Writing Tips

Just read two great articles from author Hilari Bell. Check them out:

Twisted Plots: the necessary change of direction A snippet: "... a good plot twist isn’t just a story event that the reader didn’t see coming, or something that surprises the protagonist.  In order to change the story’s direction, a plot twist must be something that forces your protagonist to change his plan."

Don’t Skin the Cat: better ways to solve a story problem Another snippet: "...sooner or later you’ll be told that something in your story isn’t working and you should probably cut it. But should you? The answer to that is a solid, definite, maybe. Sometimes you can follow Tim Gunn’s famous advice and Make it work!"

For Writers

Be Your Own Book Doctor--Great revision checklist from Janice Hardy.

Strange Chemistry Unagented Submissions--All YA genres. Deadline is October 31.

30 Writing Tips from Famous Authors

Write Tight

One of the most effective ways to tighten your writing is to eliminate thought verbs and sense verbs--the little filter words that provide an extra layer between your character and the reader. Sometimes these words are necessary, but most of the time cutting them will strengthen your writing, making it less wordy and less passive, without changing the meaning.

Here's a list of some of the culprits: felt, think, know, understand, realize, believe, want, remember, imagine, desire, wonder, watch, look, see, hear, listen, notice, spot, figure, seem.

Also watch out for these empty words: start to, begin to, that, just, really, well.

Quick example:
Change: I watched the girl start to walk across the room.
To: The girl walked across the room.
Or even better: The girl crossed the room.

If you can cut a word/phrase without changing the meaning, you should cut it. Check out this great post by Cheryl Klein for more examples.

And if you can't simply cut the thought verb because it's the only verb in the sentence (something like, "I felt happy"), the sentence should probably be revised anyway. Writers are always told to show instead of tell, and unpacking the sentence as Chuck Palahniuk describes in this post is a great way to do that.

Writing Tips & Advice

Assorted articles I've saved over the past few months with helpful advice for writers:

The Most Important Error: POV

Guide for Inner Conflict

Taking Away Elements to Fix a Scene

Tangled Beat Sheet

Formatting Titles

6 Simple Rituals to Reach Your Potential Every Day

PIXAR's 22 Rules of Storytelling

Awesome Articles

I just read two great posts from Adventures in YA & Children's Publishing. I'm posting them here not only to share with other writers, but also so I'll be able to find them again.

Crafting Memorable Scenes in Fiction 
Contains a great checklist of everything a scene should do and include. Extremely helpful for both first drafts and revisions.

Sometimes Revision Means Rewriting
Debut novelist Talia Vance (SILVER, Flux, 9/8/12) shares her revision-filled journey to publication.

Eliminate the Frame

A simple thing, but so important. Check out this post from Agent Mary Kole for a tip to tighten your writing and make it as strong as possible.

Story Structure

Author Alexandra Sokoloff offers great tips for writers on her blog, especially on story structure.

Here are two story structure checklists to help you hit all the right elements at the right time in your plot. Really great for revising, or when you're stuck. Both checklists contain basically the same info, just presented in different ways:

Narrative structure cheat sheet

Story elements checklist

Check out her blog for complete explanations of each of the elements in her lists. Tons of great info, plus story analysis and breakdowns.

Writing Tips

from author Nicola Morgan

Anyone who is writing a book should read this post. Great advice and reminders, no matter what stage you're at: Crabbit's Tips for Writers - 1: On Writing Fiction 

And a new way to tackle the dreaded synopsis: The key to a synopsis is to forget your book

Writing Advice

Awesome posts from Maggie Stiefvater:

How To Turn a Novel into a Textbook

On Writing

Blood Magic

By Tessa Gratton

I can't write book reviews. Since I worry about being spoilery, everything comes out sounding so generic and vague.

But I adore this book so much, I have to say something. Which is that the things I love about it are both writer things and reader things, so if you are a writer and a reader, someone who loves magic and mystery and romance in a perfectly crafted package, you should find this book and read it too.

Fall in love with the characters, enjoy the twists. And pay attention to how she effortlessly weaves in description, how there is not a word or scene out of place. And then try to do that in your books, too.

Voice

A pitch-perfect post on Voice

Good Advice

Helpful links on revising:

From Agent Sarah LaPolla--
Band-Aids (quick fixes before you query)

From The Intern--
Top 10 Reasons You Should Rewrite That Scene

Recognizing Redundant Scenes

Microsoft Word Tricks

From Agent Mary Kole--
Description Issues

Two Great Posts from Agent Rachelle Gardner

What the Fiction Editor Looks For Part 1 Part 2

Backstory

In critiques lately, I keep referring people to Rachelle Gardner's recent post on backstory. She does an amazing job describing what it is, why it's a problem and how you can fix it. I'm posting the link here for easy reference: http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/10/all-about-backstory.html

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers

By Renni Browne and Dave King Buy this book, if you are a writer that is. I finally bought it after repeatedly seeing it recommended on writing and publishing blogs, so I thought I'd add my recommendation, too. Even though I've heard much of the included information before, I still found it extremely helpful. The examples are great, the explanations clear, and I especially liked their chapter on Show and Tell. The checklists at the end of each chapter are also great tools.