Writing Resources A – B

 

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WRITING RESOURCES

 

“. . . when people experience stories as if they were one of the characters, a connection is made with that character, and the character becomes entwined with the self. In our study, we see evidence of that in their brains.”
  — Dylan Wanger, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Ohio State University

 

* * *

FEATURING

Backstory Drip

the single best backstory technique

By K.M. Weiland

Backstory Drip is used in every type of story.  Always a good choice, it’s the technique that offers the fewest possible disadvantages, and it’s most effective in communicating important information to readers without interrupting the momentum of the main plot.

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Power Up Your Fiction

125 Tips and Techniques for Next-Level Writing

By James Scott Bell

Competent fiction is not enough.

Today, if you want to make fiction a career, your writing has to have that added “something” that turns browsers into readers and readers into fans.

This book will show you how to do it.

LINK:

 

Back to Basics

Writing with pen & notebook

By Ran Walker — Writer’s Digest

10 reasons why going “old school” with notebooks is the best technology for writers.

Every year, there is some new form of technology introduced into the “writersphere,” and each one seems as though it has the ability to help you write in a way that you have never written before (or would ever have thought to write). Many of them, while well intentioned, usually require the writer to explore a learning curve in an effort to make use of the technology in a productive and meaningful way.

For those of us who can remember using typewriters, there was indeed a learning curve there, just as it was for word processors, computers, and wide array of more portable writing devices. Even now, there are the numerous software programs that allow us to organize, format, and export our writing into other forms, and each one has a learning curve that could be daunting to its user.

Your brain actually works differently when you are writing by hand!

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Creative Writing Tips for Beginners

top ten tips

By Hannah Yang — ProWritingAid

Creative writing can be a very fulfilling hobby.

Writing can help you explore deep questions, use your imagination, and express your thoughts and feelings in a healthy way.

If you want to learn creative writing, you’ve come to the right place. Read on to learn our top ten creative writing tips to help you get started.

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“If you want to write fiction, the best thing you can do is take two aspirins, lie down in a dark room, and wait for the feeling to pass. If it persists, you probably ought to write a novel.”
— Lawrence Block

 

 HOT LINKS
NAVIGATION
FIRST DRAFT
  A-B     M-Q
  C-E     R-S
  F-L      T-Z

WRITING RESOURCES

— A —

3 Paths to Publishing a Book

The Pros and Cons of Each

By Tom Freiling — Entrepreneur

What’s the best path to getting your book published? Here’s what entrepreneurs should know.

In this article, we will explore the three most commonly used ways to publish a book. There are traditional routes to taking a book to market, DIY approaches, and hybrid publishing models. While there’s no single best way to publish your book, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages to each strategy. Depending on your unique situation, and with a little due diligence, you can effectively reach readers and expand your influence.

Link

4 Questions to Ask Before You Write

By WORDRAKE

This post offers a simple, four-question checklist to complete for every work-related project, whether a social media post, a legal brief, or an email to a client. Make it part of your writing process and you’ll find it makes the whole process faster, easier, and more successful.

Link

 

4 Writing Personalities

pros and cons of four different writing personalities

By K.M. Weiland — Helping Writers Become Authors

Your unique and inherent personality affects everything you do—including writing. The first step in learning how to maximize your personality’s pros and minimize its cons is to figure out your basic personality type.

Link

 

The 5 C’s of Writing

a great thriller novel

By James Scott Bell — Writer’s Digest

Boost your story’s immunity to reader scrutiny with these fortifying nutrients. Learn the 5 C’s of writing a great thriller novel.

  1. Complex Characterizations
  2. Confrontation
  3. Careening
  4. Coronary
  5. Communication
Link

 

5 Tips for Writing a Spy Thriller

By Alma Katsu

Novelist and former senior intelligence analyst Alma Katsu shares her wisdom for creating a realistic and gripping spy thriller novel.

Spy thrillers are, first and foremost, stories, and that means your characters are going to carry the day. Readers fall in love with characters, so take no shortcuts here. Make sure your protagonist is interesting and complex, not just an amalgam of stereotypes.

Link

 

5 Visual Techniques to Bring Your Story to Life

By Anthony Ehlers — Writers Write

We can use visual techniques to help us write our stories, novels, or screenplays. In this post, we write about five visual techniques to bring your story to life.

Link

 

5 Skills to Master

before you launch your book

By Maggie Smith — Writer’s Digest

The publishing game has changed so much over the years, and more is expected of authors now after the final draft is submitted. Even though it may seem like the success of your book launch is beyond your control, here are five ways to help yourself succeed in both the short and the long-term.

