Thursday, March 31, 2011

Fooling with Words

Welcome, writers at all stages.

Here is the short, though cryptic, address for this blog page:

http://tinyurl.com/3hbzkad
 
I'm going to add updates right here that will reflect questions/issues raised in our April 2 session.

Update #1: One participant asked why queries were so difficult to write.
Here is an interesting three-step approach to this arduous task:

http://www.writersdigest.com/article/3-Part_Recipe_for_PERFECT_Agent_Queries?et_mid=270113&rid=3076620

Moving on...
  1. Contribute to this page to share what you're learning and to experiment with an interesting collaborative writing tool: http://ietherpad.com/8MR7vrzbxw
  2. http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english explains wikis.
More on iEtherpad
  • Let's create a number of them.
  • Post a topic of discussion (i.e. favorite books on writing).
  • Jot down and distribute the web address, so others can contribute to the discussion.
  • Couldn't a site like this supplement a writing critique group's efforts?
Links galore


http://www.internet-resources.com/writers/
http://www.google.com/Top/Arts/Writers_Resources/


Interested in prewriting?

50 Free Tools for Mindmapping and Brainstorming
http://tinyurl.com/2esqqj2

Need some exercises to warm up?

http://www.google.com/Top/Arts/Writers_Resources/Writing_Exercises/


http://watchout4snakes.com/creativitytools/RandomWord/RandomWordPlus.aspx   (Lots of randomness here. Create something and paste it into one of our Etherpads.)

LinkedIn

http://www.meryl.net/2009/08/03/40-writer-uses-for-linkedin/
http://events.linkedin.com/writers

Blogging

Why have a blog?
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/01/24/authors-should-blo/

If you blog, maximize your efforts...I like this succinct article>>>
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2009/02/02/effective-blogging/

Facebook? What's that?
http://www.facebook.com/PlacesForWriters
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8539923410 (exhaustive list)

Author/Agent Sites

Here are some writing professionals I like to follow. (I'm sure you have your favorites, so please share on the ietherpad.)

http://writerunboxed.com/don/  (Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel)
http://www.guidetoliteraryagents.com/blog/   (Chuck Sambuchino, editor for Writer's Digest Books)
http://writetodone.com/ (Check out the list of 'Popular Posts' in the right column.)
http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/ (Jane Friedman, There Are No Rules)


Free Software for Writers

http://www.absolutewrite.com/freelance_writing/free_software.htm

http://www.fictionfactor.com/softwarefreebies.html

Celtx— Free scriptwriting software: http://www.celtx.com/

Storybook—Free novel writing software: http://storybook.intertec.ch/joomla/

The Literary Machine— Creativity/idea management software: http://sommestad.com/lm.htm

eBooks? 
(ay caramba! Will this list ever end?)

http://www.squidoo.com/howtomakeanEbook

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-Your-First-eBook

http://www.wikihow.com/Turn-Your-Articles-Into-an-eBook

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF_PxRQBANU

Podcasting/Sharing Your Stuff

Podcast Your Book

How to Podcast Your Book

http://writersdigest.com/article/podcast-your-book

http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/edtec700/vp/resources.htm  (Electronic publishing resources)

http://voicethread.com/share/135943/

Poetry