Oh, Chuck. I knew I could count on you to keep the quality coming while I was away. As usual, Chuck Wendig kept up his 25 posts: Ways To Fight Your Story's Mushy Middle, Reasons This Is The Best Time To Be A Storyteller, Things You Should Know About Writing Fantasy, Things You Should Know About Writing Sex.
Greta van der Rol wrote about local colour and asked, "How much is too much?"
Into the Morning had this interesting post on the subject of reviews. She breaks down her comments in a list to reviewers and to writers. Worth a look, I think, especially if you're a reviewer... or an author who has received a negative review.
Isis Rushdan had a simple, inspiring post on hard work.
If you want to be a bloody awful writer, James Killick has some tips for you.
Paperback Writer is such a wonderful resource blog. This month, she had a number of great posts: No-Nos for the Nasty, a review of a free editing program, and a list of short story sins.
Among her other useful posts this month, Aimee Salter wrote about the critical requirements for successful self-editing.
Sierra Godfrey's How to Sell Books post could really apply to any product you want to sell, as evidenced by her anecdote about spearmint.
Sirra collected another round of her Twitter writing tips.
I typically don't include posts from Somebody Has To Say It, but two posts stood out for the month of June: this one on dialogue attributes and this one on publishing contracts.
Stella was my most recent Blog Roundup feature, so you should already have read some of her most recent entries. If you haven't, start with this Tip of the Week post on editing and professionalism.
Showing posts with label into the morning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label into the morning. Show all posts
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Blog Roundup: April 9 - 15, 2012
Chuck Wendig was en fuego this week with two great posts: 25 Reasons I Hate Your Main Character and A Long Look At "Show, Don't Tell." I think both of these posts are must-reads for beginning writers... and it probably couldn't hurt those of us who have been doing it a while.
Laura Bradford's post on writing as an invisible business really hit home for me. When my sister was here, it was nearly impossible to get any work done. Now that my husband is home on leave, same story. It takes great, concentrated effort to get my toddler to play by herself for short periods of time ever since she had a constant companion in my sister. Writing itself is hard--finding the time to do it without distraction or interruption is even harder. More than once, I've questioned why I even bother. (And then I remember that I really do love it and it really does matter to me and I think I'm okay at it, so all the extra hard work seems worth it. And then I have a drink because I really must be crazy.)
Girl Who Reads offered up an analysis of the star rating system in her Tips on Thursday post. I like the star rating system, personally; it gives me a lot of information at first glance. But I either don't really care what other people think of a book and will read it if I want to, anyway, or--if it's a book I'm uncertain of, like The Hunger Games--I will read the reviews with one through three stars. Two and three star reviews, in my experience, tend to be the most tell-tale.
Last week was Indie Author Week at Into the Morning (a great blog you should be following, anyway) and my favorite post was this one about indie book covers. We all judge books by their covers. No sense saying we don't. And independent books... well... they're frequently lacking. The most glaring problem I see is that we use a lot of the same stock photos. I like her quickie review of the good and the bad book covers. I think, especially for those of us designing our own, it's a good idea to look at all the criticism and praise for book covers that we possibly can. (Related: I tend to take inspiration from the traditionally-published erotica books I enjoyed. So I've based my covers on books like Breathless by Bonnie Edwards and pretty much everything by Delilah Devlin, as two examples.)
James Killick shared a short list of Five Things More Important Than Knowledge. The thing about knowledge is that it can be acquired. Or it can be rejected in favor of blissful ignorance. His list is comprised of things that are pretty hard to reject and ignore, at least in my experience.
Keystrokes and Word Counts has a short review of KDP free days. If it's something you're considering, I'd advise reading as much as possible on the experiences of other authors. I have a project in the works that I am planning to enroll in KDP select when the time comes, so posts like this are helpful to me.
Sierra Godfrey had a thought-provoking post asking where to find the self-pubbed books. She has a point. A good one. In my case, I don't market so much as I tailor my keywords for searches... because that's pretty much how I find the books I want to read.
Stella Deleuze advised that authors choose a publisher wisely. Personally, I'd do a ton of research--on the company and the people I'm working with. I'd check out the other books they'd published, not just the sales rankings, but the cover designs and reviews and the books themselves. I don't have an answer for Ms. Deleuze. I don't know what I'd do if my book was at the mercy of an editor who didn't know what she was doing. I sincerely hope I never have to answer that question.
