101 Resources on the Web for Writers and Bloggers
The following links are useful to anyone who deals with the written word. They consist of tips, tools, job boards, how-tos and more. Some are specifically for bloggers, some are specifically for article writers and some are specifically for novelists. However, I believe all of these tips and inspirational articles will be beneficial to anyone whose creative outlet lies in writing.
1. The Creative Flow
“Flow is particularly common in artistic and creative spheres, during those times when ideas, images, feelings and/or words seem to flow easily and the work takes on a momentum of its own.”
2. 6 Tips for Dealing with Feedback on Your Creative Work
“There’s an art to listening to criticism or praise of your work without getting carried away by elation or despair - and let’s face it, without stomping off in a huff.”
3. Writing Q&A with Janet Evanovich
“Everyone gets started writing the same way– you sit down and write.”
4. Writers Weekly
Freelance gigs, contests and advice.
5. 7 Can’t-Miss Ways to Kick-Start the Writing Process
“We tend to assume that great writers write great stuff all the time. Face it - they don’t.”
6. Word Tools
Word count, random word generator, emergency novel helper and more.
7. Complete Your First Book With These Writing Habits
“If writing a novel or non-fiction book is something you’ve dreamed of, the only way to make that dream a reality is by putting it into action — day by day.”
8. Cure Writers Block
Character name generator, writing experiments, creative writing prompts and more.
9. Story Idea Generator
The name says it all.
10. Hack Your Way out of Writers Block
“Sit down and write anything for an arbitrary period of time—say, 10 minutes to start. Don’t stop, no matter what.”
11. Writing Hacks: Starting
“Writing is easy, it’s quality that’s hard.”
12. George Orwell Writing Tips
“One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails.”
13. 10 Ideas About Ideas
“Ideas have unexpected results. No one person can begin to imagine all the results of a good idea.”
14. Unblanking the Blank Screen
“Some of us can use the blank screen to scare the proverbial pants off ourselves imagining how badly we might screw things up.”
15. Novel Ideas from Established Writers
“We’ve asked fiction writers from all genres for the essence of noveling: how they write, how they overcome writer’s block and their best written sentence.”
16. Writers Write
“Your one-stop resource for information about books, writing and publishing.”
17. The 6’ Ferret’s Writing Exercises
“Writing exercises stretch your mind by giving you a chance to hone your skills, and to clear the miscellaneous thoughts from your mind before you get to work on your real writing!”
18. Creative Procrastination
“Hey, if you’re going to put off doing what’s due, at least do it with some style!”
19. Start Writing Now
“Whether you want to write as a hobby or avocation, or want a writing career as a novelist, a screenwriter or freelance writer, the time to write is now, in the midst of your busy life.”
20. How to Get Freelance Writing Gigs
“Writing for money, whether you’re writing articles, novels, copywriting for business, or any other kind of writing, is a business.”
21. Five Tips to Help You Write Creatively and Have Fun Writing
“Creativity happens when you’re having fun.”
22. The Golden Pencil : The Freelance Writers Resource
Writing jobs: Writing, editing and blogging.
23. Dealing with Rejection
“Writers have to have a tough skin. Rejection happens all the time, and you just have to brush it off.”
24. Freelance Switch Job Board
Job board for freelancers of all kinds.
25. Top 5 Free Ways to Promote Your Writing Business
“Advertising is expensive. Promotion doesn’t have to be. As you develop brand ‘you’, try these strategies to help grow your writing business.”
26. NaNoWriMo: I Wrote a Novel, Now What?
“Ah, rewriting. It hurts so bad, but it helps so much.”
27. 3 Steps to Land that Freelance Writing Gig
“Editors are very busy people, therefore if you are thorough with your query and proposal letters then a signed contract has a better chance of becoming a reality.”
28. The Art of the Soft Sell
“Put a writer in a situation where he is forced to sell the books he spent so many hours creating, and many conflicting emotions boil to the surface.”
29. Writing.com
Online community for writers of all types.
30. The Excellent Writer Within
“Until we can find the inner core of creativity and start to write from the soul, we will never become a great writer.”
31. Ernest Hemingway’s Top 5 Tips for Writing Well
First tip: Use short sentences.
32. Finding Inspiration in the Work of Other Writers
“Start by compiling a list of great writing talent that you can refer back to when you are creatively dry.”