Link

 

5 Unconventional Tips for Writing a Book Series

By Patricia J. Parsons

Episode #54

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6 Effective Steps to Promote Your Book

By Aileen Weintraub — Writer’s Digest

Social media is a daunting albeit important aspect of promoting our work. Here, author Aileen Weintraub offers six steps to promote your book on social media authentically.

Link

 

7 Self-Editing Processes for Writers

when is my novel ready to read?

By Kris Spisak

Fiction editor and author Kris Spisak ties together her seven processes for self-editing novels, including editorial road-mapping, character differentiation analysis, reverse editing, and more.

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7 Figure Fiction

HOW TO USE UNIVERSAL FANTASY TO SELL YOUR BOOKS TO ANYONE

By T. Taylor

There are only, in my humble opinion, two kinds of readers: Readers who love your books and readers who don’t know they love your books yet. But how do you reach those readers in the second category, no matter what kind of writer you are?

The answer to that question is . . . Universal Fantasy

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7 Reasons Why Writers Need to Belong to a Book Club

By Colleen Story

Do you belong to a book club? If not, it’s time you joined, and not just to market your books! Find out all the benefits a book club has to give you. You may be surprised!

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7 Ways to Use AI Writing Tools

to generate content ideas

By Marcelo Beilin — Search Engine Journal

AI writing tools are changing the publishing world and can help you speed up your content creation process. Learn about your tool options.

Creating relevant, engaging, original content for your audience on a regular schedule is a necessary aspect of any content marketing strategy.

The more content you create, the more keywords your website is going to rank for in search results, and the more visitors, leads, and prospects you’re going to reach.

The problem is, it’s really hard work to produce fresh new content over and over again.

Link

 

7 Ways to Tell if You Have

too much plotting in your story

By Amanda Patterson — Writers Write

Are you over-plotting? In this post, we talk about 7 ways to tell if you have too much plot in your story.

When we start to write, we pour our stories onto a page and hope for the best. We add characters, viewpoints, settings, and backstory, thinking that it will make sense to everybody else because it makes sense to us.

It most often does not.

Link

 

8 Steps to Side Characters

How to craft supporting roles

By Sacha Black

Do your characters fail to bring your story to life? Are they flat, boring or have no depth? Is your story lacking a little cohesion or sparkle?

In 8 Steps to Side Characters, you’ll discover:

  • A step-by-step guide for creating side characters that bring your story alive
  • The main types of side characters and what you should do with them
  • The key to crafting character depth that hooks readers
  • How to harness your character’s voice to deepen your reader’s experience
  • Tips and tricks for using details to enhance characterization
  • Methods for killing characters that will help deepen plot, theme and story
  • Dozens of ideas for creating conflict with your side characters
  • Tactics for differentiating characters and making them feel real to your reader
  • Character archetypes and functions
  • The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid
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8 Ways to Avoid Cardboard Characters

By K.M. Weiland — Helping Writers Become Authors

“The plot was contrived, and the characters were cardboard.” Ouch. That’s about as bad as it can get when it comes to negative story reviews. It’s also perhaps one of the most common complaints audiences have about stories.

Link

 

10 Ways to Start Your Story Better

By Jacob M. Appel — Writer’s Digest

A good opening line is a powerful thing: It can grab an editor’s attention, set the tone for the rest of the piece, and make sure readers stay through The End.

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16 Embarrassing Writing Mistakes to Avoid

check ’em out before it’s too late!

By Writers Write

Jennifer Frost writes: ‘Writing mistakes are everywhere, especially online or when people neglect proofreading.

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40 Books That Might Help You Write Your Novel

By Rachel Krantz — BuzzFeed

For writers, every single book you read helps you write your book. Even if it’s a book you find badly written, you learn what not to do. As writers, reading is our fuel, our education, our most reliable cure for writer’s block. When in doubt how to proceed, read.

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Action as a Fiction-Writing Mode

By Mike Klaassen

As described by Evan Marshall in The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing, action is the mode fiction writers use to show what is happening at any given moment in the story.

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Action in a Story

when not to show the action

By K.M. Weiland — Writers Helping Writers Become Authors

However, within all this emphasis put upon showing action instead of telling it, we can sometimes lose sight of the fact that there are moments when our stories will actually be better off not including or showing the action.

