Friday Links for Writers 06.14.13

Welcome back to Friday Links for Writers, which has been on a 3-month hiatus while I focused on other work. Today happens to be Flag Day which is also my birthday. I am celebrating on a gorgeous South Florida day with a little writing spree — and a short break to visit with you!

As writing friends here may know, my fiction competed for time with a new teaching role from February to May (remember my post: Writer Day Jobs: the Time-Money-Credit Trifecta? Street cred & money have been winning out, while time-to-revise… not so much) — so the idea of uninterrupted time to “make neat” of the frantic writing done in 15 or 30 minute chunks in the past several months is a fabulous luxury.

Luckily, there is never too little time for reading, and below are some great links I’ve come across in the past week or so. As always, let me know what you find useful, what you’d like more of… or let us know what writing goals you’ve been up to lately. Great to see you here.

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The Map and the Trail

Truth: I have yet to read any advice from literary agent Donald Maass that wasn’t immediately useful. As this essay opens with a rambling piece on a family hike, I thought maybe this was the one. But no. He pulled off great insight into the power of setting, including a great series of prompts to provoke thinking about how to make setting more powerful in your own WIP. Yup, I’ll be considering these in today’s work.

Book Editing

This post, featured on K. M. Weiland’s blog, Wordplay, features advice from ghostwriter Karen Cole on what to expect from the book editing process. In particular, her definitions of 5 types of editing give interesting terminology and clarity for discussing the possible processes during book edits with an editor or agent.

What to Write in the “Bio” Section of Your Query Letter

Working on getting queries out to agents this month?  This is a great article from Chuck Sambuchino at Writer Unboxed, breaking down the finer points of what to include (or leave out) of the bio paragraph of your query letter.

Race, Identity & Writing

As someone who has written outside culture and in foreign settings, I’ve often weighed the different challenges (and permission?) writing faces when an author writes outside their own race or identity — a topic taken on in this article by Kathy Crowley at Beyond the Margins.

Forging Words

I read this in a week that my former hometown, Detroit, has been declared bankrupt. What poet would be more fitting to profile than Philip Levine, a former Rouge Plant auto worker turned Poet Laureate of the United States? There is something humbling and inspiring to hear of work and decay spoken of in the same breath as creation of art.

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Where Else You’ll Find Me

One of the projects I’ve been up to has been writing about resources for educators. You’ll find the beginnings of that project, including Twitter 101 for Teachers: Steps for Getting Started on Twitter, at Mrs. T’s Middle Grades.

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed. I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Recent posts:

• Want more prompts from Donald Maass? Writing Workshop: Novel Writing Prompts From Donald Maass
• Friday Links for Writers 03.08.13
• Winter 2013 Reading List

Friday Links for Writers 03.08.13

Maximo, saltwater croc at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. Yes, he’s real. c. Elissa Field

Chomp. Something must have eaten the first week of my March calendar, as this post is overdue.

In fact, two writing distractions have kept me away: one was preoccupation with following posts from AWP 2013 (check hashtag #awp2013 to find lingering conversations from the conference weekend). The other was application deadlines for May and summer conferences.

To that end, I ran a special post last week featuring major writers’ conferences: 2013 Writing Conferences & Workshops.

At the same time, I headed north to St. Augustine to tour historic sites in America’s oldest European-settled city on the eve of Florida’s 500th anniversary. Yes, there’s more to Florida than bikinis and snowbirds. From early colonial settlements to the fort to the gilded age to listening to alligators roar… my brain is on overload.

But, lucky for you, this week’s reading yielded some fabulous links. A theme could be “debates” as links below take on topics from writing for free to PR scams to bullying, in addition to writing advice.

As always, let me know what you found inspiring in these or what topics you’d like to see more of.

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Lucrative Work-for-Free Opportunity

Atlantic Senior Editor Ta-Nehisi Coates takes on the debate of professional writers being expected to write “for exposure” in lieu of pay. In particular, Coates considers the ruckus raised when writer Nate Thayer very publicly rejected a request that he write a piece for the Atlantic for free (his spicy email is included), by reflecting on Coates’ and other writers’ common history of having published for free at various times in their careers. It’s a debate worth considering at a time when it is more easy to publish ideas than in the past, yet often more difficult to earn a living.

