Saturday, May 30, 2015

Best in Blogs 5/24-5/30 #amreading #amwriting

Here's this week's roundup!

Writer Unboxed
About the craft and business of fiction - and a cute kitty picture too!
"Writers are made, not born. Writers are born, not made. Writers are born without maids. Whichever nature/nurture boxing glove you decide to swing in that battle, I hold that there are some distinct methods to cultivate a writer’s eye, and that those cultivations can result in sweet writerly fruits. (Please excuse that the last sentence mixed its metaphors with a waffle iron rather than a whisk.)"

Adventures in YA Publishing
Great YA blog - plus . . . check this out if you've been looking for a blog to be a part of!
"Things have been a little bit hectic here at Adventures lately. We're all on crazy deadlines, dealing with sick family members, last days of school, getting kids off to Madagascar (That would be my daughter, who's headed there for eight weeks) and, of course, book festivals, school visits, and so on.

Which brings me to my point. We could use a little help! : )"

Flogging the Quill
The art of writing compelling first pages, plus ...
"I came across the following micro-tension exercises by literary agent Donald Maass. He writes about how to create micro-tension in his craft books “The Fire in Fiction” and “Writing 21st Century Fiction.” "

Janice Hardy
An analysis of a movie that writers looking for emotion and tension should see
"Once in a while, a story comes along that blows me away. It might be a novel, a movie, a game, or a TV show, but how it’s written or structured illustrates an aspect of storytelling that expands my writer’s mind. 

The film, Mama, by AndrĂ©s and Barbara Muschietti is one such story. "

Marcy Kennedy
Book written? published? Now what?
"We’ve now reached a milestone in writing our author business plan. Last month, we finished our author business plan summary and our Business Operation section. In other words, we’re officially into the body of our author business plan where we need to start laying out practical steps to reach our goals. (If you missed the earlier posts, it’s important to start from the beginning because we’ve already talked about setting our goals, choosing our stories, and identifying our audience.)"

Writer Unboxed
A powerful look at female self-analysis - and what we need to keep in mind for our female characters
"In Wild by Cheryl Strayed, the main character is a young woman who is at the end of her rope. She’s lost her mother and she can’t find her footing in the world, and on a whim, she decides to go on a hike on the Pacific Coast Trail, 1000 miles."

Project Mayhem
How do you write in a child's voice?
"How do you manage to write in a voice that engages a child’s interest when all of you (he inserted a half-apologetic smile and shrug here) are well past being children yourselves?

The panel members answered the question individually, but basically we all had the same answer, in slightly different words:

In our heads, we are still children."

Cracked
Ok, not exactly a writing blog, but the theme of things going unexpectedly wrong should fit perfectly with anyone trying to plan a novel!
"Propaganda is basically what happens when a government sprinkles glitter on a turd and then claims that it's unicorn meat. If done right, the people will eat it up and be thankful for the privilege. But, as we've pointed out before, if done wrong, we end up with hilariously failed propaganda campaigns that achieve the exact opposite of what they set out to do." 

Flogging the Quill
One of my favorite sites - helping writer's with their first pages. Comments and submissions needed!
"The Flogometer challenge: can you craft a first page that compels me to turn to the next page?"

Please contribute to the fun - what blogs did you enjoy this week. Comment below!


No comments:

Post a Comment