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Action Scenes

FIVE WAYS TO SEIZE THE MOMENT

By Helen Hardt

What are your characters’ seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling? More often than not, when an action scene doesn’t do it, it lacks sensory detail.

Sensory detail is extremely important in fiction writing. The reader wants to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel—inner feelings, as well—everything the character does. These details immerse the reader into the character’s head and heart. When a reader becomes a character, you’ve done your job well.

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Active Voice and Passive Voice

By Falguni —  Shabdkosh

This article will help you understand the difference between active and passive voice and make your written and spoken skills of language better.

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Act One Writing Mistakes

WITHOUT A SOLID FOUNDATION, OUR STORIES FLOUNDER.

By Jeanne Veillette Bowerman — Writer’s Digest

Insights into the three mistakes writers make when creating the first act.

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Adapting Novel to Film

Writers Dan Wakefield, Kurt Vonnegut, and Bruce Jay Friedman have a discussion about the unique experience of having their work adapted to fit on the big screen.

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Adapt Your Book Into a Screenplay

By Shanee Edwards — ProWritingAid

If you have written novels or a memoir and are interested in crossing over into film or TV, there’s nothing stopping you from digging into your page-turning book and transforming it into an edge-of-your-seat screenplay.

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Adding Front and Back Material to Your Book

By Nancy J. Cohen

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Adding Suspense to Your Novel

TOP 8 TIPS FOR WRITERS

By Mark and Connor Sullivan — Writer’s Digest

Writing compelling conflict is a crucial tool to add urgency to your novel. Analyze the conflict through the lens of stakes and goals.

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Adverbs, Brrrrrr . . .

By Reavis Worthan at the KILLZONE

 

“I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs, and I will shout it from the rooftops.”
— Stephen King.

 

I can’t agree more. I fear I’ll step on some toes here, because there are hundreds of authors who love adverbs and will argue ‘til the cows come home that they improve their writing. I can’t go there. Oh, I know they’re in my own novels and columns, they pop up without notice in the first drafts, but I do my best to weed them out and rewrite the sentences to make them better than the original.

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Advertising Solutions for KDP Authors

Whether you’ve published one title or thousands, Amazon offers unique advertising solutions for the books category.

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Advice for Beginning Writers

By Cheryl Strayed — Writers Write

Cheryl Strayed is an American memoirist, novelist, podcast host, and essayist.

Link

 

Agents Seeking Authors

NOW ACCEPTING SUBMISSIONS!

By Robert Lee Brewer — Writer’s Digest

Here are 20 literary agents actively seeking writers and their writing.

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Agents: When Good Agents Go Bad

AGENT DANIELLE SMITH’S FORMER CLIENTS SPEAK OUT

By Erica Verrillo — Publishers Weekly

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Alliance of Independent Authors

The Alliance of Independent Authors is a professional business membership organisation for self-publishing authors. A non-profit, we provide trusted advice, supportive guidance, and a range of resources, within a welcoming community of authors and advisors.

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Amp Up Your Story Impact

PUSHING BACK AND LEANING IN

By Tiffany Yates Martin — Writer’s Digest

The pros and cons of increasing tension and showing character arcs.

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Anatomy of a Book Layout

DOWNLOAD A FREE PDF

By My Word Publishing

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Anatomy of a Scene

By Diane Callahan

Scenes are the building blocks of stories. Every scene in a novel contributes to the story in some way, whether through characterization, atmosphere, or plot progression. In examining the anatomy of a scene, we’ll start with the big-picture skeleton, then dive into the essential organs, and end with the skin—the outward appearance of the writing itself.

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Anatomy of a Sequel

By Amanda Patterson — Writers Write

Everything you need to know about writing a reaction scene, which is also known as a sequel.

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Anger

37 WAYS TO WRITE ABOUT ANGER

By Amanda Patterson — Writers Write

When we write about angry characters, we should remember that there is always something behind this emotion. Anger is usually a surface emotion. It is a reaction to an underlying problem.

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Announcing the Winners!

28TH ANNUAL SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK AWARDS

By Writer’s Digest

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Antagonist — Protagonist

The Least You Should Know

By Amanda Patterson — Writers Write

If you know who your protagonist and antagonist are, and what they want, you will probably be able to tell a good story. These are the two most important characters in your story. They define the story goal and control the plot. Your characters are the answer to most of your problems in storytelling.

