Some Writerly Resources

I think I made that word up. Is writerly a word? I’m sure I’ve heard it somewhere.

[edit, I totally googled it here. Perhaps I should draft these posts first and not… well anyway.]

Ha it is! So excitement aside, these are sources for writers. I’ve been learning to write fiction with the help of various people and various books, as well as various blogs/websites and some youtube. It was actually not massively hard to find these things, but, none-the-less, I’m going to collate them here – maybe it will give another new person a hand. Pass the baton on more comfortably or some such. This is perhaps not a good analogy because well, I’m keeping the baton too because it’s a good baton and I like good stuff.

I will keep this updated and edited with anything new I find that might add to what I have here.

So in no particular order, here is the stuff that helps me.

Books

On Writing, by Stephen King.

The Sense of Style, by Steven Pinker.

On Writing is absolutely hilarious and I read it in a single sitting. It’s a must read. The Sense of Style is perhaps much more in-depth, it gives excellent and very clear information while somehow not coming across as a textbook. It’s funny too. Basically go and buy both of them immediately. You can open a new tab.

Websites

https://www.facebook.com/JohnHudspithEditor/?fref=ts – give this man your money to edit your stuff, you won’t regret it.

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/ – this website has some golden posts, though it can very often be prescriptive. One rule I learned early on is that in writing, if you can break the rules to make something beautiful, do it. But, (maybe capslock BUT, it’s quite a big but) only if you are 100% certain. And by 100% certain I actually mean your editor is certain, not you. We view our writing through a fuzzy and dreamy haze.

http://www.youwriteon.com/ – get beta-readers, basically, in return for reading other people’s stuff. It’s a great trade and a great site and has taught me a lot.

https://www.goodreads.com/ – you’re a writer and you’re not on goodreads? Are you even trying? I admit that this is not a direct source of writerly resource, except that it is the biggest writerly resource. This might make little sense, but basically the more you read and the broader you read, the better you will get at writing the stuff too.

12 Contemporary Writers on How They Revise

Youtube channels

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZ_Yq-hCQ9kmCiNdDeIrbgA/playlists – Here you can watch all of Brandon Sanderson’s lectures on writing. They are both educating and entertaining at the same time. He’s also great at pointing out that if something prescribed doesn’t fit you, then don’t do it – we all write differently.

And well that’s about it for now. There are lots of smaller places on facebook etc, but nothing that I visit quite so often.

If you are a new writer, or even an established one – i’d love any more suggestions in the comments.