Chuck Wendig wrote about 25 reasons readers keep reading this week. I was especially fond of his predictability/unpredictability points. My favorite modern novel is American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis and part of the reason I loved it so much was Patrick Bateman's crazy. I had no idea what was going on with him until the first explicit murder scene. (The scene in which he murders Paul Owen is my absolute favorite. I know that makes me sound crazy, but if you've read the book, you know how perfect it is.) Patrick Bateman was the poster child for Wendig's unpredictability point.
Amelia James wrote about why she supports other writers. Writing is an unusual business because though we're technically competing for consumers (readers) it's not really a competition. The only limits readers have are their wallets and their free time, and even then, there are ways to stretch both. I support other writers and want to share what I've learned and what I'm learning (just in case that wasn't abundantly clear from my blog posts).
James Killick posted about what you have to un-learn and what you have to learn to be a writer. I am particularly fond of his "to learn" list. I've been reading the KDP boards lately and I have to say that I think a lot of authors--especially the self-published--could benefit from realizing that different people like different things.
Keystrokes and Word Counts is still running their ABC123(4)s of NaNo.
Over the weekend, I discovered Only True Magic, a blog by an indie author. She's currently running a series on self-publishing tips and tricks (the most recent one is on paid advertising) and her posts are very thorough and very detailed. I wish she tagged her posts to make them easier to navigate, but they're worth looking for.
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