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Compelling Antagonistic Characters

how to write them

By K.M. Weiland — Helping Writers Become Authors

The antagonist doesn’t have to be a person. It could be weather, circumstances, or the protagonist’s inner self. But, more often than not, the antagonist takes the form of a person. And crafting that person into a memorable and compelling character in his own right is vital to the success of your story.

Link

 

The Antagonist in Story Structure

parts 1 and 2

By K.M. Weiland — Helping Writers Become Authors

Especially in a tightly plotted story, the antagonist is every bit as important a driver of the story structure as is the protagonist.

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Anti-Hero

DEFINING AND DEVELOPING YOUR ANTI-HERO

By Jessica Page Morrell — Writer’s Digest

Anti-heroes are the bastards of fiction—those bad guys readers love to hate and hate to love. Find out what makes a memorable anti-hero tick and how to write them in this excerpt from Bullies, Bastards & Bitches.

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April 2021 Writing Posts

THE TOP 10

By Writer’s Write

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Arc for Your Story

Story Arc or Narrative Arc

By Kathy Edens — ProWritingAid

A story arc (sometimes called the narrative arc) is a more poetic way of saying that each story must have a beginning, a middle, and an end—or Act One, Act Two, and Act Three. This has been the guiding template of stories since the ancient Greeks started writing them and holds true whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction.

Where authors fall down on story arc is when nothing much happens to the main character by the end of the book. They haven’t been tested in some profound way.

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Archetypal Character Arcs

By K.M. Weiland

Archetypal stories are stories that transcend themselves. Archetypes speak to something larger. They are larger than life. They are impossible—but ring with probability. They utilize a seeming representation of the finite as a mirror through which to glimpse infinitude.

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Writing Archetypal Character Arcs

By K.M. Weiland

Ready to take your story’s character arcs and themes to the next level? This latest book from veteran writing teacher and story theorist K.M. Weiland ventures far beyond the popular and pervasive Hero’s Journey to explore six important archetypal character arcs, representing key moments of initiation in the human experience.

The Six Transformational Character Arcs of the Human Life
  • The Maiden
  • The Hero
  • The Queen
  • The King
  • The Crone
  • The Mage
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Character Arc

what’s the  most important moment in your character arc?

By K.M. Weiland — Writers Helping Writers Become Authors

Character and change is what story is all about.

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Archetypes and Story Structure

HOW THEY’RE CONNECTED

By K.M. Weiland

By its very nature, story structure is archetypal. It is a pattern we recognize emerging from story. It is a pattern as big as life itself, and therefore one about which we are always learning more, but it is also a pattern we have been able to distill into specific systems that help us consistently recreate these deeply resonant archetypes in story after story.

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Are ing Words Weak in Fiction Writing?

By Derek Haines — Just Publishing Advice

The English language has only two participle forms, which are ed and ing. Because of this, you are going to use a lot of these words and phrases in your writing.

But when we use perfect and progressive tenses, or in some cases, the gerund form, the ing form of the verb can result in weak writing. Generally, we class simple past and simple present tense verbs as strong verbs.

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Armed and Dangerous

A WRITER’S GUIDE TO WEAPONS

By Michael Newton

This book is your comprehensive source for information.

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Articles by Jessica Strawser

Writer’s Digest

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Art of Beginning a Crime Story: Raymond Chandler

THE 10 GREATEST OPENING PARAGRAPHS FROM A NOIR MASTER

By Dwyer Murphy — CrimeReads

There are times in life when you need a good opener. Maybe you’re caught in a rut and need the charge of a new world, new characters, something that carries with it the quiet thrill of possibility. Whatever your reason or need, you’d be hard pressed to find an author equal to Raymond Chandler in jolting a story alive.

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Art of Fiction

By Joan Didion — The Paris Review

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Art of Fiction

NOTES ON CRAFT FOR YOUNG WRITERS

By John Gardner

This classic guide, from the renowned novelist and professor, has helped transform generations of aspiring writers into masterful writers—and will continue to do so for many years to come.

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The Art of Self-Editing for Writers

By Kim Knight

Are you a new writer ready to publish your work? Are you a seasoned writer? Are you about to submit your work to competitions or publishers? This concise book will help you create a polished and professional manuscript, that’s ready for public viewing, no matter your genre.

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Aspiring Novelist Dos and Don’ts

10 TIPS

By Jenna Avery — Writer’s Digest

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Ask The Coach

YOUR WRITING QUESTIONS ANSWERED

By Mary Simses — Writer’s Digest

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At Home Author

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING PUBLISHED FROM THE COMFORT  OF YOUR OWN HOME

Choosing between traditional and self-publishing can be difficult without all the facts, and navigating them while learning the industry can be even more overwhelming. That’s where we come in.

