Friday Features #2

Here are all the writing goodies I found for this week. I especially recommend the last article, but these are all really helpful. 

Inspiration/Research

M is for Mongols by Caitlin Nicoll at Logically 

O is for Olmec by Caitlin Nicoll at Logically 

Q is For Qin Dynasty by Caitlin Nicoll at Logically

Writing Advice

Have You Written Before? by C. Hope Clark at C. Hope Clark 

Stop Being So Busy by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice

Perfecting Your First Page by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

How (Not) to Write Great Characters by Ava Jae at Writability

Why Creatives Need to Criticize Each Other More by Joe Bunting at The Write Practice 

Conditioning Forces - Or, Your Character Doesn't Live in a Vacuum! by Julie Eshbaugh at Pub Crawl

15 Ways to Write Tight by Barb Sawyers at Write to Done

Weeding Our Manuscripts Part II: Word Whacking to Increase Pace by Julia at The Writer's Alley

Video Games vs. Books by Mooderino at Moody Writing 

Whose Story Is It? by Mooderino at Moody Writing

Do You Read What You Want to Write? by Ava Jae at Writability

How to Shorten a Novel Manuscript Which is Too Long by B. McKenzie at Superhero Nation  

How To Finish Writing a Novel by Ava Jae at Writability

The Unanswered Call by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

13 Ways to Develop a Story That's Too Short by B. McKenzie at Superhero Nation

5 Self-editing Steps You Must Take Before an Editor or Agent at Wise, Ink.  

45 Quick Word Replacements for Good, Great, Awesome and Other Boring Superlatives at Wise, Ink.

How To Write A Novel Without Selling Your Soul by Joanna Penn at The Creative Penn

Are You an Avid Reader? Then You're a Critiquer by Casey at The Writer's Alley

Building Your Author Platform

April Platform Challenge: Day 23 by Robert Lee Brewer at My Name is Not Bob

April Platform Challenge Day 27 by Robert Lee Brewer at My Name is Not Bob 

3 Horrible Mistruths About Social Media That Drive Me Insane by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

11 Powerful Networking Groups for Authors by at Wise Ink Blog

The Indie Author Marketing Pie: Bite Sized Tips For Your Book's Success by at Wise Ink Blog

The 5 Principles to Book Reviews and Endorsements by at Wise Ink Blog

Should You Focus On Your Writing Or Your Platform? by Jane Friedman at Writer Unboxed

How To Connect With Book Clubs by Julie Cantrell at The Writer's Alley

Publishing

Is Your Work Commercially Viable? by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

10 Questions to Ask Before Committing to Any E-Publishing Service by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

4 Reasons to Write Several Books by Rachelle Gardner at Books and Such

Why It's Foolish Not to Self-Publish at Syanxis Chronicles

Did you come across some exceptional writing articles this week? Please share them in the comments!

Don't Be Afraid to Admit Failure and Readjust Your Goals

By: Yesenia Vargas

Maybe you recall the veeerrry ambitious writing goals I had set for myself this year.

When I was about eight months pregnant.

And had no clue what having a baby would entail.

I had been on a roll, having just written my first novel during my first Nanowrimo. I had been wanting to do that for years. I was even planning my next novel.

Then boom.

I had a baby, and my life turned upside down. It's been three months. I haven't written a word of fiction since (I haven't gotten more than five hours of sleep at a time, either). It makes me feel horrible inside, knowing I'll never meet my writing goals now.

But after weeks of moping over that, I'm back. I figure if I still want to write after this major life event, then it must be a real passion of mine.

So here I go again. I fell flat on my butt, but I'm up again. That's what's important, I've realized.

What's the first thing I need to do?

Adapt.

Readjust my writing goals to reflect what's realistic for me now.

And since my life is still pretty hectic, with school and a baby and all, I'm only going to focus on a few big goals. I'm not going to make the same mistake again.

What are my new goals for this year?

1. Write and sell one short story.
2. Begin the first draft of my second novel.
3. Begin the first revision of my first novel.
4. Read as much as I can about writing and for pleasure.

What am I going to do on a daily basis in order to meet these goals?

To be honest, I haven't come up with a specific word count yet. I think for now I just need to focus on writing every day, at least five minutes if that's all I can do. I'll be happy with that for now.

How much do you write a day? What do you do when life happens, and you can't find time to write?

Friday Features #1

Welcome back! Here are the best writing blog posts and articles from the week.

J is for Japan by Caitlin Nicoll at Logically

I is for India by Caitlin Nicoll at Logically

The Courage to Co-Create by Ollin Morales at Courage 2 Create

The Power of Positive Reviews by Lauren Waters at Lauren Waters

Writing Discussion: The Good, The Bad and The Tortuous by Ava Jae at Writability

Is Your Work Commercially Viable? by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

 

April Platform Challenge: Day 20 by Robert Lee Brewer at My Name Is Not Bob

Romantic Fiction: It's All Over, Casanova by Mooderino at Moody Writing

Don't Worry About What You Don't Know: Some Words of Advice by Robert Lee Brewer at My Name Is Not Bob

Staple This To Your Forehead by Larry Brooks at Storyfix

Quantum Hand-Wavy Science by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

5 Great Reasons To Read Even MORE Than You Already Do by Ollin Morales at Courage 2 Create

 

A Lesson from Bestsellers: Write Whatever You Want by Ava Jae at Writability

Powers by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

Writing & Publishing Terminology 101 by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

Problems With Publishers by Mooderino at Moody Writing

Genre Mash-Up — a Guest Post by Art Holcomb at Storyfix

 

Understanding the Other Side of the Contract by C. Hope Clark at C. Hope Clark

Origins by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

The Basics of DIY E-Book Publishing by Jane Friedman at Jane Friedman

Only One Thing Will Make You A Better Writer by Mooderino at Moody Writing

 

How to Write a Novel in Two Sentences by K. M.  Weiland at Wordplay

3 Rituals To Jump-Start Your Writing Machine by Jane Smith at Procrastinating Writers

The Agency Model Sucks by Joe Konrath at The Newbie's Guide to Publishing

MS lost its spark? by Lauren Waters at Lauren Waters

 

Why Tough Critiques Are Exciting (To Me) by Ava Jae at Writability

Naive Secondary Characters by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

An Author Who Markets Her E-Books in Airports by Ann Okerson at Jane Friedman

Novels of the Future by Mooderino at Moody Writing

How to write great guest posts about your book – keep your stories about your stories by Roz Morris at Nail Your Novel 

Madness by Sommer Leigh at Sommer Leigh

Are there any exceptional blog posts you read this week? 

Big News + Cute Baby Pics

Hi everyone, 

I'm so sorry for the extremely long hiatus. I know I said I would be back in a few weeks, but that didn't happen. 

Who knew taking care of a newborn would take up so much time?

Not to mention catching and keeping up on schoolwork and the house chores. 

But here I am, about to end the semester and the baby is growing every day. 

Here are the promised pictures. Check out those chipmunk cheeks!

 

Writing has had to go to the back burner for a while now. But I have made time to read plenty of books in little bits of free time and keep up with my favorite writing blogs. 

Now that school is about over (except for a couple of online classes), regular posts on the blog are back. I'm starting off with one post a week, on Wednesdays to be exact.

Even better news: I will now be starting the tradition of Friday Features, a weekly roundup of the best writing blog posts and articles. So stay tuned for that starting tomorrow!

What have you guys been up to while I've been gone? Any goals accomplished? Any new goals on your mind?