I’m only just starting this; more later. Here are some links to specific articles or sites that have been particularly helpful or interesting to me.

Writing Process

• 7 F***in’ Great Ways to Build Your Writing Routine — LitReactor, Phil Jourdan. No-nonsense helpful advice on how to dedicate yourself to producing more.

• Top 10 Storytelling Clichés Writers Need To Stop Using — LitReactor, Rob W. Hart. Names the clichés AND tells you why you shouldn’t use them in your writing.

• Inspired Openings: Special Agent Edition — Adventures in YA and Children’s Publishing, Jan Lewis. Discussions of what agents love and hate to see in an opening scene.
• How to Make Writing Faster, Easier and More Enjoyable — The Expert Editor, Laura Gibbs. Gives hints on how to actually get the words out through structured and specific self-imposed steps.

Editing

• Cut! 4 Strategies for Trimming Your Content — LitReactor, Rob D. Young. Useful stuff to keep in mind when you’re trying to lower your word count.

• 25 Steps to Edit the Unmerciful Suck Out of Your Story — Terrible Minds, Chuck Wendig. Ideas and options for rewriting and cleaning up a manuscript.

• Ten Writing Tighteners Series — Kelley Harvey Writes, Kelley Harvey. Lots of practical, specific advice on how to fix common problems while polishing your work.

Querying, Synopses, and Proposals

• Top Ten Query Mistakes — Rachelle Gardner. An agent’s perspective on what causes her to reject.

• How to Write a Query Letter — Nathan Bransford. A basic query letter map with a bunch of links to explain each element of the process.

• How to Write a Synopsis — Writers Write, Tia Nevitt. The Six-Paragraph Method to writing your synopsis.

• Slushkiller — Making Light, Teresa Hayden. Perspectives on rejection letters and how writers end up reading intent into rejections that editors did not put there.

Perspectives

• The Importance of Being (Slightly) Arrogant as a Writer — Writer’s Digest/Chuck Sambuchino, Donna Gambale. Why a little arrogance is actually appropriate in this biz.

• YA vs. Adult: what’s so different, anyway? — Adventures in Agentland, Natalie M. Lakosil. Discussion of the many differences between YA and Adult besides the usual age of the protagonist.

Writing Research and World-Building Resources

• Encyclopedia Mythica — Pantheon.org, Micha F. Lindemans. Search for specific fairy tale or mythological information or browse the popular areas. Complete with pictures of deities and fantastic beasts.

• The Language Construction Kit — Zompist.com, Mark Rosenfelder. Authors of speculative fiction can find hints on creating languages for their alien species or fantasy races.

Agents, Publishing, and Publishing Guidelines

• Writing/Publishing Websites — Rachelle Gardner. A list of good sites for writers.

• When Agents Wave the Red Flag — The Daily Dahlia, Dahlia Adler. Good ways to smell a bad agent based on their communications.

• Should You Pitch (and Sign With) a New Literary Agent? — Writer Unboxed, Chuck Sambuchino. Pros and cons for considering someone new to the business to represent your work.

• On Word Counts and Novel Length — The Swivet, Colleen Lindsay. Good guidelines on what word counts are appropriate for what genres.

• Storyville: Where to Send Your Stories — LitReactor, Richard Thomas. Huge list of short story markets, featuring explanations and personal experience.

• The Perks of Literary Magazines — YA Highway, Deborah Rocheleau. Great places to sell YA literature.

• Tips on Marketing Your Novel — Adventures in Agentland, Natalie Lakosil. What to do to successfully spread the word at every phase of your publishing journey.

• Survivorship bias: why 90% of the advice about writing is bulls*** right now — Tobias Buckell. An explanation for why writers should not expect to succeed through e-publishing by following advice from successful e-published authors.

• 25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author — Terrible Minds, Delilah S. Dawson. A delightfully uncensored explanation of how this particular author went from writing her first book to being a published author, with down-to-earth advice on how the process could look for you.

• Ask and You Shall Receive — Writer Unboxed, M.J. Rose. A list of items pre-published authors should consider when discussing their release with the publisher—promotional opportunities and ideas are outlined with perspective on what questions to ask.

• A Promotion Timeline — Pub(lishing) Crawl, Jodi Meadows. A nice realistic look at when you should do what when you want to promote your book.

• The Necessary Evils of Self-Promotion — The Daily Dahlia, Dahlia Adler. Discussion of how, whether, and why to use certain forms of social media in your book promotion, as well as what not to do. Lots of resources and perspectives on which platform for what, etiquette of their use, and external links for certain sections.
• What It’s Like To Go On Submission With Your Novel — Diana Urban. The less-often-discussed process of submission to publishers, with perspectives from many authors who have been through it. The truth on what you’ll feel, what might happen, and how you’ll survive.

Miscellaneous

• I Will Not Read Your ****ing Script — The Village Voice Blog, Josh Olson. Strongly worded piece about why it’s rude (and ineffective) to push publishing-industry professionals to read your work.

• Con Tips From a Con Junkie — Liz Writes, Elizabeth Briggs. Tips on going to writing conferences/conventions in order to maximize your enjoyment.