The Bad PR Hangover (and How to Avoid It)

In this post at Writer Unboxed, Sharon Bially addresses the services a writer should expect when contracting with a reputable PR agent. She begins with a frank rant about ineffective and even unethical PR approaches that make her “blood boil,” which leads to her “laundry list of must-haves in determining whether the firm you hire to publicize your book is up to par, and in understanding whether it’s doing (or will do) what it should for you.” A great resource, especially for those with a first book coming out.

Down the Rabbit Hole of Research 

When is research part of the hard work of writing, and when is it a time-sucking distraction? Bethanne Patrick offers thought-provoking insight on preventing research from leading a writer “down the rabbit hole” of fascinating tangents that eat away at writing time. Patrick’s own interesting insights are supported by reflections from published writers on whether they research before writing, while drafting, or not until completing a first draft, and more.

How to Stop the Bullies 

This article in The Atlantic caught my eye as it addresses the ubiquitous (and never-ending) conversation of bullying, cyber-bullying and bully-prevention. It is a fascinating read if you are a parent, educator or YA writer — but also for anyone involved in social media, as the writer traces the path of a complaint through Facebook and discusses the developments being attempted in writing algorithms to predict an abusive post.

The Rejection Generator Project 

Friday Links on February 1st shared the endearing Written Kitten. This isn’t that. No, in fact, it’s a bit more like hair of the dog that bit ya. Why wait for that painful rejection on the litmag submission that’s been pending for more than twice their stated response time? Generate your own brass knuckle reply with Stoneslide Corrective’s Rejection Generator Project. Like walking on briars to toughen your feet, you give it your email address and it shoots you a fireball of a rejection. All in fun, of course.

Tweet Spotlight: 2 Agents on Querying

Agent Pam van Hylckama tweeted to a YA writer: “If you just write a good query letter and follow sub guidelines, you are ALREADY in the top 10% of queries” (@BookaliciousPam, Mar. 9). Along the same line, Dawn Frederick of Red Sofa Literary Agency tweeted: “Why it’s important to follow submission guidelines: honoring such a basic request shows a willingness to work as a team w/ agent. #pubtips” (@RedSofaLiterary, Mar. 6).

What did you find in these links that is useful to you? Let me know if you want more on a particular subject, or share your own best finds.

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Did you see my Winter 2013 Reading List? As the list shows, there is clearly no shortage of great new fiction to keep our reading hours full.

But what of books that linger from one list to the next — or even from one decade to the next — and never get read?

It’s nearly time for me to post the March Reading Challenge: inspired by this vintage public service announcement from 1939-41, it’s time to “read the books you’ve always meant to read.”

If you have a minute, please click here if you’d like to share the kinds of books on your 2013 Reading List – including any you’ve always meant to read yet never gotten around to.

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed. I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

• Friday Links for Writers 02.22.13
• Winter 2013 Reading List
  

  Summer hours spent revising Wake. c. Elissa Field

• 2013 Writing Conferences & Workshops
• A ‘vintage’ favorite: Writer’s Day Jobs: Balancing the Time, Money & Credit Trifecta

Friday Links for Writers 02.22.13

Ernest Hemingway house, Key West (credit: user MacG5User at stock.xchng)

What I’d like to take time to write about is how much I learned, reading a favorite author’s novel this week. But it’s time for Friday Links – and this Friday includes a range from old school advice from Hemingway to decoding ISBN’s. 

As always, let me know what you found inspiring in these or what topics you’d like to see more of.

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7 Tips from Ernest Hemingway

Going old school, here. While Hemingway pre-dated most MFA programs and was not from the modern crowd of writers laying down how-to-write advice, this article from Open Culture shares 7 pieces of writing advice curated from his letters and works. Unlike H., I’ve often sworn by processing a story while not actively writing — yet reflected on his point to never think about a story when you’re not working on it, as there have been times I was positive I’d written a scene but it turned out I’d thought it through but never written it down.

3 Ways to Save a Scene You Lack Confidence In

Shifting from Hemingway to fantasy writer L.B. Gale, here is an interesting piece about approaching that writing that came so easily yesterday, yet does not seem so fab in rereading, the next day. Gale is honest that there’s a point for binning, but otherwise offers 3 simple ways to regain the intended effect.

Who Should Read Your Unpublished Work?

Agent Rachelle Gardner is consistently fabulous in her advice to writers seeking publication, facing the first steps in promotion, and managing a growing career. This piece tackles the advice that writers should seek beta readers with the caveat that “not all readers are created equal,” with suggestions in making the most of early readers.

