Year! The Write Practice. Main/Tropes. Writing Articles. Helping Writers Become Authors - Write your best story. Change your life. Astound the world. Creative Writing Courses and Ideas: An Online Resource for Writers. Literary Devices | Literary Terms. How to Recover Your Writing Confidence (Even if You Think You Never Had Any) (Image from Flickr by hans s) No writer I know ever feels totally confident about their writing. A lack of confidence is absolutely normal (or at least, as normal as writers get…) In fact, a little bit of self-doubt can be a very positive thing.
It encourages you to: Revise and edit your work thoroughlySeek a second option before publishing your writingContinue learning and practicing as you develop your craft However … a real lack of confidence can be a huge stumbling-block for would-be writers. If you find yourself constantly revising and tweaking, or if you cringe every time you show a piece of writing to a friend or publish a blog post, or if you work always sounds stilted and guarded … then this post is for you. When You Were Young… I titled this post how to recover your writing confidence. You might have felt pretty unconvinced by that – perhaps you’re sure that you never had any confidence at all.
Perhaps it was when you were very small. Perhaps you were in primary school. Here’s how: Daily Writing Tips. WRITERS' SERVICES. Links checked/Page updated: 1/22/13 Over the past decade or so, there’s been an extraordinary rise in the number of people writing and trying to publish books. This huge increase in the number of aspiring authors has fueled an equally robust proliferation of schemes and scams aimed at writers–and has also spawned a variety of services supposedly designed to assist them.
While some of these services are genuinely intended to help, many are no more than efforts to cash in on a trend (particularly the post-publication services, most of which are explicitly aimed at writers who are self- or micropress-published). They aren’t necessarily scams, but most will not help you very much. Pre-Publication Services Copyright Registration and Timestamp Services Many new writers think it’s necessary to register copyright for their unpublished work. More important, the timestamp services are not official. Copyright registration services and timestamp services are not worth paying for.
Top of page. The Online Slang Dictionary | Real definitions for real slang words. Calls For Submissions. ELJ PUBLICATIONS. A writer’s manuscript is ultimately their heart. It should be treated with respect, and the author should have some control over the process. It’s their book. It’s their words. Every page should be treated with respect, held high, preserved for each and everyone that picks it up. Please join ELJ Publications, where writers are never just a manuscript. MINERVA RISING. NANO FICTION is currently accepting previously unpublished works of fiction 300 words or fewer for publication in our upcoming spring and fall issues. SHORT MEMOIRS WANTED: Creative Nonfiction is seeking new work for an upcoming issue dedicated to memoir. STONE VOICES is a truly beautiful journal focused on the connection between Art and Spirit, Art and Mindfulness, Art and Inner Being.
VINE LEAVES LITERARY JOURNAL Issue #11 vignette submissions are open April 1 - May 31. WRITINGCAREER.COM. 4 Tips on the Publishing Experience. Readers: I’ve been around the publishing world. I’ve edited a couple dozen published or soon-to-be published books. And because I spent most of my career at a small press, I know the publishing process, from conception through editing through publication through marketing. So when it came time to launch my own book, The Listeners, I had a pretty good working knowledge of what had to be done, certainly more so than most first-time authors. But just as being an editor has informed the publishing experience, so is the publishing experience informing my role as editor, and I wanted to take a little bit of time to share with you what I knew, what I’ve learned, and what I will continue to learn.
Guest post by Harrison Demchick, an editor with more than eight years of experience in the publishing industry. Tip #1: Stick With It The Listeners was published on December 17, 2012. Finally, I adapted it into a novel. So: Stick with it. Tip #2: Be Prepared Tip #3: Get Help! I am crappy at marketing. Learn How to Publish a Book: FREE Download from Writer's Digest. 1. Write the best manuscript that you possibly can.
Don’t just come up with a great idea—spend time executing that idea by writing, editing, rewriting, editing and rewriting again. Find a group to workshop your novel with, whether it be in person or online. Book publishing starts with a great manuscript. 2. Whether you’re pitching to an agent or directly to a publisher, you can’t just write “publish my book because it’s awesome.” 3. Nearly all writers get rejected. 4. Get on Twitter and Facebook and Pinterest. 5. In this age of the Internet, it feels like everything flows at lightening speed. 6. After you submit your query letter out to agents and editors doesn’t mean you have to stop learning. 7.
While you are waiting for that phone call from a book publishing company saying, “We want to publish your book!” Researching Literary Agents. There are hundreds of reasons an agent will pass on your pitch—doesn’t connect with your story, not currently looking for clients, reps thrillers and you submitted a romance, is a Red Sox fan and refuses to rep a Yankees fan, etc. Your goal is to find agents most suited toward your writing to minimize the reasons they will pass.
When I was ready to pitch OH BOY, YOU’RE HAVING A GIRL to agents, I didn’t have time to waste. A publisher had approached me about taking the writing style of my blog and turning it into a book. Within weeks I had an offer (which was amazing!) , but still, I needed help understanding and negotiating my rights. I spent hours researching agents using Writer’s Market and the Guide to Literary Agents and doing follow-up legwork on the Internet. 1.
Some agents are always accepting new clients. 2. If you ask an agent what’s the number one reason he or she rejects a query letter, most will say the same thing: The author pitched a genre that I don’t represent. 3. 4. The Review Review Story. In the spring of 2008, I stopped submitting to literary magazines. As a fiction writer, trying to get my work published felt as futile and inconsequential as trying to write my name on a snowflake. I spent so much time sending work out and buying envelopes, printer ink, stamps, and paper only to receive one after another rejection letter, sometimes not even written on a full piece of paper but cut from the bottom third, as if rejection of my work were not even worth wasting a full page.
