I’m between school semesters, so of course the blogs that shouted “Bookmark me!” this month were almost all on focused on writing, publishing and/or marketing a book. Here are a few of the posts I bookmarked, starting with some humor:
Nick Cross shares definitions of syndromes we writers tend to succumb to. Read NOW if you’re in need of a laugh!
I’ve just discovered that The Creative Penn has podcasts! (Okay, okay, I know I’m a little slow on the uptake.) Here’s a great one on characters by Roz Morris. There’s also a link to a long list of previous podcasts – great for exercise walks!
Margie Lawson from Writers in the Storm has a great post about “What’s the Visual?” She uses that one phrase to get the show-don’t-tell point across – complete with examples from her students’ work. Even if you’re pretty good at showing already, it’s well worth the time to read.
Writers Write has a brilliant one-page visual on writing the dreaded synopsis. They use Pride & Prejudice as an example, which most of us know well enough to see how they apply the concepts.
On the literary magazine side, Lynne Barrett at The Review Review gives an in-depth look at what editors want, what a writer’s task is, and how to handle the different kinds of rejections (and acceptances!)
For those of you who write short personal essays, Midlife Collage holds free contests that actually have a cash prize! Hop on over and have a look.
Chila Woychik gives suggestions on seeking book reviews from outside your circle of usual friends. Great advice for those with books coming out.
Debra Gafford guest-posted over on WG2E about why and how to provide an author newsletter to your subscribers, including everything you ever wanted to know about choosing a mail host to help – especially if you’re techno-challenged!
When you’ve done your writer-education stint, take a break and pop over to Mental Floss for some wonderful foreign words. I love vybafnout (jump out and say boo!) and mamihlapinatapai (as long to define as it is to pronounce) . Why don’t we have a word like Cafune, since I love to do that? And the German word for grief bacon – I could live on grief bacon!
And now that you’re back from browsing some of my May favorites, which did you like best? Do you have any others to recommend? Leave a comment below and share the knowledge!
