Notice

If I recommend a product or service, I’ve either purchased or used it myself. Only rarely will I recommend something I myself haven’t used.

Most of these are affiliate products and services. This means I get a bit of commission if you invest in one of them using the supplied link.

Craft of Writing Products

 

Writing Fiction for Dummies

by Randy Ingermanson and Peter Economy

 

I’ve got all of Randy’s stuff; this is a brand new book release which includes extra ideas he’s learned.

This will give you a broad overview of fiction writing, from categories/genres to scene and character development. His “Snowflake” method for building your novel is excellent. You’ll end up with an excellent grasp of the 3-Act plotting concept.

Check out his web site and get on his mailing list. While you’re there, check out his Snowflake program. While his Fiction Writing 101 and 201 offers are excellent, start out with Writing Fiction for Dummies.

This should be high on your list of must-haves. Get it at my store now.

Plot & Structure

by James Scott Bell

Bell does a bang-up job with techniques and exercises using the 3-Act Structure. Check it out at my store.

Story Structure Demystified, 101 Tips, and The Three Dimensions of Character

by Larry Brooks

	Larry has an engineering approach to writing which fits right into our tech writer universe. While he has a ton of unique insights, everything he says fits right into the mainstream of fiction writing. His next book, Six Core Competencies, is coming out in print next year (Feb 2011 projected). Get onto his blog and print every one of his posts. Read and heed! This ebook enables you to work with the 4-Part Structure. It builds from the theory upwards to a usable methodology for creating the story structure you need to sell your novel. A must-have. See what Larry says about it.
	101 Tips is worth every penny. This ebook will help you put a polish on your novel that will make it shine to your readers. See what Larry says.
	Another home run. Larry gets you the nuts and bolts insight into how your characterization fits into the Six Core Competencies. Highly recommended.   Get it now.

Write a Book Now

by Steve Manning

I’d say Steve is the ultimate pragmatist when it comes to rapid production. Just using one of his publicly-available tips almost doubled my speed during my last two novels.

Get on his site, ferret out his articles, print them (to PDF so you can refer to them), and sign up for his mailing list (even more articles). There’s lots of stuff there.

Now, when you want the real nitty-gritty on writing your 400-page novel in 14 days or less, get his full course with videos, audios and a manual. In it, he discloses the real secret to blueprinting and then doing the actual first draft in 14 days or less. How much writing experience do you need? Steve says the less, the better, since you don’t have to unlearn stuff.

Philosophy

While not directly related to writing, these give a deep background to the human nature which will help your characterizations and plots.

Malcolm Gladwell

Malcolm can take a complex, seemingly random set of data or facts and make sense out of it so you understand it. These three books are quite inexpensive in my Amazon store under the Philosophy category:

• Outliers – The Story of Success
• The Tipping Point – How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
• Blink – The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Get up on YouTube and search for Malcom Gladwell. Check out what spaghetti sauce can teach us. Google “malcolm gladwell genious” for a conference video called Genious 2012 to find out what kind of geniouses we want today.

Blogs and Web Sites

Immerse yourself in the Craft and the world of publishing. Get yourself a Gmail account and use the Google Reader.

A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing – how to get your work out into the world.

StoryFix – Larry Brooks’ blog. Get everything you can; he’s got an engineering approach we tech guys appreciate.

Bookninja – Links and inconoclastic views on publishing.

Booksquare - Dissecting the publishing industry with love and skepticism.

Brad’s Reader – “all things literary and writing”

Cleavage – Kelly Diels has it. Definitely not your usual sweetness-and-light.

Copyblogger – While her main emphasis is on writing copy (advertising), there’s lots of stuff that fits directly into the Craft, such as Romance 101: How to Use Feminine Words That Sell

Dean Wesley Smith – he’s a long-time, multi-genre well-published writer. Look at his Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing series as well as his agent vs. no-agent ideas.

Friendly Writer – Laura Sherman writes both fiction and non-fiction. She has some worthwhile viewpoints.

Fuel Your Writing – Good stuff on working with ideas as well as some practical tips.

gladwell.com – Malcolm Gladwell of the New Yorker. Has some tremendous ideas.

Grammar Girl – MP3 downloads on grammar. They’re about 5 minutes each and are great to play during your commute.

How to Plan, Write and Develop a Book — Good source on a variety of fiction writing topics.

Mellisa M. Williams – Children’s author and public speaker. Good information especially about writing for children.

Men with Pens – Various authors. Mainly about writing copy (which you’ll need). One example is the Princess Bride Guide to Copywriting.

My Fiction Writing Tips – Lynn Spreen gives tips from all over.

Nail Your Novel – Roz Morris has published a dozen novels. Good variety of information.

Niki Greenwood – Specializes in Romance and has good stuff for everyone.

Novelists Inc. – Various multiply-published authors  with topics on different genres and different aspects of the Craft.

Paperback Writer – Lynn Viehl has published 44 novels in 5 genres. Think there’s something here? Try Why God Must Be a Writer.

One Man Writes – Gordon McLean is a technical writer in the UK. Most of his posts are about TW, but there’s lots of valuable information for the fiction writer.

Publishers Weekly – Obviously about the publishing industry. Each week there’s a set of reviews on various genres. Poke around the menus to get the proper blog page. Read the reviews, especially the starred (recommended) ones. Gives a good idea what’s selling and an insight into what the industry looks for in publishing.

Publishize Newsletter – There’s the book, then tons of tips and news on publishing.

Second Wind Publishing – Multiple-genre indie publishing. Gives a good perspective from the indie viewpoint.

Seth’s Blog – Seth Godin is a very well-known marketer who’s really on the ball.

Show Some Character – Plot to Punctuation. Jason Black is a freelance writer of fiction, non-fiction and academic/technical material. He’s always got something interesting to share.

Smashwords.com – Online ebook publisher. Keep an eye out here for the latest and greatest.

Steven Pressfield Blog – Always a good post on Wednesday about writing.

Stormwolf.com – Looks to be a lot of published work. Keep an eye on it for some very interest articles about the writing and publishing industry.

Story Hack – Bryce Beattie writes action/adventure and “other stuff.” Good set of writing resources.

storyfix.com – Larry Brooks is a best-selling author, a freelance writer, and a writing instructor. His blog has novel-writing tips and fundamentals. If you keep an eye on only a few blogs, this needs to be one.

TeleRead – News and views on ebooks, libraries, publishing, and related topics. Always lots of action here!

The Creative Penn – Joanna Penn is an author, blogger, and business consultant in Australia. Articles, books, etc., here along with some neat free stuff.

Wordplay: Helping Writers Become Authors. K.M. Weiland writes historical and speculative fiction from her home in the sandhills of western Nebraska. She does a lot of video blogging; always on an excellent subject. Nice free ebook, too.

Write It Sideways – Write fresh. Write bold. Suzannah gives us a fresh perspective about many areas of the Craft.

Write to Done – Writing articles twice a week. Leo Babauta brings us lots of relevant articles about the Craft and the industry.

Writer Unboxed – About the craft and business of genre writing. There’s at least a dozen staff writers on a wide range of topics such as Hero vs. Anti-Hero.

WriteBetterFiction – Excellent reference and ideas. Busts up a lot of myths about us writers.

Writing Fiction – A wide-ranging discussion on writing and publishing novels and short fiction.

Summary