20 Best Articles This Week for Writers 7/9/10

Here's the round-up of new articles and some older posts we found on our trips around the blogosphere this week. Do you have an announcement, article, or good news we missed? Please comment and let us know!

Inspiration

• 13 Tips For Actually Getting Some Writing Done [Huffington Post via @AdviceToWriters] Practical tips for getting your butt in the chair. 
• What Now? [Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers] Martha Alderson gives us a pat on the back, and then a swift kick in the you-know-what.
• Breaking The Rules Of Modeling And Publishing: Interview With Isobella Jade [The Creative Penn] Interesting interview about overcoming the odds.
• How to Become a Better Writer: 11 Completely Non-Writing-Related Ideas [CBA Ramblings] Things you should do as a writer that have nothing to do with actually writing.
• 5 Things to Celebrate About Finishing Your First Draft [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] Positive reflections as you reach this milestone.
• How to Find Plot Ideas [Jody Hedlund] Jody talks about getting her ideas for writing and invites discussion about how other authors get inspired.
• A Little Thing Called Catastrophizing [Between Fact and Fiction] Just keep going.
• On Writing [Cornell DeVille] Fabulous collection of writing quotes.
• Rise of the Lightning Thief [Dystel & Goderich] Exploration of author Rick Riordan's move from mid-list adult writer to... well, you know the rest.
• The Freedom to Write [Mandy Hubbard] A timely reminder that as hard as we have it trying to get a novel published in the U.S., we are lucky to live in a country where we are free to write whatever we like.

 
The Craft of Writing

• 20 Questions to Ask About About Symbolism and Theme [yingle yangle via @elizabethscraig] Wonderful post about these less-explored aspects of fiction.
• How to Write Your Novel's Hook [C. Patrick Schulze] Expansive list of options for getting your story's opening just right.
• The Basics of Fiction [Jennifer Crusie's blog: Argh Ink via @elizabethscraig] In a word-wow! Jennifer Cruisie is always a great read.
• The Most Important Sentence: How to Write a Killer Opening [Fuel Your Writing via @CPatrickSchulze] Crafting the biggest bang in your first sentence.
• 9 Questions to Ask Your Main Character [Writer's Digest] Get inside your MC using these questions.
• How to Part a Fool From His Money [Plot to Punctuation] Detailed discussion on manipulating the fortune of your MC.
• Do You Know How Your Story Ends? [Lia Keyes] Sometimes it's better to start with the ending.
• How to Pick the Right Point of View for Your Novel [Plot to Punctuation via @elizabethscraig] The impact different viewpoints have on your story.
• Finding Your Writing Voice [Chip MacGregor] How to let your voice shine through in your writing.
• The Magic of Setting [YA Highway] Excellent information on setting courtesy of Kirsten Hubbard.
• How to Master Setting in Novels [C. Patrick Schulze] Another great craft post!
• How Many POVs Are Too Many [Wordplay] K.M. Weiland explores choosing POVs and the impact it may have on your story.
• Let's Get it On: Overcoming Performance Anxiety [Don't Pet Me, I'm Writing] How to tackle writing love scenes.
• Superstition & Signs: Good Luck [Bookshelf Muse] Objects in your setting can be used to our advantage as writers.
• Why Smart Characters Make Dumb Mistakes [Plot to Punctuation via @AngelaAckerman] Describes the bandwagon effect, the isolation effect, and the confirmation effect to help you get a handle on why your characters may screw up--and how to make those screw-ups logical to the reader.
• The YA Balancing Act [Genreality via @LisaGailGreen] How to strike the right balance between world building, independence, racy content, and current content.
• Plot Reversals Shown in Scene [Socialpolitan via @WritingCraft] Plot guru Martha Alderson describes how and when to apply the three major plot reversals and talks about using a scene tracker to help keep track of all your threads by scene.
• How Much Research Should Make It Into Your Novel [Heather's Odyssey] No matter how much fascinating research you've accumulated, you can only include it if it means something to the novel.

Self-Editing 

• Paper Rater: Free Online Grammar Checker, Proofreader, and More [via @EvaMcWriting] Terrific tool for self-editing. 
• Why I Don't Care About Grammar (and Why You Should Stop Worrying) [There Are No Rules] Jane Friedman encourages us all to chill out already.
• Ode to the Semicolon [Landless via @TheWritersDen] Quick rundown on using this punctuation mark.
• Keeping Track of Details [CBA Ramblings] Useful advice for any writer to ensure they're consistent.
• How Many Characters Is Too Many in Chapter One? [Dear Editor] Editor and author Deborah Halverson compares the first chapter to a party, pointing out that you focus on a few characters at a time instead of the entire room.
• The Secret to Writing & Publishing That Should Be Taped to Your Wall [Writer's Digest] Jane Friedman gives you a rule of thumb about how long it takes to get perspective on the commercial appeal and marketability of your work.

