The Top 100 Creative Writing Blogs (Updated)

"Whether a creative writer’s heart sits with prose, poetry, or both, there likely exists an author or aspirant author out there with something to offer his or her work. And that, friends, is why the Internet stands as one of the best possible tools for today’s emerging literati. Thanks to the online input of industry pros and fledgling dreamers, today’s writers enjoy some incredible opportunities to finely-tune their craft and seek personalized advice from those who came before."

http://www.bestcollegesonline.com/blog/2012/07/02/the-top-100-creative-writing-blogs-updated/

How the Art of Screenwriting Can Make You a Better Web Writer

"If you’ve got paragraphs or phrases that neither endear people to you nor encourage them to move to the next stage, it’s got to go."

http://www.copyblogger.com/web-writer

Two's Up : The Memoirs of a Borstal Boy

"In January 1971, after having his collar felt the previous year, the teenage Kris Gray heard his plans of becoming a master criminal crumble when the immortal words ‘take him down’ were uttered by the judge. That same judge had just told him that he would have to serve a term of six months to two years in a Borstal institution. With the words of failed IRA bomb maker, Brendan Behan’s ‘Borstal Boy’, ringing in his head he was dragged away from his fiancé to the dark dungeons of Wormwood Scrubs. Little did he know that he would end up on a farm in the heart of Huntingdonshire, brewing illicit rhubarb wine, entertaining the local old folk and finding his hand up a cow’s fanny, amongst other things, whilst learning how to get out in double quick time. Two’s Up is the often humorous and sometime sad memoires of a Borstal Boy in the early 1970’s who went on to almost be a rock star."

http://www.twos-up.com/

When book reviews go bad–or how to react when a reviewer hates your book

"Another reason to listen to harsh criticism is because you can learn from it. Try to see your book from the reviewer’s point of view. There are probably areas you can work on in your next book. Essentially, a reviewer might be providing a valuable service in helping you improve your writing and your next book."

http://selfpublishingresources.com/when-book-reviews-go-bad-or-how-to-react-when-a-reviewer-hates-your-book/

Why Every Author Needs a Mailing List

"You have a major advantage when you engage readers using email. As an author you understand the power of the written word. In an age where much of the communications amounts to the written equivalent of grunts and murmurs, a little bit of attention to good writing really stands out."

http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2011/06/why-every-author-needs-mailing-list-by.html

With love from a failed planet

"An interactive world populated with 45 strange and fantastical stories."


http://www.secrettechnology.com/flanet/

"American Airlines (metal tubes through the air)

Climatologist used more accurate atmospheric terminology, but the press simply called it Super Heavy Air.  Decades of airplane pollution released into the stratosphere formed a dense layer of heavier than air…air.  Airplanes rising past this layer could never land, and sky cities were built from interconnected fuselages.  The sky dwellers farmed Monarch butterflies, trading with the Earth bound through pneumatic tubes and blocking the sun during tariff disputes."

http://www.secrettechnology.com/flanet/

pen.io - Create beautiful text based pages

"Publish Essays / Create Pages for Upcoming Events / Share Code Snippets / Publish Ebooks / Share Recipes / And Much Much More!"

http://pen.io/

Example: http://handylatin.pen.io/

Interview with Fflur Dafydd - Y Llyfrgell (The Library)

"Y Llyfrgell tells a story, and tells it very well indeed, but there is so much more to it than a mere story. It is multi-layered, and gives the wide-awake reader much food for thought and discussion. It has to do with the death of the book in a digital age, with feminism and political correctness, with the relationship between pure literature and literary criticism, with memory in all its aspects, and much more. Yet it does all this by means of a story which captivates the imagination of the least academic of readers. "


http://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-34-science-fiction-and-political-fantasy/interview-fflur-dafydd/more-about-the-novel

"It’s a book very much satirising the behaviour of a minority – I believe that Welsh-language society will still be fundamentally the same – absurd, hilarious, parochial, tenacious, bizarre and wonderful – even with all the technological advances in the world. Whether we move backwards or forwards is irrelevant: we will never escape who we are. But the frontier is important on a creative level – because it also allows for the little incongruities which remind us that this isn’t a completely ‘real’ world - the strangeness of the twins, the behavioural traits of the Head Librarian and the porters, Dan careering along the red carpet with an overweight cook and an albino kitchen-hand as his only back-up, Eben’s quest through the bowels of the library on his hands and knees – all these little things suggest a world that is essentially other. "


http://www.transcript-review.org/en/issue/transcript-34-science-fiction-and-political-fantasy/interview-fflur-dafydd