33. How to Write a Novel in 100 Days
100 days of tips to write your novel.
34. How to Write More Clearly
96 ways to write more clearly.
35. Good Content for Busy People
“We’re working or studying full-time, trying to maintain active social lives and pay attention to our families.”
36. The Most Important Tip for Better Writing
From the famous ProBlogger website.
37. Grammar Writing Tips
Capitalization, punctuation and word usage.
38. Writer’s Helper Writing Tips
“If you deliver your work in a strong and error-free package, people take you seriously.”
39. Daily Writing Tips
A blog with daily writing tips.
40. Right-Brained Prompts
Writing prompts, story starters and more.
41. Stephen Coonts: Tips for Writers
“Writing is a craft, like playing a musical instrument or painting with oils.”
42. Neil Gaiman: Everything You Wanted to Know about Literary Agents
Tips on getting an agent.
43. P.D. James: Mystery Writing Lessons
“What’s the difference between writing a straight novel and writing mystery?”
44. Writing Advice: Where to Start?
“How do you know what action is the initial action? What is your story about?”
45. Kurt Vonnegut: 8 Basics of Creative Writing
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.”
46. Strunk and White: 11 Basic Composition Principles
“Omit needless words.”
47. Elmore Leonard: 10 Rules
“Keep your exclamation points under control. You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose.”
48. 30 Cool Tips
“You’re a Genius all the time.”
49. How to Revise a Novel
“You can tremendously improve your chances of making your manuscript marketable if you’ll take the time to sit down and do one truly ferocious pre-submission edit.”
50. Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
“There is no single best way to begin a writing project. What’s best is what gets you going and builds momentum for the journey ahead.”
51. A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching Your Writing Career
Many articles and tips for new and established writers.
52. Mediabistro
Wonderful freelance site with tips, jobs, classes and events.
53. 10 Free Minimalist Word Processors for Greater Productivity
A list of free word processors that are easy to use.
54. 50 Tools That Can Increase Your Writing Skills
50 articles to help you increase your skills.
55. 10 Tips for Writing the Living Web
“Write for a reason, and know why you write. Whether your daily updates concern your work life, your hobbies, or your innermost feelings, write passionately about things that matter.”
56. Seth Godin’s Advice for Authors
“Lower your expectations. The happiest authors are the ones that don’t expect much.”
57. Going Freelance: The Top Ten Tips
“You started on your own for a reason; keep that reason in mind when you fill in this last guideline you plan to follow – it might be the most valuable one of all.”
Photo by Lin Pernille Photography.
58. How to Get Your Book Published
“The secret, however, is not so much the idea, but the tenacity and dedication with which you pursue your desire to be published.”
59. How to Get Your Column or Article Syndicated
“Would you like to see an article, series of articles, or columns you have written not only published in one publication or magazine but in many?“
60. From Writer to Content Provider
An article about writing good content online.
61. How to Write Great Queries without Resorting to Threats, Bribery or Coercion
The best way to write queries and approach agents.
62. Hunting for a Literary Agent
A guide to finding agents.
63. How to Write Believable Characters
Steps on creating believable characters for your fiction story.
64. FAQ on Literary Agents and Publishing
65. Self-Publishing Hall of Fame
Self-publishing has worked for some authors, and here is a list of those.
66. Tips on Becoming a Better Writer
The value of constructive criticism for writers.
67. A 12-Step Program for Writers (Humor)
68. Writing Books for Children and Teenagers
Tips on writing for the younger generation.
69. Critique: Giving and Receiving
“What the receiving writer should do is consider the feedback, perhaps try out some ideas, and go with what ultimately resonates.”
70. Getting Out of the Slush Pile
Ideas on getting out of the slush pile and onto the editor’s desk.
71. How To Write a How-To
Tips on writing those popular How-Tos.
72. Promote Your Writing
Ways to promote your writing and get your name known.
73. Advice on Writing and the Writing Life
“To be writing is good for the soul; it’s good for your character – to be observing, interpreting, producing (not just consuming).”
74. Top 7 Article Writing Secrets: Where do I get Ideas?
75. Where to Get Ideas for Writing Your Next Article
76. Our Brains: Is Right for Writers?
Left Brain vs Right Brain.
