Read A Good Book

Summer is slowly creeping to an end and there isn't much time left for enjoying those relaxing "beach reads." If you're looking for a good book to read, or maybe want to step outside your comfort zone and try something you've never read before, you might want to check out the Harvard Bookstore. Their staff has compiled a list of the Top 100 Books.

Want to comment on the list? Join our discussion over at The Writers Network.

The Best of the Best

Every year Writers Digest Magazine releases a list of the 101 websites that they consider to be the best sites for writers. Categorized by Agent Blogs, Challenges/Creativity, General Resources, Genre/Niche, Protect Yourself, Publishing Resources, and Writing Communities, these sites offer a huge amount of information and resources, no matter where your struggles might be. Check out the best and the brightest now at Writers Digest's fabulously re-designed website. www.writersdigest.com/101BestSites

Hailing all Taxes

Somehow another year has passed us by and it's already time to start getting our receipts in order. The tax man cometh whether or not we're ready. Writers receiving "independent contractor" income, reported on a 1099 form, should be using extra care with their record keeping. The high-cost of self-employment taxes means that you'd better be taking all the legal deductions you can.

Need extra help? Nash Black has published the book Writing as a Small Business which offers advice specifically geared towards writers.

Publish Your Own Coffee Table Book

Blurb.com takes self-publishing to a new level. If you're looking for a cool way to organize your photos, your blog entries, your recipes, this is a lovely and graphically easy way to put them together. You won't get a listing at Amazon.com, and I couldn't find any mention of an ISBN number, but if you are looking for a unique gift idea for your friends, this is a great way to go about it. www.blurb.com

Does Grammar Matter?

The international best-seller Eats, Shoots and Leaves taught us that punctuation really does matter when creating a sentence. (And heck I'm the first to admit that I over-comma everything.)

But the correct usage of grammar is equally necessary to writing a good story.

What disappoints me with so many of the books I receive for a possible review is how few authors remember how important the written word is in telling their story. A book cannot live by plot alone, and the words used to tell the story are always more important than the story itself.

Don't believe me? Take for example some ambiguous headlines that show just how necessary it is be to carefully choose the words you use. How about "Women make the best moms" or "World War II kamikaze survivors meet?" These titles may make you chuckle, but if your novel is riddled with imprecise words it can make for a long, hard read.

Want more headlines with double meanings? Check out the Albany Times Union blog at blogs.timesunion.com


(Writing Sparks Newsletter: 2/22/08)

Questions and Quandaries

One of my favorite writerly e-newsletters is Writers Digest Weekly Tips and Updates. I like it because it's succinct (I know, my newsletters could take a lesson from that), but mostly I appreciate the light tone accomplished by newsletter editor Brian Klems. I'd been hearing for a while now that Brian also keeps up a Q&A board, called Questions and Quandaries at Writers Digest.com, so I finally took a look. I don't know why I was surprised, but this is some very valuable stuff. Covering a range of topics such as "Will Newspapers Review Self-Published Books" and proper grammar usage, this site is definitely worth checking out.

www.writersdigest.com/qq/


(Writing Sparks Newsletter: 2/8/08)

Judging a Book. . .

The AIGA (a professional association for design) has released a list of its top book covers for 2007. Because your book cover is so very important in your marketing efforts, I encourage everyone to take a peek at these top-notch designs.

www.designarchives.aiga.org

This article was posted in the October 12 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

The World's Worst Opening Lines

Take a break from your own excellent writing, to view the world's most terrible opening lines. Every year, the San Jose State University English Department runs the "Bulwer-Lytton" Fiction Contest. This whimsical literary competition challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels.

To view this year's fabulous (or not) winners, visit www.sjsu.edu/depts/english/2007.htm

This article was posted in the September 21 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Covering Covers

In this week's "Promote Your Book" tip, we talk about the importance of a good looking cover design.

Good design can be a tricky thing. People can react very differently to the same images. Bad design, however, is usually pretty easy to pick out. A forum at http://covers.fwis.com/ posts a variety of covers that are considered "good-looking" or at least visually noticeable covers, and then lets users make comments as to whether they agree or not.

This article was posted in the July 6 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

A Font of Knowledge

When composing your written masterpieces, do you have a favorite font?

Okay, I totally stole this week's creativity booster from WritersDigest.com, but when I saw this link, I couldn't resist passing it along to OnceWritten.com subscribers.

In their last newsletter, Writers Digest references an article at slate.com, which interviewed prominent writers to see what their favorite font was? If you want to see the complete results, visit: http://www.slate.com/id/2166947/

This article was posted in the June 1 issue of OnceWritten.com's Writing Sparks newsletter.

Giving Your Character Gainful Employment

We all know in fiction there is a tendency in fiction to overuse high-profile careers. Enough cops, doctors, lawyers and secret service men already. If you're looking for a cool career for your character, you might want to consider some of the following jobs: economist, environmental scientist, landscape architect, or even a zookeeper. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, (yes, the same people who give us our regular unemployment statistic updates), has a cool page for educators of types of careers, as well as a complete A-Z page, and an overview of what each career does, how to get the job, and an average idea of how much that career pays. Looking to get your characters a job? Visit http://www.bls.gov/k12/index.htm.

Dilbert (Scott Adams) on Writers Block. . .

Scott Adams, the very funny writer of the Dilbert comic strip is one of the many individuals that contributes to the blogosphere. Dilbert.blog is updated almost daily with words of advice and humor. Recent posts have included musings that John Mark Karr (the self-confessed killer of Jon Benet Ramsey) should run for congress, as well as knowing when to quit a failing business. Nearly a year ago, he also posted on how he deals with writers block. To read more, visit
http://dilbertblog.typepad.com.

Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

Redundant Redundancies

First of all, are you crystal clear on what redundancies are redundant? Some things are just useless and unnecessary and by using them we attach together words we don't need. Each and every one of you should check out the brain candy website to see a list of commonly used redundancies. www.corsinet.com/braincandy/twice.html.


Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.

Rhumba! Those Rattlesnakes Know How to Party

When animals congregate, you may find yourself at a loss when naming their groupings. Sure cattle hang out in a herd, but who knew that more than one monkey makes a barrel, and no, not a wooden one. An army of caterpillars, a wreck of seabirds, even a lounge of lizards. To get a leg up on your next night of Trivial Pursuit, (or to just look really cool at your next dinner party) visit the San Diego Zoo website at www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/got_questions_groups_list.html.

By the way, it turns out you can't tell a leopard by its spots after all, because he doesn't have any. Geez. To wade your way through the markings of the earth's largest pussy cats, the San Diego Zoo offers the following study guide: www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/a-cat_coats.html.


Get Past the Block
OnceWritten.com offers weekly tips and suggestions to help get you motivated and moving beyond the things that block you. To sign up for a weekly shot of inspiration, subscribe to the OnceWritten.com Writing Sparks newsletter.

Need Creative Writing Prompts?
OnceWritten.com offers brand new, FREE, creative writing prompts every week. Feeling stumped in your writing? Check out the OnceWritten.com Free Creative Writing Prompts page.