Of course getting published is not easy and if it were, the rewards would not feel so valuable and hard-won. And I know that public recognition can take months, years, if not a lifetime or more. However, I also felt that there was something unsettling about this entire process. I was not reading any literary magazines. Not only did I not subscribe to any, I hardly cared what was in them.
Worse, I was not the only writer like this. At first, this discovery was comforting. Becky Tuch Founding Editor. And the Wind Cried Lit Mag! Greetings Lit Magshrooms, Famous actors aren't the only ones who get scammed by Ponzi schemes. This week we were shocked and saddened to learn of IMAGE Magazine's terrible misfortune. A third-party payment fiasco has left the journal $65,000 in the hole.
Editor Gregory Wolfe recounts, "When we signed up with an online event registration company...we made ourselves vulnerable to them. We had no idea they would stop paying us...and that...we would be owed $65,000. " In part two of this article, Stuart Scadron-Wattles reports, "Everything went well—for about three months. Then the checks they sent us started to be returned by our bank, for insufficient funds...By this point, they were holding some $65,000 of our money, which they were promising to repay.
" On the subject of shady shenanigans, we've long held the opinion that every mob organization needs its own literary magazine. On a tamer note, Newtown Literary Journal is to start offering writing workshops to Queens writers. Fondly, Becky. Max Barry | Fifteen Ways to Write a Novel. Every year I get asked what I think about NaNoWriMo, and I don’t know how to answer, because I don’t want to say, “I think it makes you write a bad novel.” This is kind of the point. You’re supposed to churn out 50,000 words in one month, and by the end you have a goddamn novel, one you wouldn’t have otherwise. If it’s not Shakespeare, it’s still a goddamn novel. The NaNoWriMo FAQ says: “Aiming low is the best way to succeed,” where “succeed” means “write a goddamn novel.”
I find it hard to write a goddamn novel. I can do it, but it’s not very fun. The end product is not much fun to read, either. Some of these methods I use a lot, some only when I’m stuck. The Word TargetWhat: You don’t let yourself leave the keyboard each day until you’ve hit 2,000 words. 75 Books Every Writer Should Read. Whether you want to make writing your career or just want to know how to improve your writing so that you can pass your college courses, there is plenty of reading material out there to help you get inspired and hone your skills. Here’s a collection of titles that will instruct you on just about every aspect of writing, from the basics of grammar to marketing your completed novel, with some incredibly helpful tips from well-known writers themselves as well.
Writing Basics These books address things like structure, plot, descriptions and other basic elements of any story. The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers: You can improve the quality of your writing by adding a mythical quality to them with advice and insight from this book. Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers by Christopher Vogler: Whether you agree with the ideas in this book or not, you’ll find it a useful and informative read for writing. Advice from Authors Improving Your Writing Grammar Reference Books.
Writers' Village University - Writing Courses. LitReactor. Writing Community for Writers, Readers and Literary Agents. Submit Works, Read & Rate Writings. [places for writers] - connecting writers with places to publish. Voice and style. Grammar Rules: Split Infinitives. Q: I was taught by my English teachers over the years not to split infinitives, but now I see writers splitting them all the time. What gives? —Anonymous Growing up, I also had many teachers who taught me not to split infinitives—just as they taught me not to start a sentence with a conjunction. But, as with the conjunction myth, there is actually no rule that says you can’t split infinitives. Let me explain. [Help spread the word — Tweet it!] An infinitive is a verb form that generally involves two words, the first of which is usually “to”—to run, to write, to somersault, to tickle, etc. The most famous of all split infinitives comes from the Star Trek gang: “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
While you may find some grammar style guides that recommend against it (Garner’s Modern American Usage is one), you’ll be hard-pressed to find any that completely and wholeheartedly ban it. I know what you’re thinking: If this isn’t a rule, then why do so many teachers treat it as such? 7 Reasons Writing a Book Makes You a Badass. 75 Books Every Writer Should Read. Writing Resources. Writing resources. 201 Ways to Arouse Your Creativity. Arouse your creativity Electric flesh-arrows … traversing the body. A rainbow of color strikes the eyelids. A foam of music falls over the ears. It is the gong of the orgasm. ~ Anais Nin Creativity is like sex. I know, I know. The people I speak of are writers. Below, I’ve exposed some of their secret tips, methods, and techniques. Now, lie back, relax and take pleasure in these 201 provocative ways to arouse your creativity. Great hacks from Merlin Mann of 43 Folders.
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Better Than You Normally Do. Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals.
Because that is what writing is all about. Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki from Perfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. The blank white page. Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. There are two things more difficult than writing. It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer. Rule of three (writing) 5 Ways Your Brain Sabotages Your Writing... And What To Do About It. What To Write About. Write Everyday. Links for Aspiring Writers. The Write Practice — The Online Writing Workbook.
25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer. Practical Tips on Writing a Book from 22 Brilliant Authors | NeuroTribes. 25 Things Every Writer Should Know. Refreshed review of Outlinely — a new outliner for Mac. 8 Writing Techniques to Win You a Pulitzer. Fifty (50!) Tools which can help you in Writing. How To Avoid Writing at the Level of a Child. Lessons learned in a writing journey.