The Simple, Ridiculously Useful Guide to Earning a Living from Your Passion...
Post written by Leo Babauta. So you’ve followed the Short But Powerful Guide to Finding Your Passion, and have chosen something you’re passionate about. Now you need to make it a career — but are perhaps a bit lost. I have to admit I was there, only a few years ago, and three years later I’ve successfully done it, even if I’m a bit battered from the attempt.
How to Use Commonly Misused Words
Steps Method 1 of 17: "Affect" and "Effect" 1Use “effect” as instructed."Effect" is a noun referring to something that happens as a result of something else. E.g., "The antibiotic had little effect on the illness.""Effect" is also a verb meaning to bring something about.
23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger - StumbleUpon
We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master. ~Ernest Hemingway How strong is your writing? No matter how good you think it is, there’s always room for improvement.
Stocking Stuffers: 13 Writing Tips From Chuck Palahniuk
*Editor's Note: This column is part of a collection of 36 total essays on the craft of writing by Chuck Palahniuk. They were submitted starting in 2005, so this essay will refer to thinks in the past and therefore be on an older timeline. Twenty years ago, a friend and I walked around downtown Portland at Christmas. The big department stores: Meier and Frank… Fredrick and Nelson… Nordstroms… their big display windows each held a simple, pretty scene: a mannequin wearing clothes or a perfume bottle sitting in fake snow. But the windows at the J.J. Newberry’s store, damn, they were crammed with dolls and tinsel and spatulas and screwdriver sets and pillows, vacuum cleaners, plastic hangers, gerbils, silk flowers, candy – you get the point.
50 of the Best Websites for Writers
There are tons of reference sites on the web that can help you find a job or write a poem, essay or story. Here is a list of the best 50 websites for writers. Reference Websites
Self publishing costs nothing
A number of people have asked me “How much does self-publishing cost?”, so this post will clear that up. It may be controversial! Please do post comments if you disagree or have questions. Answer 1: It costs nothing Write book: $0 (but lots of time)Edit book: $0 Friend who is an English teacherProof-read book: $0 Friends and colleagues found on TwitterCover design: $0 Royalty free or own photos and text only made into a .jpg on Microsoft PublisherTypeset book: $0 done by self on Microsoft WordPublish book: Published as an Ebook on Smashwords for free and up for sale for US$4.99.
A Simple Novel Outline - 9 questions for 25 chapters & H.E. Roulo - StumbleUpon
Just as every tree is different but still recognizably a tree, every story is different but contains elements that make it a story. By defining those before you begin you clarify the scope of your work, identify your themes, and create the story you meant to write. At Norwescon 2011 I sat in on a session called Outline Your Novel in 90-minutes led by Mark Teppo. I’ll give you the brief, readable, synthesized version. Answer 9 questions and create 25 chapter titles and you’re there.
20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes
I’ve edited a monthly magazine for more than six years, and it’s a job that’s come with more frustration than reward. If there’s one thing I am grateful for — and it sure isn’t the pay — it’s that my work has allowed endless time to hone my craft to Louis Skolnick levels of grammar geekery. As someone who slings red ink for a living, let me tell you: grammar is an ultra-micro component in the larger picture; it lies somewhere in the final steps of the editing trail; and as such it’s an overrated quasi-irrelevancy in the creative process, perpetuated into importance primarily by bitter nerds who accumulate tweed jackets and crippling inferiority complexes.
Brandon Sanderson: Sanderson's First Law
Introduction I like magic systems. That’s probably evident to those of you who have read my work. A solid, interesting and innovative system of magic in a book is something that really appeals to me. True, characters are what make a story narratively powerful—but magic is a large part of what makes the fantasy genre distinctive.
How To Steal Like An Artist (And 9 Other Things Nobody Told Me) - Austin Kleon
Wednesday, March 30th, 2011 Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | More… Here’s what a few folks have said about it:
Typographer's Glossary
Serif: Serif's are semi-structural details on the ends of some of the strokes that make up letters and symbols. A typeface that has serifs is called a serif typeface (or seriffed typeface). Some of the main classifications of Serif type are: Blackletter, Venetian, Garalde, Modern, Slab Serif, Transitional, and Informal. Fonts in each classfication share certain similiar characteristics including the shape or appearance of their serifs.
Internet Resources - Writers Resources - Writing Links & Writers Links for Writers - Word Stuff
Unsorted [/writers] James Patrick Kelly - Murder Your Darlings - "When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings." Greda Vaso - Determining the Readability of a Book - includes formulas for Gunning's Fog Index, Flesch Formula, Powers Sumner Kearl L. Kip Wheeler - Literary Terms and Definitions L. Kip Wheeler - Comp - Lit - Poetry - Links - more Style - Grammar - Errors in English [/writers]American Heritage - Book of English Usage - free download Band-Aid AP StylebookPaul Brians - Common Errors in EnglishCJ Cherryh - Writerisms and other Sins The Chicago Manual of Style FAQ Gary N.
25 Insights on Becoming a Better Writer
When George Plimpton asked Ernest Hemingway what the best training for an aspiring writer would be in a 1954 interview, Hem replied, “Let’s say that he should go out and hang himself because he finds that writing well is impossibly difficult. Then he should be cut down without mercy and forced by his own self to write as well as he can for the rest of his life. At least he will have the story of the hanging to commence with.” Today, writing well is more important than ever.
