Stacks of Useful Articles for Writers! #WritingCommunity #writers #WritersCommunity #writerslife

.... by me, and others.  It's ongoing; I will add to this list as I come across new ones that are particularly good.  I've sorted them into sections to make it easier to find those that will be of interest to you.  Just click the title of the article to read it.  Hope they help!

Sections:
Debut Author Advice
Editing and Proofreading 
General Writing Advice
Publishing
Reviews
Writers and Social Media/Promotion

ps, if you have come across another article that really helped you, please add the URL in the comments, and I will take a look at it with a view to adding it. Thanks!
 

Debut Author Advice

New Writers: Is this what you're doing on Twitter?

Pauses for Thought - ten pieces of advice for the new writer.

What to do if you have just decided to write a book by Lucy Adams on Nicholas Rossis' blog.

Helpful Advice for Aspiring Writers by Jacqueline Woodson

3 Misconceptions That Can Hinder New Writers 

My Top 10 Writing Tips, from Shelley Wilson's interview series. 

My Review of Back to Creative Writing School by Bridget Whelan

Dos and Don't for First Time Novelists

Ten Miscellaneous Tips for Debut Writers

7 Myths That Can Hold New Writers Back

The Number One Misconceptions Writers Have About Writing by Rachel Thompson

Three Mistakes New Writers Are Still Making

Not another 'how to write' article ~ but it many help new authors

Your first novel is ready to go - five things to consider 

Building an Author Platform (for the total beginner) by Shelley Wilson 

Writing Tips For Beginners by Shaz Goodwin - Jera's Jamboree blog (a series of tips from various authors, collated by Shaz over the years)

How Art Has Saved My Writing by Jodie Beckford

Top 10 Writing Tips on Shelley Wilson's blog (series of interviews with various authors, giving their own tips)

Editing and proofreading

Choosing the right proofreader and editor

How To Choose An Editor by Alison Williams

How To Find A Good Proofreader (And Avoid The Bad Ones!) by Julia Gibbs


Content Edit by Linda Acaster

What being an editor taught me about writing by Anna Pitoniak

The Five Most Common Errors to Avoid in your Writing by Alison Williams

All you need to know about Proofreading by Julia Gibbs 

Authors - please choose your editor CAREFULLY by Alison Williams 

Is the editor you hired actually doing the editing?  by D G Kaye

General Writing Advice

10 Dangerous Critiques by Anne R Allen

The Greatest Menace to the Writer is the Reader by Emily Temple/Shirley Jackson

On Writing Sequels

5 parts of your writing personality that need to die now by Colleen M Story

4 Character Traits that will Derail your Writing Career by Colleen M Story

#amwriting ~ or would be if I could string a sentence together 
(what to do when the words just won't come) 

Please learn from my mistakes - someone should by D E Haggerty

Writers - Respect Your Readers by Alison Williams

Historical Fiction: Info Dumps and how to ditch them by Deborah Swift

The difference between 'Imply' and 'Infer' by Alison Williams

The importance of a good ending by Cryssa Bazos

Writing Action Scenes - Quick Tips by Alison Williams

Ten Things About Show and Tell  by Joanne Harris

The difference between a phrase, an independent clause, a subordinate clause and a sentence 


10 Tips on Writing That First Chapter by Anne R Allen

How to show what a character looks like without having them looking in the mirror and describing their reflection by Neha Yazmin

The Blurb and the Synopsis by Alison Williams

6 Ways To Create Characters That Readers Will Care About 

Do your characters talk too much? by Anne R Allen

Excellent article on outlining your novel before you start - and why you should by Meghan Barnard

3 Things To Omit From Your Dialogue by L M Lily 

Em dash versus ellipsis by Kathy Steinmann

8 Mundane Elements You Should Cut From Your Story by Jane Friedman

How to Handle Writers' Block by Alexandria Szeman

What Reading Has Taught Me About Writing

Three Writing Rules to Disregard by Benjamin Dreyer

Stephen King's 10% rule and the Secret Power of the Delete Button by Anne R Allen

