Week’s Links…

…is on a new day, yes. Just doing some restructuring of the blog. You know, like what most networks do when you finally get the programming schedule memorized, “they” change it! 😉 (I figured I’d spread the love, LOL!)

Anywho, without further ado, here’s my fav blog posts for the week. Enjoy!

How to Write a Novel by Steph Bowe: http://heyteenager.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-to-write-novel.html

Christine Fonseca is sharing what she learned from an SCBWI conference she attended! Lots of great tips and themes emerged. Check it out! http://christinefonseca.wordpress.com/2010/03/29/what-i-learned-at-scbwi-crafting-historical-fiction/

Nathan Bransford asks the question: Should You Self-Publish? He offers ten questions to ask yourself if it’s something you’re considering. http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/03/should-you-self-publish-ten-questions.html

Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. Seriously. Check out this blog post if you’re interested in working some tension-building denial into your work. It’s pretty spot on and it has a Star Wars reference. A win-win situation, folks. http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/66

This next post is from the same site, but it speaks to something that is subtle and therefore, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT. For real. Subtle is BIG. Check it out and see if you do it in your writing!

Okay, so what the H-E-double hockey sticks am I talking about? Why, I’m talking about examining if you’re accidentally dismembering your characters, of course! 😉 If you’re not sufficiently curious to click the link, I’ll give an example. (But I’ll give the link first!) http://www.plottopunctuation.com/blog/show/62

Okay, so you know when you’re looking for variety in the words you use and the actions you describe for your characters? Well, have you ever done this:

Ex. A gunshot broke the silence. My fear rose. Hiding behind the dumpster, my eyes scanned the alleyway for danger.

Compelling, no? But let me point out that “fear” doesn’t technically “move.” It’s a feeling. And “eyes” don’t “scan,” a person does, which leads me to the question: Did you notice what’s missing from this exchange? The actual character. We’re seeing his or her “fear” and “eyes,” but not him or her. Heck, we don’t even really know if it’s a him or her!

All right, so go check out the post before I end up completely rewriting it here, LOL!

ADD ON: Editorial Ass is having a contest! You could win a crit! Ends today at 11pm EST!!! http://editorialass.blogspot.com/2010/03/half-million-and-counting.html