Best Articles This Week for Writers 6/18/2010

Want to know what's happening around the blogosphere? Here's our weekly round-up of new articles and some older things we happened to find on our travels. Do you have an announcement, article, or good news we missed? Please comment and let us know!

Inspiration

• Don't Let Writing Excuses Accumulate [The Excuse Editor] Why excuses can pile up like junk in a hoarder's household, and how to dig yourself out.
• @Janet_Reid: How She Stopped Worrying and Finally Found The One [Grab a Pen] Tahereh interviews Janet Reid (in only a way Tahereh can) about querying.
• Procrastination [YA Highway] Great discussion about setting a writing goal, then rewarding yourself with all of those fun online diversions!
• Struggling with Feelings of Failure [Jody Hedlund] Juggling guilt, family, responsibilities, and writing highs and lows.
• Inspiration Strikes [YA Edge] Tracy Belsher describes how she keeps inspiration around her in her 'Writer's Cave.'
• How I Got My Agent [Guide to Literary Agents] Shannon Whitney Messenger talks about landing representation with Laura Rennert of Andrea Brown.
• Climbing A Tree, Uncovering a Duck: Writers on Writing [The Millions via @TheCreativePenn] Writers provide their favorite writing metaphors. Great read!
• 20 Writing Secrets My English Teachers Never Taught Me [Muse Inks] Some excellent stuff here. Read it!
• Christie Craig on Writing Advice [BookEnds, LLC] Published author shares advice she's glad she ignored.
• Facing Our Fears [Jody Hedlund] Evaluating the power of fear in your writing life.
• Manuscript Moodswings [Mystery Writing is Murder] Do you swing between loving your manuscript and hating it? Elizabeth Craig sympathizes and provides links to the two fantastic articles below.
• Writing a Novel: A Love Story [Libba Bray via @ElizabethCraig] Libba's analogy between a passionate love affair and the process of writing and revision. Incredible!
• How We Write: The Phases of the Writer [Writing Roads via @ElizabethCraig] Nine phases we all go through. Can you think of any more?
• Writer's Courage [Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers] Courage is potentially the most critical character trait in the business of writing.

The Craft of Writing

• The Hero's Journey - Parts 1 to 10 [Justus R. Stone] A detailed explanation of the classic heroic structure of a novel. Excellent!
• Change Is Key to Powerful Character Arcs [WORDplay] K.M. Weilland helps us make sure our character is changing throughout our story.
• WriteOnCon - The Big Reveal! [Literary Rambles] Casey McCormick announces an AWESOME online writing conference being held. Did we mention it's free???
• How to Give Your Characters the Perfect Name [Writer's Digest] What you call your characters could influence your readers’ perceptions of them. Here are some factors to consider in finding the perfect match.
• Guiding the Reader's Eye [Not Enough Words via @Doallas] Using low-contrast and high-contrast scenes to showcase what's important in a scene.
• Change is Key to Powerful Character Arcs [Wordplay] K.M. Weiland describes how to make your characters memorable by giving them the tools for powerful growth.
• Thinking Outside the Character Sheet [Bookshelf Muse] Angela does it again. Discover who your characters are in unconventional ways.
• Plot Trick: Showing Character Emotion, Not Telling [Plot Whisperer for Writers and Readers] Allowing your character's actions to reveal their emotions.
• Invisible Tension [Writer Unboxed via @notjustanyboggs] Donald Maass describes how to make your novel compelling line by line. Must read!
• Tip Tuesday #41 [Casey McCormick] Lisa Nowak gives a quick tip for managing subplots.
• Keep Your Middle From Sagging [The Literary Lab] Scott G. F. Bailey strikes gold here. Trust me and just read it.
• How to Develop a Novel's Plot [C. Patrick Schulze] Walk sequentially through what ought to happen in your book.
• Write from Your Heart? or Follow Trends? [CBA Ramblings] Rachelle Gardner explains how to balance these two competing interests.
• She's a B*tch, She's a Lover: Writing a Kickass Heroine [*Fiction Groupie*] How to write an awesome heroine, while staying realistic.
• Character Emotion Makes the Plot [Socialpolitan] Martha Alderson reminds writers of the importance of showing emotion and growth through character action.
• World Building: The Little Things [YA Highway] Why it's important to flesh out the world you're creating.
• The Emotional Side of Setting [C. Patrick Schulze] Maximizing your setting to evoke a richer story.
• Is Quirky a Good Thing? [Editorial Anonymous] When quirky characters go wrong.

