Author Support
Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2014 12:31 pm
This will be a work in progress. I want a place on this forum to consolidate helpful information for authors at all stages in their career. The sections will be timeline based. If you have any wisdom for other authors, feel free to share it below. I want this to be comprehensive.
First a disclaimer. Getting good information from the internet is a double edged sword. I'll suggest books and websites both, and where you have the option, pick the book.
Aspiring Writers
If you want to write you need to read. Writing is a process of recombination, and you need fodder to recombine. Your lifetime of experience may suddenly be catalyzed by a single paragraph from a new novel. Catalyzed into the plot for a novel that may be fantastic. If you're a writer, you must also be a reader, and make time for both.
If you already read a great deal, try adding an audio book selection to your list. Acquiring the information through a different channel(auditory) allows you to analyze different elements of the craft. A good narrator emphasizes pacing, for example, which can be helpful.
Analyze the books you read. If your writing sounds different from your favorite author, try to figure out why. Analyze the differences, notice what he or she does differently. The benefit of analysis is that it draws your attention to what works. Analysis leads to recognition of writing devices. Every time you see a similar technique in the future, you will recognize it. After enough repetitions across various books, you will assimilate it. However, when it comes time to write, just let it flow. Writing is art, and the words should come naturally. If you've analyzed and recognized and assimilated various writing devices, they will come naturally.
The golden rule of writing is to elicit emotion. There are a million successful techniques, and a billion ways to screw it up. Parse all information through this lens.
Books:
Sol Stein, On Writing
How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction
Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
How to Write a Novel by Nathan Bransford
Sites:
Nathan Bransford's blog, because it has a great deal of good advice Useful for published authors as well.
The Paperback Writer's best of list
Struggling to Write
To fill this space initially I'll leave a link to Neil Gaiman.
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/ ... o-writers/
http://winningedits.com/neil-gaiman-on-writing/
Great quotes from Visual Thesaurus.
An excellent resource that could be in any of these sections is Absolute Write. In the forums, there are endless aspiring authors that serve as motivational feedback loops, since most everyone there is in the same boat.
Refining the Craft
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft
Finding an Agent or Publisher
If you've written a novel and found yourself reading this, go no further. Instead, educate yourself. There are a thousand ways to be taken advantage, and the way that takes you will be the thousand and first.
Writer's Beware is an excellent resource. Read through the archives.
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/
Another link from Ann on finding an agent. This is pretty comprehensive and extremely useful.
http://www.sfwa.org/real/
Evil editor has useful advice, but it's choppy and hard to see where it applies until you've reached the point of formulating a query letter. Then it all makes sense.
http://evileditor.blogspot.com/
And Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents
Or the 2014 version of his book. The book is a better option, but take it with a grain of salt. This is a face paced industry, and some of the information is already outdated.
2014 Guide to Literary Agents
Advice on writing a good query letter. Necessary for any potential author.
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/167325.html
Navigating Published Life
http://jordanmccollum.com/2014/06/rejected-publisher/
A.D. Winch's list of 100 top sites for book promotion
Books:
Create Your Writer Platform
First a disclaimer. Getting good information from the internet is a double edged sword. I'll suggest books and websites both, and where you have the option, pick the book.
Aspiring Writers
If you want to write you need to read. Writing is a process of recombination, and you need fodder to recombine. Your lifetime of experience may suddenly be catalyzed by a single paragraph from a new novel. Catalyzed into the plot for a novel that may be fantastic. If you're a writer, you must also be a reader, and make time for both.
If you already read a great deal, try adding an audio book selection to your list. Acquiring the information through a different channel(auditory) allows you to analyze different elements of the craft. A good narrator emphasizes pacing, for example, which can be helpful.
Analyze the books you read. If your writing sounds different from your favorite author, try to figure out why. Analyze the differences, notice what he or she does differently. The benefit of analysis is that it draws your attention to what works. Analysis leads to recognition of writing devices. Every time you see a similar technique in the future, you will recognize it. After enough repetitions across various books, you will assimilate it. However, when it comes time to write, just let it flow. Writing is art, and the words should come naturally. If you've analyzed and recognized and assimilated various writing devices, they will come naturally.
The golden rule of writing is to elicit emotion. There are a million successful techniques, and a billion ways to screw it up. Parse all information through this lens.
Books:
Sol Stein, On Writing
How to Write Tales of Horror, Fantasy and Science Fiction
Scene & Structure (Elements of Fiction Writing)
How to Write a Novel by Nathan Bransford
Sites:
Nathan Bransford's blog, because it has a great deal of good advice Useful for published authors as well.
The Paperback Writer's best of list
Struggling to Write
To fill this space initially I'll leave a link to Neil Gaiman.
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/ ... o-writers/
http://winningedits.com/neil-gaiman-on-writing/
Great quotes from Visual Thesaurus.
An excellent resource that could be in any of these sections is Absolute Write. In the forums, there are endless aspiring authors that serve as motivational feedback loops, since most everyone there is in the same boat.
Refining the Craft
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Print
Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing: A Novelist Looks at His Craft
Finding an Agent or Publisher
If you've written a novel and found yourself reading this, go no further. Instead, educate yourself. There are a thousand ways to be taken advantage, and the way that takes you will be the thousand and first.
Writer's Beware is an excellent resource. Read through the archives.
http://accrispin.blogspot.com/
Another link from Ann on finding an agent. This is pretty comprehensive and extremely useful.
http://www.sfwa.org/real/
Evil editor has useful advice, but it's choppy and hard to see where it applies until you've reached the point of formulating a query letter. Then it all makes sense.
http://evileditor.blogspot.com/
And Chuck Sambuchino's Guide to Literary Agents
Or the 2014 version of his book. The book is a better option, but take it with a grain of salt. This is a face paced industry, and some of the information is already outdated.
2014 Guide to Literary Agents
Advice on writing a good query letter. Necessary for any potential author.
http://jpsorrow.livejournal.com/167325.html
Navigating Published Life
http://jordanmccollum.com/2014/06/rejected-publisher/
A.D. Winch's list of 100 top sites for book promotion
Books:
Create Your Writer Platform