7 Common Questions About ISBNs

One of the keys to marketing a self-published book is making it accessible through distribution channels. In her article at SheWrites, Emily Suess explains the coding and practices behind ISBN, or International Standard Book Numbers. Great information for editing consultants and indie authors.

A Visual History of Literary References on The Simpsons

Just for fun, an old favorite: Jared Keller’s fine compilation in The Atlantic of classic literary references on The Simpsons, like an argument between Jonathan Franzen and Michael Chabon.

What did you find in these links that is useful to you? Let me know if you want more on a particular subject, or share your own best finds.

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This week’s writing has included preparing for a reading challenge I’ll kick off in March. As this vintage poster says: it’s time to “read the books you’ve always meant to read.” 

 

If you have a minute, please click here if you’d like to share the kinds of books on your 2013 Reading List – including any you’ve always meant to read yet never gotten around to.

 

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed. I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Notes of scene and personality of my character, scribbled in the margins while reading Ann Hood’s Creating Character Emotions.

Recent Posts:

• Last Week’s Friday Links for Writers 02.15.13 (find a list of all Friday Links here: Links + Where to Find Me)
• Follow up to January’s Challenge: January Challenge Week 4: And Then Plans Changed
• A “vintage” favorite: Writing Character: Sometimes the Work is Messy

Coming this week:

• 2013 Writing Conferences & Workshops
• Winter 2013 Reading List.  What’s on your current must-read list?

Friday Links for Writers 02.15.13

roses from my boys. c E Field

If you read my January Challenge Week 4: And Then Plans Changed post on Sunday, you know this has been a busy Valentine’s week for me.

I finished out my prior writing courses and got settled in to my new teaching position, leaving me rather drained and ready for the weekend.

Still, much of what I worked on included some great reading about the writing profession, partly inspired by #book2 tweets from the publishing industry’s un-conference last Sunday. (Search that hashtag on Twitter for conversations.)

Here are a handful of the best links of the week. As always, let me know what you found inspiring in these or what topics you’d like to see more of.

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How Do I Improve My Memory? Forget More!

On the heels of ads for memory enhancing games like Luminosity, this TED Talk gives opposing, research-supported advice about the value of forgetting.

Best Blogs for Writers to Read in 2013

55 blogs with consistently effective advice, curated by poet Robert Lee Brewer.

5 Digital Products You Can Launch with Your Writing Skills

This list by Linda Formichelli, on her top-10 blog The Renegade Writer, is a quick resource for one of my back-burner projects. While I focus on my fiction, and while I earn my professional salt as a freelance writer or teacher at varying times, I have been exploring new venues that allow myself — or anyone — to put my expertise directly into the hands of interested readers. Check out Linda’s list, spelling out 5 such venues.

Which Publishing Option is Right For You?

For friends who have been weighing the varying paths, between traditional publishing, self-publishing or a hybrid, here is Terri Guiliana Long’s self-quiz on Her Circle to help you get a sense which options best fit your personality.

Interview with Colum McCann

A great rambling interview with National Book Award (and many othes) recipient Colum McCann, including some stirring commentary on his inspiration for Let the Great World Spin.

Sir Ken Robinson | TED Talk

Want insight into my week? Writing lessons, working with kids, changing classes, rethinking learning approaches… This excerpt from Sir Ken Robinson’s famed 2006 TED Talk is at the heart of it. Ken is inspiring and funny, whether you’re an educator or not.

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Reading list survey for the March Challenge: Click here if you’d like to share  the kinds of books on your 2013 Reading List. I’d love to hear your current must-read titles!

What did you find in these links that is useful to you? Let me know if you want more on a particular subject, or share your own best finds.

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed. I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

• Last Week’s Friday Links for Writers 02.08.13 (A listing of all Friday Links appears on Links & Where to Find Me)
• Last month’s January Challenge: January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan
• Most recent: January Challenge Week 4: And Then Plans Changed
• A “vintage” post: October Writing Challenge: Reflections on Writing Character & Place

Friday Links for Writers 02.08.13

Today was a week where “other plans” intervened — a complete position change in my teaching post wiped me so “blank screen” that I even forgot I had jury duty to call for on Tuesday. I spent my week getting to know new students and sentimental over some great writing students in the class I gave up.

Sigh.

It made little time for fiction writing. But there’s always time for reading. Pinterest has become my stress reliever, and it’s just your luck that this leaves me stumbling on some great pieces.

