7 Best Articles This Week for Writers 11/26/2010

Inspiration

• The Powerful 'P' Words [The New Author] More Ps for your writing life. And yes, patience is still here.
• Symbolism Thesaurus Entry: Beauty [The Bookshelf Muse] Infuse your writing with symbols for beauty.
• Psychology in Writing: Front Page News [NouveauWriter] Finding inspiration for fiction in papers and magazines.
• Distraction Free Writing [Write Anything » Distraction Free Writing] Four tips to make your writing stronger.
• Becoming An Indie Author: Is Success Based On Luck? [The Creative Penn] Reaching success- no magic necessary.
• Agent Mary Kole On: Putting In the Time to Become a Good Writer [Guide to Literary Agents] First, 'you’ve got to write about a million bad words.'
• 10 Authors Whose Novels Took Over 5 Years to Write and Publish (Updated Post) [Wavy Lines] Great inspiration from writers who took a while to finish.
• Better Writing Habits: A 31-Day Makeover Challenge [Write It Sideways] YAY! A great way to kick off the writing year in 2011.
• The middle is a lonely road, unless you're not alone [The Misadventures In Candyland] Great new perspective on the journey.
• Architecture, Writing and Life: Three things that should be hard work. [Claire King] To build is to reveal your soul. Fabulous.
• 4 Reasons Why Best Sellers Get to Suck & You Don’t [A. Victoria Mixon, Editor] Write because you love to write.
• Three Writers on Writing and Creativity [How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book] Three pick-me-ups for the holiday.
• What?! A Real Post About Writing?! [Carol's Prints] 'You have to write the story you love.'
• Don't Write Everyday [Elana Johnson, Author] Living is important, too.
• Writers Need This Quality To Reach Publication [Author, Jody Hedlund] Perseverance and it's main ingredients.
• Finding Courage to Write – 6 Ways to Cope With Writing Fears [Quips and Tips for Successful Writers] Because writing requires bravery.
• Motivation to Write – How Writers Get and Stay Motivated [Quips and Tips for Successful Writers] Six tips you'll want to read.

Craft of Writing

• Conflict, Keep It Up Front, WAY Up Front [tracy edward wymer] The first sentence matters.
• Basics 101 : Character Creation [Write Anything] Given life, characters pursue experiences you would never dare.
• The Pathway to Showing Emotion [Seeing Creative] Use all the tools, action, dialogue, physical reaction, imagery, thought, and yes, even telling.
• What Should a "Short Bio" Include? [Writer's Digest Questions and Quandaries] Stick to this formula and you'll make editors happy.
• Word Count to the Wise: Handling Your Word Count [The Other Side of the Story] Word counts are your friend.
• Brainstorming--Shannon Style [Shannon Whitney Messenger] Getting your ideas and inspiration organized.
• What is the theme of your novel? Miriam Halahmy [An Awfully Big Blog Adventure] Knowing your theme will focus your writing and pitch.
• How to write when you've got nothing to say [James Killick's Blog] The secret to having words come out faster than you can type.
• What Makes a Book Series GREAT? [Write-Brained] Four ingredients in the recipe for success.
• Find Your Plot Fridays: At the Core: The Premise and How it Ties it all Together [The Other Side of the Story] Interesting way to tie subplots to core premise.
• Revisions Week - Characters [unedited] Beginning a character collage.
• A Dark Force Invades the World of Children’s Literature: A Tale of Two James Freys [Anne R. Allen's Blog] Three tips--what do you think?
• List of dialogue tags [Dark Angel Fiction Writing] Sherry lists all the tags you shouldn't use.
• Here's what's wrong with writing 'simple' stories [Time to Write] A word in favor of 3D - adding meaning and drama for a new dimension.
• Letting Action Define Your Characters [The Kill Zone] Five tips for improving your novel.
• Concept Defined [See Scott Write » Concept Defined] Love, love, love the six core competencies!
• How to avoid the research distraction trap [Time to Write] An excellent tip for writing now and researching later.
• Guest Post: Degree Options for Aspiring Writers [NouveauWriter] Educational options to help you improve your craft.
• Agent Donald Maass On: Your Tools for Character Building [Guide to Literary Agents] Three tips to help you transform your first five pages--and the rest of your ms.
• Detail your settings Disney style... [The Secret Archives of the Alliterati] Spice them up and make them 3-D.
• Outlining: Straightjacket Or Lifeline? [www.publetariat.com] What do you think?
• Chekhov’s Gun – How to Make this Technique Work for You [Let The Words Flow] Fantastic perspective--what NOT to include in your novel.
• Publishing — The Synopsis [Magical Words] How to craft yours using Stuart's powerful process.

Self-Editing

• Friends Don't Let Friends Overwrite* [* Fiction Groupie *] Seven things to look for in your own writing.
• A Tiny Note on Style [Through The Wardrobe] Murder your darlings. Directly from the source.
• Getting Some Distance from Our Words [Mystery Writing is Murder] Four ways to get perspective.
• Re-Write Wednesday: Re-Envisioning a Scene Without Rewritting it: Guest Blogger Juliette Wade [The Other Side of the Story] Changing motivation and meaning without changing dialogue or action.
• Tip Tuesday #64 [Literary Rambles] More excellent tips for effective writing.
• 7 Tips for Editing Your Way to the Best Story on the Planet [Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors] Seven good posts on editing, rewriting, and accepting criticism.
• Verb Agreement with Compound Subjects [edittorrent] Easy-peasy breakdown on this grammar issue.
• Use the Reverse Dictionary: NaNoWriMo Tip #18 [GalleyCat] Good tip!
• Being in love with a fictional character is probably not a good thing. But I'm not really in a position to judge. [Steph Bowe's Hey! Teenager of the Year] Does it happen to you while writing?