We offer self-paced courses, webinar replays, free resources, and individualized coaching sessions for all your publishing needs, no matter where you’re at in the process.

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Audience: Target Identification

By AmyJones — Writer’s Digest

How to know your target audience, and how knowing will make your writing stronger.

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Author Archetype

WHAT IS YOUR AUTHOR ARCHETYPE?

Take this one-minute quiz to discover your Author Archetype and how you can make it work for you!

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Author Assistant

Providing authors with support and encouragement

By Linda Dunn

My mission is to provide the best possible options for you and your book through streamlining your author platform and strengthening your author brand.

I offer a range of author services. This allows my authors to focus on what they do best – write.

Author Services
  • Author branding
  • Author platform development
  • Email marketing management (campaigns, etc.)
  • Organization
  • Newsletters, one-sheet, flyers, etc.
  • Research
  • Book launch preparation
  • Book events
  • Podcast guest placement
  • Blog management
  • YouTube, etc.,  channel management
  • Web design
  • and more…
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Author’s Guide to eBook Pre-orders

By Clayton Noblit — Written Word Media

Getting a newly published eBook off to a good start is a great thing. It can teach retailer algorithms that the book is popular and can seed your title with reviews that help with future sales. So, how do you release an eBook with a bang? One great tactic is to use eBook pre-orders.

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Author’s Guide to Self-Publishing

This up-to-the minute guide tells you everything you need to get started.

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Author Incubator

WE’LL HELP YOU WRITE A BOOK
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Author Interviews

By Read More Co, LLC

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Author Quick Start Guide

By Brian Tracy

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Author Platform

How to build an author platform

By IngramSpark Academy — Self-Publishing

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Author in Progress

what it really takes to get published

By Therese Walsh

Author in Progress is filled with practical, candid essays to help you reach the next rung on the publishing ladder. By tracking your creative journey from first draft to completion and beyond, you can improve your craft, find your community, and overcome the mental barriers that stand in the way of success.

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Author Spending

WHAT? WHEN? HOW MUCH?

By Boni Wagner-Stafford — Ingenium Books

Most authors will—and should—start spending money long before they publish their book.

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Author Starter Kit

By Sherry Peters

This FREE guide enables you to lay out what you want to achieve, why you want it, and exactly what you need to do to get it.

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Author Success Map

A THREE-STEP PROCESS FOR CREATING AN AUTHOR SUCCESS MAP

By Marissa Decuir — Writer’s Digest

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The Author Training Manual

A Comprehensive Guide to Writing Books That Sell

By Nina Amir

If you want to write a book that’s going to sell to both publishers and readers, you need to know how to produce a marketable work and help it become successful. It starts the moment you have an idea. That’s when you begin thinking about the first elements of the business plan that will make your project the best it can be.

The reality is that you don’t want to spend time and energy writing a book that will never get read. The way to avoid that is to create a business plan for your book, and evaluate it (and yourself) through the same lens that an agent or acquisitions editor would. The Author Training Manual will show you how to get more creative and start looking at your work with those high standards in mind.

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Author Websites

CREATING AND PROMOTING

LiveCarta

The importance of having a well-built, comprehensive website for every writer in 2022 shouldn’t be underestimated. Choosing the right promotional strategy can turn it into a gold mine for lucrative book sales.

In this article, we’ll cover reasons why authors need a website, guide you on website creation, and share marketing strategies that will drive traffic to your author page.

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— B —

Backstory

SHOULD BE THE SCAR TISSUE OF YOUR BOOK

By Amanda Patterson — Writers Write

Make readers interested in characters before telling everything about their past lives.

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Backstory-As-Story

vs. alternating timelines

By K.M. Weiland

Backstory techniques are crucial to the success of any type of story. Whether you share all of your characters’ pertinent backstories or none, backstory still informs the entire story. Whatwhen, and how to share backstory are important decisions for any writer. Making the right choices will determine not just whether or not your backstory works, but possibly even whether your entire story works.

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Backstory Drip

the single best backstory technique

By K.M. Weiland

Backstory Drip is used in every type of story.  Always a good choice, it’s the technique that offers the fewest possible disadvantages, and it’s most effective in communicating important information to readers without interrupting the momentum of the main plot.

LINK:

 

Back to Basics

Writing with pen & notebook

By Ran Walker — Writer’s Digest

10 reasons why going “old school” with notebooks is the best technology for writers.