Here are some of my favorites, which take us from revision to queries, and then to the joy of reading.  Enjoy!

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Home Improvement

As writing conference season approaches, I was reminded of the great things I’ve heard of author Benjamin Percy as a workshop leader. In this article, published in the May-June 2010 issue of Poets & Writers, Percy offers some brave advice about the daily work of revision.

Query Pitfalls

In response to readers who appreciated the link to agent Sara Megibow’s query twitter chats, here is link to a blog by literary agent Janet Reid. Janet is bluntly entertaining in evaluating just what steers a query wrong. This link goes to a most recent post, but the full series is available by clicking the categoy “query pitfalls.”

Query Shark

Want more query pitfalls? This site evaluates actual query letters blow-by-blow.

Everyday Miracles

Tin House runs a series on its blog called The Art of the Sentence in which authors take turns reflecting on the perfection of one single sentence that inspires them. In “Everyday Miracles,” Pamela Erens mulls how John Updike was trained first as a visual artist, wondering if this is what leaves his writing so intimately revealing. Wondering to myself: did I ever actually read Updike?

Shared by the Library of Congress, this poster is from a Chicago promotion 1936-1941. No known copyright restrictions.

Perfect segue to say I am in the process of getting ready for a March Reading Challenge, which has me thinking about books we “always meant to read.”

Reading list survey for the March Challenge: Click here if you’d like to share the kinds of books currently lingering on your “to read” list.

Finalists for the Story Prize

The Story Prize is given annually to honor an outstanding collection of short stories. The link above takes you to announcement of the 3 finalists for collections published in 2012: Junot Diaz, Dan Chaon and Claire Vaye Watkins. Want more great collections? This link here takes you to The Story Prize blog, with an annotated long list of other great collections they considered.

100 Notable Books of 2012 & 100 Recommended Books of 2012

I’ve posted before, calling 2012 the Year of the Book. It really was a year of some fabulous reads. But where “top 10″ lists and award lists tend to hit the same few books over and over, these two lists by the New York Times and San Francisco Chronicle offer a more comprehensive range of the fabulous books published in 2012, in all genres.

Bookshelf Porn

If your eyes lit up at links for The Story Prize or {100 + 100} great books from 2012, they you’re probably in a category who would find photography of gorgeously shelved books satisfying. Kick back and enjoy yourself.

What did you find in these links that is useful to you? Let me know if you want more on a particular subject, or share your own best finds. Be sure to click through to the survey for the March Challenge, to share the kinds of books on your 2013 Reading List. I’d love to hear your current must-read titles!

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed. I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Summer hours spent revising Wake. c. Elissa Field

Recent Posts:

• Last Week’s Friday Links 02.01.13 (A listing of all Friday Links appears on Links & Where to Find Me)
• Last month’s January Challenge:
  • January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan
  • January Challenge Week 2: Start Something
• A “vintage” post: Writing Life: Writers’ Day Jobs – Balancing the Time, Money, Credit Trifecta

Coming Next:

• January Challenge Week 4: And Then Plans Changed

Friday Links for Writers: 02.01.13

February 1st. Jam-packed January, where did you go?

If your week has gone like mine, it’s been a busy one. Lots of boots-on-the-ground work with little time spent reflecting.

Despite the pace, what has made it a great week has been some of the great reading and links I’ve come across.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Last week’s Friday Links featured great resources for writers working on a novel draft. This week features a couple more great links for novel and short story writers, but also 2 that are specifically for social media consultants or bloggers.

Enjoy, and feel free to suggest your own favorite reads in the comments!

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Tikka’s litter born at our house a few years back. Masala, Attaluna, Twinkle, Orangey, Lilybird and Sunset. c Elissa Field

Written Kitten

Wondering if I should explain this one or let it be a surprise. So, you ever say you want to write x-number of words a day but just can’t find the right, hmm, incentive to keep you going? What if someone invented — just hypothetically — a frame you could type in and — kind of like those mice trained to get a treat if they ring a bell — every time you typed 100 words a cute picture popped up on the screen beside your words? If you need a genuinely silly motivator to get your writing going, click this one.

Poets & Writers Tools for Writers

What to do now that Duotrope has turned to a paid-subscription service?  If you are submitting short fiction, Poets & Writers is one of the most generous resources available. This link takes you to their Tools for Writers page, which features coming contest deadlines, literary magazines, conferences, and even writing prompts and a Speakeasy discussion board that pre-dates most online venues. If you’ve never discovered the site, it’s definitely worth a look.

