RESOURCES FOR WRITERS
This page will be host to all the useful resources that I find and think ought to be shared with other writers. If you have a resource that you would like to see shared, feel free to contact me so I can add it to the list!
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CRAFT BOOKS
This book contains over 200 writing exercises meant to inspire your creative thinking.
Brian Kiteley
Similar to The 3 A.M. Breakthrough, this book also contains over 200 writing exercises meant to help inspire your creative thinking.
Brian Kiteley
The very first writing book I ever read, How I Write details how Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum series and many other books, goes through her writing, editing, and publishing process as a full-time author.
Janet Evanovich
A guide to revising and editing your manuscript by a professional editor and writing mentor.
Elizabeth Lyon
Renni Brown & Dave King
Another book on editing by professional editors, this guide provides checklists for each aspect of editing, taking you through the same process as experts and shows examples from books Browne and King have edited.
Edited by Dan Koboldt
Foreword by Chuck Wendig
A collection of articles on scientific topics by experts meant to help writers have accurate science in their writing. This book covers topics from medical misconceptions, lab techniques, mental illness, and wildlife biology to spaceships, zombie microbiology, and cyborgs.
A guide for writers on how to craft the best story using the 15-beat method. It breaks down how to create a story that will 'thrill readers from start to finish'
Jessica Brody
King's memoir is full of valuable advice for writers, weaved within anecdotes and examples from King's own experience or observations.
Stephen King
L.M. Lilly
A week-by-week guide to writing your novel in one year, including questions about character development, tips on editing, word count goals, and more.
Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi
It's in the name: a thesaurus of emotions, the different physical signs and behaviors associated with them, internal sensations, mental responses, acute or long-term responses, signs the emotion is being repressed, what the emotion may escalate or de-escalate to, and associated verbs.
Gwen Hayes
This book is a beat-by-beat explanation of what is expected in a romance novel, as well as how to pull it off. Great for those interested in incorporating romance into their writing, whether as a main plot or subplot!
Chris Fox
This is "a simple guide to outlining your novel", which goes over the three-act structure and Dan Harmon's Story Circle, and gives tips for world-building and character development.
Craft book focusing on the emotional arc of your story.
Donald Maass
Organized by body part, this book lists numerous physical reactions and provides extra lines on each page to fill in your own examples, perfect to break up the monotony of reusing the same descriptors over and over.
Valerie Howard
Sacha Black
A profanity-laden guide to making your prose sing: utilizing the five senses, self-editing checklists, literary devices, character voice, and more!
A guide with roots in psychology to use backstory in order to strengthen character building and plot.
Eileen Cook
Another comprehensive guide to building compelling characters.
Mark Boutros
Another guide on characters, this time focusing on how to use side characters to strengthen your plot.
Sacha Black
Organized by emotion and senses, this book contains numerous adjectives that will strengthen your writing.
Valerie Howard
A master list of romantic and steamy descriptors meant to titillate the reader's imagination!
Jean Kent & Candace Shelton
Jennifer Hilt
An exploration of tropes in fiction, examples of how they're used, and an alphabetical index of tropes at the end of the book.
A guide to writing sex in your fiction, including examples from writers including Toni Morrison and John Updike, and interviews with Edmund White, Darin, Strauss, and more.
Elizabeth Benedict
PUBLISHING BOOKS
As the title describes, an encyclopedia of terms an indie writer should know.
M.L. Ronn
A guide to how to self-publish your book in a step-by-step format, with details on e-books, marketing, and more.
Joanna Penn
A guide composed by the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) with answers about the self-publishing process, from ISBNs and copyright to marketing and formatting.
M.L. Ronn
A guide in making or decisions about whether to create a publishing imprint, and other important questions regarding indie publishing.
David Wogahn
A guide to publish your book using any book printer and getting your books in directories used by major publishers.
David Wogahn
HELPFUL WEBSITES
Though the name of the website is "Fantasy Name Generators", this site hosts numerous generators, including real names from different cultures, place names, organization names, and many more. If you're struggling to think of a name for something in your writing, FNG may have the generator for you.
The free resources available on The Novel Factory website are all I've used from this source, but such resources include character-building questionnaires, plot outlines, NaNoWriMo resources, and more.
The Novel Factory primarily offers a writing software program that advertises will help writers through the writing process. They offer both a web version and a desktop version.
This Tumblr page is dedicated to writing and resources centered on racial, ethnic, and religious diversity, and the moderators share Q&A-style writing advice, guides, book recommendations, and more.
This website is absolutely valuable for any writer who wishes to include accurate and inoffensive representation in their writing.
This website is designed to help writers organize reader feedback from betas. I haven't gotten the chance to use it yet, but I've heard many good things!
A free online editor meant to catch grammar and spelling mistakes, check readability, and more.
Another free online editor to check for spelling and grammar mistakes. Apps are also available.
A graphic design platform useful designing for social media, book covers, business cards, and more.
A database of popular names in the United States listed by year, decade, or state.
Build a family tree for your characters
Create character images by combining existing images and adjusting facial features until you reach the desired result.
Can't think of a word? Look up a definition, phrase, synonym, etc., and OneLook provides results related to the concept you search.
This was a visitor recommendation from a young writer named Anna, featuring a list of writing resources ranging from how to write screenplays to tips for writing engaging scenes
Another visitor recommendation with resources for those that wish to pursue freelance work.
Another visitor recommendation with a variety of resources ranging from scholarships to formatting guides to conferences and conventions.
EVENTS
National Novel Writing Month is an annual event in November where writers commit to writing 50,000 words in a month. The nonprofit organization also hosts Camp NaNoWriMo during the months of April and July, where participants can set their own goals.
The word count trackers are now available year-round, but the NaNo events are extremely valuable for holding yourself accountable to writing.
Description taken from website:
#PitMad is the original twitter pitch event, where writers tweet a 280-character pitch for their completed, polished, unpublished manuscripts. No previously published works. Agents and editors make requests by liking/favoriting the tweeted pitch.
OTHERS
Book Subscription Service
I've praised BOTM many times in the past and will continue to recommend it. Every month, seven (as of March 2022) books are featured for readers to choose from and, with a $15 credit, you can get one of the books. If none of the books appeal to you that month, you can skip it and you will not be charged. Alternately, if you want more books, you can add them onto your order, including extra books from previous months and various others available in the BOTM catalog.
As writers, it's important to read other books to learn new strategies, see what is and isn't successful, and broaden the influences on our own works. In this sense, BOTM is a huge resource.