Anna Staniszewski » Links

Writing Links

annastan — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 14:02:18 +0000

I haven’t done a roundup of writing links in a while, so I have a bunch in my Google Reader that have been patiently waiting to be shared. Here they are:

-Agent Mary Kole talks about the promise of your novel

-Adventures in Children’s Publishing shares some exercises to recharge your creativity and also looks at active vs. static description

-James Scott Bell lists two things every novel needs

-Project Mayhem gives us a chapter worksheet to use during revisions

-Natalie Parker breaks down the anatomy of a good hook

-DIY MFA talks about the role of voice in writing

Have a great week, everyone!

Learning to Write

annastan — Mon, 23 May 2011 11:47:55 +0000

Not too long ago, someone (I can’t remember who!) linked to Joe Konrath’s post on marketing. At the end of his post, Konrath listed several inspiring quotes on writing. Many of them rang true for me, including: “Hard work trumps talent. Persistence trumps inspiration. Humility trumps ego.” But there was one quote that didn’t sit quite well with me:

When you’re learning how to walk, you don’t take classes. You don’t read how-to books. You don’t pay experts to help you, or do it for you. You just keep falling until you learn on your own.

I do understand what Konrath is saying, that no one is going to do the work for you. If you’re serious about writing, you need to put in the time to develop your craft. But what doesn’t quite work for me about Konrath’s analogy is that children don’t learn how to walk all on their own. They learn from watching other people, and they have adults encouraging them along the way.

Similarly, writers learn from others by reading work they admire and by learning all they can from people who are further along in the journey. A writer needs to put in the time to perfect her craft, but she also learns from the feedback she receives from critique partners, beta readers, teachers, agents, and editors. Writing might feel solitary, but learning how to write is anything but. If we try to do it all on our own, we might just end up crawling for the rest of our lives.

By the way, if you have a minute, check out my post at the Enchanted Inkpot today on how it feels to read/write fantasy.

Wednesday Writing Links

annastan — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 11:48:30 +0000

I’m still in my revision cave, but thankfully there’s lots of chocolate here to keep me going. I’m currently rewriting the last couple of chapters of the book, which is a tad daunting. I think it will make the ending more satisfying, though, so it’s a necessary process. In the meantime, here are some recent writing links you might find useful.

-Laura Pauling breaks down a terrific first chapter and looks at story structure vs. voice in YA.

-Roz Morris looks at how to make the story within a story format work.

-Write It Sideways lists 7 tips for writing about a place you’ve never been.

-And finally, there’s a thought-provoking post on There Are No Rules on how writing can be learned but not taught.

I’ll be back on Friday to announce the winners of the Feb/March Debut Giveaway!

A Twitchy WIP Update and Some Writing Links

annastan — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:04:31 +0000

I guess it’s odd for me to be doing a WIP update since I’m not actively working on anything at the moment. I’m waiting on some feedback on a project, and I think my brain is still too much in it to switch over to anything else. But because I’ve been fairly consistent with writing recently, not writing is making my fingers feel a little twitchy.

Maybe distracting myself with some writing links will help:

-Agent Rachelle Gardner’s definitive post on How to Get Published

-Janice Hardy looks at What Your Query Says About Your Book

-Lisa Jahn-Clough talks about Storyboarding During Revision

-Lisa Gail Green’s tips for Creating Complete Characters

And since it’s Valentine’s Day and everything, I guess I need to include some sort of picture:

How are you all doing with your WIPs? Anyone have tricks for getting rid of those twitchy fingers?

Book Drive Winners and Some Writing Links

annastan — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:13:25 +0000

A while back I posted about a middle/high school library in desperate need of new books. I put out the call for book donations and you guys didn’t disappoint! Jenna got tons of books for her library, and her students can’t wait to read them. Thank you all who donated and spread the word about the book drive! We were blown away by your generosity.

As an added thank you, we’re giving two people who sent in books Amazon or Powell’s gift cards. Those winners are:

Jennifer Hubbard

Caroline Hooton

Hooray! We’ll be contacting both of you soon.

Okay, and now on to some writing links:

-How to Make a Vision Board by Kathleen Pickering

-How to Sub Queries and Full MS in the Digital Age by Jill Corcoran

-Novel Revision Exercises by Chris Eboch

-How to Get Blurbs for Your Novel by Kiersten White

Have a great week, everyone!

NaNo Update and Some Laughs

annastan — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 13:15:04 +0000

This part of the month is when NaNo gets really hard. Because of Thanksgiving, there are even more distractions from writing than usual. So, not surprisingly, I’m behind in my word count. But I know I can catch up. Last night I asked my husband to try to guilt me into writing 3,000 words, and it almost worked (I got to 2,500). A few more nights of that and I should be fine. How are you all doing with your NaNo/writing goals this month?

Also, Happy Thanksgiving to those in the US! I probably won’t be posting on Friday, but I’ll be back on Monday as usual. I’d put up a Thanksgiving picture, but those usually include turkeys (poor guys). So instead, here are a couple things to make you smile:

I Am Harry Potter from Daniel Radcliffe

Creative Optimism

annastan — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:00:04 +0000

My husband’s family is full of creative optimists; they plunge into new ideas and try to make them work. It doesn’t always lead to success, but you can’t accuse them of not trying. When my husband gets an idea, usually for a techy thing, he often has to teach himself a new programming language in order to make it happen. I’m always in awe of how motivated he is to keep learning and coming up with new projects. (Check out his website if you want to see the hilarious phone apps he’s been working on).

Now, I wouldn’t say I’m a pessimist, but compared to my husband, I sometimes feel like one. When it comes to writing, I think you need this kind of creative optimism, but I guess there’s another side to it. When you get a shiny new idea for a project, you do need that part of your brain that says: “I could do this!” but you also need that more tempered side that says: “Am I willing to devote months, possibly years, to this idea?”

Your decision of whether or not to work on a project should never be based on fear or intimidation, though. Even if the project is the most complex one you’ve ever thought of, there might just be a way to figure it out, even if it takes a long time. So I guess that’s the key to creative optimism: it needs to be accompanied by patience and a willingness to work your butt off. Otherwise, you’d just go jumping from one half-completed project to the next.

What’s your level of creative optimism? How loud is the pessimistic voice in your head?

Writing Link Roundup

annastan — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:03:15 +0000

What is it about fall that makes the days speed by? I feel like I’ve been playing catch-up all week. And speaking of catching up, it’s been a while since I did a roundup of useful writing links, and my Google reader is bursting with starred items just waiting to be shared with you all. So here you are. Enjoy!

-Author Kiki Hamilton does a great illustration of telling vs. showing

-Kaitlin Ward at YA Highway discusses what to do when your characters won’t talk to you

-Agent Michael Sterns has a fantastic post (with graphs) on the difference between MG and YA

-The wise James Scott Bell talks about writing books that matter to you

-Book blogger Steph Su asks: Can your main character exist without the book’s issue?

And, in honor of Halloween, here’s some obligatory pet torture: