This week’s top writing advice from around the web for May. 7, 2023

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Reading Time: 8 minutes
(Image by Maria Korolov via Midjourney.)

I subscribe to more than 150 writing advice sites and gather the best posts for you every single Sunday. You can see all the previous writing advice of the week posts here and subscribe to the RSS feed for this writing advice series here (direct Feedly signup link).

Productivity, mood management, and battling the demons inside

Podcast: Excellent Advice For Living With Kevin Kelly by Joanna Penn

Guest Kevin Kelly is a New York Times bestselling author talks about letting your author voice emerge and reasons for writers to be optimistic in the age of AI. Joanna Penn has been sharing writing and publishing advice since 2008 at The Creative Penn and is the author of Successful Self-Publishing and many other writing and publishing advice books. She also has one of my favorite writing advice podcasts, and you can subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. The Creative Penn offers articles, videos, books, tools, and courses for independent authors.

Rituals For Writing–The Relief Of No Choice by Mary Carroll Moore

If we know, via rituals, that we have no choice but to sit down and do it–there’s magic in that. The whole purpose, the goal, of keeping choice at a minimum via ritual is to make writing a welcome habit. Mary Carroll Moore is an award-winning author, editor and book doctor. Check out her website at MaryCarrollMoore.com/a> or follow her on Facebook at @marycarrollmoore. How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book is a site that offers advice for how to create, craft and sell your novel, memoir or non-fiction book. If you want more advice like this, follow them on their RSS feed (direct Feedly link here) or on Twitter at @writeabook.

Other motivational advice this week:

The art and craft of writing

The Backstory Drip by K. M. Weiland

The single best backstory technique is used in every type of story, is always a good choice, offers the fewest possible disadvantages, and the one that is most effective in communicating important information to readers without interrupting the momentum of the main plot is the backstory drip. The core principle of the backstory drip technique is never sharing any backstory with the reader until it’s absolutely necessary. K. M. Weiland is one of my favorite writing advice people, and the award-winning author of acclaimed writing guides such as Structuring Your Novel and Creating Character Arcs. If you want more advice like this, subscribe to her blog, Helping Writers Become Authors, via its RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link). You can also follow her on Twitter @KMWeiland and on Facebook @kmweiland.author. Helping Writers Become Authors is one of our favorite writing advice sites. Follow it via its RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link), on Twitter, and on Facebook.

Considering Crucibles In Writing by David Farland

In fiction, a crucible is any setting, condition, or relationship that keeps characters from splitting apart. By forcing these characters to stay together, we may sometimes create an almost intolerable atmosphere. It allows us to supercharge the relationships, raise the heat. David Farland is the 11-time New York Times bestselling sci-fi author with over 100 million books sales. And he’s a writing instructor who’s mentored dozens of dozens of New York Times bestselling authors, including Brandon Sanderson and Stephenie Meyer. Follow him on Twitter at @davidfarland, on Facebook at @DavidFarlandAuthor or subscribe to his YouTube channel. MyStoryDoctor offers writing advice, editing, coaching, online courses, and live workshops. Subscribe to them via their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link here).

Writing Tension In Every Line by Linda S. Clare

Writers are often reluctant to divulge authentic details, the raw and genuine tension, to protect themselves and their characters. The result is a shallow surface experience that can equal a boring read. Linda S. Clare has been writing professionally since 1993 and has taught fiction, memoir and essay writing for Lane Community College for more than a dozen years. In addition to her published books, award-winning short stories, articles and essays, she works as an expert writing advisor for George Fox University and is a frequent presenter at writer’s conferences. For more advice like this, check out her website, LindaSClare.com on Twitter at @Lindasclare. LindaSClare.com offers advice about writing and story structure, as well as coaching services.

Connection, Part II: Human Moments by Donald Maass

A story moment connects with us it’s because it contains a feeling that at one time or another we’ve all had. Book agent Donald Maass is the author of one of my favorite writing advice books, Writing the Breakout Novel. The guy speaks from experience — a lot of experience — about what makes books sell. Writer Unboxed is a fantastic writing advice site, with lots of helpful articles from some of the biggest names in the field. Follow them on RSS (direct Feedly signup link) and on Twitter.