The Grammatical Error That Even The Most Intelligent People Make

Turning Your Back On The 'Rules'

Links to lots of general writing/editing advice,  by Linda Acaster

An article about professional jealousy on Girls Mean Business

Publishing

The Myths of Publishing by Jan Ruth 

An A-Z of independent publishers (ongoing) by Jill Doyle (book blogger)

28 Things I've Learned About Publishing by John Boyne

Publishing scams to watch out for in 2021 by Anne R Allen

Amazon exclusivity or publishing 'wide' - which is best? 

How to Self-Publish an ebook by Alison Williams

 

Signing with a small publisher? Here's what to look for by Alison Williams

Novel, novella, novelette - the differences explained

How to self-publish a book: tips from indie authors on BookBub

Choosing Amazon Keywords  by Dave Chessan/Kindlepreneur

Publishing: A lot of smoke and mirrors by Jan Ruth

Why there is no point querying a book that has already been self-published by Meg La Torre

15 Things I Learned after reading 100 Query Letters by Ryan Lanz

Read This Before Signing With A Small Independent or 'Hybrid' Publisher

It's A Jungle Out There - article about vanity publishers, by Alison Williams

New Writing Scams to watch out for in 2019 by Anne R Allen

Self-Publishing and the Snobbery Issue by Alison Williams

Why Self-Publishing is a Creative Choice, not a Last Resort

Yes, We Do Judge A Book By Its Cover by Alison Williams

Writing a Blurb by Alison Williams

Book Blurbs: As Hard as Writing the Book Itself?

The Only Post You Need To Read About Getting That Novel Finished

Reviews

My review of Getting Book Reviews by Rayne Hall

A Beginners' Guide to Requesting Reviews by Lilyn from Scifi and Scary

The DNF by Alex from Spells and Spaceships

Ten Reasons Your Book Is Getting Ignored by Book Bloggers by Rosie Amber

How To Deal With Bad Reviews

Why You Shouldn't Ignore Bad Reviews by Alison Williams

64 Book Bloggers who will work with self-published authors by Jo Linsdell

Spotlight on Rosie Amber, book blogger 

Authors Reviewing Authors - it'a a Minefield! 
(what to do if you're expected to review a friend's book and it's... just not that great) 

Writing A Book Review by Joan Hall

Tips on writing a book review by Shaz Goodwin

Addressing some of the recent book blogging BS by Sarcastic Enigma 

Reasons why a blogger declines your review request and doesn't want you on their blog by Sarcastic Enigma

Writers and Social Media/promotion

Why won't you buy my book?  by Leonard Tillerman

Don't be a 'humble-bragger' by Julie Haiselden

To Go Free Or Not To Go Free? 

BookBub's Top 10 Marketing Articles of 2019 

The Scourge of Auto DMs (Twitter) by Lisette Brodey

Why does my book not sell by Jan Ruth

Basic Tips For Writers Using Social Media For The First Time

Dos and Don'ts for writers new to Twitter 

Great tips for taking your books to book fairs and signings  by Judith Barrow

9 Reasons your book was rejected for a BookBub Featured Deal

How to Get the Best out of Twitter - please note, whereas the principles remain the same, the occasional bit of practical info may be out of date, as these articles were written in 2016. 

How to put the joy (and the impact) back into Twitter by Helen Baggot, for the Alliance of Independent Authors 

Twitter Tips for Newbies by Emma Lombard - truly excellent and up-to-date post (March 2019) for writers using Twitter for the first time, every tiny nuance explained. 