How to Write a Query Letter: A Flowchart

For those of you ready to query, literary agent staffer and freelance editor, Cassandra Marshall, shared this simple flowchart to guide you. (This one made it to my Pinterest. If you’re a pinner – or curious – here’s link to my boards.)

7 Libraries of Sensational Photographs You Can Use for Free

On his website, Bestseller Labs, author Jonathan Gunson shares links to 7 sources of photos available for use without royalties. It is good blogging practice to include an effective photo with each post, but it’s important to be able to accurately verify source information and availability to avoid inadvertent copyright infringement. This is the largest list of resources I’ve seen in one place.

7 Shortcuts for Fast Blog Posts

This post on Joan Stewart’s The Publicity Hound recognizes that many writers set January goals to post more often on their website, and offers 7 shortcuts for creating fast posts. On the flipside, for those of us writing social media for clients, it’s a great go-to list for generating posts for client sites. Some of her strategies can be transformed into a process for new client interaction, like asking clients to gather “frequent customer questions” to generate a list of likely articles.

What did you find in these links that is useful to you? Let me know if you want more on a particular subject, or share your own best finds.

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed.  I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

My car’s view while I’m in a fiction workshop today (Freedom Tower, overlooking Biscayne Bay, Miami)

Recent Posts:

• Last Week’s Friday Links 01.25.13
• A listing of all Friday Links appears on Links & Where to Find Me
• Last month’s January Challenge:
  • January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan
  • January Challenge Week 2: Start Something
• A “vintage” post: Writing Life: A Zen Prompt for Writing Past Blocks

Friday Links 01.25.13

Welcome to Friday Links for the 4th week of January. It was a memorable week for national reflections and looking forward, as we began with celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday and watching the second inauguration of Barack Obama.

Successful launch, Kennedy Space Center. c Elissa Field, repro w permission only

The work-week since then has been a blur. Great conversations with so many of you, trading notes about your projects for the January Challenge, blogging about mine… and of course, getting it started.

It has, therefore, been a slower week for fiction. But those hours in the morning still found some great reading moments.

Here are some of the links I’ve found worth sharing. A few regular visitors — especially those who worried they were not “on time” in starting the January Challenge — will find the first link intriguing. Don’t put off reading that one!

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Positive Procrastination 

You may have noticed from my January Challenge strategy lists, I am all for tricks that harness (not fight) the energy of our natural tendencies. Wittily written and extremely insightful, this New York Times article by John Tierney presents research demonstrating how the energy of procrastination can be effective fuel (yes!) for getting things done. Quoting Robert Benchley, “The psychological principle is this: anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn’t the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment.” I highly recommend this one!

Sierra Godfrey: How to Write a Great Climactic Scene 

Once you’re over procrastinating, here’s one for getting the end written.  Many workshops focus on opening pages. Last summer I focused on character. Lots of folks talk about analyzing plot points. Sooner or later, those of us tying up a final draft need to get around to writing an ending that lives up to the rest of the book. In this post, Sierra Godfrey offers a valid checklist of what this scene must accomplish.

The Finishing Touches by Jael McHenry

Are you done — or nearly done with that novel draft? Here’s a great article from Writer Unboxed, by Jael McHenry, who focuses the challenging process of polishing a novel draft to address a handful of key threads. Offers some interesting insights.

#5pagesin5tweets 

With the end written and draft polished, it’s time to sweat whether an agent will bite on your query.  As I became a fan of Twitter, one of the best series I followed was agent Sara Megibow’s weekly #10queriesin10tweets. Each week, she’d pull 10 queries from her in-box, summarize the pitch with her verdict (pass, request partial or occasionally (9 out of 32,000 queries in 2012) signed).  Fabulous glimpse into an agent’s thinking — but, gasp!, Sara announced recently, “I feel like I’ve said all I need to say about queries, so it’s time to move on.” No need for disappointment — on January 10th she premiered her new series using the hashtag #5pagesin5tweets. Rather than the query, she is addressing partial submissions she has received. As with the prior series, she summarizes the author’s approach with a verdict (request full or pass) and why.  To access, click the link, or enter the hashtag in a Twitter search or feed browser.

[Note: if you would like to find more discussions like this on Twitter, let me know in the comments, as I have more hashtags to share. You can find me on Twitter at elissafield.]

