A master list of writing advice

I’ve gotten a lot of new blog readers since my first book was published two and a half years ago, and I know a lot of you are writers. So I thought it might be useful if I complied all the writing advice posts I’ve made (that I still think are reasonably useful ๐Ÿ˜‰ ) since many of them were written before that time. And I’m going to try to remember to keep updating this on the rare occasions I do new posts about writing.

Before we get started, I’d like to make one very important statement: Anything I say about writing and the creative process is merely what works for me. It is highly unlikely to work for everyone. So if you do things a different way and it works for you, more power to you!

Now that we’ve got that clearโ€ฆ

Elements of writing fiction:

Tending to new ideas (how I help my shiny new ideas grow until they’re ready to become a whole book)

Tools for working with new story ideas (mainly about structuring your ideas once you have a basic sense of what you want to happen)

In praise of research (how research can help you write)

Fictional world-building (a couple of resources for building fantasy worlds)

In which I ramble on about tension, for a rather long time (this title is pretty self-explanatory, yes?)

Block Towers, or, How I build a middle (Many people struggle with writing the middle of books. I love it. Here’s how I do it.)

More on middles (continuing from the above)

Why I rewrite (on my revision process and why it works for me)

Writing better (techniques for improving your writing skills)

How getting my editorial letter changed the way I write (on the importance of being sure)

Diversity and Difference in YA (on how to make your fiction inclusive, and why it’s important)

Elements of getting published and promotion:

Very few journeys are smooth or straight-forward (sharing some of the difficult parts of my publishing journey, and what I learned from them)

The publishing connection myth: why I investigated it and the results of my poll (challenging the idea that you need connections to get published)

Searching for an agent? Here are some tools (some internet resources I used in my agent search, and how I used them)

A Shy Person’s Guide to Public Speaking (how to deal with public appearances if you’re one of the many shy authors out there, like me)

Random writing-related topics:

Advice for aspiring writers (some basics)

Try (the one thing you absolutely have to do to succeed)

The choices we make, or, how I found time to write (about making writing a priority in your life, and why that’s important)

The Purple Elephant Problem (on comparing one’s books to others)

On getting feedback as a writer, or, You can’t win (about handling other people’s opinions about your work)

How to organize a writing retreat (something I’ve done for my in-person critique group every year for the last five years)

Of course they mean things. You just have to learn how to read them. (mainly, thoughts of what writers can learn from fandom — you can skip the first few paragraphs as they’re unrelated)

And finallyโ€ฆ

My Favorite Writing Links (advice from other people that I have found helpful in the past)

Enjoy!


Comments

A master list of writing advice — 12 Comments

  1. It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this outstanding blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account.

    I look forward to brand new updates and will talk
    about this blog with my Facebook group. Chat soon!

  2. Hi Megan,
    I’ve been re-reading a lot of your posts recently while I’ve been getting back to my own writing, and I wondered if you’d mind if I linked to this list from my coaching website. I think these posts are must-reads for any lost fiction writer!

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