Writerly Wednesday

I'm really digging these mini-writing updates. They help me be accountable and the feedback I'm getting makes me feel like maybe I'm helping some other secret #nerdywriterclub members start to come out of their shell, too. I'm not gonna lie -- that's a pretty good feeling.

First, here are some of my favorite writerly reads this week:

1. Script Frenzy: this is a no brainer. Since I'm gearing up to write my big screenplay, I'm spending mad online time browsing this site. Lots of helpful tips and forums as busy as the local sports bar on $2 wells night. (p.s. I have a plot!! I know, a lot can change for me in one day, right?) There's also a site for teachers, if you fancy running this month o' madness in your classroom (and you should).
2. Donna Newton's Blog: writer, runner, mother, storm chaser -- this chick can do it all. And when she isn't off living large, she's blogging about nifty writer stuffs, such as contests, workshops, and author interviews. Check her out!
3. Texas Sweethearts (& Scoundrels): 7 authors and illustrators from Texas that write for kids and teens. You can access all the author's websites from here, and I have a weird love of reading author blogs (is this how some people feel about reading People magazine??) so you should definitely give them a visit -- who knows, maybe you'll even find some new books to read!
4. AdvancedFictionWriting.com: Another great site filled to overflowing with tips, tricks, and helpful info. You could spend way too much time here reading about writing, and not actually writing! So I'm linking you straight to my current favorite page -- an article on the "snowflake" method of writing a novel.
5. Writing Excuses: this is a super-rockin' website with podcasts on just about every writing topic you can dream up. The line-up of talent on this blog is pretty spectacular, too. I like to listen when I'm feeling a bit deflated. I hope you'll give it a listen, too!

On my own personal writing front, I'm knee-deep in edits on my picture book. I took the best advice from the 8 critiques I've received and have been able to tighten up my sentence structure, reorder a few lagging moments, and let some unnecessary words take a hike. I'm feeling good about sending it out soon! Once the edits are done, I'm going to work on some of the other titles I have in mind for this character. I think she'd be a character many kids can relate to, and I'd like to submit the first picture book with the promise of other titles to follow. I'm not sure that will help sell the book to a publisher, but I've read it never hurts to show you have other stuff lined up. I'll let you know how it works out -- by next week, I should be working on this stage. Exciting stuff, guys!

And as a little edit to yesterday's floundering post-of-much-whining, I'm pleased to say I've come up with my screenplay idea. It's an idea that I actually had about 5 years ago. I wrote this tiny snippet down and never went back to it, but the main character keeps kicking around in my head lately, so I decided I may as well give him some time in the spotlight. I'll spend the rest of this week fleshing out his character and rubbing the rust off the story details. I'm pretty hyped to share my story with my class, and can't wait to see what they want to work on. I have a feeling April will be a very good month!

So guys -- what about you? What have you been writing this week?

Writerly Wednesday

Hey guys, I know most of you are aware I've been checking into this whole publishing fiasco lately, and... (notice I'm using abusing all sorts of nifty text formatting? This is how you know I am BLOGGING AFTER MIDNIGHT. Just a helpful hint for the future. Anyway.)

And... I have noticed in the comments that one or two of you have expressed interest in following along or learning more as I totally schlep my way through this nightmare prance merrily toward the day of my first book signing party. (I notice things, yo.)

So today I'm going to share a few happy little slices from around the weboblogosphere (I just made that up. Not. Even. Kidding.)

Because guys... we are not the only one or two or three people out there that like to write.

No. Really! So, here you have it. Today's Top 5 (Uh, I know it's normally Top 10, but it's like nearly 2am. Lateness makes the Heart Grow Foggy! You get 5.)

1. The Insecure Writer's Support Group What? A support group for people that are insecure about their work? Sign me up. Every first Wednesday, you post about your writerly life and link back to their page. Pretty nifty! There are all sorts of people in this group, including published authors and editors. You should be the next to join! Besides, it'll give you a reason to keep blogging after #slice2012.
2. In High Spirits Okay, so this chick does something really cool. The first three posts each month are dedicated to something she calls First Impressions. There's an email link on the sidebar where you can submit the first page of your manuscript and she and Marcy Hatch will critique it for you AND post it on her blog for other writers to comment! Dude. That's a seriously awesome opportunity. Check it out.
3. Ruth Ayres Writes I almost didn't include this because I hope you're already following Ruth. You can look at peeks of her writer's notebook (and even if you're not an aspiring published author, what a great resource for your classroom!), follow along on her own writing journey, and just sink into the fabulousness that is Ruth Ayres. I mean, c'mon, you probably wouldn't even be doing #slice2012 if you hadn't already known about her, right?
4. Rachelle Gardner Rachelle is an agent over at Books & Such Literary Agency, and she posts frequently about the wide world of publishing. Tons of helpful tidbits for the author-to-be.
5. The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment (mad props to ME for getting that all typed out correctly!) This dude (Matthew MacNish) is going to hook you up with some fab query knowledge, plus a little literary miscellany to boot. He posts queries that are sent in, readers follow the blogger whose query is posted, and the advice begins! There's a lot more than query questioning going on over there, and it's definitely worth your time.

Well, there it is folks, five of the most interesting writerly things I've perused this week. Okay, I cheated with Ruth's blog, but it had to be mentioned. It basically tore my heart out not to tell you to check out Neil Gaiman's website, but I held true to my five site rule. You are very welcome.

Obviously, there are more sites than this blogging gal can currently juggle, but those are the ones on my mind tonight.

Now I'm wondering... what writerly website do you often visit, and why?