Scribblings and Dribblings

The following is a running compilation of other blogs’ articles focusing on the art, craft, and business of writing that I’ve found helpful. It is primarily for my own reference. As such, article links may change without notice, but I wanted to make it available to anyone else who might find it useful. Wherever possible, I’ve provided links and citations. If you find an incorrect or dropped link, please contact me about the problem, and I’ll fix it. I hope this list of links will be as useful to you as it has been to me.

Craft

Jennifer Blanchard, writer, magazine editor, creativity coach, and blogger atProcrastinating Writers. 4 Tools To Help You Manage Your Writing Time Better Some great tools and tips to help determine where all your time is going, and how to carve enough writing time into your schedule. The article is posted at the Better Writing Habits blog. Jodi Cleghorn, writer, speaker, and blogger atWriting with Passionate Abandon. Favourite posts: Writing Sex Scenes What goes into a sex scene? And what should be left out? This posting by Aussie writer Jodi Cleghorn for the blogzine Write Anything discusses the top 5 mistakes in writing sex scenes, and gives an exercise on how to write more convincing sex scenes. Teresa Frohock, author of the upcoming (July 2011) Misere: An Autumn Tale, who also blogs here. Urgency Versus Action in Your Writing What’s the best way to open a story? Should it begin in media res? Or does that always really work? Teresa Frohock suggests that as long as a sense of urgency is created, action isn’t always needed.

Plotting

Kristen Lamb,< br/> freelance editor, speaker, and now author, bogging at WarriorWriters. Structure Part 8 — Balancing the Scenes That Make Up Your Novel This is the eighth installment in a series by Kristen covering plot structure. This one specifically addresses the internal dramatic structure of a chapter. Larry Brooks, former Texas Rangers pitcher, scriptwriter, novelist, and blogger at storyfix.com. The Single Most Powerful Writing Tool You’ll Ever See That Fits On One Page A beautifully thought out checklist for writing a novel. It prompts the writer to fully consider four of what Brooks calls, the “Six Core Competencies” of novel writing: concept, theme, character and structure.

Drafting

Suzannah Freeman, former teacher, writer, blogger, creator of Write It Sideways, and guest blogger at Better Writing Habits. Forget These 7 Things for First Draft Freedom A great short list of things to avoid when drafting a manuscript. These should be printed out and hung next to the computer screen as a reminder not to get bogged down in those details that can derail a draft.

Revision

Colleen Coble, author of nearly 40 books, including the Mercy Falls series, and guest blogger at Rachelle Gardner’s Rants & Ramblings blog. The Joy of Revisions A light-hearted checklist of how to approach the highly anticipated, yet much dreaded revision letter. Rebecca Rasmussen, author of The Bird Sisters, and guest blogger at the Writer Unboxed blog. Explain, Exemplify. Translation: Cut It Out! Rebecca shares her experience with making 100 pages of cuts to her manuscript, by sweeping away redundancies in her prose.

Marketing

Tony Eldridge, creator of Marketing Tips for Authors. 5 Tips In Responding to Criticism These tips are good for dealing with any criticism in general, but the article is geared toward writers and their work. Rachelle Gardner, agent, and blogger at Rants & Ramblings On Life as a Literary Agent. Marketing Your Self and Your Book Things to plan for when building a marketing platform for a project, and for a career in writing, as viewed from the business side from the industry. Penny Sansevieri, writer and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. How Long Is Too Long To Market A Book? Great advice on redirecting book marketing focus, particularly applicable to non-fiction, but great pointers for fiction writers as well.      8 Secrets for Getting into Bookstores A really thoughtful strategy for connecting with the reader through brick and mortar shops, although the article oddly only contains 7 secrets… Dana Lynn Smith, author of the Savvy Book Marketing Guides, marketer, and blogger at The Savvy Book Marketer. How To Write a Back Blurb For Your Book A useful quick-reference with dos and don’ts of what to include in your blurb, plus a great sample jacket copy.

Life

former Texas Rangers pitcher, scriptwriter, novelist, and blogger at storyfix.com. Writers: Give the Gift of “Getting Off the Dime” How do you respond to someone who says to you, “Oh, I’m thinking of writing a book too…”?