77. Working for Free
“For creative work such as art or music or writing, find a way to get your work into people’s hands for free. Ask them for feedback, and encourage them to share what you’ve created with others. Don’t worry about the money initially. Just focus on getting your work delivered.”
78. The Publishing Spot
Blog devoted to writers and publishers.
79. Six Steps to a Writing Schedule
Tips for developing a schedule for your writing.
80. 50 Strategies for Making Yourself Work
“Work avoidance is one of the major paradoxes of the writing profession.”
81. Seven Ways to Make Time for Writing
“Make it a point to write first thing every morning.”
82. How to Write a Better Web-blog
Writing advice for bloggers.
83. Good Blog Writing Style
Tips for better blog writing.
84. Writing 101: Getting Started Writing
“Write. I think that this is the most important thing.”
85. How to Write with Focus and Clarity
“I recommend using an outline, even for short pieces.”
86. Dilbert Blog: Writing Funny
Tips on humor writing.
87. 16 Tips for Blog Idea Brainstorming
88. 50 Ways to Screw Up Content
What not to do when writing.
89. 9+1 Things Every Reader Wants from a Writer
90. How To Land Your Dream Blogging Gig
“The first step to working as a professional blogger is to have a blog.”
91. Productive Procrastination
Procrastination doesn’t always have to be bad.
92. 10 Ways to Become a More Confident Writer
“As with writer’s block, writing confidently is as much to do with your state of mind as your ability; there are techniques that can help relax your writing anxiety and help you compose words in a flowing, lucid manner.”
93. 26 Golden Rules for Writing Well (Humor)
94. 10 Tips for Writing Bookmarkable Content
“You can shape your content in such a way that it is more likely to get bookmarked, and in this post, I want to show you how.”
95. Writing Your First Novel
“Most novels begin as an idea, which may be a special character, a setting, a conflict, or a challenge for a character.”
96. Writing Ideas: 36 Dramatic Situations
98. Exposed: The Pros and Cons of Freelancing
The good and bad of the freelancing life.
99. How To Become a Better Writer
“You can have the best ideas in the world, but if your writing quality is poor, no one will recognize the greatness of your ideas.”
100. 15 Tips for Becoming a Better Writer
“Your reader will forgive almost anything except you being boring.”
101. Finding Your Voice
“The truth is, it’s more important to learn how to write in your own distinctive voice than to try to write like someone else.”
Comments
An excellent resource, I appreciate the work that went into it
Thanks, great resource! And thanks for including my pieces.
Thank you for the comment. I added you to my Technorati favs. This list is very helpful. I need all the help I can get to become a better writer.
@ Werelax: I’m glad you find it useful!
@ Mark McGuiness: You’re welcome. I really like what you have to say about the creative flow.
@ Vicky: Thank you! I appreciate the support.
Jen, thank you for adding me to such an awesome and exhaustive list. Excellent for bookmarking — I will stumble this page too.
Wow…impressive list!
You have given an exhaustive list related to writing resources which is very useful. Great!
Hi Jen
I just read your review of Hypebot over at problogger and thought it was really thorough with an eye to detail, so headed over here to find this list… I think this is an awesome list and would like to add it to my Master 101 List of lists!! you can check it out here: Best 101
Lists i
What an assume list of resources for writers. Thanks! I just stumbled it again so that others can find it too.
(Thanks for including one of my posts!)
Wow. Just wow. Impressive list. This must have taken forever to compile. Thanks.
@ Lewis: Glad you like the list! Yes, it did take a while, but it was worth it.
@ Laura: Thanks for stumbling it!
@ Pearl: Thanks so much for adding this post to your list!
@ meghnak: I’m glad you find it useful.
@ Jamie Ford: Thanks!
@ Matt Keegan: You’re welcome, and thanks for stumbling!
I was finally able to finish setting up my first blog! Hopefully 2008 will be the year i will to make some money blogging, instead of losing money on all those ebooks i purchased. Anyway keep up the good work, i subscribed to your feed. Hopefully you will keep droping those little gems of advice that i just love to gobble up. I also commented on a few other post. Sorry im just so excited!! Thanks again.If you have time check out my blog and Happy New Year!Michelle, HostGator Coupons
great stuff - cu
Add my site!
Janet Evanovich is an amazing writer!
Thank you for gathering all the resources for this page - Lots of great material to go through!
Thanks!
Shannon
Trackbacks
Leave a Comment