Link Feast For Writers, vol. 16

Writing blogs are a great way to learn about the craft and marketing our work. Enjoy the posts I’ve hoarded, some older, some recent.

 

If You Have Time For Only One Thing:

Interview with Les Edgerton by Richard Godwin (best questions & answers I’ve ever read)

(Thanks for the link, Jenny Hansen!)

 

On Writing

5 Reasons Why Writers Get Bad Advice by Lisa Cron

Mind Your 4Ps and Qs: One Approach to Writing the Character and Plot-Driven Novel by John H. Ritter

5 Tricks To Adapting A Well Known Story For Fiction by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

5 Ways Writing A Novel Is Like A Bread Pudding (plus 2 recipes) by Kristin Nador

Write A Novel Easily Using The Snowflake Method (Bubble Cow)

Thriller Writing Made Easy: 4 Steps To Starting A Thriller (Writer’s Digest) [works for any genre & pantsers too]

Two Magic Words: “What If” by Joe Moore

10 Possible Reasons Why Your Script (or Story) Is Boring by Carson Reeves

Using Tarot In Writing by Raeyn Barclay

Creating Your Hero’s Journey With Tarot Cards by Raelyn Barclay

Designing From Bones: The First Passion of Story by Gene Lempp (what was the first moment when you fell in love with your genre?)

How To Grab The Reader’s Brain by Lisa Cron

The Reader Must Want To Know What Happens Next by Lisa Cron

What Winter’s Bone (Great Movie) And True Grit (Sucked) Are Sorely Missing by Lisa Cron

Character Voices Shouldn’t Sound Like Yours by Beth Hill

Essential Scene Elements Worksheets by Jami Gold (Word & Excel versions)

The Inciting Incident (Good Seed IV) by Donald Maass

Before You Type The End: Creating Emotional Resonance In Your Books by Karen Schravemade

5 Romance Writing Tips by Sarah MacLean

Rehearsal Notes For Your Rough Draft by Angie Dicken

Do I Have To Kill My Darlings? 5 Self-Editing Steps You Should Take Before An Editor Or Agent (Wise Ink)

7 Ways You Give Away Your Power – And How To Avoid It by Rachelle Gardner

Writers & Writer-Adjacent People: The Hermit Myth by Fabio Bueno

Traveling Tips & Doo-Dads For Writers by August McLaughlin

3 Reasons To Read Lisa Cron’s Wired For Story by Suzannah Winsdor Freeman

Movie Review: Prometheus by Carson Reeves (he reads movie scripts as a profession)

 

Your Author Platform

Authors: Stop Promoting To Other Writers by April Hamilton

Readers Face The Slush Pile: A Few Hard Truths by Roni Loren (what causes reader cynicism and how to get around it)

When Building A Significant Social Media Following May Not Work by J. Steve Miller

How Much Does Self-Publishing Cost by Toni at DuoLit

5 Ways To Save Money In Self-Publishing (And NOT Compromise Quality) (Wise Ink)

Splurge & Save: How To Be A Thrifty Indie Writer by Shannon at DuoLit

Who Understands Story Better: Writers Or The Marketers? by Lisa Cron

Michael Hyatt’s Lessons From “Platform: Get Noticed in a Noisy World” by Ali Luke

Marketing Essentials Every Writer Should Know by Zachary Petit

Marketing For New Authors by Jillian Dodd

5 Ways To Market Your Book by Angela Ackerman

Amazon For Dummies (Like Me) – Liking & Tagging Explained by Derek Blass

Tips For A Successful Kickstarter Campaign by Jason Stratford

Making Full Use Of Goodreads by Lia Kays

Top 10 Awards For Indie Authors (Wise Ink)

 

Blogging

Using Visualization To Write Great Hooks by Nathan Kash

7 Book Writing Tricks That Work For Blogs (Wise Ink)

3 Simple Strategies That Add Value To Your Blog by Frank Dickinson

The Art (And Science) Of Neck-Snapping Headlines by Adam Costa

Speedy Blog Writing by Tom Ewer

5 Steps To Telling Engaging Stories On Your Blog by Judy Lee Dunn

The Secret Of Writing Funny by Annie Binns

Is This The Perfect Blog Post? [Infograph] by Jason Keath

How Formulas Can Make You A Better Blogger (Blog World)