More Twitter Tips for Newbies by Emma Lombard
 
Make Your Own Luck by Lizzie Lamb

How to change your Twitter handle by Alison Williams

My review of Twitter for Writers by Rayne Hall

5 No Good Reasons Authors Resist Marketing by Rachel Thompson

No, you don't need superfans, 'street teams', mass tweeting sessions or newsletters by Anne R Allen (nb, this is not the title of the article)

Had to include this, though it is for book bloggers rather than writers:
Advice for new book bloggers by Mrs Bloggs 

Boost Your Blog/Social Media: services provided by Suzie Speaks - I wouldn't post a link to services of this type without personal experience, but Suzie is currently running a social media site for me (not Twitter, I hasten to add), and I can most definitely recommend!  

And finally....

Before I started this Self-Publishing thing I used to....

How to Write a Romcom in One Easy Lesson!

BEST SELLER ~ it's live!

My new novella, BEST SELLER is now available on Amazon (click title for link).  It's 40k words long, a quirky little tale about three writers trying to succeed in the modern publishing industry ~ by fair means or foul....  

Best Seller is only 99p/99c, and is also available on Kindle Unlimited.  Enjoy!

13 Reviews in the first 13 days:

"It’s a terrific plot which is immediately engaging, the writing accomplished and expressive. The author has a flair for defining complex characters realistically with believable dialogue and qualities"

 "Terry Tyler has an exquisite talent for creating fully rounded characters 
who leap off the page and become a part of your life."

"...a tale of three writers whose lives are woven together 

in a full and engaging plot that throws up surprises 

right to the end."

 "One of the most outstanding features of any of Terry Tyler’s books is her ability to create rounded characters that come alive the first time they open their mouths"

"...overall, this book is absolutely brilliant. 

If you have any interest in authors, writing and books, 

this book is for you!"

"With fascinating insights into the world of contemporary publishing, 

the novella is hugely entertaining but it has a darker side too 

and poses some serious moral dilemmas"

"This book should also be required reading for all those 

who think they have a story in them. 

It is a masterclass in the ups and downs of writing in the hope of publication."

Three women, one dream: to become a successful author.  

Eden Taylor has made it—big time. A twenty-three year old with model girl looks and a book deal with a major publisher, she's outselling the established names in her field and is fast becoming the darling of the media.   

Becky Hunter has money problems. Can she earn enough from her light-hearted romance novels to counteract boyfriend Alex's extravagant spending habits, before their rocky world collapses? 

Hard up factory worker Jan Chilver sees writing as an escape from her troubled, lonely life. She is offered a lifeline—but fails to read the small print... 

In the competitive world of publishing, success can be merely a matter of who you know—and how ruthless you are prepared to be to get to the top.   

BEST SELLER is a novella of 40k words (roughly half as long as an average length novel), a slightly dark, slightly edgy drama with a twist or three in the tale.

Best Seller: my new book ~ that's the title, btw, but one can hope :)

So there I was, just writing the first couple of chapters of the first draft of the sequel to The House of York, when this idea popped into my head for a novella. I scribbled down a few notes for looking back at later, but then thought, perhaps I could just write the first chapter now... three months later, I'd written Best Seller ~ the tale of three writers :)

The Blurb in progress:

Three women, one dream: to become a successful author. 

Eden Taylor has made it—big time.  A twenty-three year old with model girl looks and a book deal with a major publisher, she's outselling the established names in her field and is fast becoming the darling of the media. 

Becky Hunter has money problems.  Can she earn enough from her light-hearted romance novels to counteract boyfriend Alex's extravagant spending habits, before their life collapses around them? 

Hard up factory worker Jan Chilver sees writing as an escape from her troubled, lonely life.  She is offered a lifeline—but fails to read the small print... 

In the competitive world of publishing, success can be merely a matter of who you know—and how ruthless you are prepared to be to get there. 

BEST SELLER is a novella of 40k words (roughly half as long as an average length novel), a slightly dark, slightly edgy drama with a twist or three in the tale.  Enjoy!

....well, it's back from its first test/proofread, and was given the thumbs up  - PHEW!!!  I hope it will be out around mid March, all going well, fingers crossed and wood touched :)  Now for the second proof/test reader.... 

Meanwhile, it's back to Elodie, the sequel to The House of York!