Resources
The Story Grid Workshop with Shawn Coyne
People like me need structure. Even if I did write my entire NaNoWriMo project by the seat of my pants, I like to know that the overall story spine is there, and that everything works. Listening to the Story Grid podcast all year and working through the book, The...
Using Dictation in Writing
As the old adage goes, "How do you eat an elephant?" One bite at a time. That's how I have been looking at increasing writing speed. When I read Andrew Mayne's "How to Write a Novella in 24 Hours" I recognized that many of his tips were about chipping away at the...
Write To Market: Deliver a Book That Sells
The inventory at Kindle Unlimited continues to grow and I'm glad I splurged at the beginning and paid for a discounted bulk annual price. Chris Fox is a new favorite of mine and this book is no exception. He has a direct informative style that I really appreciate....
Writing a Fight Scene? Get it Right.
Write The Fight Right by Alan Baxter Who doesn't love a little hand to hand combat? Problem is, if you're not a brawler yourself, you could spend hours watching and re-watching television and movie fight scenes but still have difficulty describing it when it comes...
Scene Mapping With Scrivener
So in my last post, I talked about how Rachel Aaron recommends making a scene map. Since I own Scrivener, I imported my MS Word file from NaNoWriMo (100+ pages!) into Scrivener and now I have a great visual way to see my story with the Corkboard view. Here's the...
You Are a Writer (So Start Acting Like One)
You Are a Writer By: Jeff Goins I've raved about Kindle Unlimited before and yet again, I find it yields a treasure trove of good non-fiction resources. Jeff Goins has a massive following for his blog and I actually had no idea who he was, except that people on other...
2K to 10K: Writing Faster (MORE WORDS, YO!)
2K to 10K: Writing Faster, Writing Better, and Writing More of What You Love By Rachel Aaron This is perhaps one of the most useful writing books I’ve come across so far. It is a very practical handbook, with some of the suggestions sounding so obvious that you feel...
Big Magic – A Book for Creatives
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert I am a big fan of audio books. It's great for not only the commute, but also long walks in the evening. Though I wasn't the biggest fan of Eat, Pray, Love, I stumbled upon this gem and I recommend it highly. If you don't have an...
Walking and Dictating Your Novel on Your iPhone
This morning I woke up earlier as part of my NaNoWriMo kickoff. But not too much earlier. Just 30 minutes. Then I had a cup of tea to fortify myself, laced up my Kangaroo sneakers and off I went to start my great American novel. I mean, I was armed with my iPhone 6...
How Do You Write? Podcast
I've really been enjoying Rachael Herron's "How Do You Write?" podcast. It is relatively new, and up to 21 episodes. I'm a knitter and had been following Rachael's knitting blog for years. In 2006, she completed NaNoWriMo and that manuscript was traditionally...
NO PLOT? NO PROBLEM! Review
No Plot? No Problem! Author: Chris Baty This little book is a powerful tool to help frustrated writers get past their perfectionistic, procrastinating tendencies using a secret weapon that works on most of us in our adult professional lives, a deadline. If only we...
Your First 1000 Copies by Tim Grahl – Book Review
So you've written your great novel and you're ready to now start marketing it, right? Well, according to the book launch expert, Tim Grahl, who launched successful authors like Hugh Howie and Charles Duhigg to the NYT Bestseller lists, the best time to start is...