Critiquing

• Desperately needed: Distance [Writer Unboxed] Important reminder about critiquing, editing, and putting your work in a drawer.

To Market

• Getting The Call Means Your Work Gets Harder [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Be sure you are ready to go pro.
• Agent Spotlight: Ann Behar [Literary Rambles] Looking for children's PB to YA as long as it's beautifully written.
• How To Write A Back Blurb For Your Book [www.publetariat.com] Nine things commonly included--with examples.
• How To Write A 1-Page Synopsis [Let The Words Flow] Fill in the blank worksheet!!!!
• Agent Kimberly Shumate On: How to Create a Professional Submission [Guide to Literary Agents] Excellent list of Do's and Don'ts
• Ultimate Blog Series on Novel Queries (#9) [There Are No Rules] Read actual queries with revision suggestions.
• New Agent Alert: Molly Jaffa of Folio Literary [Guide to Literary Agents] Looking for YA/MG that challenge the reader intellectually.
• Project to Published: Querying Publishers Directly [Emma Michaels] Good idea or bad?
• Breaking up is hard to do [Call My Agent!] But before you pull the plug on your agent...
• Agent Michelle Brower On: 10 Tips for Attending Writers Conferences [Guide to Literary Agents] Don't be a pushy pitcher.
• Smaller Presses, Bigger Authors [www.publetariat.com] Where does the midlist author go today?
• Interview with Senior Editor at Dial: Liz Waniewski [Market My Words] Wonderful interview plus great summary of Dial's list.
• Best Literary Agents on Twitter [GalleyCat] Work in progress.
• Online Pitches [Writers' Ally aka ➔ sa larsenッ] Seven easy steps to an online pitch.
• Making the Most of Media Exposure [BookEnds, LLC — A Literary Agency] Don't give up when you've got requests, you're getting closer.
• If You Can't Define Your Genre - How do you expect us to market it? [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Is it something an agent can sell?
• NeoAgent YAHighway Interview [Neverending Page Turner] Insight from Elizabeth Jote and Kathleen Ortiz.
• Agent Spotlight: Victoria Marini [Literary Rambles] Good opportunity for YA, commercial, mystery and NF writers. Loves paranormal & edgy.
• Agent Terry Burns On: When NOT To Stand Out From the Crowd [Guide to Literary Agents] Follow submission guidelines.
• Publishers That Accept Writers Without Agents – IFWG Publishing [BubbleCow] Speculative fiction, horror, SF and fantasy. YA, adult, and children's.

Social Media, Twitter, and Blogging

• Seven Tips on How to Build a Following Online [Nathan Bransford] Excellent advice for any blogger.
• Five questions you should ask about your online brand [OJR] Start with your 1st online post.
• 23 (More) Websites That Make Your Writing Stronger [www.publetariat.com] In case you missed this post on Write It Sideways.
• The Power of the Internet – A Modern Day Social Media Morality Tale [Author Marketing Experts, Inc. » BLOG] A lesson in playing nice online.

Just for Smiles

• OMG! Did You Hear About Nathan? [Rachelle Gardner, Literary Agent] Fascinating interview and continuing faith in the future of books.
• Dear James Frey: Suck It, or, Writing and Fear [Myra McEntire] EXCELLENT reasons to hate James Frey's "writing factory."
• Why Alpha Males are ASSHOLES [Hello Ello] Great post about stereotypes and unrealistic characters.
• 15 Writers [Ingrid's Notes] Who are your writerly influences?
• Write or Die for Motivation: NaNoWriMo Tip #24 [GalleyCat] Need someone to nag you into writing?
• The Nine Circles of Writing Hell [Nathan Bransford] Too darn funny to pass up!
• Revision Makeovers [Written In Lipstick] What makeover type are you?
• The Many P’s of Publishing [.W.I.P. It] Four more P's that go along with Practice,Perseverance, Patience, and Perspiration. Can you guess?
• Query as haiku [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] You have to see these.
• When we talk about clueless, this is what we mean [Janet Reid, Literary Agent] This one you have to see.

After the Sale

• Lessons from a Reading [Getting Past the Gatekeeper] What NOT to do at a book talk.
• Your Manuscript is Ready. Are you? [Ingrid's Notes] Recap of the excellent SCBWI-LA session with Jill Alexander and Michael Bourret.

Book Reviews

• Book Review: Wildwing by Emily Whitman [Novel Novice] 'Escapist fantasy at its very best.'
• Matched by Ally Condie [Frenetic Reader] 'Fabulous world-building and enticing writing.'
• Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick -- Review [Reading, Writing and Waiting] If you like naughty bad-boy angels, this is the book for you.
• Torment by Lauren Kate --Review [Reading, Writing and Waiting] Stronger character action and familiar faces.
• Review: Invisible Things [In Bed With Books] Dark secrets, an eve-of-war setting, eye-opening start, but not as much of a page-turner as expected.
• Fiction Friday: WHEN YOU REACH ME [Writer on the Side] Couldn't agree more on this glowing review!

Congrats

• National Book Award Winners for 2010 [GalleyCat] Four great book picks!
• Congratulations to Greyhaus Author [Babbles from Scott Eagan] Congratulations, Helen Lacey!

Contests

• Kick Bridget's cancer! [Natural/Artifical — Stephanie Perkins] Donate for a good cause and win Anna and the French Kiss!
• Want an ARC of Supernaturally? [Kiersten Writes] Be the first to win- and it's for a good cause!
• Interview & Giveaway with Caridad Ferrer, Author of When The Stars Go Blue! [THE BOOK BUTTERFLY] Great interview. Enter by 12/5 for chance to win.
• Get A Partial Read by Agent Sara! [* Fiction Groupie *] Opportunity for 30-page read.

 Other Weekly Round-Ups:

• 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