Critiquing

• How to Critique in Fiction Writing Workshops [eHow.com] A good review of basic steps in giving critiques.
• On Finding Those Pesky Critique Groups [Advanced Fiction Writing] A breakdown of your needs by your status on the author-journey. Are you a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior?
• Critical Reading: Why learn to Analyze Fiction? [Kaye Dacus] Guest blogger MaryAnn Diorio, Ph.D. breaks reading into structural understanding, language understanding, character formation, and theme recognition. For those writers without a background in comparative lit, this is a basic foundation for assessing your own work and the work of other writers.

 
To Market

• The 3-Format Future of Books [High Spot, Inc. via @CPatrickSchulze] How will books look down the road? 
• How Authors Can Participate in Marketing Even When They Don't Like Selling [Jody Hedlund] Approaches to marketing your book that are within your reach.
• Query Series: Kristin Otts & Michelle Andelman [YA Highway] See what makes a query work.
• One Last Self-Publishing Post [Kidlit] Mary Kole presents part 3 in a discussion about self-publishing versus traditional publishing. Post 1 and post 2 can be read, as well.
• I Loved Your Wedding Ceremony; the Decorations Were Gorgeous! Want to Read My Manuscript?[Editorial Anonymous] Valid response to a difficult question about approaching an old acquaintance for representation.
• Deciphering Your Publishing Contract [Help! I Need a Publisher!] Nicola Morgan passes along a must-see resource for writers.
• Carolee: Interview with Simon Pulse Executive Editor - Anica Rissi [Crowe's Nest] Insightful interview on submissions, voice, and upcoming releases.
• Querying is a Game [Elana Johnson] And don't we know it!
• Agent Spotlight: Ginger Clark [Literary Rambles] *Jaw on the floor* at the sight of this awesome profile!
• "Here's my revision, will you read it?": How to Submit A New Draft [Getting Past the Gatekeeper]Now THIS is interesting. How to submit your revised manuscript.
• How to Pitch an Agent [C. Patrick Schulze] Think of a pitch as a brochure -- and remember that brochures are all about the emotional tug.
• Query Letter Writing for Book Authors [The Freelance Writing Jobs via @PublishingGuru] State what you're asking for, express your passion, explain why you and/or your book are different, explain how you're qualified, and name drop if you can.
• The Rejection Ballet [Rachelle Gardner] Daniel Friedman explains why form rejections are carefully crafted to pass the buck to another agent.

Congratulations

• Celebrate Ling & Ting!!!!! [Blue Rose Girls] Grace Lin's adorable early reader releases to great reviews!
• Happy Birthday to Me! Or, The Year in Review: Part 1 [Pimp My Novel] Yay for PMN's one-year anniversary!
• Janet Gurtler's THE WEIGHT OF BONES to Sourcebooks! [Jill Corcoran Books] This twist on My Sister's Keeper has sold for publication in 2012.
• My BIG News! [Anna Staniszewski] Yay! Anna sells her first book, MY UN-FAIRY TALE LIFE!
• Anita Laydon Miller signs with Nelson Literary Agency! [via Editorial Ass]
• Stephanie Blake's middle grade novel THE MARBLE QUEEN sells to Marshall Cavendish! [via Editorial Ass]

 
Contests

• 500 Followers of Summer Contest [Reading Teen] Must-see prizes!
• Giveaway: Girlparts & The Candidates [WORD for Teens] Enter to win great ARCs!
• It Starts. [Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!] Don't forget to check out the secret agent contest!
• Next Up-- Query Competition!! [Coming Down from the Mountain] Critiques as prizes. Need we say more?
• Bring On The Funny [Between Fact and Fiction] Natalie serves up an awesome funny ha-ha contest!
• Announcing our first ever “ONE to WIN on” contest!!! [MiG Writers via Inkygirl] Enter your one sentence summary for an excellent critique prize.
• TORMENT by Lauren Kate ARC Giveaway [Roots in Myth] P.J. Hoover gives away a fabulous ARC.
• Oh, the PRIZES [Edited to Within an Inch of my Life] Win much-anticipated books!
• I Have a Shiny New ARC [Kiersten Writes] So many good books to win!
• Guest Post by Courtney Allison Moulton, Plus GIVEAWAY [YA Highway] Oooh...
• Pesky Pixies [Paranormal Point of View] Lisa Gail Green gives away a prize of your choice. 

