Writing Links: Blogs For Writers

Yesterday someone asked what blogs I read. "Ah hah!" I exclaimed, frightening the cat trying to drape itself over my keyboard, "That would make an excellent subject for a blog post!"

These are the blogs I read most often. (Links are listed in no particular order.)

Blogs On The Craft Of Writing

- A Newbies Guide to Publishing
- Dean Wesley Smith
- Kris Writes
- The Passive Voice Blog
- Elizabeth S. Craig (Elizabeth also tweets links to fantastic articles about writing.)

More Blogs On Writing

- The Other Side of the Story
- Lindsay Buroker
- The Creative Penn
- Jim C. Hines
- Storyfix (screenwriting)
- The Script Lab (screenwriting)
- Writer Beware Blogs
- Terribleminds (Chuck Wendig is a terrific writer--and his blog is worth reading for that alone--but Chuck's posts are rarely PG 13.)
- Writer Unboxed
- Nathan Bransford's Blog
- John Ward (This isn't a link to a blog, it's to John's Google+ feed. John doesn't always post about writing but he has great content. He is head of a sprawling, very active, Google+ community of writers.

Blogs About Topics Related To Writing

- Penelope Trunk's Blog (What I like most about Penelope's blog is that she gives lots of links and they are almost always quirky and interesting.)
- Seth Godin's Blog

I'm sure I've missed many great blogs. If I missed yours, sorry!

Which writing blogs to do you read? Where do you get your inspiration from?

Other articles you might like:

- Ready. Set. Write!
- The Structure Of Short Stories
- Getting Ready for 2013: A Writer's Guide

Photo credit: "READING A BOOK.." by LUNARIX-PIX under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0.

Writing Resources

Writing Resources

I thought I'd try something different and share a few links. Originally I was going to share 5 or 6 but I kept finding more!

 1. The Hero's Journey: giving your story structure
- Blake Snyder's beat sheet. A fabulous explaination of Blake Snyder's beat sheet is here: Save The Snyder – The Blake Snyder Beat Sheet of Structure.
- Michael Hauge's hero's journey. I had the pleasure of hearing Michael Hauge talk about the Hero's Journey. Excellent! He also explains it here: The Five Key Turning Points Of All Successful Scripts.
- The inner journey. Janice Hardy has a terrific article going into more depth about what Michael Hauge has to say about the inner journey: The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Inner Conflict That Make Sense.
- Your story: where to begin
- The hero's journey: an interactive illustration
- The hero's journey: summary of the steps
- Story structure: What is it and why should I care?
- Jim Butcher: how to write a story

2. Outlining
- Dan Wells On Writing A Short Story
- Outline your novel in 30 minutes
- Novel Outlining 101
- Chekhov's Gun
- How to write a romance novel

3. Character Building
- Here are 10 ways of building your characters. 
- Web Resources for Developing Characters. Dozens of personality tests you can use for character building.
- A character sheet. Another character sheet. Do you know your character's eye color? Their favorite desert?
- Build your character! Here you'll find there quizzes. See how well you know your character.
- Interview your character: Interviewing Characters: Follow the Energy
- Different kinds of antagonists: Villains are people, too, but ...
- Character writing exercises

4. Dialog
- Robert J. Sawyer, Speaking of Dialog
- All Your Characters Talk The Same — And They’re Not A Hivemind!

5. Names
- Medieval Names Archive
- Behind the Name: the etymology and history of first names

6. Idea generators
- 36 dramatic situations
- 200 plot ideas

7. Conflict
- Does your story have enough conflict? Give it a conflict test.
- Plot without conflict

Miscellaneous Links:
- 102 Resources for Fiction Writing
- The Uncomfortable Pantser: When Your Method Doesn't Fit Your Personality.

Are there any links you'd like to add?

Other articles you might like:
- Five steps to better proofreading
- Writing: The Starburst Method, Part 1
- Thinking of becoming an indie author? Some tips

Photo credit: Macskafaraok