Writing Tips

Twitterific Writing Links

March 26, 2017March 25, 2017Twitterific, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

A weekly roundup of the best writing links from around the web.

Twitterific writing links are fed into the Writer’s Knowledge Base search engine (developed by writer and software engineer Mike Fleming) which has over 40,000 free articles on writing related topics. It’s the search engine for writers.

Have you visited the WKB lately? Check out the new redesign where you can browse by category, and see the character and location name generators!

Business / Miscellaneous

2016 Novelist Income Survey Final Results and Data: @jimchines

“Cataloging” Your Book : @MaryGillgannon @RMFWriters

How much should editing cost? @pubcoach

Does a Writer Really Need a Professional Development Plan? @AnnOttoAuthor @WomenWriters

15 Tips for Authors Running Webinars: @JFbookman

What To Do If A Website Has Stolen Your Work: @standoutbooks

Amazon Author Insights

March 24, 2017March 22, 2017Tools for Writers, Uncategorized, Writing Tips

by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig

Amazon Author Insights is a new author-facing Tumblr site to help both new and established writers find writing-related resources and Amazon services for writers in one spot.

I was asked by Amazon to be a beta-tester for the site and to contribute some of its content (here are a couple of my posts on building an author platform and Kindle Instant Preview).

There are tabs for writers looking for information on writing, publishing, and marketing.

Amazon Tools and Services Page

One of the most helpful things about the site are the links to Amazon’s tools and services. I’ve always felt as if it was tricky to find everything Amazon offers all in one place (out of sight, out of mind for me.)

Although I’d heard about Amazon’s free screenwriting tool online, for instance, I’d never run across it, despite the time I spend on Amazon. I think that’s because when I’m on Amazon, I’m either on Author Central or KDP bookshelf/reports and not searching the site. I’m no screenwriter, but it was interesting to see they offered peer collaboration, auto-formatting (a nice plus), and the ability to submit finished scripts directly to Amazon Studios. For scripts in the brainstorming stages, they also offer Amazon Storybuilder.Continue reading

3 Vital Elements of Craft: Subplots, Scenes and POV

March 20, 2017March 17, 2017Writing Tips

by Hank Quense, @hanque99

Today, author Hank Quense offers tips on three vital elements of the writing craft: subplots, scenes, and POV.

Integrating subplots naturally:

I’ve seen subplots mishandled many times. When this happens, the subplots interfere with the main plot.

The trick is how you approach subplots. They are by their nature “subordinate.” Subplots have a defined space within the novel; they can’t just be thrown into the story any which way the author feels like it. If you have more than one subplot you have to categorize them from most important to least important. The subplots are then nested within the main story line. Like this: after the characters are introduced and the plot problem recognized, a scene from Subplot A can be added. After a number of scenes from the main plot and an occasional one from Subplot A, Subplot B is introduced. More Main plot scenes are broken up by scenes from Subplots A and B. Then Subplot C is begun. Now the bulk of the story continues with the subplot scenes dropped in to break up the Main plot.Continue reading