Resources for Novelists and Nonfiction Writers

Researching Your Novel Writing a Legacy The Historical Novelist Setting Your Historical Romance Copyright Chart	Crafting Your Book Beginning Writers How to Start a Novel Speed-Write Your Book Memoir Writing Writing Lifestories Writing Family Stories Fiction Writing Mystery Writing Writing Sensual Romance Using Horror in Other Genres Compile a Successful Anthology Writing Children's Books Writing Series Fiction for Children Writing a Romance Writing Your Own Western Novel Blockbuster Plots Create Literary Fiction Dynamic Dialogue Building Suspense Tension in Your Novel Conflict How not to Bore your Readers Your Characters One Dimensional Characters Who Are You Writing About? Setting as a Character Transitions Point of View Adverbs Voice in Your Novel Exposition & Narrative The Endangered Protagonist Antagonist’s Point-Of-View Thickening the Plot Hidden Meanings in Novels Reality TV Can Improve Your Fiction Why The Da Vinci Code Works The Finished But Unfinished Book Tease Yourself into Work From the Ghostwriter Film, Stage, or Novel Your Book Idea is the Next Bestseller Writing About Controversial Subjects	Setting Goals and Making Time to Write Before You Write Finding Time To Write Nano-novels Contests Can Help Your Writing Writing Distractions Writing a Novel in Your Free Time Meet the Publisher Deadline Working at Writing Writing Six Books At One Time
Titles, Titles, Titles The Right Title Sold 300,000 Books Irresistible Titles A Name for My Book Novel Titles Book Titles That Sell	Creative Ideas for Writing Constructing Creative Identity Writing About Your Dreams Using Metaphor From Idea to Story Journaling for Writers Writing Every Day Introverts and Writing Keep Your Writing Creativity High Small Steps in Writing Personality Types and Writing Stimulate Your Senses to Write More Writing Prompts Generating Writing Ideas Novel Writing	How Best to Promote Your Book Website Book Marketing Writing a Press Release Press Release Template Press Release Example Make Your First Book A Winner! Be A Superstar Audio on Your Website: Sell More Books First-Time Authors First Book Tour Be a Great Radio Guest! I Got Booked on Oprah I Sold Books on Rosie O'Donnell's Show
Self-Publishing Information Self-Publish and Keep All The Profit Self-Publishing Just the Beginning Self-Publishing $2Million Payday Shortcut to Your Book's Success Self-Publishing E-Publishing Making Money with E-books Digital Publishing Publish Your Own Book A Timeline Your Book in Barnes & Noble Printing Company Information Experiences in e-Publishing Successful Publicity Create a Saleable Book Cover Book Back Cover Issues Great Quotes for Your Novel Cover Sample Letter to Ask for Blurbs Marketing Your Work Online Write and Publish a Book	Writers' Groups and Conferences Forming a Writer's Group Writer's Groups Writers Group Etiquette Feedback Writer's Workshop Critiques E-mail Critiquing Critique Your Novel Critical Thinking Planning a Writers’ Conference Writers Conferences Conferences for Writers A Writing Mentor	Writer's Block and Insecurity Failure-Tolerant Writers To Write or Not to Write Writer's Block Ways to Cure Writer's Block Why We Don't Write Our Books Writer's Block Ideas The Excellent Writer Within Finding Forrester, Again The Writing Fairy Breaking out of Writer's Block Befriending the Internal Editor
Selling Your Book to a Publisher Independent Publishing Researching the Book Market The First Book Writing a Book Writing Platforms Writing a Synopsis Writing Your Synopsis Book Proposal Basics Book Proposal Rejection Selling a Book Selling a Novel Make Editors Notice Getting Notice from Editors Writing to an Editor Write A Query Letter That Sells Finding the Appropriate Publisher Get To Know A Publisher Pitch to a Publisher Presenting to Publishers Pleasing Publishers Getting Publishers to Read Fiction Being Published	Literary Agents Getting a Top Literary Agent Getting a Literary Agent How One Writer Got an Agent Do You Need an Agent Courting an Agent Getting Agents to Read Fiction

38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
- Jack M. Bickham, 1992

Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript
- Chuck Sambuchino

From First Draft to Finished Novel
- Karen S. Wiesner, 2008

Guide to Literary Agents
- 2010

How NOT to Write a Novel – 200 Classic Mistakes and How to Avoid Them – A Misstep-by-Misstep Guide
- Howard Mittelmark and Sandra Newman, 2008

Manuscript Makeover – Revision Techniques No Fiction Writer Can Afford to Ignore
- Elizabeth Lyon, 2008

Novel Shortcuts – Ten Techniques Than Ensure a Great First Draft
- Laura Whitcomb, 2009

Revision & Self-Editing
- James Scott Bell, 2008

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – How to edit yourself into print
- Renni Browne and Dave King, 2nd Edition, 2004

Shimmering Images
- Lisa Dale Norton, 2008

Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us – A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing Is Being Rejected
- Jessica Page Morrell

The Complete Guide to Editing Your Fiction
- Michael Seidman, 2000

The Forest for the Trees
- Betsy Lerner, 2000

The Writer’s Digest Guide to Query Letters
- Wendy Burt-Thomas, 2008

Writing for Children and Young Adults
- Dr. Marion Crook, 2nd Edition, 2008

Writing Great Books for Young Adults - Everything you need to know from crafting the idea to landing a publishing deal
- Regina Brooks

Writing the Memoir
- Judith Barrington, 2002

Anica Mrose Rissi, Executive Editor for Simon Pulse, has created a checklist of things to do to help keep your book from being rejected.

Revise, revise, revise! I don't want to read your first draft, ever. (Tip: Your novel isn't ready to send me until you can describe it in one sentence.)

Start with conflict and tension to raise questions, arouse curiosity, and (like musical dissonance) create the need for resolution.

Start with the story you're telling, not with the backstory. Throw the reader directly into a conflict and let her get to know your characters through their actions. (Yes, this is another way of saying, "Show, don't tell.")

Give the reader something to wonder about and a sense of where the story is going—of what's at stake.

Avoid explaining too much too soon. Don't be obvious. Trust your readers. Trust your characters. Trust your writing. If you find that long chunks of your story need to include long explanations, go back in and write those chunks better, until the story explains itself.

Make sure your story has both a plot arc and an emotional arc. Cross internal conflict with external conflict. Give your characters moral dilemma, and force them to deal with the consequences of their choices.

Read your dialogue out loud. When revising, ask yourself, "What is the point of this dialogue?"

Make every scene, every sentence, and every word count. You should also be asking, "What is the point of this sentence?" What is the point of this scene?"

Use adjectives, adverbs and dialogue tags only sparingly.

Make sure your details matter.

(Writer's Digest, May/June 2010)

 

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