I subscribe to dozens of writing advice sites and new advice articles come into my news reader at a steady pace. You can see some of my favorites at my Writing Advice Sites resource page.
Here are the best writing advice posts from this previous week. Occasionally I include an RSS feed. To subscribe to an RSS feed, add the feed URL to your RSS reader app. The most popular is Feedly, which is the one that I use. It has a website and mobile apps, and it keeps track of which articles you’ve read, synched across all your devices.
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).
This week, I’ve decided to divide the list into three categories.
The first, for the beginning writer, is about getting the writing process down. Finding time to write, discovering your own writing rituals, learning how to overcome your inner critics, fighting writer’s block, and how to finish what you start. Experienced writers sometimes hit these speedbumps as well, but they can kill a career for a new writer before it even starts.
Second, for the writer who’s already started getting the hang of the mechanics of getting the words down on paper, is improving the quality of the writing. Of course, you can’t improve writing if you don’t have any to improve, so the previous step is critical. But once you’re getting words down, you can start asking yourself if they’re the right words, or maybe you can find better words. And you can even start thinking about sentences, paragraphs, scenes, chapters, plots, character arcs — all that stuff that goes into writing readable work. And even experienced writers probably have areas where they can improve, or new things to learn.
Finally, for the writer who’s finished stories or books that are ready for the public, there’s the question of finding your publishing platform, producing the actual book, finding copyeditors and cover artists, marketing, and advertising. For beginning writers these are mostly theoretical questions, but for experienced writers, they are critical for success. And the answers keep changing as the industry changes, so staying on top of things is critical.
So here we go.
Productivity, mood management, and battling the demons inside
- The Things They Don’t Tell You About Writing by Lucie Ataya for Kiingo
- Perfectionism in Your Writing: Silencio Bruno! by Brenda Wilson for Kiingo
- Why I Am Not Writing by David Corbett for Writer Unboxed
- How Long Does it Take to Write a Book? by Dave Chesson for Kindlepreneur
- Are You Stuck Writing in Your Comfort Zone? by Amanda Winstead for Two Drops of Ink
- Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Writing ALL the Time by Robert Lee Brewer for Writer’s Digest
- How to Write a Short Story: 5 Major Steps from Start to Finish by Sarah Gribble for The Write Practice
- Focus on the work, not the results by Philip Athans for Fantasy Author’s Handbook
- Finding The Courage To Dream Big by David Farland for My Story Doctor
- Getting Into The Creative Mood by David Farland for My Story Doctor
- What genre would my story be? by Jeanne Lim for How to Write a Book Now
- Learn to be a Writer with a Hammer by Audrey Frank for The Write Conversation
- Debuting at the Age of 66 by Liz Alexander for Jane Friedman
- You are a Word Artisan by Cindy K. Sproles for The Write Conversation
- 8 Easy Writing Goals to Accomplish Before the End of the Year by Colleen Story for Writing and Wellness
- The Pomodoro Technique for Writers: Definition, Usage, and Apps by Jason Hamilton for Kindlepreneur
- Time Management for Writers Who Hate Time Management by Julie Glover for Writers in the Storm
- Where do you go for inspiration when the words just aren’t coming? by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- Pro Tips from a NaNo Coach: How to Keep Writing by Rebecca Kim Wells for NaNoWriMo
- Understanding your elemental and aesthetic genre by Ted Atchley for Almost an Author
- How to Juggle Multiple Tasks by Rochelle Melander for Write Now! Coach
- Are You a Writer or an Author? by Jay Wilburn for LitReactor
- What if you fall out of love with a script? by Scott Myers for Go Into the Story
- Write Like No One is Reading by Liam Cross for A Writer’s Path
The art and craft of writing
- Making Characters Stuck in the Background Pop Out by September Fawkes
- Trust Your Readers by Ryan Lanz for A Writer’s Path
- 5 Important Character Archetypes: Characters Aren’t Coincidence by Jo’Siah Shan for Kiingo
- When is the best time to reveal a character’s backstory? by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- What’s the Best Way to Create an Opening Hook? by Chris Winkle for Mythcreants
- Hooking the Reader with a Killer Opening to Your Book by Helena Fairfax for A Writer’s Path
- Character Conflicts That Mirror a Larger Societal Conflict by Beth Kirschner for Writer’s Digest
- What Does Your Character Want? by PeggySue Wells for The Write Conversation
- Maybe It’s Not Your Plot by Susan DeFreitas for Jane Friedman
- Motivation—the WHY of the Story You’re Writing by Sarah Sally Hamer for The Write Conversation
- 4 Tips to Help Writers Write More Clearly by Tim Suddeth for The Write Conversation
- Brainstorming A Scene by David Farland for My Story Doctor
- Collaboration: Tips for Writing with Someone Else—Publishing as a Second Language, Part 3 by Linda Gilden for The Write Conversation