To Market

• 5 Myths You Shouldn't Believe About Agents [Writer's Digest]  Buckle your seatbelts. Some of these may suprise you.
• Agents Tell All in DC [Guide to Literary Agents] Paige Wheeler, Shannon O'Neill, and Suzie Townsend offer tips and share Q&A.
• Do Editors Change Their Minds? [Behler Blog via @ElizabethCraig] And editor shares what can [rarely] happen when a manuscript is good but needs help from outside forces to get a push in marketing. Think this article through from the opposite perspective, and it provides a lot of insight into the process.
• Working as an Author and Illustrator Team Before Submission [Kidlit.com] Why this may not be the best idea for picture book submissions.
• What It Takes to Be an Agent [BookEnds, LLC] Jessica and Kim break it down reality-check style.
• 4-Sentence Synopsis [The Write Stuff] Megan Rebekah shares the simple formula!
• Differing Advice on Signing with an Agent [CBA Ramblings] Rachelle Gardner opens an interesting discussion on types of agent agreements.
• Agents Are Not Just Gatekeepers [Nathan Bransford] Agents were around way back when publishers accepted unsolicited submissions, and they will continue to have a role when e-publishing directly is a simple option for authors.
• Prequerying [Kidlit.com] Mary Kole made us feel much better when she gave us a glimpse of what unfortunately crosses her e-mail inbox.
• 5 Lies Unpublished Writers Tell Themselves (and the Truths That Can Get Them Published) [Guide to Literary Agents] Matt Mikalatos opens our eyes... wide.

Congratulations

• To Lisa McMann on the news about the WAKE movie deal. Simply awesome.
• To Rachel Hawkins on the Hyperion Deal for REBEL BELLE in a 3-book deal.
• Rachel Renee Russell for the sale of DORK DIARIES Books 3 & 4 to Aladdin.
• Elizabeth Miles for the debut sale of her paranormal trilogy FURY to Simon Pulse.
• Lisa Bigelow for her deal for STARTING FROM HERE with Marshall Cavendish.
• Georgina Bloomberg and Cathy Hapka for their sale of THE A CIRCUIT -- a YA horse series YAY!!!!
• Cat Hellisen for the sale of her debut fantasy SEA ROSE RED to Farrar, Straus.

Contests

• WriteOnCon: The Contest [Lisa and Laura Write] These lovely ladies kick off the WriteOnCon announcement with a contest!
• Win Iron King by Julie Kagawa and a $25 Visa Gift Card [Undercover Book Lover]
• Delirium and The Eternal Ones ARC Giveaway [Roots in Myth] PJ Hoover gives away great books!

Critiquing

• Dealing With Contradictory Feedback [CBA Ramblings] Rachelle Gardner helps us to discern feedback we receive from crtique group members, as well as professionals.
• Good News/Bad News [CBA Ramblings] Jody Hedlund guest blogs about balancing positive and negative feedback.
• To Take Advice or Not to Take Advice? That is the Question. [Angels and Demons and Portals. Oh My!] J.A. Souders helps us decide which advice is worth taking.

Trends and Issues

• What If? On Indie Publishing [The Creative Penn] Guest blogger Amy Edelman from Indie Reader poses (and answers) some questions about IndieReader.com and the importance and future of independent publishing.
• Libraries are the Torch of the World [Libba Bray] "Libraries are a force for good. They wear capes. They fight evil. They don’t get upset when you don’t send them a card on their birthdays. (Though they will charge you if you’re late returning a book.) They serve communities. The town without a library is a town without a soul." And budget cuts across the country are robbing us of these magical gateways to knowledge and other worlds. Read this article to see how you can help!
• Paranormal Lives On [Dystel & Goderich] Attention all YA writers! Check it out.

Twitter, Blogging and Social Media

• Generating Comments Through Stupidity and Self-Deprecation [Constant Revision] Simon C. Larter talks about the ways to increase commenting on your blog.   
• 40 Twitter Hastags for Writers [Daily Writing Tips]  Where in the Twitterverse to look for anything related to writing, writers, and authors.
• ARC Tours [Forever Young: A YA Lit Blog] Jessica clearly went to kindergarten because she sure knows how to share! This is a very generous post about getting your hands on ARCs.
• Get More Done: Easy Tools for Greater Efficiency [Nathan Bransford] Who doesn't need more time?

Just for Smiles

• About English Idioms [via @EditorMark] Regularly takes an idiom and explains its history and useage.
• Are You Ready to Publish Your Novel? [New York Times, Paper Cuts via @AnnMazer] A great poster and some light hearted fun with suprisingly pithy writing advice embedded within. Read carefully.
• 50 Query Tricks: Are You Brave Enough to Try #43? [Grab a Pen] Tahereh does it again. Hysterical.
• Women Who Rock Wednesday [Teen Fiction Cafe] A new series featuring amazing women writers. This week, YA author Wendy Tolliver.
• Slush Pile Hell [via @DanielLiterary] A grumpy literary agent wades through query fails. Laugh until you cry.
• What 81% of Agents Expect on the First Page [Grab a Pen] Seriously, Tahereh. Where do you come up with this stuff?

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