Podcast: The AI-Assisted Artisan Author by Joanna Penn

This episode is about how writers can use AI tools in their creative and business processes while still keeping their humanity at the core of their books. Very thoughtful and inspiring episode. Joanna Penn has been sharing writing and publishing advice since 2008 at The Creative Penn and is the author of Successful Self-Publishing and many other writing and publishing advice books. She also has one of my favorite writing advice podcasts, and you can subscribe to it on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Stitcher. The Creative Penn offers articles, videos, books, tools, and courses for independent authors.

The Character Triad by Stavros Halvatzis

The Realisation-Decision-Action character triad reveals how a character responds to a problem or event in a story. First, the character has a realisation – they identify the problem and gain insight on how to solve it. Then, they make a decision about how to act on that realization. Finally, they take action. Stavros Halvatzis is a writer and writing teacher. For more advice like this, check out StavrosHalvatzis.com or follow him via his RSS feed (direct Feedly link here).

Podcast: Quest Rewards by Oren Ashkenazi, Chris Winkle, and Wes Matlock

In this episode of the podcast, the hosts talk about quest rewards and why it’s different in fiction than games. Oren Ashkenazi is the speculative fiction manuscript editor, Chris Winkle is the founder and editor-in-chief, and Wes Matlock is a content editor at Mythcreants. Mythcreants is my all-time favorite writing advice site. Get their RSS feed here (direct Feedly signup link) or follow them on Twitter @Mythcreants and on Facebook at @mythcreants.

Other writing advice this week:

The business side of writing

Self-Publishing News: Bookseller Survey Exposes Reality Of Being A Traditionally Published Debut Author by Dan Holloway

According to a survey of 108 traditionally published debut authors, 54% of said the experience had a negative effect on their mental health — and only 22% said they felt well supported by their publishers. And, according to another recent survey of 2,000 authors, self-published authors earn more than traditional publishers — and their incomes are rising. Get that survey here: selfpublishingadvice.org/incomesurvey. ALLi news editor Dan Holloway is a novelist, poet and spoken word artist. He is the MC of the performance arts show The New Libertines. Self Publishing Advice is the advice center of the Alliance of Independent Authors. If you want more advice like this, subscribe to their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link).

Business Musings: Go Wide Or Run Away Or Amazon Fail by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

Amazon is changing — and not for the better, as far as authors are concerned. Being exclusive to Amazon may no longer be the best strategy. New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristine Kathryn Rusch writes bestselling science fiction and fantasy, award-winning mysteries, acclaimed mainstream fiction, controversial nonfiction, and the occasional romance. At KrisWrites.com, Rusch offers her thoughts about the publishing industry and other topics.

Video: KDP And ACX Are In Trouble by Dale L. Roberts

Amazon KDP finally has some competition by way of IngramSpark with their latest updates — and Spotify is stepping up BIG time by offering an unheard of royalty for audiobooks that is double the royalty Audible offers. Dale L. Roberts is a self-publishing advocate, fitness author, and video content creator. Self-Publishing with Dale is a YouTube channel with millions of views.

Other business advice this week:

Am I missing any writing advice sites? Email me at [email protected] or leave a note in the comments below.

Maria Korolov

MetaStellar editor and publisher Maria Korolov is a science fiction novelist, writing stories set in a future virtual world. And, during the day, she is an award-winning freelance technology journalist who covers artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and enterprise virtual reality. See her Amazon author page here and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and check out her latest videos on the Maria Korolov YouTube channel. Email her at [email protected]. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.

1 thought on “This week’s top writing advice from around the web for May. 7, 2023”

  1. Jordan

    Thanks for including my article for Now Novel in your writing advice round-up, Maria. Looking forward to diving into the other articles. Will share.

    Reply

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