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
- Life of a Writer: Premature Querying and the Sound of Silence at DIY MFA
- How to Take Criticism and Turn It into Growth in 5 Steps at A Writer’s Path
- How to Get Over Writer’s Block: 25 Proven Methods at Kindlepreneur
- Pro Tips from a NaNo Coach: How to Make Writing Enjoyable at National Novel Writing Month
- How Self-Integrity Increases Your Chances of Completing a 30-Day Writing Challenge at Write Nonfiction NOW!
- How to Find Time to Write: 10 Tips and Additional Strategies at Kindlepreneur
- Your Book Rejections Don’t Reflect On Your Writing | Writer’s Relief at Writer’s Relief
- NaNoWriMo and the Big Ambition That Ate the Author at Florida Writers Association Blog
- A Permission Slip for Those of Us in “The Gap” at Writer Unboxed
- Writing and the Creative Life: What are you afraid of? at Go Into The Story
- Facing the odds at Go Into The Story
- Why So Many Authors Fail at Babbles from Scott Eagan
- Two Amazing Resources for Writing Inspiration This Month at How to Plan, Write, and Develop a Book
- How to Make It to 50,000 Words at National Novel Writing Month
- Nobody Steals Your Work at FundsforWriters
- “Get the damn thing done!” at Go Into The Story
- Your Guide to a Weekly Creativity Time at Killzoneblog.com
- A NaNoWriMo State of Mind at Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers
- 5 Tips for A New You for a New Writing Year at The Write Conversation
- Procrastination: A New Take on the Topic at Almost An Author
- How to Develop a Writing Habit: 13 Tips for Consistent Writing at Kindlepreneur
The art and craft of writing
- The Three Acts: Act 2, Part 2 at Story Empire
- Giving Life to Your Setting (Settings, part 2) at Seekerville: The Journey Continues
- How Should I Handle Languages in My Scifi Setting? at Mythcreants
- The Two Halves of the First Plot Point at Helping Writers Become Authors
- Cue Words in Dialogue at Killzoneblog.com
- Writing Richer Characters By Writing Kink at Catapult
- How “In Medias Res” Actually Works (& When to Use It) at September C. Fawkes
- Plotter vs. Pantser: When to Plot, When to Pants, and When to Combine Them at The Write Practice
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 1): The First Pass at Go Into The Story
- How to Improve Your Writing Skills at Make a Living Writing
- A Quick Reference for How to Choose Your Weapon at How to Fight Write
- The Impracticality of a Climbing Axe in Combat at How to Fight Write
- How to Show Emotion for Non-Viewpoint Characters at Writers Helping Writers
- Meeting Things Head-On at WOW! Women On Writing Blog
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 2): The Scene-By-Scene Breakdown at Go Into The Story
- Writing A Book? Avoid These Two Pitfalls at A Writer’s Path
- Writing Emotions Right at Linda S. Clare
- Consistency in Writing at Anne Janzer
- Marc Cameron: On Writing What You Know at Writer’s Digest
- What’s in Your Writer’s Bucket? at Seekerville: The Journey Continues
- Why I’m Thankful To Be a Writer—My Top Twenty List at The Write Conversation
- Your Goldilocks Moment at Almost An Author
- How to Write Point of View, Part 7, Switching Point of View at Story Empire
- Hope is an Active Verb! 5 Ways to Keep Writing at Career Authors
- How to Fix settings and descriptions with Janie Hardy at Sacha Black
- Lies, Secrets, and Scars Create Better Characters at Writers In The Storm
- How to Grow Your Writing Ability Without a Higher Degree at Kiingo Blog
- Find Interesting Flaws for Your Protagonist with This Writing Exercise at WOW! Women On Writing Blog
- A Dozen Solutions to the “Dialogue Tag” at Writer Unboxed
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 3): Plotline Points and Sequences at Go Into The Story
- Pixar and Visual Storytelling at Go Into The Story
- Jayne Castle’s 3 Rules of World Building at Writer’s Digest
- How To Rewrite Myths, Legends, And Fairy Tales ǀ Writer’s Relief at Writer’s Relief
- Firearms in Fantasy: A Deceptively Simple Concept at How to Fight Write
- Our Brains Are Wired For Story at Killzoneblog.com
- Writing the Senses: Smell at Catapult
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 4): Subplots, Relationships and Character Functions at Go Into The Story
- Storytelling Expectations: Character vs. Plot Arcs at Jami Gold, Paranormal Author
- What’s Your Story’s Focus? Plot vs. Character Arcs at Writers Helping Writers
- Making Love to the Page: How to Write Sex that Sells! at DIY MFA
- Hilary Leichter on Joy, Self-Trust, and the “Two Rooms” of Creation and Publishing at Literary Hub
- Character Type: Prostitute at Go Into The Story
- Conscious Goal, Unconscious Goal at Go Into The Story
- How to “Show, Don’t Tell” at A Writer’s Path
- How to Come up with the Perfect Story Title at LitReactor
- Using Emphasis to Give Your Narration More Punch at Mythcreants
- How to Write the Sense of Smell at Writers In The Storm
- How can you better manage your memoir? (video) at Publication Coach
- Why You Should Map Out Your Story—Even If You’re a Pantser at Kiingo Blog
- Gary Shteyngart: Three Simple Tricks for Writing Your Novel FAST!!! at Literary Hub
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 5): Metamorphosis at Go Into The Story
- #5onFri: Five Tips for Writing Love Scenes at DIY MFA
- 5 Keys to the Screenwriting Craft at Go Into The Story
- 5 Tips for Using Personal Stories in Your Writing at Writer’s Digest
- How to Instantly Add Depth to Your Story at A Writer’s Path
- Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Ignoring Your Weaknesses at Writer’s Digest
- How to Write the Sense of Smell at The Passive Voice
- Dune, Dialogue, Wishing Sand Worms Would Kill Me at Kristen Lamb
- Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Stepparent and Stepchild at Writers Helping Writers
- The Easy-ish Way to Create Believable, Unforgettable Fictional Worlds at Writer Unboxed
- How To Read A Screenplay (Part 6): Themes at Go Into The Story
- The Easy-ish Way to Create Believable, Unforgettable Fictional Worlds at The Passive Voice
- Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Stepparent and Stepchild at The Passive Voice
- Pantsing and plotting? at Stavros Halvatzis Ph.D.
