Resources for Writers

In our travels, we come across resources that make our writing lives easier. I hope you'll share them with everyone.

Thanks.

Cheryl

I have two for you, though I'm going to put in a disclaimer. Both Dean Wesley Smith and Kris Kathryn Rusch have been in the writing industry for over 30 years, have lot of experience and insight, and they tell it like it is. There is no beating around the bush and will toss writing myths out the window. My writing career is just starting and I can already say they've saved me years of headache and stress.

Check these out. You may not believe them and may not like what they're saying (I didn't at first), but keep reading. Seriously. If you have an open mind and if you want to succeed in this business, then you need to learn about this business. That's what these long-term pros are offering. Also, read the comments. There's just as much - if not more - valuable information there.

These two sites are excellent business resources - and even though we're writers, what we do is a business.

http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/ - I highly recommend starting with 'Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing'

http://kriswrites.com/ - The Freelancer's Survival Guide talks about all kinds of freelance, with an emphasis on writing. This is a great foundation (and available to purchase or read on her site for free), but this is definitely going on my keeper bookshelf.

Thanks for sending these along. You also used Donald Maass' books too, right?

Yes. Donald Maass has some amazing books on writing, which I know a ton of people swear by. The one I found the most helpful was, "Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook." This particular book has all kinds of writing exercises and questions to make you really think. The main reason I found this so helpful was because I had never looked at my writing that way before. It opened my mind.

I can't say how helpful these books would be for nonfiction, but I imagine with memoirs and creative nonfiction there are some information nuggets I think can cross the fiction/nonfiction line.

"Writing the Breakout Novel" - I'd recommend reading this one first, simply because it gives you the framework for the exercises in the Workbook.

"Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook" - the most helpful one, for me, by far.

"The Fire in Fiction" - though it has some interesting points, it wasn't as helpful as the Workbook. Maass repeats himself and his points throughout these books, but you'll still find new and helpful information.

Overall, for me, the best experience I had was listening to his short workshops at a conference. I know he's done these at the Romance Writer's of America National Conference for the past two years. If you can't go, I'd recommend downloading the recordings from the RWA website. It's worth it.

Maass is a great speaker, engaging, and when he talks he's continually asking questions. In the books, the questions are static. Sometimes you have to think and ponder. At his workshops he's continually throwing out questions. Where the first one you might not understand, the second or the third might, and you'll have those light bulb moments.

I've never been to the workshops he runs throughout the year (I think some are a week long), and for the price, I imagine you can gather the same information by studying his books and listening to the recordings. For me, my time and money, I'd prefer those longer kinds of workshops to be with actual writers, learning the craft or learning about the business.

Either way, Maass has some insightful information if you can apply it, or simply parts of it, to your writing.

I have all three Maass books here, just haven't had time to read them. I'm trying to pull back on reviews at The Book Connection a bit, but I'm not as disciplined as you are. I love reading good books, so even though I know I should say no to requests, I often don't. You should see my office.

I reviewed a tiny book by Aggie Villanueva that is all about rewritting. It's titled The Rewritten Word: How to Sculpt Literary Art No Matter The Genre. Now, I'm one of those crazy writers who enjoys editing, but I think it's great she wrote a book dedicated solely to this topic. It's a great size to keep in your office and won't take up much room on your desk.

It's easy to forget something as simple as an online dictionary, Paula. I use that site all the time when I'm editing because every once in a while a word trips me up--is there a hypen or no?

Thanks for sharing.

This is the website that I write for http://writer2writer.com/ If you visit the time management portion of the site at http://time-management.writer2writer.com/ you'll find many helpful articles on managing your time wisely. I'm not trying to promote myself here. It comes down to being able to help other writers get by the obstacles that stand in their way.

There are tons of other helpful articles on the site that can help you too.

A book every writer should have (and have actually read): "The Copyright Handbook: How to Protect and Use Written Works" by Stephen Fishman.

I'm about halfway through and am very pleased with how straight-forward the writing is. Copyright is a confusing and expansive topic, but something all writers should know about (and most don't). There's lots of examples to help you understand what the author is explaining as well as sample forms. If you buy the newest edition it also comes with a CD-ROM with more forms and detailed info.

I agree with you. I still haven't copyrighted LS. Darn, something else to put on my to-do list.

My publisher does not file the copyright for you, which reminds me, I haven't done it yet. According to the copyright office's website, if you file by paper it takes 15 months, but if you e-file, that time is 4 1/2 months.

I've never heard of 2 Moon before. Where did you hear about them?

Why would you need a copyright if it isn't a completed work--cover and all?