- Copyediting and Proofreading Your Own Work by Peg Sias Lantz for Florida Writers Association
- This post is better: Writing comparisons by Dayna Betz for Almost an Author
- Do you really need editing? by Peter Rey
- Making the Most of Your First Draft by Chet Sandberg for NaNoWriMo
- How to Write a Thriller That Delivers by Wanda Morris for Writer’s Digest
- Maybe don’t carry a big sword on your back by Michael Schwarz for How to Fight Write
- Creating Incredible Characters by David Farland for My Story Doctor
- 6 Ways to Add Surprise to Your Writing by David Farland for My Story Doctor
- Is it okay to take more time than normal to set up the story in Act One? by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- How To Outline By the Seat of Your Pants by Stephanie O’Brien for A Writer’s Path
- 4 Advantages of Writing a Novel Using Multiple Narrative Forms by Liz Keller Whitehurst for Writer’s Digest
- The Benefits of Writing the Static Scene by Ian J. Miller for A Writer’s Path
- The problem with Gideon the Ninth’s space necromancers by Chelsea Schmitt for How to Fight Write
- 3 Simple Tricks to Immerse Your Reader In Your Story by Marissa Graff for Writers Helping Writers
- Make Every Character Count by Jim Dempsey for Writer Unboxed
- The Trouble with “Character Flaws” by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- The Two Halves of the Inciting Event by K.M. Weiland for Helping Writers Become Authors
- When something happens… something ELSE happens by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- From Outline to the Nanowrimo Finish Line by C.S. Lakin for Live Write Thrive
The business side of writing
- 5 Qualities to Look for in a Good Beta Reader for A Writer’s Path
- Kindle Vella: The Long and Short of It by Kendra Griffin for Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
- Kindle Vella: Serial Publishing & How to Get Started by Melissa Haas for diyMFA
- Five Steps to Rethink Your Marketing Mindset by Sue Campbell for diyMFA
- NFTs: What Are They and How Much Should Writers and Publishers Care? by Jane Friedman for Jane Friedman
- How to Secure Early Endorsements (Blurbs) for Your Book by Penny Sansevieri for Jane Friedman
- Sensitivity Readers for Writing Cultures You Already Know? by A.C. Williams for The Write Conversation
- The Short-Run Printing Option: Pros and Cons by Colin Keane for Jane Friedman
- How Much Time Are You Willing To Spend Researching New Ways? by Susan Reichert for Suite T
- The Business of Screenwriting: The Importance of a Writers Group by Scott Myers for Go into the Story
- How to Overcome FOMO as an Independent Author by Kate M. Colby for A Writer’s Path
- A Guide to Hiring a Ghostwriter for Large Writing Projects by Sabrina Ricci for Digital Pubbing
- 5 Surprisingly Simple Book Marketing Tips to Help You Stand Out From the Competition by Penny Sansevieri for Author Marketing Experts
- 14 Ways to Find Potential Buyers by Brian Jud for Self Published Author
- How Collaborating With Artificial Intelligence Could Help Writers of the Future by Drew Zeiba for LitHub
- Is That Publisher Email Legitimate? by John Doppler for Alliance of Independent Authors
- Befriend Your Competition to Grow Your Blog and Book Audience by Nina Amir for How to Blog a Book
- Book Cover 101: A Book By Another Cover to Boost Sales by Melinda VanLone for Writers in the Storm
- Sales-Killing Cover Design Mistakes to Avoid by Savannah Cordova for diyMFA
New podcasts
If you prefer to get your writing advice in audio form, check out these new podcasts.
- Rebel Author Podcast: How to Create a Sustainable Hybrid Author Career with Tiffany Yates Martin
- Mythcreants Podcast: Making Your Story Dark
- The Creative Penn: Amazon Keywords And Atticus For Writing And Book Formatting With Dave Chesson
- The Creative Penn: Pitching A Book For Film Or TV With Chrissy Metge
New videos
And if you prefer to get your writing advice in video form, check out these new video releases on YouTube.
- Finding the Motivation to Write by David Farland
- Working with Editors by David Farland
- How to write more brilliantly by The Publication Coach
- The trick to self-published short story collections: Long Lost Friends talks with Paul Draper on MetaStellar YouTube channel
- Aeryn Rudel on Tabletop Gaming for Writers on MetaStellar YouTube channel
- Running a Successful Kickstarter with Madeleine Holly-Rosing on MetaStellar YouTube channel
- Art Brown on How to Pitch A Movie on MetaStellar YouTube channel
- Aeryn Rudel on Blogging, Submitting and Rejectomancy on MetaStellar YouTube channel
- Mike Michalowicz: Get Different With Your Book Marketing, How To Market In A Way That Stands Out on Self Publishing School
- Is Now a Good Time to Publish a Book? by Book Launchers
- How To Get Your Book Into Libraries When You’ve Self-published by Book Launchers
- How to Sell More Books this Holiday Season by Book Launchers
- 10 BEST Trope Subversions in Fiction by Writing with Jenna Moreci
- Focus on these four areas to become a better writer! by Get Writing!
Am I missing any useful writing advice sites or video channels? Let me know in the comments or email me at maria@metastellar.com.
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 maria@metastellar.com. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.