This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Jul. 16, 2023

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Reading Time: 9 minutes
(Image by Maria Korolov via Midjourney.)

I subscribe to more than 175 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: 5 Mindset Tips To Help You Unlock Your Writing Potential by Savannah Gilbo

How to not to put too much pressure on yourself, avoid perfectionism, and escape limiting beliefs. Savannah Gilbo is a developmental editor and book coach. At Savanna Gilbo, she offers writing and publishing advice.

Boost Your Creativity: 6 Ways Writers Can Be More Creative by Glen C. Strathy

How to set aside time and place for writing, banish self-doubt, and embrace patience. Award-winning author Glen C. Strathy teaches creative writing at St. Lawrence College. Check out his website at Glen-C-Strathy.com or follow him on Twitter at @glencstrathy. How to Write a Book Now offers advice about novel writing and story theory.

Discern Your Best Practices by Rochelle Melander

Successful writers have unique practices to support their work. You can discover what makes you most productive by analyzing your best writing sessions and identifying the elements they have in common. Rochelle Melander is a productivity expert and writing coach. She’s the author of 12 books, including Level Up: Quests to Master Mindset, Overcome Procrastination and Increase Productivity. For more advice like this subscribe to Write Now Coach via their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link), on Twitter at @WriteNowCoach and on Facebook at @WriteNowCoach.

Other motivational advice this week:

The art and craft of writing

Podcast: The One Where Wendy Corsi Staub Explains Foreshadowing by J.D. Barker, Christine Daigle, JP Rindfleisch IX, Kevin Tumlinson, and Patrick O’Donnell

The hosts also discuss this week’s publishing topics, including the copyright lawsuit two well-known authors are bringing against OpenAI. Writer’s Ink is a podcast focusing on the business of writing.

Why Are Characters Important In A Story? 4 Ways To Know You Need A Character by J. D. Edwin

In order for a secondary character—or any character—to matter in a story, they have to work as an essential character that impacts the protagonist, plot, setting, or another important aspect that shapes or moves a story forward. J.D. Edwin is a sci-fi author. Follow Edwin on Facebook @JDEdwinAuthor, and on Twitter @JDEdwinAuthor. Her website is JDEdwin.com. The Write Practice is an advice site from a group of writers. They also have a writing critique community and a newsletter. Follow The Write Practice on Twitter, on Facebook, or subscribe to their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link).

Five Writing Advice Cultures To Watch Out For by Chris Winkle

Great overview of the types of advice-givers out there — and what to be wary of. Chris Winkle is the founder and editor-in-chief of 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.

Video: Scene Weave & Subplot Structure Steps: Anatomy Of Story by Nicole Wilbur

In the Anatomy of Story, John Truby teaches the scene weave technique for multistrand plots. This video applies the scene weave and structure steps for each subplot of the pilot of the TV show Pan Am. Nicole Wilbur is a Canadian author and YouTuber. Check out her website at NicoleWilbur.com/. The Nicole Wilbur YouTube channel features videos about story structure, as well as writing vlogs, planning videos, and sharing the progress of her current projects.

Podcast: 5.5 D&D Mechanics by Oren Ashkenazi, Chris Winkle, and Wes Matlock

This is part two of their D&D update. For some writers, being a DM in a D&D game — or something similar — is a way to practice their story-telling skills. And, for individual players who are also writers, it’s a way to practice developing characters. In fact, last fall, Mercedes Lackey was a guest on our YouTube show and told us about how a role-playing game she was in turned into a series of novels — with each player writing the section of the book that involved their character. Check it out! 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

The Average Cost Of Self-Publishing A Book by Elizabeth Javor

It’s between $1,000 and $2,000. That includes up to $1,000 for editing and $500 to $1,000 for book cover design. Plus, there’s interior design, marketing, and administration expenses. But you can save money by doing a lot of the work yourself. Elizabeth Javor is the director of sales and marketing for Outskirts Press, a group of publishing consultants who focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Self Publishing Advisor offers tips and advice for self-published authors.

Business Musings: A Few General Marketing Strategies by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

In this, her fourth article in the series, Rusch offers some advice for building an author brand, including starting small and building relationships with readers. 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: How To Build A Great Author Business by Kevin Tumlinson

Today’s guest, publishing business expert Joe Solari, recommends creating an author business that aligns with your goals and values, understands your market and audience, and focuses on building a community. Novelist Kevin Tumlinson is also the director of marketing at Draft2Digital. Draft2Digital is one of the leading publishing platforms that helps authors publish their books to multiple platforms. It also has a very nice and easy ebook creation and formatting tool.

Video: Did You Say Kickstarter? Q&A With S.D. Huston by Estelle Van de Velde

Today’s guest, fantasy author and military war vet S. D. Huston, talks about her successful Kickstarter campaign for A Curse of Scales & Feathers. Estelle Van de Velde is an indie author, speaker and marketer. For more about her, check out her website, VDVEstelle.com. The Estelle Van de Velde YouTube channel features writing and self-publishing content.

Video: Establishing Your Author Platform On YouTube With Adrian Santiago by S.D. Huston

Author Adrian Santiago about setting up his author platform on YouTube three years in advance of publishing his debut novel, and about the social media that has worked best for him to sell books and which ones haven’t worked. Fantasy author S. D. Huston is also a war veteran and a former college literature professor and writing coach. Check out her website at SDHuston.com. The S.D. Huston YouTube channel features interview and advice related to writing and publishing.

Video: My Biggest Self-Publishing Mistake: The Thing That Took Years To Learn by Mandi Lynn

The big mistake she talks about in this episode is not writing to market. Mandi Lynn writes fantasy, thrillers, and romance as well as marketing advice guides and is the owner of Stone Ridge Books, a company that works to help authors bring their books to life through cover design and book formatting. The YouTube channel Mandi Lynn – Stone Ridge Books features weekly videos on the business of being an author and making an income as a creative entrepreneur.

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.

Edited by Melody Friedenthal
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.

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