Laura Bradford's post on writing as an invisible business really hit home for me. When my sister was here, it was nearly impossible to get any work done. Now that my husband is home on leave, same story. It takes great, concentrated effort to get my toddler to play by herself for short periods of time ever since she had a constant companion in my sister. Writing itself is hard--finding the time to do it without distraction or interruption is even harder. More than once, I've questioned why I even bother. (And then I remember that I really do love it and it really does matter to me and I think I'm okay at it, so all the extra hard work seems worth it. And then I have a drink because I really must be crazy.)
Girl Who Reads offered up an analysis of the star rating system in her Tips on Thursday post. I like the star rating system, personally; it gives me a lot of information at first glance. But I either don't really care what other people think of a book and will read it if I want to, anyway, or--if it's a book I'm uncertain of, like The Hunger Games--I will read the reviews with one through three stars. Two and three star reviews, in my experience, tend to be the most tell-tale.
Last week was Indie Author Week at Into the Morning (a great blog you should be following, anyway) and my favorite post was this one about indie book covers. We all judge books by their covers. No sense saying we don't. And independent books... well... they're frequently lacking. The most glaring problem I see is that we use a lot of the same stock photos. I like her quickie review of the good and the bad book covers. I think, especially for those of us designing our own, it's a good idea to look at all the criticism and praise for book covers that we possibly can. (Related: I tend to take inspiration from the traditionally-published erotica books I enjoyed. So I've based my covers on books like Breathless by Bonnie Edwards and pretty much everything by Delilah Devlin, as two examples.)
James Killick shared a short list of Five Things More Important Than Knowledge. The thing about knowledge is that it can be acquired. Or it can be rejected in favor of blissful ignorance. His list is comprised of things that are pretty hard to reject and ignore, at least in my experience.
Keystrokes and Word Counts has a short review of KDP free days. If it's something you're considering, I'd advise reading as much as possible on the experiences of other authors. I have a project in the works that I am planning to enroll in KDP select when the time comes, so posts like this are helpful to me.
Sierra Godfrey had a thought-provoking post asking where to find the self-pubbed books. She has a point. A good one. In my case, I don't market so much as I tailor my keywords for searches... because that's pretty much how I find the books I want to read.
Stella Deleuze advised that authors choose a publisher wisely. Personally, I'd do a ton of research--on the company and the people I'm working with. I'd check out the other books they'd published, not just the sales rankings, but the cover designs and reviews and the books themselves. I don't have an answer for Ms. Deleuze. I don't know what I'd do if my book was at the mercy of an editor who didn't know what she was doing. I sincerely hope I never have to answer that question.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Blog Roundup: February 20 - 26, 2012
Chuck Wendig offered advice to writers for this week's 25 Things post. On the subject of being a writer, not on writing so much. Still worth the read. It illustrates just how unique the writing journey is for each person.
Greta van der Rol's new book is out! She posted about it here and shared the first chapter here. Also, because she is awesome, she talked about the Thrawn Trilogy here. If you're a Star Wars fan and you haven't explored the EU... you are seriously missing out.
Erotic Romance had a brief post on the subject of "barely legal" erotica.
Girl Who Reads did a quick, inteRuresting post outlining various traffic-driving sites for your blog.
Into the Morning offered three tips for new bloggers. I think it's especially important to remember number three.
James Killick wrote about how to surprise your reader.
As usual, you should check out Sierra Godfrey's Google Reader Roundup.
Greta van der Rol's new book is out! She posted about it here and shared the first chapter here. Also, because she is awesome, she talked about the Thrawn Trilogy here. If you're a Star Wars fan and you haven't explored the EU... you are seriously missing out.
Erotic Romance had a brief post on the subject of "barely legal" erotica.
Girl Who Reads did a quick, inteRuresting post outlining various traffic-driving sites for your blog.
Into the Morning offered three tips for new bloggers. I think it's especially important to remember number three.
James Killick wrote about how to surprise your reader.
As usual, you should check out Sierra Godfrey's Google Reader Roundup.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Blog Roundup: October 31 - November 6, 2011
Chuck Wendig's blog remains a go-to resource for the writer with a sense of humor about what she does. He posted another 25 things article, this one about writing advice.
Greta van der Rol hosted Meg Mims for a post on the importance of research. Lack of research can rip your reader right out of the story and leave a sour taste in her mouth, so it's vital.
Imran Siddiq offered this post of tips on writing prose. I also thought this post on "oomph" words was interesting because it shows how important word choice really is.
Bob Mayer offered this wrap up of Storyworld. I thought Disney's weenie was especially useful. All ten of those tips can apply to your "brand" as a writer.
