Here are the top writing resources I’ve stumbled across.
I’d love to add to this list! Send me an email through the Contact page with your favorite writing resources.
Websites
The Writer’s Digest – Hundreds of articles! Go there right now after reading this list.
Story Grid – Great stash of articles here all about writing techniques. Not sure about what genre your book fits into? Genre’s 5 Leaf Clover might help!
Well-Storied – From “How to Craft a Believable Villain” to “How to Craft Incredible Dialogue”, this site has loads of free articles and e-courses which are sure to make your stories shine.
Helping Writers Become Authors (K.M. Weiland’s site) – Amazing cache of articles about story structure, outlining, character arcs, writing mistakes and structuring scenes.
Writer Unboxed – This site is “dedicated to publishing empowering, positive, and provocative ideas about the craft and business of fiction.” Lots of contributors make this a treasure chest of different opinions, experiences and advice.
Susan Dennard has countless articles on publishing, planning your novel, and plot/character/storytelling. Really helpful.
The Write Practice’s blog – Again, many contributors make this a rich resource of articles on writing techniques.
Jane Friedman’s blog – Lots of great articles about writing and publishing from an industry expert.
WebsitePlanet – Online Spell Checker – check your site or text for spelling or grammatical errors. This one can even highlight differences between versions of English (like American vs. British). Put your entire URL in or just a section of text.
Articles
Most Common Writing Mistakes – This is an ongoing series, and as I write this there are 64 mistakes listed, each with their own article. KM Weiland adds to this series every Monday.
Money-Saving Guide for Authors and Writers – This CouponFollow article has some great info about what jobs writers can do, along with links to writing scholarships and courses. (Thank you to Dorian and Michele from the APL Young Writers Club for telling me about this one!)
Writing for Theater and Film – Great article for aspiring script/screenwriters about understanding the importance of setting, writing for different kinds of stage productions, and how to write in a way that translates to the screen. Thank you to Anna (in a StudyMap group) for pointing this one out!
Podcasts
Writing Excuses – I listen to this all the time while going about my every-day tasks. The hosts talk about writing techniques, characterization, plot, themes, conflict…the list goes on!
The Creative Penn – mainly about self-publishing, marketing strategies and tips for making your writing into a business.
The Shit No one Tells You About Writing – Hosted by author and creative writing instructor Bianca Marais, plus two literary agents from P.S. Literary Agency, Carly Watters and Cecilia Lyra. For the first half of the podcast, Carly and Cecilia critique query letters and the first 5 pages of work submitted by aspiring authors. The second half, Bianca interviews published authors about the craft of writing and their publishing journey. Really insightful look into what agents are looking for, and also some great advice from authors who’ve made it.
The Write and Wrong Podcast – A podcast for writers, storytellers and creatives. New guests every week. Authors, agents, editors and everything in between!
Setting up an Author Website / Branding / Social Media
WebsiteSetup – Everyone says that if you want to sell books/get an agent/create an author brand, you need a website. But authors just want to write, right? Not everyone is tech-savvy with the whole website-setup thing. This site offers you a step-by-step guide for beginners.
Canva – Easy-to-use design software (free for basic program). Great for creating social media graphics, logos, website banners, and other marketing material.
MailChimp – This is a marketing platform you can use to build mailing lists and send out author newsletters and designed emails. In most cases you can link it to your website, so if someone signs up with their email address on your website, their contact details will be added automatically to your MailChimp mailing list.