Every year, there is some new form of technology introduced into the “writersphere,” and each one seems as though it has the ability to help you write in a way that you have never written before (or would ever have thought to write). Many of them, while well intentioned, usually require the writer to explore a learning curve in an effort to make use of the technology in a productive and meaningful way.

For those of us who can remember using typewriters, there was indeed a learning curve there, just as it was for word processors, computers, and wide array of more portable writing devices. Even now, there are the numerous software programs that allow us to organize, format, and export our writing into other forms, and each one has a learning curve that could be daunting to its user.

Your brain actually works differently when you are writing by hand!

LINK:

 

Bad Guys

INSIDE THE MIND OF A VILLAIN

By Dustin Grinnell — Writer’s Digest

How and why evil develops in story and in real life and how you can apply these concepts when writing villains

Why? What motivated this person? What was going on inside their head? How did they go from quiet and nerdy to hateful and violent? Were they isolated, disenfranchised, lost? Were they triggered or born a monster? We usually blame mental health issues, poor upbringing, bad wiring, and then we move on.

Writers are encouraged to go deeper.

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Bad Guys

HUMANIZING THE BAD GUY

By Usvaldo  de Leon, Jr. — Helping Writers Become Authors

It is not just good guys who need to be humanized, but bad guys as well. They need to be thicker than cardboard so they don’t collapse when confronted. And it doesn’t take much.

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Baskerville Experiment

FONT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON OUR PERCEPTION OF TRUTH

By Ken Bowen — MarketingExeriments

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Beats

use beats to improve dialogue and action

By Audrey Wick — Writer’s Digest

For many writers, dialogue is one of the most difficult things to get right.

Beats are used in between lines of dialogue to enliven the action of the character speaking. Think of this technique as a form of narration because the purpose of the words are to communicate movement, convey an emotion, or evoke a general feeling for the scene.

To improve dialogue, beats can be used in a variety of ways.

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Beating Writer’s Block

11 AWESOME TIPS

By StudyCorgi

Have you ever found yourself staring at your laptop’s screen, being unable to write anything? No worries! All writers have to struggle with the lack of inspiration. Want to know how to overcome writer’s block? Study this infographic and learn 11 awesome tips that work!

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Become a Freelance Book Editor

EDITORIAL ARTS ACADEMY: WHERE WORDSMITHS LEARN TO PROSPER FROM THEIR PASSION
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Become A Thriller Writer

AN INTERVIEW WITH IAN SUTHERLAND

By Bryan — Become A Writer Today

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Becoming a Writer

By Junot Diaz — OPRAH.COM

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Becoming a Writer at 50

By Rebecca Foust — Writer’s Digest

It’s never too late to become a successful writer. Get started now, regardless of where you are in your writing journey.

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Be The Dog

HOW TO START (AND MORE IMPORTANTLY) FINISH YOUR NOVEL

By Brian Yansky 

Want to write a novel? Don’t know where to start? Be The Dog has over a 100 mini-lessons on plot, character, setting, language, dialogue, and has many strategies to begin and finish your novel.

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Before You Self-Publish

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

By Joshua C. Cook

Writing a book is hard work. There is a lot to learn before you actually publish your book.

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Beginning Novel Writing

By Joy Lynn Goddard

If you dream of writing a novel but don’t know how to get started, let me take you step by step through my novel-writing guide for beginners. Learn how to turn your big ideas into a full-length story, how to outline and structure your novel, how to develop characters so they’ll walk off the page, and how to polish, publish, and promote your work—and more. It won’t be long until you’re ready to share your novel with the world!

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How to Write Brilliant Beginnings

Crafting Your Novel’s Opening Chapters Made Easy

By Shane Millar

We live in a crazy-busy world, and readers will bin your book if you don’t hook them on page one. You might have written the greatest story of all time, but nobody will read it if you don’t have a Brilliant Beginning!

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Beginner’s Guide to Getting Published

By Sam Blum

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Beginnings

HOW TO START YOUR BOOK

By Alexa Donne

First line? First act? Common pitfalls, things to watch and avoid!

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Being Indie

A NO HOLDS BARRED SELF-PUBLISHING GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

By Eeva Lancaster

Learn how to create a book that SELLS.

To be a published author is an achievement few can brag about. But not all Indies are created equal.

This book will give you the edge you need.