7 Keys To Scoring Bestselling Author Interviews by Suzannah Windsor Freeman

10 Reasons I Won’t Leave A Comment On Your Blog by Judy Lee Dunn

Does Blogging Jack Up Your Schedules? Schedule Your Posts Ahead by Jenny Hansen

How To Schedule Posts Effectively (Blog World)

Want 1000 Blog Subscribers? Just ‘Invent’ Them by Judy Lee Dunn

How To Attract More Readers With SEO by Jodi Aman

Cheat Sheet For Optimizing Your WordPress Blog For Search Engines – Without Cheating by Neil Patel

How To Link To a PDF In a WordPress Post by Beth Hayden

Scribe – A Search Engine Tool For WordPress by Beth Hayden (this is not free but the A-List Bloggers use it)

 

Social Media

How Much Time Do Authors Need To Spend Time On Social Media Sites & Blogging by D.D. Scott

A Social Media Survival Guide by Jenn Reese

Everything I Need To Know About Twitter I Learned From Hospice by Piper Bayard

How To Succeed On Twitter by Molly Greene

Strategies For Effective Tweeting (Buddy Media)

How To Write Effective Tweets by Rebecca Berto

31 Twitter Hashtags For The Indie Author (Wise Ink)

10 Twitter Lists For Writers To Follow (Wise Ink)

Great Automated Twitter Support Tools by Molly Greene

(Tweet automating can be done well but you need to know what you’re doing. Read the next Kristen Lamb post to avoid fubars)

Hash Tags – The Trouble with Twitter Tribbles  by Kristen Lamb

Twitter Follower Maintenance by Paul Dorset

Pinterest Alert: The New Pin Scam To Avoid by Kristin Nador

Pinterest Marketing Guide by Beth Hayden (PDF)

7 Ways To Sell More Books With Pinterest by Beth Hayden

9 Ways To Go Viral on Pinterest and Get an Avalanche of Traffic (Boost Blog Traffic)

Sticky Pinterest Marketing by Beth Hayden

Facebook For Authors: Setting Up An Author Page, Part 1 by Chris Robley

Facebook For Authors: Setting Up An Author Page, Part 2 by Chris Robley

7 Things Chris Brogan Taught Me About Google+ and Why It Matters by Carol Tice

 

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (July 15)

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig (July 15)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (July 14)

9 Killer Resources Of Weekly Writing Links by Kristin Nador (July 10)

Writing on the Ether by Porter Anderson (July 12)

 

Deep Stuff

The Habit Change Cheatsheet: 29 Ways To Succesfully Ingrain a Behaviour by Leo Baubata

What Multitasking Does To Our Brain by Leo Widrich

Sleeps With Monsters: Endurance & Persuation – Traits of the Heroine by Liz Bourke

Outside-of-the-Box Books For Writers by Kathy Steffen

Why Is It Hard To Make Friends Over 30? by Alex Williams (New York Times)

Individualism In Overdrive by Frank Bruni (New York Times)

How To Raise Creative Kids by Toby Neal

How To Talk To Little Girls by Lisa Bloom (Huffington Post)

 

Fun Stuff

Which famous writer do you write like?

Down And Dirty Hot Dudes by Catie Rhodes

Top 10 Archers In Fiction (Fantasy Faction)

Underground New York Public Library (interesting way to discover new books)

What To Expect When You’re Expecting An Extra Hunger Games Movie by Bridget McGovern (tor.com)

Breaking Down The Wall: Immortal Monday by Debra Kristi

The 4 Questions Everyone Asks At Conventions by Steven Padnick (tor.com)

Five Fabulous Female Fantasy Forces by Rajan Khanna

Link Feast For Writers Vol. 11

Writing blogs are a great way to learn about the craft and marketing our work. Enjoy the posts I’ve hoarded, some older, some recent.