I want to share this post from Erotic Romance because it made me start planning a blog post on the crossover from fanfiction to original fiction.
Into the Morning made this post on book design trends she loves and hates. Look closely. If you're in the market for a cover designer, I think she potentially offered.
Keystrokes and Word Counts has a series of posts on the ABCs of NaNo. Even if you're not doing NaNo, the posts are worth checking out.
Stella Deleuze posted part three of her dialogue attributes series.
The Bookshelf Muse hosted a guest post from Janice Hardy on marketing your novel.
Written Words posted about not carving your outline into stone. I think the core of the post is important to every writer: be flexible.
Your Cover Uncovered reviewed the Tulagi Hotel by Heikki Hetala.
Greta van der Rol hosted Meg Mims for a post on the importance of research. Lack of research can rip your reader right out of the story and leave a sour taste in her mouth, so it's vital.
Imran Siddiq offered this post of tips on writing prose. I also thought this post on "oomph" words was interesting because it shows how important word choice really is.
Bob Mayer offered this wrap up of Storyworld. I thought Disney's weenie was especially useful. All ten of those tips can apply to your "brand" as a writer.
I want to share this post from Erotic Romance because it made me start planning a blog post on the crossover from fanfiction to original fiction.
Into the Morning made this post on book design trends she loves and hates. Look closely. If you're in the market for a cover designer, I think she potentially offered.
Keystrokes and Word Counts has a series of posts on the ABCs of NaNo. Even if you're not doing NaNo, the posts are worth checking out.
Stella Deleuze posted part three of her dialogue attributes series.
The Bookshelf Muse hosted a guest post from Janice Hardy on marketing your novel.
Written Words posted about not carving your outline into stone. I think the core of the post is important to every writer: be flexible.
Your Cover Uncovered reviewed the Tulagi Hotel by Heikki Hetala.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Blog Roundup: October 10 - 16, 2011
In honor of Halloween (I guess), Chuck Wendig posted 25 Things You Should Know About Writing Horror.
Stella Deleuze made a fun post about the behind-the-scenes of novel writing. It made me smile.
Amanda Hocking posted a rant (sort of) about the whole "million books sold" deal. She makes an excellent, simple point: write well. The sales come later, the writing comes first.
If you write erotica or romance or some combination of the two, Erotic Romance should be on your blogroll. The industry information is invaluable.
Into The Morning has a useful "mini rant" on blogs. I, for one, am always looking for little things to improve and tweak here and at my website, so I enjoy finding these posts.
If you're reading this blog, you're probably a writer. And you probably have people in your life who don't "get it." Direct them to this post at James Killick's blog. It's a good summary of the creative process, I think.
Keystrokes and Word Counts, in their new home, had three posts on preparing for NaNoWriMo. If you're going to participate, I strongly suggest preparing.
I recently discovered Sierra Godfrey's blog. This is another one I recommend you add to your blogroll for posts like why blogging works for writers and writerly afflictions. Any place that combines humor and information is my kind of place.
Sirra shared another round of writing tips.
Written Words is doing a series on "GRIP" (goal, reader, idea, plan). If you're a plotter, especially if you're a new plotter, it's worth checking out.
Your Cover Uncovered has a new cover review up.
Stella Deleuze made a fun post about the behind-the-scenes of novel writing. It made me smile.
Amanda Hocking posted a rant (sort of) about the whole "million books sold" deal. She makes an excellent, simple point: write well. The sales come later, the writing comes first.
If you write erotica or romance or some combination of the two, Erotic Romance should be on your blogroll. The industry information is invaluable.
Into The Morning has a useful "mini rant" on blogs. I, for one, am always looking for little things to improve and tweak here and at my website, so I enjoy finding these posts.
If you're reading this blog, you're probably a writer. And you probably have people in your life who don't "get it." Direct them to this post at James Killick's blog. It's a good summary of the creative process, I think.
Keystrokes and Word Counts, in their new home, had three posts on preparing for NaNoWriMo. If you're going to participate, I strongly suggest preparing.
I recently discovered Sierra Godfrey's blog. This is another one I recommend you add to your blogroll for posts like why blogging works for writers and writerly afflictions. Any place that combines humor and information is my kind of place.
Sirra shared another round of writing tips.
Written Words is doing a series on "GRIP" (goal, reader, idea, plan). If you're a plotter, especially if you're a new plotter, it's worth checking out.
Your Cover Uncovered has a new cover review up.
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