best blogs for writers | The Page a Day Writers Group

Posts Tagged ‘best blogs for writers’

Time Is On Your Side, Maybe

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: November 7, 2014

In: writing
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Everyday I wake up thinking how I can best slice my 24-hour pie. A myriad of tasks stream through my mind including how to deepen my main character, amp up the tension of a scene, why there so many calories in lemon olive oil. I jump out of bed convinced that all the “to-dos” in my head will magically become “to-dones” by the end of the day. A fantasy rarely achieved.

But as John Lennon sang: Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

The car won’t start. The dog is hacking. An article deadline looms and a key resource hasn’t returned my email. Spin life’s wheel and each day you can substitute “life happenings” pre-empting coveted writing time. Surprisingly, I’m not alone in my struggle.

I read Katrina Kittle’s post Keep the Faucet On: Slow and Steady Fills the Ocean. After commiserating with every writer’s plight, Kittle offers simple, real-world suggestions to those scheduling conflicts/time management issues.

I’m starting by letting go of my belief that a writing schedule must look the same every day. What a relief. Her words of encouragement got me back to the keyboard.

Maybe, with a little pre-planning and realistic expectation, time really is on your side.

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: authors, best blogs for writers, claire yezbak fadden, inspiration, procrastination writing butt in chair, Time Management, writer, Writer Unboxed, writing, writing schedule

Travel Anywhere and Never Leave Home

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: March 24, 2014

In: writing
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Reading lets us travel to faraway lands, relive past dynasties or imagine future worlds. And we never have to leave the recliner.

“books are uniquely portable magic.”

When you write a book, you are its potion master, combining facts, feelings and flights of fancy then mixing in generous amounts of your imagination to transport your reader on a breathtaking journey. It’s just like Stephen King declares in On Writing, “books are uniquely portable magic.”

If the “write what you know” adage doesn’t extend to intimate knowledge of sixteenth century England or the Florida Everglades, don’t panic. Kristan Hoffman can help. In her post “Oh The Places You’ll Go, Hoffman suggests six research tools to help you on this quest.

Check them out before plotting that next novel. They’ll enhance your ability to move your readers to any place in the world – real or imagined — without ever leaving home.

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: authors, best blogs for writers, inspiration, Ondine Brooks Kuraoka, Research in fiction, Stephen King, transport your reader, Writing advice

Keeping Agents Reading

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: March 5, 2014

In: writing
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The goal of every novelist is to keep the reader reading. But before you can achieve that goal, you must keep the agent reading.

Boring hooks. Misspelled words. Info dumps. One-dimensional characters.

You’ll be enlightened, surprised, maybe even shocked in this Adventures in YA blog post “Five Agents Share What Makes Them Stop Reading Sample Pages.”

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: agents, authors, best blogs for writers, claire yezbak fadden, writing goals

Herding Cats Might Be Easier

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: January 24, 2014

In: writing
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Every author — whether he writes novels, essays or how-to articles — wonders about their readers. Where did they find my work? Did they like it? Did they pass it along to a friend? Is it lining the bottom of their bird’s cage?

Well, as it turns out, readers are just about as organized as writers! I enjoyed this post “Your Audience is Unorganized” by Dan Blank on the Writer Unboxed site about how to reach readers of every shape and size.

I hope you find it as useful, entertaining and informative as I did.

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: best blogs for writers, claire yezbak fadden, Dan Blank, freelance writer, readers, writer, Writer Unboxed, writing tools

Motion vs. Action: The Confession of a Former Mover

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: January 14, 2014

In: writing
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Never mistake activity for achievement. —John Wooden

It’s true. I used to confuse motion with action. As long as I was busy in the motion of writing a novel (taking classes, attending workshops, reading how-to books), I thought I was getting closer to my goal. The reality is, while I was in the motion of writing, I wasn’t truly engaged in the action of writing a novel. The possibility of producing an actual book was slim. I liken it to constantly going to the grocery store buying the ingredients for a delicious cake, but never actually baking it.

I was happy — highlighter in hand — with my nose in the latest or time-tested how to write books. I garnered every tip, idea, theory and tidbit imaginable. And I read every writer’s blog. Actually that last one may have been what saved me. Thanks to a post from James Clear, I learned the folly of my ways.

Don’t get me wrong. It is important to learn about writing. The knowledge I’ve gained through my critique partners is invaluable. But after gathering ideas from other writers, wannabe writers, editors and agents, there comes a time to put all that learning to the test – or in my case – to the page.

I talked a lot about how hard it is to write fiction. Anyone who would listen, heard my lament. It is a much tougher task than writing a magazine article, where the challenge is to uncover the facts and put them into a readable prose.

One my critique partners, Sharon C. Cooper, called me out on my penchant for hovering around the idea of writing a novel . “You’ve taken more classes than any other writer I know,” she lovingly said. “Girl, you need to start writing.” Those words hit home. I got the message. I needed to stop preparing to write and start spending my time getting words on the page.

Bum glue, butt-in-the-chair, chained-to-the-computer. It all amounts to the same thing. A writer writes. So get writing.

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: action vs. motion, best blogs for writers, claire yezbak fadden, critique partners, fiction, freelance writer, goals, inspiration, procrastination writing butt in chair, Time Management, writer, Writing advice, writing attitude

Going Deeper

Posted by: Woman@Heart on: July 17, 2013

In: writing
1 Comment

Every writer struggles with how to deepen their characters; how to make them come alive on the page so the reader connects with the story’s protagonist.

Editor Jean Jenkins recently posted a link to the Writer Unboxed blog highlighting “6 Ways to Make Sure Your Reader’s Brain Syncs With Your Protagonist’s Brain.” Jenkins cited it as “One of the best posts lately on deepening your characters I’ve ever come across.”

Blogger Lisa Cron shares some interesting and worthwhile thoughts on how to dig deeper into your characters to show the reader what really makes your hero tick. Her post is worth reading. Be sure to take notes. I did.

–Claire Yezbak Fadden

Tags: best blogs for writers, claire yezbak fadden, deepening characters, Writer Unboxed, Writing advice, writing backstory

The Page a Day Writers Group

Posts Tagged ‘best blogs for writers’

Time Is On Your Side, Maybe

But as John Lennon sang: Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.

Travel Anywhere and Never Leave Home

“books are uniquely portable magic.”

Keeping Agents Reading

Boring hooks. Misspelled words. Info dumps. One-dimensional characters.

Herding Cats Might Be Easier

Motion vs. Action: The Confession of a Former Mover

Going Deeper

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