LINK:

 

James Scott Bell

James Scott Bell is a winner of the International Thriller Writers Award and the author of the #1 bestseller for writers, Plot & Structure (Writer’s Digest Books).

LINKS:

 

Best Free Creative Writing Courses Online

FOR CREATIVE WRITERS, FICTION AND NONFICTION

By Hayley Milliman — ProWritingAid

Luckily, there are a ton of great courses you can take online.

LINK:

 

Best Free Online Writing Courses

FOR CREATIVE WRITERS, FICTION AND NONFICTION

By Tom Corson-Knowles — TCK Publishing

LINK:

 

Best Kindle Unlimited Books

By Silvana Reyes Lopez

LINK:

 

Best Publishing News and Resource Websites 2021

101 BEST WEBSITES FROM THE MAY/JUNE 2021 ISSUE OF WRITER’S DIGEST

Writer’s Digest

LINK:

 

Best Spy Novels Written by Spies

By Alma Katsu — CrimeReads

ALMA KATSU IS AN AUTHOR AND RETIRED INTELLIGENCE PROFESSIONAL
LINK:

 

Best Websites for Writers 2021

By Writer’s Digest

These websites will help inspire, educate, and connect you to other writers as you start or continue on your writing journey.

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Best Writing Books

By Dawn Field — BookBaby

There are a huge number of books on writing and if you want to pick the absolute “best,” you have two choices. The first is to pick books that the most people have read and enjoyed. The second is to admit that the best books for each writer will be different.

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Betrayal Is Timeless

THE EVOLUTION OF GEORGE SMILEY

By Bruce Riordan — CrimeReads

In 1961, John le Carré’s readers were introduced to a new kind of spy, a “breathtakingly ordinary” man.

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Building Story Structure

By Film Riot

How to use the 6-act structure to construct stories!

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Bird By Bird

SOME INSTRUCTIONS ON WRITING AND LIFE

By Anne Lamott

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Blackdoge Books

AVAILABLE AUTHOR SERVICES:
* Paperback and ebook publishing
* Document design and formatting
* Editing and proofing
* Typesetting
* Ebook conversion
* Distribution assistance

 

LINK:

 

Lawrence Block on Writing:

* Why Writers Must Go On
* Lawrence Block Talks Self-Publishing
* Tips from the Masters: Lawrence Block
* My First Thriller: Lawrence Block
* Lawrence Block:On Writing
* Lawrence Block: A Writer Prepares

 

Blogging Strategies

BLOGGING FOR AUTHORS: LESSON #13

By Nina Amir

A blog provides a useful tool for authors. It provides a way to build a business around your books.

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Book Marketing Tips for Authors

16 free videos

By David Gaughran

A book promotion template that anyone can follow. Learn how to create your own marketing plan to put your book into the charts.

Link:

 

Building a New Blog from Scratch — Part 1

part one of a series on creating your own blog

By Christopher Luke Dean —  Writers Write

If you’re thinking of starting a new blog, follow the series and try to create your own. (Sign up for our newsletter to watch out for new posts.)

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Blurbs

FIVE (NOT SO EASY) STEPS

By Julie Tetel Andresen

Blurbs are the most important tool for selling your book. Here are the elements of writing a good one.

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Body Beats to Build On

A FICTION WRITER’S RESOURCE

By April W. Gardner

An emotion phrase book that provides the bones for fresh, vibrant content.

Layer with a little imagination, mix and match, and voilà—endless, unique beats. No more pet phrases. No more wasting time in search of a different way to write “she blushed.” Just you and your manuscript climbing to the next level. This easy-to-navigate tool for novelists is a must-have for your fiction self-editing checklist.

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Body Language

CHEAT SHEETS FOR ‘WRITING BODY LANGUAGE
LINK:

 

Books About Writing

ADVICE TO WRITERS
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Book Covers

INSTANTLY RECOGNIZABLE DESIGNS THAT HIT HARD AND QUICK

By Ellie Violet Bramley — The Guardian

Social media is now a vital platform to promote new titles. And that means jacket designs that hit you ‘hard and quick’

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Book Cover Design

READERS JUDGE BOOKS BY THE COVER!

By M.J. Albert — Writer and Book Marketing Expert

I have helped my clients become Amazon Best Selling Authors through a step by step process that works. A process that starts with the book’s cover.

