This week’s top writing advice from around the web for Aug. 20, 2023

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

I subscribe to more than 180 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

How Much Time Should You Spend Writing? by Daphne Gray-Grant

20 minutes. The answer is 20 minutes. Daphne Gray-Grant is a writing coach, author of Your Happy First Draft, and host of The Write Question show on YouTube. Publication Coach offers books, courses, videos, and one-on-one coaching for authors. If you want more advice like this, subscribe to their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link) or follow them on Twitter at @pubcoach or subscribe to their YouTube channel.

Vision Your Epic Wins by Rochelle Melander

How to figure out what to do based on imagining yourself in the future. 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.

Writing In The Era Of AI: Balancing Opportunity And Uncertainty by Amanda Winstead

The advice: find and develop your unique author voice and build rapport with your audience. Then use AI as a tool for researching, firming up your blind spots, and marketing. Amanda Winstead is a writer from the Portland area with a background in communications and a passion for telling stories. For more from her, follow her on Twitter at @AmandaWinsteadd. Almost an Author offers writing and publishing advice. For more this this, follow them on Twitter at @A3writers, on Facebook at @A3writers and subscribe to their RSS feed here (direct Feedly signup link).

Other motivational advice this week:

The art and craft of writing

Stuck On A Scene? Try This Trick To Get It Moving Again by Janice Hardy

The trick: Go back to the last time the character made a decision and have them choose something else. Fantasy author Janice Hardy has several must-have writing guides up on Amazon and you can follow her on Twitter @Janice_Hardy. Follow Janice Hardy’s Fiction University via RSS feed here (direct Feedly signup link), or follow them on Facebook at @JaniceHardysFictionUniversity. Janice Hardy’s Fiction University is one of the top writing advice sites out there. You can subscribe to their RSS feed here (direct Feedly signup link), or follow it on Twitter or on Facebook.

How Do I Establish A Friendship Across Time Jumps? by Chris Winkle

Trying to build audience attachment in a short period of time – whether to a single character or a relationship – is one of the big challenges of storytelling. In most cases, we don’t have that much time to build emotional investment. Even when we do, it benefits us to get it done as fast as possible. 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.

How To Use Poetry In Fiction by Arja Salafranca

Including poetry in your fiction can have many benefits and enhance your storyline. We look at ways to include poetry in your stories.
The post How to use poetry in fiction appeared first on Now Novel.
Now Novel is a company that offers writing sources, coaching, and editing. If you want more advice like this, subscribe to their RSS feed (direct Feedly signup link) or follow them on Twitter at @nownovel or on Facebook at @nownovel or subscribe to their YouTube channel.

The More A Character Puts In A Bucket, The More There Is To Spill by Nathan Bransford

People think that having high stakes requires saving the world. But what actually matters most is how much the protagonist is personally invested in the events of the novel. Former literary agent Nathan Bransford is the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series. Follow him on Twitter @NathanBransford and on Facebook at @NathanBransfordBooks. At NathanBransford.com, Bransford offers writing and publishing advice as well as book coaching, editing, and marketing services.

What Types Of Editing Does A Book Need? by Sarah Rexford

A nice overview of the six major types of editing, starting with developmental editing and ending with proofreading. Sarah Rexford is a marketing content creator and writer. Rexford helps authors build their platform through branding and copywriting. She also writes fiction and nonfiction and offers writers behind-the-scenes tips on the publishing industry through her blog ItsSarahRexford.com. for more advice like this, follow her on Twitter at @sarahjrexford. The Book Designer, part of SelfPublishing.com, offers hundreds of articles about book design and marketing.

Podcast: Interactive Fiction by Oren Ashkenazi and Chris Winkle

Interactive narratives have to balance player agency, coherent storytelling, and engaging gameplay. Readers — or players — can be more engaged in these stories. But balancing coherent storytelling with the unpredictability of reader choices can be tricky. Oren Ashkenazi is the speculative fiction manuscript editor and Chris Winkle is the founder and editor-in-chief 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

Why Is YA No Longer Booming? by Janet Reid

TLDR: Young adult fiction is no longer booming like it once was because there is now a large backlist of books filling the shelves that new readers are discovering. That means fewer spots on the shelf for new authors. Janet Reid is a literary agent in New York City specializing in crime fiction and narrative non-fiction including history and biography. Her professional site is JetReidLiterary.com. At Janet Reid, Literary Agent, Reid blogs about the publishing industry.

Video: Written In Melanin & Brand Identity With C.M. Lockhart by S.D. Huston

C.M. Lockart talks about why she built her brand identity around Written in Melanin and how she has evolved as both a writer and a champion for Black authors. She also shares tips that she wished she would have known when she first began publishing Fantasy author S. D. Huston is also a military war vet 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: AI Predictions For Creators: The Disruption Has Just Begun (And It’s Accelerating) by Jason Hamilton

The predictions are: Increased regulation, job losses, advancements in secotrs like education and healthcare, personalized entertainment, overall adopters flourishing, and more. Jason Hamilton is a fantasy author. Check out Hamilton’s site, MythHQ. You can also follow him on Twitter at @StoryHobbit and on Facebook at Jason Hamilton. The Nerdy Novelist is a YouTube channel focusing on using AI to write and market books.

Series vs. Standalone: Cage Match by Chuck Wendig

The marketing challenges of writing in a series, and why standalones can be better. Charles David Wendig is an author, comic book writer, screenwriter, and blogger, best known for his 2015 Star Wars novel trilogy Aftermath, a New York Times best-seller. Terribleminds is a blog where Wendig talks about all things writing-related.

Video: Book Publishing Catch Up Q&A by Julie Broad

Should you do a separate launch for your audiobook? Should you publish an exclusive on Amazon? Has AI ruined Amazon and publishing? And other publishing questions are answered in this video. Julie Broad heads up a team of self-publishing experts at Book Launchers. Book Launchers is mostly aimed at non-fiction book authors, but with useful advice for fiction authors as well. You can also follow them on Facebook at @booklaunchers and on Twitter at @booklaunchers. And, of course, subscribe to their YouTube channel.

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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