This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Jun. 18, 2023

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Reading Time: 10 minutes
(Image by Maria Korolov via Midjourney.)

I subscribe to more than 170 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

5 Things Good Writers Just Can’t Control by Colleen M. Story

A list of things that you, as a writer, generally can’t do anything about, and tips for how to cope. Colleen Story is a writing coach. Her latest release, Writer Get Noticed!, was a gold-medal winner in the Reader’s Favorite Book Awards and Overwhelmed Writer Rescue was named Book by Book Publicity’s Best Writing/Publishing Book in 2018. Writers in the Storm is another great site for writing advice, with a group of regular contributors and guest writers who post frequently. It is very well worth following on RSS (direct Feedly signup link here).

Video: The Productivity Silver Bullet by Becca Syme

The silver bullet is to pick one thing to do and make it a habit. Say, for example, instead of reaching for your phone or checking social media first thing in the morning, you look at your writing project and do a few minutes of work on it. Becca Syme is a Gallup-certified strengths coach, author coach, and nonfiction author who’s coached more than 5,700 authors. The QuitCast for Writers is a video podcast where Becca Syme discusses what to keep, what to quit, and what to question, if you are trying to make a go of the author career.

The Red Queen Effect — For Writers by Garry Rodgers

Being successful in a writing career requires keeping up with technological changes. This is hard, due to writers’ reluctance to lose control, unwillingness to think differently, lack of psychological resilience, intolerance of the required adjustment period, or reluctance to give up old habits. This article offers some advice for how to get around those personal blocks. Garry Rodgers is a retired homicide detective with a second career as a forensic coroner. Now he’s a crime writer and host of a popular blog at DyingWords.net as well as being a regular contributor to the HuffPost. Follow him on Twitter at @GarryRodgers1 or on Facebook at @GarryRodgersCrimeWriter. The Kill Zone is the home of eleven top suspense writers and publishing professionals. They cover the publishing business, marketing how-tos, and the craft of writing. Follow them on RSS here (direct Feedly signup link). Follow them on Twitter @killzoneauthors.

Other motivational advice this week:

The art and craft of writing

Podcast: Mythology, Fantasy, And LGBTQ+ Representation by Rachel Wharton and Laura Granger

Urban fantasy and paranormal romance writer Arizona Tape is the guest this episode, and talks about about LGBTQ+ representation and world-building. Rachel Wharton is the author engagement coordinator at Kobo Writing Life. Laura Granger is the author engagement manager. Kobo Writing Life is the writing advice site from the people behind the Kobo reader. For more like this, subscribe to their RSS feed (directly Feedly link here).

Writing The “I” Out Of Your Fiction by Linda S. Clare

We write out of our own experiences, but if we base all our characters, actions and reactions upon ourselves, fiction can feel one-dimensional. In your fictional world, you’ll want a cast of characters that don’t all sound like you. This article offers some tips for doing just that. 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.

Beige Prose: What It Is, When You Need It, And When To Avoid It by Dave Chesson

Beige prose is a writing style defined by simple words, short sentences, and minimal description. It gets to the point and doesn’t use words that aren’t in common usage by most people. Dave Chesson is the founder of Kindlepreneur is pretty much the top site out there for self-published authors who want to sell more e-books on Amazon. The RSS feed is here (direct Feedly signup link). Follow them on Facebook at @KindlePreneur and Chesson himself on Twitter at @DaveChesson. And make sure to subscribe to his podcast, The Book Marketing Show. Kindlepreneur is pretty much the top site out there for self-published authors who want to sell more e-books on Amazon. The RSS feed is here (direct Feedly signup link). Follow them on Facebook at @KindlePreneur and founder Dave Chesson on Twitter at @DaveChesson.

Soft vs Hard Worldbuilding by Glen C. Strathy

Hard worldbuilding is the process of creating a fantasy world about which the author knows everything about the world ahead of time. Soft worldbuilding is closer to the “pantser” method of writing. That is, the writer makes up facts about the story world during the writing process, according to the emerging needs of the story, with little advance planning. 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.

Other writing advice this week:

The business side of writing

Book Marketing For Indie Authors: Calls To Action by AskALLi Team

A call to action is a marketing term that refers to a prompt that encourages the audience to take a specific action such as downloading a brochure, signing up to a newsletter, purchasing a product, or attending an event. The AskALLi Team is the group behind Self Publishing Advice, the advice center of the Alliance of Independent Authors. 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).

Books PR And Marketing Questions Answered Part XIII: Promoting Backlist Books by Ann Marie Nieves

You can promote your older books by celebrating anniversaries of their release, updating back matter on other books, finding an angle related to a current news event, refresh the cover, and, of course, buy ads. Ann-Marie Nieves is the founder of Get Red PR, and an award-winning communicator with experience across a broad range of industries 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.

Newsletters Part III: Welcome Sequence How To by Sue Coletta

If you use MailerLite for your newsletter, this is a tutorial about how to set up a welcome sequence for new subscribers. Sue Coletta is an award-winning crime writer. Sue also appeared on the Emmy award-winning true crime series, Storm of Suspicion and will be teaching an advanced education course on serial killers for Foothills Regional. For more about her, check out her website at SueColetta.com and follow her on Facebook at @SueColetta1 and on Twitter at @SueColetta1. The Kill Zone is the home of eleven top suspense writers and publishing professionals. They cover the publishing business, marketing how-tos, and the craft of writing. Follow them on RSS here (direct Feedly signup link). Follow them on Twitter @killzoneauthors.

Learning From Your First Series With James Blatch by Sacha Black

Guest James Blatch writes military thrillers. For more, check out his website, JamesBlatch.com. On this episode, he talks about audience building, market focus, using TikTok to help sell books, rebranding a series, and the lessons he’s learned during his writing journey. Sacha Black is a fantasy author and writing coach, with several writing advice books including 13 Steps to Evil: How to Craft Superbad Villains. Follow her on her website, Sacha Black, on Facebook at @Sacha Black or on Twitter at @sacha_black. Sacha Black is a site that offers writing advice, courses, and podcasts. Follow the site via their RSS feed (direct Feedly link here).

Video: Forging A Career With Epic Fantasy – With Ryan Cahill by Mark Dawson and James Blatch

Self-published epic fantasy author Ryan Cahill talks about using your main character as a reader lifeline, writing novellas, and book marketing tactics. Mark Dawson is a USA Today bestselling author who teaches courses about book production and marketing. Check out his website at MarkJDawson.com. James Blatch writes military thrillers. For more, check out his website, JamesBlatch.com. On the Self Publishing Formula show, Mark Dawson and James Blatch talk about building a career as a self-published author.

Leveraging Back Matter Content by Whitney Hill

From acknowledgements to discussion guides, author Whitney Hill discusses using back matter to your advantage in this article from the November/December 2022 issue of Writer’s Digest. Follow Writer’s Digest via their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link), on Twitter at @WritersDigest and on Facebook at @writersdigest.

Other business advice this week:

Am I missing any writing advice sites? Email me at maria@metastellar.com 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 maria@metastellar.com. She is also the editor and publisher of Hypergrid Business, one of the top global sites covering virtual reality.

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