Tag Archives: link roundup

News & Contests

Top 10 of 2012

I almost didn’t think about doing this here, but since I love data, I was really interested to see which of my posts from 2012 were the most popular. I’m pretty pleased with the results, since I worked pretty hard on some of these!

10. Everything you ever wanted to know about character arcs
Why characters need to show growth, and how to do it in each phase of your story

9. Fixing the top 10 gesture crutches
Strategies for replacing, removing or strengthening the most overused gestures (including smile, nod, shrug and more)!

8. Goals in fiction, on every level
Characters need goals on all levels of the story, from the whole story to the scene. Find out how to get more out of those goals (and set them in the first place!

7. Tracking your blog: using Blogger or WordPress.com stats
I have to admit, I’m pretty surprised that only one Marketing Monday post made the list—and doubly surprised that it was this one. (Can I just say that Google Analytics is a more robust, complete option for tracking your blog?)

6. Handling multiple POVs: Third person
With more than one POV character, it’s important to make sure our transitions between narrators are both clear and smooth. Read up on quickly orienting your readers (and you!) in a POV character’s head!

5. Plotting a novel with a beat board by Ali Cross
A guest post from my friend Ali Cross, and an addition to my most popular series on plotting, this method uses a classic film beat board outline and Blake Snyder’s beat sheet to create a visual plot.

4. Writing crutches: How to avoid overusing the most common gestures!
Those overused gestures—smile, laugh, nod, shrug, sigh, etc.—can sap the power from our writing. Learn the basic methods of how to avoid them! (Or fix them in revision with #9!)

3. Mass editing with Word Macros
You can harness the power of Word to help find all those gesture crutches, too. Instead of clicking “Find” fifty thousand times, this little bit of code automatically pulls all the sentences using whatever words or gesture crutches you specify into a new document. Then you can read, search, look for patterns and edit! This (and the class that generated it) was my biggest writing lesson of 2012!

2. Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat plotting method by Ali Cross
Another guest post by my friend Ali Cross! She introduced me to Blake Snyder’s work and I’ve learned a lot from reading his books. It was only natural that Ali be the one to write up his beat sheet outlining method!

1. Plot Driven vs. Character Driven: I do not think it means what you think it means.
You can use the terms however you want, but technically, “plot driven” and “character driven” don’t have much to do with which one you thought up first or who’s “running” the story. Learn more about these frequently misused terms!

Also cool in 2012!

The awesome Trisha, frequent commentator here, named me one of her top blogs of 2012!

Next week, I’ll pass this award along to my favorite writing advice blogs!

What was your biggest writing lesson in 2012?? Come join the discussion!

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!

 
Technique

Linky Goodness!

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Back when I worked for Marketing Pilgrim, sometimes I’d gather up all the best stories of the week and post a link round up called Linky Goodness. Today I’m bringing it back, but instead of marketing news, I’m linking to awesome posts about writing!

  • We all know writing is a solitary endeavor, and since it’s a second (or third) job for most of us, sometimes it’s hard to take away our precious writing time to seek out other writers—but it’s vital to our well-being! Gabi Pereira of DIY MFA fame talks about Why Writers Need Writer Friends. I especially liked this after attending a conference and seeing all my friends earlier this month.
  • Published author Lisa Schroeder takes a look back at her agent search, saying:

    It was a bit strange to look back to that time – that time when I wondered if I would ever land a good agent and if I would ever have a novel on the shelves of bookstores. And now, three years later, I think about what I would have told myself if I knew what I know now. I certainly did some things right, but I think there are some things I could have done differently.

    I like gaining perspective from people who’ve been there, you know?

  • Author Jenny Martin’s post Voice, the right words is a great take on voice:

    But voice isn’t really about rules. It’s not about passive verbs and misplaced modifiers and too many descriptive clauses. Voice is so much deeper.

    Voice is about letting the characters interpret the action, instead of reporting the events of a story.

    Voice is (and should be!) intimately tied to POV, and this is a great way to do both.

  • In The Danger Zone – When You Go Insane With Editing, Michelle Davidson Argyle warns against going cuh-razy with the edits:

    Danger Zone: When you start looking at the number of specific words in every single paragraph in your book. Too many “thats!” you cry, and start hitting the delete button like a crazy person. You start fixing things everywhere, and out of order. Then you realize that you’ve changed something back there that will affect something up here that will affect something over there. Crap.You’ve created a mess. So you do more editing, and before you know it three months have passed and you should have just rewritten the book from scratch.

    This reminded me of Jami Gold’s post on editing for perfectionists. Personally, I’d like to remain sane.

  • Whether you’re LDS or just have high moral standards, this article on art and morality is very interesting. The conclusion: you don’t have to write dark and disgusting stories about dark and disgusting things to get published. Also, there’s some great advice to all writers starting at “Before closing I want also to say a few words about technique in creative writing.” (story via Elizabeth Mueller)
  • While publishing can definitely give writers a sense of validation, should it matter whether you’re getting a six-figure advance or not? Michelle Davidson Argyle says it isn’t about the big publishing deal.

Enjoy!

What’s your favorite post on writing from the last week or so?

Is your writing any good? Join my writers' email group to find out how you can get a free edit & skill assessment!