A Writer's Tool Box?

Do you have one? You know, certain websites, real life places, people, whatever you need in order to get you through tough writing spots. It could be a naming resource, an idea factory, favorite research place or person you bounce ideas off of. We all have them, but do we recognize how important they are?

Share your resources and links with us in the comments today!

Here's what my toolbox looks like.

Google--my go to when starting any kind of research. The internet is so full of articles on everything! You just have to be careful to find credible sources.

seventhsanctum.com--My naming go to! There are also generators for combat moves, organizations, settings, equipment/technology, skills/abilities/traits, etc. I mostly use it for naming, but I did get my miniblasters from the equipment generator. When I get writers block I just browse this site and it sparks all kinds of ideas. I love to mix and match stuff here.

Grooveshark or Pandora--great for creating moods with music. I noticed today that Grooveshark has changed their format and it took forever to find where to log in.
Pandora is easier to use. However I like having control over exactly what songs play in my lists for each novel. Can I do that on Pandora?

Writers Helping Writers--this is a great site for resources. It's run by Angela and Becca of the Emotions Thesaurus. They have a toolbox of free pdfs as well as lots of links.

The Emotions Thesaurus--I have it. It's a great way to get past the telling words and think about the visual cues and internal sensations to help show those emotions. Mine is a print version because it's easier to flip back and forth.

When things are really tough and I know I just need to write something, and it doesn't matter what. I head over to Write or Die. It really helps me to get over myself and let the words flow by turning off the inner editor. You just don't have time to edit yourself when the screen is flashing at you and sirens are going off.

The last site is one I should probably visit more often. I saved it thinking it would help me avoid cliches. The truth is tropes don't really change, but we can shake things up a bit if we know what's overdone. TV Tropes covers everything. All genres, any situation, all character personalities.

There are other places I frequent, but they come and go. Those are the ones in my writing bookmarks folder on my browser.

What's in your bookmarks?

Query Critique Sites--Links!

                         Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.

So your manuscript is completed, critiqued, and polished. Now you want a venue to do the same with your query, your introduction to the hazardous world of publishing.

With all the resources in the blogosphere, the hardest part is choosing where to go and how much to put out there.

Like-minded writers populate forums looking for help. It's a ‘scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ world that works for everyone involved. By posting your query, you get feedback and your writing improves when you critique. It is a win-win situation for everyone.

Consider these sites. They are free to anyone willing to give of their time to return the favor and crit:

• Orson Scott Card. This fabulous author of Ender’s Game holds forums for writers.
• Nathan Bransford. A former literary agent and now author of Jacob Wonderbar and Cosmic Space Kapow.
• Absolute Write. This vast site has everything you need to put together a query.
• Query Tracker. An all-purpose stopping place with forums to hone your query and research agents.
• Query Shark. Enter at your own risk! Janet Reid of FinePrint Literary runs a site chock-full of advice. But watch out for the chum.
• The Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment. Run by master blogger Matthew MacNish, this site takes aim on submitted queries with a critical eye that sees all. And I love his avatar.
• Miss Snark’s First Victim. Authoress remains incognito, still won’t reveal her name or photo. Very mysterious.
• YALITCHAT. Where they live and breathe YA.
• Writers.net. A site dedicated to writers.
• Adam Heine critiques queries, jacket copy, and first pages on Wednesdays.
• Evil Editor
• The Public Query Slushpile
• Ask Daphne! About My Query
• And of course, Unicorn Bell, the home of writers.

These are mostly free sites with some asking for donations or premium memberships. If you are interested in paying for services by professionals, research the sites like Writers Digest.

In truth, finding help is the easy part. It’s throwing that beloved query or manuscript into the icy cold world of critique and wondering if it – or you – will survive. Suck in a deep breath and take the plunge. 

It can only get better.

Have we missed your favorite writing forum? Please share it with us in the comments.

How do your characters stay motivated?

Now that we are freshly motivated to keep writing no matter what, let's talk about character motivations. And I'm not talking about the surface "they are running because they don't want to get shot, or eaten, or whatever". I'm talking about the deep running things that made them who they are.

We act certain ways because of, wait for it...back story. Yeah. Things like:

• How we were raised
• Our parents philosophy on discipline
• Whether or not we had two parents
• What kind of education we had
• How many friends and what sort of friends we had
• Did we see/experience death at an early age
• Did we have to kill someone to protect ourselves or a loved one
• Were we abused
• Did we abuse
• Did we have a pet
• Or not

You can keep listing all kinds of random things, but I think you get the idea. What happened in your character's past helped form their world view and their personality. They have a standard way of reacting to certain stimuli.

The trick as writers is that we must understand all that backstory and the nuances it created in our character without laying it all out for the reader. A well placed line here and there can fulfill the need to understand motivation without writing a complete flashback.

The second trick is keeping it consistent. This isn't to say your character can NEVER do anything abnormal. But if they do, there needs to be a good motivation behind it.

