Tag Archives: Writer’s Digest

Curation Corner: 9 Ways to Chip Away at Writer’s Block

This 2019 Writer’s Digest guest column by Hope Bolinger shares

9 Weird Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

New to me:

— Change your font. (Comic Sans gets some props here.)

Two I’m willing to try tomorrow:

— Change your font

— Take a shower. My wife will appreciate that. In fact, the whole neighborhood will.

By the way, these block-busting ideas are just as valuable as simple kicks in the keister.

Curation Corner: Jane Friedman always delivers value


I was reading Jane Friedman’s weekly Electric Speed and thought to myself, “Self, why haven’t you shared this on your blog?”

And Self said, “Because you’re sometimes a clueless shlub, that’s why.”

Well, the conversation went on and on with back-and-forth accusations of too much time spent baking scones and watching Leave It to Beaver to escape the realities of 2021 and my wife calling a therapist–any therapist available on a Sunday morning–and, well, you get the point. There’s so much useless drivel out there, you surely don’t need any more of it seeping into your already frenzied state…which, by the way, is exactly what I’m doing right now, so you should probably add a pernicious [when’s the last time I used that word?] comment below…

Based on the above ‘departure’, Jane Friedman–publisher of Writer’s Digest, by the way–would probably beg me to never, ever again mention her name on this blog. But hey! ‘The price of fame’, right? And really, if she didn’t share good content, she wouldn’t have been included here, right?**

Good content like:

— Doodle Ipsum (Customize your own doodles and post/share/admire/submit to The Louvre/make NFT’s out of them [I guess.]

— Forvo (“All the words in the world. Pronounced.”)

— Fellow writers’ at-the-desk stretches [reader contributions]

Hope these help. Go sign up for Jane F’s newsletter. No affiliate $$ motive here, no nothing. Just hope you find some value.

**So it’s her fault!

Curation Corner: Wealth of Writer’s Digest Freebies

As I cruised the Writer’s Digest website for other resources, I came across this page of free downloads. [Signing up for their newsletter is requested, however.]

Some of the topics:

— Cheat Sheets for NaNoWriMo 

— Plot Development: Charts and Tips for Outlining and Plotting a Novel 1

— 4 Amateur Mistakes Every Writer Should Avoid

Hope these help.

Curation Corner: Time for some advice…or not.

Image by Michael Arwin Urban from Pixabay

So, let me give you a little advice… ;-|

5 Pieces of Common Writing Advice You Should Absolutely Ignore

A few comments:

Some folks have written complete books on item #1.

Sometimes that longer word just does the work much more effectively.

We’ve all heard about that ‘filthy first draft’ [I prefer the alliterative version.]. But knowing there is a massive clean-up operation ahead often steers me anywhere but there.

The best piece of advice came at the end: “use the wisdom that works for you and discard the rest.”

Keep putting words on the page! Unless, of course, it’s one of your off-days. Or you don’t feel like ‘showing, not telling’. Or you prefer to simply ‘not edit” period/ever/I’ll smack anyone who suggests it!’ vs. ‘edit-as-you-go to’!

There now, wasn’t that helpful?

Curation Corner: 30 uses for those half-used or blank notebooks

Lots of good ideas in Shelby Abrahamsen’s

30 FUN AND EFFECTIVE WAYS
TO USE A BLANK NOTEBOOK

You’ll see some of my favorites in the intro graphic.

Plus, there is something non-threatening to picking up a half-used notebook and diving in with your latest brainstorm. Just my observation…

Curation Corner: Twitter Resources for Writers

I sifted through this piece from hootsuite and I’m highlighting a few from its list.

https://twitter.com/WritersDigest

https://twitter.com/writing_tips

The writer, Todd Clarke, caps the list with the following hashtags readers/writers can follow.

Hope you find some value here!

Lift that pen and go!

Curation Corner: You Can’t Write What You Wouldn’t Read

Target with the words discipline desire drive

The latest from Jon Winokur’s Advice to Writers blog. Also, excerpted in The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing

The most important thing is you can’t write what you wouldn’t read for pleasure. It’s a mistake to analyze the market thinking you can write whatever is hot. You can’t say you’re going to write romance when you don’t even like it. You need to write what you would read if you expect anybody else to read it. And you have to be driven. You have to have the three D’s: drive, discipline and desire. If you’re missing any one of those three, you can have all the talent in the world, but it’s going to be really hard to get anything done. —           Nora Roberts

If you’re writing memoir…free course

I’m currently taking the non-fiction course offered by scribewriting.com. With a number of resources and ample instructor expertise, the logical and methodical approach been very helpful in addressing audience and outlining the larger project. [Tomorrow, we will cover more of the actual writing of the book and on Friday, they are offering a Q. and A. session that will last at least an hour.]

These same folks will be teaching a free course on memoir next week.

Follow this link to sign up: https://scribewriting.com/bookschool/

Just thought I would pass along the info for those considering a new non-fiction project.

Curation Corner: Writerly Wisdom


Henry Miller’s 11 Commandments of Writing

Thanks to Maria Popova’s Brain Pickings for this excellent page that includes Miller’s ‘daily program’.

My favorites: 

  1. Work on one thing at a time until finished.
  2. Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.
  3. Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

This 21 Authors Share One Piece of Advice for Writers post by Robert Lee Brewer from Writer’s Digest could easily be a springboard for 21 separate posts. The word cloud above offers a few items from the article. Take a look.