Writing Tip Posts, June 11, 2011

You may have noticed that I keep tinkering with the blog title and the "about me" section. That's why I persist in these little 'writing tip' posts - you can never stop improving the craft. And below you'll see the link that made me realize what I need to do differently on here. Everything in my life is a Work-in-Progress (WIP), and every week I get a little better, even if there are greater challenges.

If nothing else, I'm confident that I'm headed in the right direction.

You want proof? My little blog got a shout out this week! Yayy!! Thank you, Erin Reel! *happy dance*

What can I say, I'm often easily amused. I was out for drinks (Rum!) with friends on Friday night, and a coworker said to me the following day, "You're like Peter Pan." I said, "That's not a very masculine comparison." "Oh, no, you were just bouncing around and having fun."

Yes. Yes, I was. In a masculine way. (I got 939 on the boxing glove machine. Rawr.)

Now the post that made me see the light of day with this 'ere blog 'n stuff? Kristen Lamb (no surprise there), Why Writers Blogging about Writing is Bad.  'Nuff said.

Having said that, I'm sure I'm not the only starving, struggling artist in the world, and maybe we can learn stuff from each other along the way. So these posts shall continue.

Openings that Annoy. There's always so much dialogue about the first 5 pages, 5 chapters, 1000 words. Heaven knows I've revised my opening paragraph (what feels like) a thousand times. I'm THIS close to posting it on here in the hopes of constructive criticism. (I suspect I need more followers to get the feedback I want.)

Why publishers reject manuscripts and what you need to do to get noticed.

At Magical Words, a guest post by L. McKenna Donovan, Sharpening Our Narrative.

There are days when I'm not sure what to write, or not able to revise what I've already written. In other projects, I tend to write freely as the thoughts come together, then go back and revise while I'm still thinking about the topic. Most of the time, that turns out well. This post by Melissa Donovan caught my eye: How Freewriting Can Help Writers Overcome Procrastination.

Livia Blackburne: Improving Creativity: The Absorb Brainset and Twenty Ways to Describe Your Characters BFF.

I had a link recently about reading your work aloud. It's something I live by - being a former DJ probably helps me find the rhythm in the words, and since I have no skill with any musical instrument (other than a sound board), I'm sure this is a developed skill. Sarah Duncan has a good post on this, Rhythm in Prose. While mentioning her, this was also an inspiring, quick read: Learning from an Olympian.

On phraseology and rewording. This post goes well with some of the posts above.

Terri Giuliano Long does a guest post on Erin Reel's blog: 7 Ways to Pick Yourself Up After a Painful Rejection. Solid advice in there.

Former-agent-now-author Nathan Bransford has a really sharp post on How to Craft Mystery in a Novel.

Agent Rachelle Gardner advises Write a Break In Novel. wherein she makes several valid points, things I've noticed in sf/f debuts.

And to end this week's linkhappygoodness on a funny note, check out this video shared by agent and query shark Janet Reid. Oh My God, Yes.

Thank me now, thank me later, or even better - share some links in the comments to inspire and compel the improvement of our craft. Cheers!