Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

How to Write the Hard Stuff, by Rachel Aaron.

25 Things You Should Know About World Building, by Chuck Wendig.

A new crop of literary novels explores our internet dystopia, by Charlie Jane Anders.

On Writing, by John Brown.  This article is an older one, but still a lot of useful information.

Our book of the week, On Writing: 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft, by Stephen King has been around a while, but it is the type of book you reread more than once.  It is entertaining and inspiring, interspersed with writing advice delivered in King's usual short and snappy manner.  A must read for any writer.

As always, enjoy and feel free to leave comments with your own favorites, or even plug your own articles!

How I Plot a Novel

I stumbled across this article yesterday and thought it was worth sharing.  It is an insightful article into the writing habits of Rachel Aaron.  I always love to see the process other writers use when creating their stories.

By popular request (ok, 1 person, but they're populace, so that makes it popular, right?) I've put together a step by step process for how I go from "Hey I should write a novel" to "Ok, let's get writing!" Though I managed to get things grouped into steps, what I've really done is labeled and applied order to the phases I go through as I work toward the point where I feel I know enough about a book to start writing. Some parts of my process may seem a bit obsessive, but the most important part of writing fast is knowing as much as you can about what you're writing before you write it, and that means lots and lots of planning.

Planning a novel takes me anywhere from a few days to weeks. Usually I plan while I'm working on other things, like editing, but I've also had whole weeks where I did nothing but put a story together.

Click here to read the full article.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

The 18 Rules I Learned In My First Year As A Full Time Writer - Myke Cole comes clean about the hard truths of being a writer.

The Secret to Writing? - Chuck Wendig keeps it short and sweet.

Authors Whose Names Sound a Little Too Related to Their Subject Matter - Emily Temple finds the wordplay humor in a name.

Tolkien’s 10 Tips for Writers - Some words of wisdom from The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter.

The Complete Works of H.G. Wells - I somehow stumbled across this the other day.

Lastly, our friends over at Shadowbinders have a Kickstarter Campaign going right now.  Stop by and donate to a great project.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

• Write Because You Love It - Words of wisdom from Author Jody Hedlund.
• 25 Reasons I Hate Your Main Character - More humor and good advice from Chuck Wendig.
• How To Balance Dialogue and Description -  by Sarah Baughman.
• 20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes - Jon Gingerich.
• Are Self-Published Authors Happier Than Traditionally Published Authors? - Joanna Penn.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

• 25 Things You Should Know About Word Choice,  always hard hitting truth on writing from Chuck Wendig, hop in the trenches and get dirty with him.
• Ain't no one fucks with tiny hippo - From Peter Smalley on G+ , file this one on the same shelf as "Go the F*ck to Sleep" and other classics of children's literature.
• See your name here? - Then get off the fucking internet and get back to writing.
• 50 Iconic Writer's Who Were Repeatedly Rejected - So drag your ass up off the ground, put on your big boy pants, rub some dirt on it and get back to work!
• 17 Ways For Writers To Use Pinterest - Still unsure about Pinterest as a whole, but I found this an interesting read.  Never say no to a new way to find ideas - or to market your ideas.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find. Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

• 25 Ways to Unfuck Your Story - Terriblminds.  I find it hard to think of a week where Chuck Wendig wouldn't be in my required reading.
• Scrivener: 3 Reasons You Should Use It For Your Book - The Creative Penn.  Also, check out the great podcasts.  If you decide you'd like to try Scrivener don't forget to get your 20% discount coupon code here.
• The Daly Show: Episode 7: "The Daly Superheroes" guest starring Nathan Fillion.  Just because it has Nathan Fillion duh.
• Pinterest Tips for Writers - Galleycat.  Decide if this newest social media outlet is for you.
• 21 Ray Bradbury Quotes: Your Moment of Friday Writing Zen - Writer's Digest. If you need some writing inspiration from one of the masters.
• NY Steampunk - Artists and Enthusiasts.  This is a new group for lovers of all things STEAMPUNK!

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find.  Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

• How I Make It Work - Myke Cole talks about downsizing his life in order to make writing a full time endeavor.  A must read for all of us who only dream of making this leap of faith.  Also, be sure to check out the release of his new book Shadow Ops: Control Point
• 25 Things You Should Know About Protagonists - another one of Chuck Wendig's great lists. I don't think I've read one of his lists I haven't enjoyed.
• How to Return to Writing After a Long Break - Nathan Bransford talks about exactly that.  There is also a great article on Game of Thrones and being unsentimental about your characters. "Don't get attached. Anyone may die at any moment."
• 6 Wordsmiths Who Couldn’t Spell - Sometimes it's nice to see some of the greats had flaws of their own.
• Stewarding Your Career and Your Agent - Some helpful pointers, as always, from wordserve water cooler.

Weekly Express

Since I tend to spend way too much time reading other writer's blogs, I thought I would deliver some of the better ones I find.  Here are this weeks articles delivered by the Weekly Express:

• Writer's Digest 18 Most Popular Articles of 2011 Based on their most read articles of 2011.
• Chuck Wendig's 25 Things Writers Should Start Doing (ASAFP) Caution -  "Here There Be Bad Words. Naughty profanity. The sinner’s tongue."  Biting sarcasm, hard truth and a minefield of eff-bombs.  If you have never visited, you will thank me.
• SF Signal - The Years Best Science Fiction & Fantasy, 2012 Edition The table of contents for the upcoming anthology.
• Flavorwire - The 25 Most Beautiful College Libraries In The World  Add visiting some of these to your bucket list.
• Lisa Gardner - Writer's Toolbox A great collection of articles in PDF on the writing process.  Many are geared towards the romance writer, but all are a good read for writers of any genre.

Feel free to share your own links to anything you stumbled across recently.