- The Writing Elements Mix – Is There a Right Balance? at Sharing with Writers and Readers
- Why filter words are slowing down your thriller at Louise Harnby
The business side of writing
- 10-Step Plan to Self-Publish a Book at Elizabeth Spann Craig
- Why It May Be Time to Rethink Genre at Florida Writers Association Blog
- It’s Time to Write Your Second Book (or Third …) at Career Authors
- Best Black Friday Deals for Writers at Writers Helping Writers
- The hottest new book merch is… NFTs. at Literary Hub
- The State of Indie Authorship in 2021 at Written Word Media
- Super Writers’ Tuesday: How to Hook Your Readers at MyStoryDoctor.com
- Would a Book Giveaway Help? at The Write Conversation
- Reader Question: What’s the best way to approach pitching? at Go Into The Story
- The Equation for Book Marketing Success at Self Published Author
- How to Market a Book Using ARCs: What They Are and Why You Need Them at Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
- AutoCrit Review (Updated Guide for Authors) at SelfPublishing.com : The #1 Resource For Self-Publishing a Book
- Business Musings: The If-Only Lawsuit at Kristine Kathryn Rusch
- Ten Easy Ways to Get Rejected at MyStoryDoctor.com
- Book Marketing Update at Social Media Just for Writers
- NFTs for Authors: Is This a Rush for Fool’s Gold? at Jane Friedman
- The Business of Screenwriting: There is always another way at Go Into The Story
- Storytelling: How to Engage Your Readers and Make Your Brand Memorable at Craft Your Content
- 4 Ways Pitch Wars Can Help Writers Find Publishing Success at Writer’s Digest
- Winning Attention with That Book Proposal at The Passive Voice
- I Want Someone To Help Me Publish My Book at Just Publishing Advice For Writers and Authors
- The Supply Chain – A Problem and Opportunity at Self Publishing Advisor
- The If-Only Lawsuit at The Passive Voice
- How to Become a Ghostwriter: 7 Steps to Building Your Career at Make a Living Writing
- How Collaborating With Artificial Intelligence Could Help Writers of the Future at The Passive Voice
- Tips to Judge Whether a Writing Contest is a Scam or Legit at The Write Conversation
- Lean Publishing for Beginner Authors, With Orna Ross and Dan Parsons: Foundational Self-Publishing Podcast at Alliance of Independent Authors: Self-Publishing Advice Center
- Writing and Selling Books Ain’t for Sloths! – by Tom Douglas at WritersWeekly.com
- Using Excel to Keep Track of Markets – by Mike Michelson at WritersWeekly.com
- Book Publishing Terms: What Every Author Needs To Know at BookBaby Blog
- The Best Gifts for Christmas — Not Just for Writers at Peter Rey
- Valuable Promotion: The Art of the Guest-Post at FundsforWriters
- The Importance of Author Branding at A Writer’s Path
- The Supply Chain Grinch at The Passive Voice
- It’s Never Been a Better Time to Self-Publish! at Self-Publishing News for Self Publishing Authors
- How Authors Can Create a Reader Connection at Anne R. Allen’s Blog… with Ruth Harris
New podcasts
If you prefer to get your writing advice in audio form, check out these new podcasts.
- Why Some Goals Never Work and the Problem with Brainstorming: Book Marketing Podcast Recap at Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
- KWL – 273 – The Future of AI Writing with Shane Neeley at Kobo Writing Life
- SFA 108 – Are Your Craft Choices Hurting Your Book Sales? at Six Figure Authors
- 354 – Making Mysteries Complex at Mythcreants
New videos
And if you prefer to get your writing advice in video form, check out these new video releases on YouTube.
- Video: How Professional Screenwriters Outline at Go Into The Story
- Video: 20 Screenwriting Tips from Quentin Tarantino at Go Into The Story
- Is NovelPad actually worth it? by Hannah Lee Kidder
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.