0 This Month for Writers - February 2016

What did the internet bring us in February? More excellent tips for writers! This month, we found 10 tips for shifting your writing dreams into a reality, as well as 10 publishing trends writers should know. We also found advice on how to read like a writer, how to tighten sagging middles, and how to make The Most Important Moment in your story count. Read on, and keep writing!

Writing Life

So you want to be a writer? Are you kept up at night by the stories you need to tell? Are you driven to explore our world through different perspectives and points of view--or perhaps you want to make up your own worlds entirely? But how do you make the leap from writing being a dream and an aspiration, to having stories other people are eager to see? Author Hugh Howey offers ten tips on how to succeed in your writing endeavors, including finding your voice, making a long-term plan, learning to fail, and ... practice, practice, practice. 

Craft of Writing

To be a writer, you need to READ. We've all heard that advice before. But what exactly does it mean to "read like a writer," and how can you make the most effective use of your reading time? Author Kathleen McCleary offers some tips, including how to study others' books to simplify your own storytelling, and how to learn from books that are nothing like what you write. 

The Muddy Middle. Many of us have struggled with those in-between chapters of our stories. When events start complicating, sub-plots emerge, and we're trying to connect all the dots to get to our memorable ends ... how can you keep tensions high and the story moving forward? Janice Hardy of the Fiction University break down five common problems with story middles and details how to avoid each of these pitfalls. 

When it comes to your manuscript, the middle is important. The beginning is important. The end is important. But what is The Most Important Moment? Larry Brooks of The Kill Zone analyzes that crucial point in your story when everything changes, and how to use this moment as a key point in outlining the story. 

On Publishing

We've all heard the advice that we shouldn't write to trends. (This is GOOD advice. Heed it. Don't write what's currently hot, don't write what you think others want to read. Write the stories that YOU need to tell.) Yet publishing is still an industry, writers are still business people ... and there are trends in publishing that we should understand, especially when it comes to marketing our stories. Author Nicholas C. Rossis details ten trends on the marketing side of the industry that all writers should study. After all, if you want to be read, promoting your work is just as important as creating it. 

Did you come across any writing advice gems in the past month? Share them in the comments below!