Should You Be a Writer or an Editor? 

It’s not a question I’ve asked (I do a bit of both) — yet, this 2-part article from The Open Notebook blog addressing the question posed during a Johns Hopkins University masters in science writing forum is a fascinating look at how to know if you are natively an editor or natively a writer.

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These are in my “active reading” stacks, bridging my reading lists from summer into fall, 2012. (The porcelain boxer has run through three generations in our family – as has the breed.) c Elissa Field

What are you reading this month?

That’s a question I’m wondering this week, as it seems time to compile another seasonal reading list. I have some great purchases still waiting to be read, that will roll over from last summer or fall – but I am curious, too, for new recommendations.

What are you reading, what new releases are you curious about, or what would you recommend?

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed.  I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Going on this month:

• Last Week’s Friday Links 1.18.13
• Living With Books 07: Reading Nooks for Children
• Join me in the January Challenge:
  • January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan
  • How the January Challenge Arose from Freelance Writing
  • January Challenge: Week 2 – Start Something

Friday Links 01.18.13

Welcome to Friday Links for the third week of January. For me, it has been a week busy with the beginning of a new semester, including getting to work on production of my students’ annual literary magazine. I’ve also been thrilled with some of the work coming out on my novel draft, Wake (shared last Saturday, here).

Writing mornings include reading, and here are some of the links I’ve found worth sharing!

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George Saunders Has Written the Best Book You’ll Read This Year

Deputy Editor of the New York Times Book Review, Joel Lovell, writes a fascinating discussion with George Saunders (“more or less universally regarded as a genius”), which opens with an amazing reflection on the awareness that comes from a recent proximity to death — and wouldn’t it be amazing if we could walk around with that kind of awareness all the time.

Writing About What Haunts Us

Thanks to Gerry Wilson for sharing the link to this New York Times essay by Peter Orner — whose images of confession and truth and ensuing emotion really do haunt. Together with the Saunders interview, these two articles made for a great reading morning.

Breaking Down Story Structure: MORNING GLORY Act One

Thanks go to Sarah Turnbull for sharing this link.  As I drafted Wake, through much of 2012 the posts I shared had to do with developing character. But, at some point, as your novel draft takes shape, what you are looking for is an understanding of the story line, and talk turns to analyzing plot. This link is to Lydia Sharp’s post which demonstrates story structure by breaking the first act of a movie into opening, inciting incident, catalyst, etc. The expression “instinctively preserves her self-concept” perfectly triggered my morning writing, as I closed a gap in understanding of my character’s early motivation.

Creative Writing: A Master Class

Gee, you know what I just did? Subscribed to a series of free masterclasses with Toni Morrison, Nora Ephron, Rita Dove and more, via iTunes! The Creative Writing: A Master Class link takes you to the full list of courses offered via iTunes Academy of Achievement. Each “course” is an audio or video podcast on craft from some of the masters of fiction, poetry and memoir. For me, these are a welcome download for listening in the car or when too tired for reading before sleep, or as a morning warm-up. For a more complete summary: I first read about this in Fordham MFA candidate Josh Jones’ post on Open Culture.

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed.  I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Going on this month:

• Last Week’s Friday Links 01.11.13 
• Excerpt from work on Wake: Sharing a Bit of Today’s Writing
• Join me in the January Challenge:
  •  January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan – intro to the challenge
  • January Challenge: 15 Strategies for Finishing Work
  • Week 1: Finish Something
  • How the January Challenge Arose from Freelance Writing – most recent post
  • Week 2: Start Something
• Novel Revisions: Danger – Book May Bite

Friday Links 01.11.13

The second week of January means I began the week tying up last week’s semester and finished the week having started with a new group of writing students. It also means my sons are back in school, so I’ve had a few productive mornings writing before afternoon classes. Two great a-ha moments led to some great work, so I’m ending the week in a fabulous mood.

Writing mornings include reading, and here are some of the links I’ve found worth sharing!  If you have an article you think I (or my readers) should see, share the link in the comments.

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On Beginnings: Ann Hood

Ann had mentioned in May that she wrote an essay for Tin House outlining the dozen or so different ways she had identified that a writer can use to begin a story. Somewhere, on a fat, full legal pad, I have notes on all of them — but had been periodically checking Tin House for the full essay to post. Oh. Found it — ran in October — but it’s just a tease. Click through for this one piece on opening with dialogue. I’m pretty sure I’m going to want to buy the full collection of essays when it is published.

