Nathan Bransford - The Forums

When I procrastinate on my writing, I read about writing (and other stuff, too)!

Since I made the official decision to write a novel about seven months ago, I bought a LOT of books on the subject, and read a lot on the web.

I thought he'd be nice if we all pulled in together and share our favorite blogs or books with our comments on them and build a common repository of knowledge! I know some of them, if not most, will be known by most, but I seem to discover new blogs or books about the topic of writing every day, so you never know!

I'll start! And don't hesitate to comment on them!

Blogs
Rachelle Gardner (Very sweet, knowledgeable).
Nathan Bransford (He likes the color orange)
The Rejectionist (Likes LOTR and cats. Hates Twilight.)
Pub Rant (Kristin Nelson, tremendous blog with a lot of resources about the magical art of query writing)
BookEnds LLC (daily entries that usually answer reader's questions)
Et in arcaedia, ego. (Jennifer Jackson)
The INTERN (cute and funny writing, she's young and has a fresh perspective)
Miss Snark (retired but LOT'S OF FUNNY STUFF THAT WOULD MAKE THE UNIVERSE JEALOUS OF OUR FUNNY PEOPLES. A LOT of good posts and resources about NOT what to do.)
Janet Reid (more or less helpful these days, but good old posts to laugh about. She got a temper.)
Query Shark (Janet Reid's second blog, super SUPER helpful)
QueryTracker (Imho I find them a bit snobby, but they have good information and QueryTracker is good if you're disorganized or don't know how Excel works)
Editorial Ass (editor with attitude, good info and funny at times)
Editorial Anonymous (Good info)

Books
These are the books I bought and read.

Strunk & White (the little bible, needs no introduction)
On Writing (King's memoir, mesmerizing read. He doesn't like plot though...)
Stein on Writing (a bit old-fashioned and had a hard time finishing it, but there is no doubt he knows what he's talking about)
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers (totally awesome, a must read)
The Writer's Journey (currently reading, dense but very good advice)
Writing the Breakout Novel (very good for commercial fiction writers, I liked it a lot. Donald Maass also has his own agency and I think he is pretty well known in publishing)
Story (extremely technical review on the technique of crafting plot and story. For screenwriters primarily, but applies to novel writing too. Apparently the guy's a legend.)
The First Five Pages (very helpful for perfecting those first pages you usually send with a query. Noah Lukeman also has his own agency and a blog)
The Key (Not good. I made the mistake of buying his two How to Write A Good Damn Novel Part I and II, they also stink. Very disappointed, general and unhelpful advice. Save your monies)

Forums & websites
The Writer's Beat (very cool place, the least amount of snobbery I could find on any writing forums, AND ONE OF THEIR REGULAR HAS AN AVATAR OF HIMSELF WEARING ONLY PAMPERS AND A STORMTROOPER HELMET! One of the best place in the UNIVERSE!)
Predators and Editors (free extended repertory of literary agents. Allows you to know who to avoid, who is recommended, and who is highly recommended.)
AgentQuery(good database, also advice on how to format query, how to send in a manuscript, etc.)

I'd also like to add that I AM VERY MAD AT THE 24 WRITERS FOR KILLING *YOU*KNOW*WHO IT WAS LAZY WRITING, WRITERS! I'd also like to mention Robin William's rendition of how Golf was invented is the FUNNIEST THING EVER, and some more of his humor in our writing would contribute to making bestsellers. I will abstain on commenting on Lost because I think J.J. Abrams rocks and I loved Fringe and Star Trek, BUT I BETTER HAVE CLOSURE SIR!

PS. I couldn't find a similar thread in my quick search through the forum, my apologies if this already exists.
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with any of these people or writers, but I'm secretly in love with Miss Snark's snarkism.

Nice list. Good luck with your novel!

http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com
Sci-fi/fantasy/horror online workshop, $49 a year, first month is a free trial, password protected. Post your work and get critiques in exchange for giving them to others. Several agent blogs recommend the site -- and so do I.

http://misssnarksfirstvictim.blogspot.com/
Monthly "Secret Agent" writing contests that cut off at 50 entries. Literary agents pick the winners. The prizes are anything from a query to a full manuscript review, depending on the agent. Also has general critiques (first 25/50/100/250 words).

Holly wrote: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com
Sci-fi/fantasy/horror online workshop, $49 a year, first month is a free trial, password protected. Post your work and get critiques in exchange for giving them to others. Several agent blogs recommend the site -- and so do I.

Very cool. If Colleen Lindsay says it good, I trust her.

You tried it?

I love http://absolutewrite.com/ It's full of advice, other writers (a lot are big name published writers), places to share your work and help read other people's work. You could get sucked into this site for hours and hours!

FK7 wrote:

Holly wrote: http://sff.onlinewritingworkshop.com
Sci-fi/fantasy/horror online workshop, $49 a year, first month is a free trial, password protected. Post your work and get critiques in exchange for giving them to others. Several agent blogs recommend the site -- and so do I.

Very cool. If Colleen Lindsay says it good, I trust her.

You tried it?

Yes, I tried the free trial month, found it worthwhile, and signed up for a year's membership. I posted my first three chapters and received some invaluable critiques. The writers are a mix of professionals and amateurs, good, decent, and not so good. Just scroll through, find some good writers, and review their chapters, and it's more than likely that they will review you back. The site is also good because you are not obligated to keep to a schedule. You can post whenever you want.

I read Kings On Writing and found it very interesting. I wish he had added more on the editing process but what was there was to the point and good. I was encouraged to find that SK doesn't plot cause, for the one I am working now, I didn't plot a thing. Now I just need to work on carving out that time to write. :)

Thanks for the list. I have Self-Editing for Fiction Writers on order. Can't wait to edit this mass of words I have stored on my thumb drive. :)

I've found stuff in these items to be most helpful - not everything in every one, but something in every one:

Books
Plot - Ansen Dibell
Art Of Dramatic Writing - Lajos Egri
Time and Narrative Vol. I, II, III - Paul Ricoeur
Zen in the Art of Writing - Ray Bradbury
How to Write Like Chekhov: Advice and Inspiration, Straight from His Own Letters and Work
Characters & Viewpoint - Orson Scott Card
Save The Cat! - Blake Snyder
A Writer's Guide to Fiction - Elizabeth Lyon
The Successful Novelist - David Morrell
Lessons from a Lifetime of Writing - David Morrell
How Fiction Works - James Wood
13 Ways of Looking at the Novel - Jane Smiley
Plot & Structure - James Scott Bell

Essays
NYT Writers on Writing column archive
How To Tell A Story - Mark Twain
Essays in the Art of Writing - Robert Louis Stevenson
How I Write - Bertrand Russell

Mythology - not necessarily for the direct info., but learning about old stories and people and creatures and seeing how they can be modernized.
Egyptian Magic - E. A. Wallis Budge
Concise Dictionary of Classical Mythology - Pierre Grimal
Encyclopedia of Mythology: Classical, Celtic, Norse
Routledge Dictionary of Gods and Goddesses, Devils and Demons

Hands down, Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird. I would read that book over and over just to hear her voice, but it's extremely helpful too. It's very valuable at the times when you need to be talked off a ledge, when your writing has you in the pits of despair. She's brutally honest about her own ups and downs as a writer which makes it comforting and inspiring. I cried too...how many writing books can you say that about?