The Mongoliad: a shared universe that could only live on the Web

"The Mongoliad will consist of a series of linked stories written by different writers, a Wikipedia-style concordance, and "an ongoing stream of nontextual, para-narrative, and extra-narrative stuff which we think brings the story to life in ways that are pleasingly unique, and which can't be done in any single medium." "

http://www.boingboing.net/2010/05/25/neal-stephenson-greg.html

Letter Templates

"A letter template is a fully detailed and readymade format for writing a letter. It is like an actual letter but without the personal contact details and specific points of mention which can be entered by the user as per the requirements. Letter templates are useful for saving time and giving a professional touch to a formal letter."


http://www.lettertemplates.org/

Twitter Profile Mistakes Writers Should Avoid

"1. No description of who you are in your profile: Cheeky 140-character descriptions of your abstract qualities sound cool, but they make it very difficult for somebody to find decide if they want to read your work. Simply describe who you are, what you do and what you write. [...]"

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/5-twitter-profile-mistakes-writers-should-avoid_b32527

The Voynich Manuscript

"The Voynich manuscript is a handwritten book thought to have been written in the early 15th century and comprising about 240 vellum pages, most with illustrations. Although many possible authors have been proposed, the author, script, and language remain unknown. It has been described as "the world's most mysterious manuscript""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voynich_manuscript


http://www.voynich.nu/index.html


http://voynichcentral.com/

PiratePad

"This pad text is synchronized as you type, so that everyone viewing this page sees the same text. This allows you to collaborate seamlessly on documents!"

http://piratepad.net/

http://piratepad.net/pNx7ujq64I

PaperRater

"PaperRater.com is a free resource, developed and maintained by linguistics professionals and graduate students. PaperRater.com is used by schools and universities in over 46 countries to help students improve their writing."

http://www.paperrater.com/

Nine Ways To Give A Better Book Reading

"3. Don’t Read The Book to The Audience: Your audience can read your book themselves. Little is more monotonous than hearing someone else reading words aloud. Great authors elevate the text by using a compelling vocal delivery to emphasize key phrases, increasing the tempo to build suspense, and modulating their volume to match the content. Listen to a bestselling book on tape to get a sense of how the pros do it."

http://www.mrmediatraining.com/index.php/2011/02/23/nine-ways-to-give-a-better-book-reading/

Are You Making These 10 Mistakes on Facebook?

"1. Failing to showcase (or even mention) your books on the Facebook profile.

I am amazed at how many authors don't even mention their books on their Facebook profile. Be sure to include a description of your books in the "About You" section, which is on the Info screen of your profile.

Another good strategy is to call yourself an author in the current job title that you list in the Employers section of the profile, then list your business name or book name as your current employer. Both your job title and employer name show up at the very top of your profile, which gives you great visibility. "

http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/book_marketing_maven/2011/06/are-you-making-these-10-mistakes-on-facebook.html

10 Works of Literature That Were Really Hard to Write

"Joyce was nearly blind, so he dictated his stream-of-consciousness prose to his friend, Samuel Beckett. That led to some unexpected results. For example, during one session, Joyce heard a knock at the door, which was too quiet for Beckett to perceive. Joyce yelled to the visitor, “Come in!” so Beckett added “Come in!” to the manuscript. When Beckett later read the passage back to Joyce, the author decided that he liked it better that way."

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/76496

Mark Twain’s Top Six: Bad Advice to Good Children.

" Get up late.

Go to bed early, get up early–this is wise. Some authorities say get up with the sun; some say get up with one thing, others with another. But a lark is really the best thing to get up with. It gives you a splendid reputation with everybody to know that you get up with the lark; and if you get the right kind of lark, and work at him right, you can easily train him to get up at half past nine, every time–it’s no trick at all."

http://www.elephantjournal.com/2010/11/mark-twains-top-six-bad-advice-to-good-children/

Getting the Most from Book Contests & Awards

"An author friend submitted his book to be considered for an award. Although he didn’t win, he was nominated for an award, giving him the right to put a sticker on his book saying something like: “Nominated for Georgia Author of the Year.” He says that this sticker really helps him with sales.

For low platform authors who aren’t household names, we need all the help we can get. So why not pursue honors, awards and blurbs that tell buyers, “This book is special!”? Authors who win awards can say to a bookseller, “This award-winning book…” which sets it apart from most competing books."

http://jstevemiller.com/blog/?p=165

Number One tip for writers - Rewriting

"Just like a rising actor can’t excel without a good director, I believe that an emerging writer needs the guidance of an editor. They are the Tim Burton to your Johnny Depp, and they are definitely worth holding out for.

So what’s my number one tip? ‘Rewrite, rewrite, rewrite.’

http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/2010/06/number-one-tip-for-writers/