Trends and Issues

• Don't Ask Me About Trends [CBA Ramblings] Rachelle Gardner talks about why she doesn't like to pay too much attention to trends in publishing. 
• Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing: The 15% Myth [Dean Wesley Smith via @TheCreativePenn] A long-time author addresses all the issues of agenting. Is it worth getting an agent? Does the 15% fee pay for itself? How did the 15% model evolve? What are the alternatives?
• On Agent Pay, Advances, Slush Pile Madness, and Learning to Face Change  [The Swivet] Agent Colleen Lindsay starts a conversation about the role and payment of agents in the current publishing environment. She provides links to further discussion on other blogs.
• Agents Won't Survive Just by Charging a Higher Commission [Writer's Digest] Jane Friedman gives a round-up of discussions on agent pay in an environment where digital publishing alters perspectives.
• Necessary Agent [Poets&Writers] A completely different take on the agent discussion. Jofie Ferrari-Adler reports on conversations with literary agent Molly Friedrich.

Twitter, Blogging, and Social Media

• Creating Reader-Grabbing Blog Post Headlines [Ask the Publishing Guru] How to put urgency into your blog post title. 
• Does Twitter Sell Books? Yes, It Does [Huffington Post via @elizabethscraig] Fauzia Burke explores the impact of Twitter on publishing.
• 4 Proven Steps to Facebook Success [Social Media Examiner] How to take your Facebook page to the next level.
• 5 Reasons Why You Should Respond to Every Comment [Daily Blog Tips via @elizabethscraig] Discussion about the power of commenting in the blogosphere.
• Simple Ways to Get More Visitors to Your Blog or Website [Communicate Value via @Bookgal] Basic ideas that are proven and effective.

Just for Smiles

• Comic: Asking for an Honest Critique [Inkygirl] This will make you smile! 
• New Use for Old Manuscripts [Caroline by Line] Make good use of those pesky old manuscripts.
• Comic: Good and Bad Writing Days [Writer Unboxed via @inkyelbows] We can relate to this one.
• Amazon Reader Reviews [Writing Life Films via @Kerrie_Flanagan] Funny Stuff.
• What Movie Titles Can Do For Your Novel [Michelle Hodkin] Pretty darn funny.
• Billionaire Parody [Some Things I Think] Great parody of Travie McCoy's song Billionaire.
• How Writing Novels is a Little Like Peeing Your Pants [Lisa and Laura Write] Loving this analogy! 
• Querypolitan July 2010 [Grab a Pen] July cover arrives!
• The process of a book: A primer for newbies [Author/Agent Mandy Hubbard via Sisters in Scribe] This is a RIOT!
• Nobody Likes You or Your Writing [The Literary Lab] Thank you, Lady Glamis!

Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• Favorite Tweets for Writers This Week [All About Writing] Nicole Humphrey Cook's round-up of writing tweets.
• Jane Friedman of Writer's Digest also does a wonderful list of best tweets of the previous week. 
• Alice Pope does a Wednesday Tweet Roundup for the SCBWI Children's Market Blog.
• Northern Colorado Writers do This Week in the Writing World every Friday.
• Jennifer Roland does a Writing Roundup on Fridays.
• Ricki Schultz does an "In the Blogosphere" post on Fridays where she lists posts she's stumbled across during the week.
• Elizabeth Craig has started posting a weekly list of all her helpful Twitter posts.
• And don't forget to check Nathan Bransford's blog later this morning for his weekly recap of publishing news and information.
• Saturday Link Party [Forever Young] Jessica rounds up fun and interesting links.
• Stina Linddenblatt does a Cool Links Friday. This week, she caught a lot I wish we had on ours. I know what I'm doing for the next few minutes!
• DuoLit does a weekly list of links with some emphasis on self-publishing and marketing.
• YA Highway's Friday Road Trip hits the high points of the publishing industry, writing craft, submissions process, and other fun stuff.
• Cynthia Leitich Smith at Cynsations does a Cynsational author and book news review.

Did we miss anything? Anyone? Please leave a comment!

Happy reading and joyous writing,

Martina & Marissa