23 Websites that Make Your Writing Stronger 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. In most cases, plenty of room. Luckily, there are some amazing websites that’ll help you improve your writing, and take it to the next level. (***By the way, have you seen this amazing online creative writing course, “Story Is a State of Mind,” created by Giller finalist Sarah Selecky? Want to strengthen your story, empower your performance, and beef up on the publishing business? Here are 23 sites (in no particular order) I look to for daily inspiration and advice: PS If you find this list useful, please share it on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon – I’d really appreciate it! 4) Query Shark A query critique site you don’t want to miss. 5) Men with Pens Fantastic articles on copywriting and freelancing. 6) Ask Allison Writing and publishing Q&A by novelist Allison Winn Scotch.
Fanfic demographics - Google Forms Eight Secrets Which Writers Won't Tell You Image from Flickr by Lazurite This is not particularly relevant to the post, but I’m getting an awful lot of comments telling me, often a little snarkily, “it’s ‘THAT’ not ‘WHICH’”. The “don’t use which for restrictive clauses” rule comes (as far as I can tell) from Strunk and White. Plenty of authors, including Austen, have used “which” exactly as I use it in the title. There was never a period in the history of English when “which” at the beginning of a restrictive relative clause was an error. I thought about putting “that” in the title – but I like the sound of “which” between “secrets” and “writers”. And with that out of the way, enjoy the post! A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me. They were real writers. But as I’ve taken more and more steps into the writing world, I’ve realised that my perception just doesn’t match up to the reality. I’m going to go through eight secrets. Secret #1: Writing is Hard It doesn’t end there.
The Journey, Not the Destination: The Sanctifying Effect of Travel in ‘Grim Fandango’ | Christ and Pop Culture For a long time, there has been a Holy Grail of sorts among the gaming community—the game Grim Fandango. Constantly praised as the best adventure game, the most intuitive point-and-click interface, and the finest work ever produced by Tim Schafer (Psychonauts, Full Throttle, Broken Age), it has long been sought after by those familiar with its legend. However, the game had not sold well on its release by LucasArts in 1998, and as a result it was discontinued (along with most of LucasArts adventure line) a few years later. As it had only been available on discs, and those who had them were reluctant to part with them, copies of the game became elusive and expensive. However, Sony, which recently purchased the rights, re-released a re-mastered version of the game this past year, making it finally available to many curious fans, including myself. Grim Fandango is a bizarre point-and-click adventure game, set in the eighth underworld of the Land of the Dead. Like this: Like Loading...
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: “Brilliant and real and true.” Read an excerpt below… Tags: steal like an artist
Fanfiction Search This (all in all rather primitive) search engine is an (actually not so new) idea to rank stories based on how many people have the same stories in their favorites or communities. This is a first draft for private use only. It is neither valid html nor utf8 friendly. In fact I mangled the character sets when I moved the database to this server. Submit your fanfiction.net user-id or a story-id of a story you like. The result ranks the stories by how many of these users and communities list them. To filter the results you can add filter terms for category/fandom and summary/characters. Examples 1. Search Form
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 Merriam-Webster Online - Merriam Webster is the perfect place to look up words and find information. General Writing Websites Writer's Digest - Probably one of the best all-around websites for writers, Writer's Digest offers information on writing better and getting published. Fiction Writing Websites About.com - About.com publishes a Guide to Fiction Writing with general information about fiction writing and a number of community forums for both current and aspiring writers. Nonfiction Writing Websites Bella Online - This site offers a large collection of resources for nonfiction writers. Websites for Freelance Writers and Authors Media Bistro - This site is a good place to find freelance jobs online.
From the archive, 3 September 1973: Hobbit and Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien dies | From the Guardian John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892 - 1973) photographed in 1967. Source: AP One of the American science fiction writer Ray Bradbury's most popular short stories imagines that all the creatures of literary mythology – the unicorn, the fairy, the witch, and the darker inventions of Edgar Allan Poe - have been driven from the earth by an advancing technological mentality. They survive for a time, cowering together on a distant planet. But man decides to explore the planet, and as the first space ship lands, the creatures perish because the human imagination has become irrevocably incapable of conceiving their existence. That seemed a plausible thing to fancy, in the immediately post war years when the story was written. The adult fairy tale had been in decline since Victorian times. We shall probably have to wait for a critical explanation of this imaginative turnabout until the whole Tolkien experience has been digested.
Character Chart for Fiction Writers - EpiGuide.com If you're a fiction writer -- whether you're working on a novel, short story, screenplay, television series, play, web series, webserial, or blog-based fiction -- your characters should come alive for your reader or audience. The highly detailed chart below will help writers develop fictional characters who are believable, captivating, and unique. Print this page to complete the form for each main character you create. IMPORTANT: Note that all fields are optional and should be used simply as a guide; character charts should inspire you to think about your character in new ways, rather than constrain your writing. If this character chart is helpful, please let us know! Looking for more character questionnaires / charts?