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Book Cover Designer

PREMIUM PREMADE AND CUSTOM BOOK COVER DESIGNS FOR INDIE AUTHORS

The Cover Collection

With over 25 years of design experience, the team at The Cover Collection know how to get your book noticed. We design book covers for those writing their first novel through to authors who regularly hit the top spot on Amazon’s bestseller lists. To learn more about The Cover Collection and to read testimonials from recent clients please click here.

Link:

* * * 

CLICK HERE!

Book Cover Designer

Nancy Batra Design Studio

I provide custom book cover designs as well as marketing material for indie authors and self publishers.

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Book Description

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing

Your description appears on your book’s Amazon detail page and is often a reader’s first experience with the content of your book. A well-written book description is important for enticing readers. Think of your description like the text on the back cover of a paperback or the inside flap of a hardcover book. This is often the first impression readers have of your story’s content and your writing style.

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Book Design Tips

DESIGNING YOUR BOOK

Gorham Printing

Factors such as visual appeal, the book’s audience, color, and font usage are just some of the aspects to be considered.

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Book Launch Planning

CREATING A SUCCESSFUL EVENT

By Steven Spatz

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Book Length

HOW LONG SHOULD A BOOK BE?

By Chuck Sambuchino — Writer’s Digest

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Book Marketing

OVERPERFORM IN A CROWDED MARKET

By Ricardo Fayet

Writing a book is hard. Marketing it can be even harder.

Marketing a book in 2021 can seem like a full-time job, what with the crazy number of things authors seem to be expected to do: social media, blog tours, advertising, price promotions, mailing lists, giveaways, you name it.

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Book Marketing Podcast

How to Turn Readers into Superfans

By Penny Sansevieri — AME Author Marketing Experts

In this book marketing podcast episode, we talk about Superfans and Street Teams and what they can do for your longevity as an author!

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Book Marketing Update

By Frances Caballo — Social Media Just for Writers

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Book Riot

BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
LINK:

 

Book Riot YouTube Videos

LINK:

 

Book Theme Songs

By 

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could also click on an audio file to listen to the book’s theme song?

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Book Trailers

By Eeva Lancaster

We produce high impact, stunning, affordable, customized and cinematic book trailers that you can use for your marketing campaigns.
  • The video will be your SYNOPSIS in Motion.
  • We do not use templates. Your book trailer will be original.
  • We use cinematic music backgrounds and customized full screen still images and animations combined.
  • It will be a visual rendition of your blurb, designed to trigger an emotional response from the viewer.
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Book of the Year Awards

The Independent Authors Network

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Border Stories

A GUIDE TO THE NOVELS OF DON WINSLOW

By Bruce Riordan — CrimeReads

Ten years ago, Don Winslow was a San Diego-based novelist with a small, but hardcore following of crime fiction aficionados. Since then, thanks to the breakout success of his epic Cartel Trilogy, Winslow’s popularity has soared among readers with a taste for hard-hitting, socially-engaged thrillers.

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Both Barrels Author Services

  • Editing
  • Formatting
  • Cover Design
LINK:

 

Breaking Story

FOR YOUR MOVIE OR TV SHOW IDEA

By Ken Miyamoto — Screencraft

Everyone in the world that watches movies and TV — at one point — believes that they have an excellent idea for a movie or TV show. Yet having an idea is not enough.

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Breakout Novelist

HOW TO CRAFT NOVELS THAT STAND OUT AND SELL

By Donald Maass

If you’re serious about making your fiction vibrant, engaging, and marketable, you’ve found the right book.

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Ellen Brock

PROFESSIONAL EDITOR

Whether you need a full novel edit or just an hour of mentoring, I’d love to work with you! Together we will give your novel its best chance at traditional or self-publishing success.

LINK:

 

Build Better Characters

The psychology of backstory

Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books — from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level.

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Building Your Author Website

A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE

By Jane Friedman — Writer’s Digest

Your author website is your online home, and it may be the single most important tool for promoting yourself and your work. Here is a step-by-step guide to build your author website today and build for tomorrow.

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The Business of Being a Writer

WRITING IS ALSO A BUSINESS

By Jane Friedman

To have a productive full- or part-time writing career,  you need to understand the basic business principles underlying the industry.

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The Business of Self-Publishing

FINDING AND ENGAGING YOUR AUDIENCE

By A.J. Wells — Writer’s Digest

Self-publication allows you complete control over the production side of your novel. If your goal is to make money, you must write a book that people will pay to read.

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 HOT LINKS
NAVIGATION
FIRST DRAFT
  A-B     M-Q
  C-E     R-S
  F-L      T-Z


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www.blackdogebooks.com/first-draft
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