12 Letters That Didn’t Make the Alphabet

A title like that suggests lead-in to a Far-Side-esque joke about letters not up to snuff. No such gag. I dog-eared this article in fascination, as it shares the evolution that left certain letters out of our permanent alphabet, even as their sounds or symbols still linger. An interesting piece for all of us working with words.

Solving a First-World Blogging Problem

As we start a year evaluating our goals, accomplishments and maybe even worth as a writer, this is a fabulous post at Writer Unboxed by Jan O’Hara. Applying medical wisdom (“If the results won’t change your treatment plan, don’t do the test in the first place.”), she offers thought-provoking inspiration.

Inspiring Your Writing With Contemplative Practice

Just as many of us are beginning the new year with goals that have us wondering how to carve more writing hours (or discipline) out of our days, Patrick Ross (an instructor at The Writing Center in Bethesda, MD, and blogger at The Artist’s Road) shares Kurt Caswell’s advice for using contemplative activities to create healthy writing practice. Taken from a lecture at Vermont College of Fine Arts, this short piece is just enough to get you inspired — but not keep you from your morning’s writing!

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed.  I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

Going on this month:

• Last Week’s Friday Links 01.04.13
• Join me in the January Challenge – to finish one thing, begin one thing, improve one thing, then plan. Links here:
  •  January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan - intro
  • Week One: Finish Something - kick-off
  • Week One: 14 Strategies for Finishing Work
• Writing resolutions: 2013 Day One: Reflections, Goals & a Challenge
• Novel Revisions: Danger – Book May Bite

Friday Links 01.04.13

One of my great discoveries during 2012 was the wealth of insight I stumble across each week –  from the fabulous writers, editors, agents, journalists and more that I follow on Twitter, to some of the professional groups I participate in, to resources I come across in my work.

Fitting for the first Friday of the new year, I’m kicking off this new column — Friday Links — to share the best reading I’ve found each week, just in time for your weekend reading. I anticipate featuring anything from interviews with writers, advice on writing and publication, reading and publishing news… to issues on art, education or culture.

Welcome to Friday Links — and the new year!

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“Posthumous” Jeffrey Eugenides | The New Yorker

Adapted from a speech given to the 2012 Whiting Award winners, this fabulous essay from the New Yorker’s blog is identified in the magazine’s link as “Jeffrey Eugenides’ advice to young writers.”

Is That Kind of Like a French Pencil?

Perhaps I found kindred spirit in this interview — connecting over the voices of his 7th grade writers compared to my own middle grade writing students — but I loved The Literary Man’s interview with Andrew Slater, a writer and former soldier who has gone back to live in Iraq, teaching English and writing. The title was his answer to the question, What is your writing routine?

Rachelle Gardner: What Not to Blog About

Literary agent Rachelle Gardner has endeared herself to writers with the depth of her advice about all levels of the publication process, including best uses of social media. In this article, she offers the most important “no-nos” for a writer to avoid in protecting their professional persona.

Day of Week Affects Facebook Responsiveness

While on social media… here is an interesting analysis via MarketingVox. I’d heard analytics before about best days of the week to post to Twitter or Facebook — but this analyzes the level of interaction posts get for each day of the week by industry.  Holly Harrison (@hollharris; the “marketing broad” for litmag Paper Darts) cleverly observed that each industry’s target graph looks like a different origami animal. For those of us communicating in publishing, Sunday is a hotter day to hit than Monday.

And, celebrating the new year, some great New Year posts:

Stones in My Pockets: Resolve for 2013 by Gerry Wilson

Starting the New Year 60,000 Words Ahead by Laura Maylene Walter

In Which I Fail (Most of) My Resolutions… But End 2012 on a Good Note (Really) by Nova Ren Suma

The Yearly Reboot by Jeannine Bergers Everett

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If you like this blog, be sure to subscribe using WordPress’s +follow option, or via email or RSS feed.  I love to connect with like-minded readers and writers!

My Recent Posts:

• Join the January Challenge: January Challenge: Finish, Begin, Improve, Plan
• Revising: Novel Revisions: Danger – Book May Bite
• Reading: 2012: Year of the Book
• Writing: Writing Character: Challenge of Writing the Character Most Like Yourself

Next up:

• January Challenge Week 1: Finish Something
• Next week’s Friday Links 01.11.13