Helpful Links Part Deux

Happy February 1st! Wow, this year is going so fast, isn't it? Maybe it's just me but 2013 is flying! I promised before that I would share helpful links about writing whenever I collected enough to make a significant post. Now I have and here they are!

 

The Writing Stage:

• Pacing Dialogue and Action Scenes - From fantasy writer Holly Lisle. She has a great mailing list that sends out writing tips every friday. I would recommend you sign up for that if you are a budding writer. It gives me another reason to look forward to fridays!
• A Simple Way to Create Suspense - Some helpful tips from author Lee Child on how to keep the reader turning those pages.
• Advice - A crime fiction writer's three pieces of simple advice.

 

Stuff to do with agents:

• Ten Surefire Ways to Turn Off a Prospective Agent - An agent's post on what not to do when querying an agent. Have you been guilty of any of the no nos on his top ten list?

 

Other things to consider:

• Apples or Oranges? - A blog post about book series and what to consider if you are planning to write more than one book with the same characters - fixed number or never ending? This is something you might want to consider before you start writing or before you finish your work in progress.
• Traditional Publishing vs Self-Publishing, Pros & Cons - An article which discusses, well what the title says. Good food for thought.
• How Long Should a Book Be? - Ever wondered how long your story should be? How long is too long? How short is too short? This is a great post which breaks down word counts for all kinds of books and genres.
• Literary vs Commercial - Have you also ever wondered what the difference is between literary and commercial fiction? Did you even know there were two such different things? I am a voracious reader, but I had never noted these things before, though it is something I should be aware of as a writer. Sarah LaPolla explains.

 

Motivation:

• Kurt Vonnegut Can Bite Me - A blog post about all the writing rules out there and how you should only really be following one - write! Makes all these links a little useless, but the other point is, take what you can and what you need from the sea of advice.

 

Further food for thought:

• Should books in a series have a "previously on..." summary page? Read author Zoë Marriott's interesting discussion on this hot topic. Having just started reading the third book of a trilogy, months, perhaps a year, after the second book, I tend to find this idea a good one. I had absolutley no clue what was going on anymore and found myself scratching my head through the first pages, furiously trying to remember.On the other hand, if I had just finished reading the second book, then such a page would be a waste of time (and paper). But, you can always skip over that page if that is the case.

 

I hope they were helpful! Good night!