Below are a lot of useful links that I have found useful. Some of it comes from agents, other pieces are from authors, and the rest come from somewhere else entirely. No matter who wrote the advice, don’t take any of it for gospel. Instead, use it as the starting point to discovering your own process and style of writing.
Additionally, you’ll notice a lot of links to Holly Lisle’s site. This is because her pages contain a wealth of help and advice for writers, a majority of it free. She is a fantastic resource and I highly recommend taking the time to browse through her archives and articles.
- Characterization
- Dialogue
- Inspiration
- Plotting/Outlining
- Revision/Editing
- Setting
- Worldbuilding
- Critique Groups and Partners
- Self-Pub vs. Traditional
- Agents
- Publishing
- Writer’s Organizations
Characterization
- Holly Lisle – The Character Workshop: Designing a Life
- The Write Practice – Characterization Resources
- The Creative Penn – 5 Tips for Creating Characters
- Tom Pawlik – The 9 Ingredients of Character Development
- Universal Design for Learning – Characterization
- Writing Forward – 12 Character Writing Tips
Dialogue
- Alice Kuipers – 10 Tips for Writing Better Dialogue
- Chuck Wendig – 25 Things You Should Know About Dialogue (profanity advisory!)
- Erica Cameron – Communication, Miscommunication, and the Flight of the Conchords
- Holly Lisle – Dialogue Workshop
- Nathan Bransford – Seven Keys to Writing Good Dialogue
- Standout Books – 6 Insanely Good Dialogue Tips
- The Creative Penn – My Dialogue Sucks
Inspiration
- Buzzfeed – 24 Quotes That Will Inspire You to Write More
- Erica Cameron – The Fictional Real World
- Holly Lisle – A Hundred Ideas for a Dollar
- Holly Lisle – How to (Legally and Ethically) Steal Ideas
- Holly Lisle – Writer’s Block: Are We Having Fun Yet?
- Jessica Strawser – Inspiration for Writers: How to be More Creative
- Leo Babauta – 31 Ways to Find Inspiration for Your Writing
- Write it Sideways – What Should I Write About?
- Write to Done – Where to Find Inspiration: 50 Quotes for Writers
Plotting/Outlining
- Advanced Fiction Writing – The Snowflake Method for Designing a Novel
- Cassandra Clare – I can’t Figure Out How to Plot!
- Chuck Wendig – 25 Ways to Plot, Plan, and Prep Your Story (profanity advisory!)
- Erica Cameron – Outlining: The Good, the Bad, and the Helpful
- Holly Lisle – Learning How to Create a Professional Plot Outline
- Holly Lisle – Novel Pre-Writing Workshop
- Janice Hardy – How to Plot With the Three-Act Structure
- Janice Hardy – Too Much of a Good Thing: Over Plotting Your Novel
- Novel Writing Help – How to Plot a Novel
- The Guardian – The Evolution of Your Story
Revision/Editing
- C.H. Griffon – Five Tips for Novel Revision: The Big Picture
- Chuck Wendig – 25 Steps to Edit the Unmerciful Suck Out of Your Story (profanity advisory!)
- Erica Cameron – Blog Articles on Revision
- Erica Cameron – The Five Phases of Revision
- Holly Lisle – How to Revise a Novel
- Holly Lisle – One-Pass Manuscript Revision
- The Book Designer – Editors’ Post-NaNo Tips for Revising Your Novel
- University of North Carolina – Revising Drafts
- Writer’s Digest – 3 Easy-to-Use Revision Techniques
- Writer’s Digest – 7 Tips for Revising a Novel
Setting
- Anne Marble – The Art of Description
- Erica Cameron – Setting: Why it Matters and How to Choose One
- Gotham Writers – The Dramatic Potential of Setting
- Jody Hedlund – 5 Tips for Writing Better Settings
- The Write Practice – This is How to Efficiently Evoke the Setting of a Novel
- Universal Design for Learning – Setting
- Writer’s Digest – The Top 10 Elements of Setting in a Story
Worldbuilding
- Erica Cameron’s Cheat Sheet and Resources Handout (used in worldbuilding workshops. This protected file needs a password to be copied or edited, but is free for download and general use.)
- Erica Cameron’s Novel Notes template for Notion – Notion is a note taking and databasing tool that is incredibly flexible and multi-purpose, and it can be the perfect place to compile research, character notes, outlines, and more. This template can be a good way for you to get started with the program, and this can be adjusted to be used for either standalone novels or multi-book series.
- David Hair – Tips on Worldbuilding for Writers
- Holly Lisle – Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping
- Holly Lisle – How Much of my World do I Build?
- Michelle Schusterman – How to Build a Series Bible
- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) – Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
- Victoria Strauss – An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding
- Worldbuilding School – The Author’s Guide to Drawing Maps
- Lera Boroditsky – How Language Shapes the Way We Think
Critique Groups and Partners
- 5 Things to Look for in a Critique Partner
- 10 Worst Kinds of Critique Partners
- 40 Places to Find a Critique Partner
- Critique Circle – A free site for gathering critiques
- How About We CP
- Ladies Who Critique
- Maggie Stiefvater’s Critique Partner Love Connection
- Writability – 5 Places to Find Critique Partners
Self-Pub vs. Traditional
- Creative Penn – Pros and Cons
- Nathan Bransford – Some Straight Talk
- Write Life – Self-publish or traditional?
Agents
- Absolute Write Water Cooler – Forum for many purposes
- AgentQuery – A Site to Help You Find an Agent
- Pub Rants – Nelson Literary Agency’s Blog
- Query Shark – How to Write and Revise Query Letters
- Writer Beware – Warnings and Caveats for Writers
- Writer’s Digest – Compendium of Useful Writing Info
- Writer’s Market – Finding Agents and Publishers
Publishing
- 25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author: Lazy Bastard Edition
- Advanced Fiction Writing – How to Get Published
- Chuck Wendig – So, You Just Had Your Book Published
- Creative Penn – 7 Lessons Learned From My First Book Deal
- Jane Friedman – How to Get Your Book Published
- Nathan Bransford – How a Book Gets Published
- Red Sofa Literary – What Happens After a Book is Sold to a Publisher?
- Write Life – 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Book Publishing
- Writer’s Digest – Articles on Getting Published
- Writer’s Digest – What Happens When You Sell Your Book
Writer’s Organizations