 

On Writing (Character Special)

Drop The Drama Bomb by Mario Acevendo at Writers In The Storm

Spice Up Your Writing With Optimal Learning Styles by Jan O’Hara at Writer Unboxed

Ask Your Character: Why Do You Matter? by Donald Maass at Writer Unboxed

Depth of Character by Donald Maass at Writer Unboxed

First Impressions by Diana Peterfreund

Giving Your Character A Unique Voice (Film Script Writing)

5 Tests To See If Character’s Voice Is Working by Christopher Boone

Character Development Sheet

What Makes A Female Character Strong by Jami Gold

10 Antagonist No No’s by Lynn Viehl

16 Villain Archetypes by Tami Cowden

Top 10 Mentor Characters by Alexandra Sokoloff

Where Are All The Female Mentor Characters by Stella Carter at Jezebel

How To Kill Characterization (at Drying Ink)

Myers-Briggs As A Tool For Authors by Fae Rowen

Chinese Element Personality Types For Fun & Writing by Fae Rowen

Creating Character Depth With Astrological Signs by C.J. Winters

Character Trading Cards by Lynn Viehl

Using Tarot For Creative Writing by Janet Boyer

10 Easy Ways to Improve Your Dialogue by Ali Luke at Write To Done

Create a Rough Sketch Of Your Work In Progress (diymfa.com)

12 Ways To Create Suspense by Gail Carson Levine

What Everyone Knows & Team Mundane by Catherynne M. Valente

Practical Writing Tips From 22 Brilliant Authors (scroll down to get the advice. My favourite bit was: “Write the first chapter LAST”)

Writing Quickly: A Secret Strategy by Ava Jae

Trend Tracking Versus Jumping by Lynn Viehl

Write Books That Change Lives by Ingrid Sundberg

Book Series Sell by agent Rusell Galen

Do You Read Like A Reader Or A Writer by Janice Hardy

Fighting Writer Fatique by Lynn Viehl

 

Your Author Platform

How Much Interaction Should Writers Have With Their Readers by Jody Hedlund

Hustling: How To Spread Word About Your Book by Chris Guillebeau

Convention Schmoozing 101 by Mary Robinette Kowal

How To Write Free Content That Gets You An Avalanche Of Traffic by Danny Iny

How To Keep Your Book Talk Fresh by Roz Morris

3 Selling Tactics From The Internet Marketing Gurus by Lindsay Buroker

89 Book Marketing Ideas (Author Media)

How To Launch A Book Without Losing Your Mind by Elizabeth S. Craig

 

Blogging

How Long Does It Take To Get Blog Readers? by Nina Amir

Top 10 Blog Traffic Killers by Michael Hyatt

How To Get Better Results With List Posts (Pushing Social)

3 Guaranteed Ways To Get Your Blog Post Read (Pushing Social)

Put Some Thought Into Your Blog Comments: No Vanilla Adjectives Please by Susie Lindau (check out the comments too)

How To Write A Good Blog Comment by Nathan Bradsford

Find Your Blog’s Unique Voice by Jeff Goins at ProBlogger

How To Promote Your Blog Like The Big Guys by Leo Baubata

How To Get Serious About Promoting Your Blog (Pushing Social)

Launching A Successful Blog Tour by Alan Rinzler

Hosting Your Own WordPress Website by Melinda Van Lone

Must Have WordPress Plug-ins by Annabel Candy

If I Started Blogging Today, I Would… by Annette Gendler

The New Style Of Blog Writing by Mary Jaksch

Shakespeare on Blogging by Leanne Shirtliffe

How To Figure Out What Content People Want (at Social Triggers)

 

Social Media

8 Ways To Grow Your Social Media Footprint by Jenny Hansen

Why Authors Tweet (NYTimes)

Twitter Success Tricks from @thewritermama

Content Creator’s Twitter Evolution (Writer’s Digest)

Control Your Social Media So It Doesn’t Control You by Elizabeth S. Craig

Triberr Review: Useful Tool Or Shiny Toy? by Linda Adams

Tumblr For Writers by Ava Jae

 

Collected Wisdom

Blog Treasures by Gene Lempp (June 2)

Twitterific by Elizabeth S. Craig (June 3)

Friday Features by Yesenia Vargas (June 1)

Writing on the Ether by Porter Anderson (May 31)

 

Deep Stuff

What’s the First Thing You Do When You Open The Computer? by Seth Godin

Expand Your Circles by Amber West

Email Sanity: How To Clear Your Inbox When You’re Drowning at Zen Habits

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: The Princess Culture by Margot Magowan

 

Fun Stuff

Male & Female Eye Candy (collection of actor photos)

FictFact – Track Your Favorite Book Series

Bookmarks From Hell by Lynn Viehl

10 Signs You’ve Attended Too Many Writing Workshops by Lynn Viehl

The Vampire Smythe (short story by Lynn Viehl)

Dark & Devastating Secrets (shot, funny story by Lynn Viehl)

Armor-ella (short fairytale retelling by Holly Lisle)

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