Q4U:
When your characters lie awake at night, what's missing?*


My answer for Talia from The Magic Wakes: peace and hope

Fascinating Linkage:
What's My Motivation--from one of my favorite author bloggers Janice Hardy. Enough said.
*Determining Character Motivation--by Elana Johnson who quotes Glee: "When you lie awake at night, what's missing?"
The Principles of Character Motivation from Writer's Digest. Sort of a teaser to get you to buy a book. I'm considering it. :)
On Character Motivation--what hooked me to this post is the first sentence: "It has occurred to me that while writing, one of the best things a writer can do is question every action from every character."
Understanding Why Characters Act-- A nice step by step break down of some character motivation from a movie.
The Psychology of Character--"A good writer needs to know both cause and effect, needs to understand that there is impetus behind the actions of his characters. When the writer knows a character’s motivations, she can write actions that make sense for that character in a specific situation."

A Writer's Toolbox

Now that we've thought about our goals, how are we going to reach them? Every writer needs a tool box at their disposal. Something they can reach into any time they need inspiration.

There are so many wonderful websites that can help improve your writing skills. Use them, learn from them.

Here are two of my favorite writing blogs.
Janice Hardy--her site is a treasure trove of insights. Every Saturday she has a Real Life Diagnostics post. I learn so much just by reading what she says about other peoples work.(I believe she made the Top 20 Blogs for Writers last year. She'll make the Top 10 this year for sure.)

KM Weiland's Wordplay blog was named among the Top 10 Blogs for Writers! I love how most of her posts are vlogs but she includes the manuscript for the video too. It's easy to access and she always has great ideas.


Other Great Resource Links:

Want to perfect that query? Just read the 200+ that Janet Reid has commented on over at Query Shark.

QueryTracker.net blog is invaluable. Keep connected with the ever changing world of agents and what you can do to get their attention--in a good way.

Write or Die, a great way to shut off the inner editor and just write.

Writing Prompts—found on http://writingfix.com/index.htm where they have over 500 prompts!

Seventh Sanctum is a name generator for almost everything.

TV Tropes is a wiki about the tricks of the trade for writing fiction.

Technovelgy is the site where science meets fiction. As in real life science you can use (or just keep straight) in your novel.

http://www.suite101.com/writingandpublishing/ Writing tips and techniques for emerging and established writers.

Squidoo--How to write a fantasy novel is a step by step guide to writing your first fantasy novel--world building etc.

HowToWriteNovel30Days

http://www.oneword.com/ will give you a word and you write about it for 60 seconds.

absolutewrite.com and Forums Excellent place to research agents, publishers and get questions answered about the writing world.

The Bookshelf Muse has an emotions thesaurus to help you show not tell. There is also a setting, weather and other thesauruses to get your brain working again.
http://www.365tomorrows.com/ has a new 600 word speculative fiction story each day.

American Night Writers Association blog about Life, the Universe, and their place in the World of Writing and Publishing.

Find music to fit the mood of your book at Pandora.

Create soundtracks for your novels at Grooveshark.

Vision for Writers a quarterly ezine about writing.

And just for fun, here's a workshop post on creating book trailers from Vision for Writers.

Who have I left out? Please share linkage in the comments.  

Updates and Additions:

Jodi Hedlund! I find myself starring her posts in google reader ALL THE TIME. 
Predators and Editors
The Practice Room  
The Creative Penn
Thesaurus.com
Here is the list of winners for the Top 10 Blogs for Writers 2011/2012

Online Writing Resources

Today I want to share some of my favorite links with you. These are places I go to when I have writer's block or just need to procrastinate. Some are excellent resources for learning about the craft of writing and the publishing world.


Enjoy!


Great Resource Links:

Write or Die, a great way to shut off the inner editor and just write.

Writing Prompts—found on http://writingfix.com/index.htm where they have over 500 prompts!

Seventh Sanctum is a name generator for almost everything.

TV Tropes is a wiki about the tricks of the trade for writing fiction.

Technovelgy is the site where science meets fiction. As in real life science you can use (or just keep straight) in your novel.

http://www.suite101.com/writingandpublishing/ Writing tips and techniques for emerging and established writers.

Squidoo--How to write a fantasy novel is a step by step guide to writing your first fantasy novel--world building etc.

HowToWriteNovel30Days

http://www.oneword.com/ will give you a word and you write about it for 60 seconds.

absolutewrite.com and Forums Excellent place to research agents, publishers and get questions answered about the writing world.


The Bookshelf Muse has an emotions thesaurus to help you show not tell. There is also a setting, weather and other thesauruses to get your brain working again.


http://www.365tomorrows.com/ has a new 600 word speculative fiction story each day.

American Night Writers Association blog about Life, the Universe, and their place in the World of Writing and Publishing.

Find music to fit the mood of your book at Pandora.

Create soundtracks for your novels at Grooveshark.

Vision for Writers a quarterly ezine about writing.

And just for fun, here's a workshop post on creating book trailers from Vision for Writers.