Worderella Writes

Research: Text and Games

Getting stuck on finding the texts you need for your research? Believe me, I’ve been there. After reading one book, liking some of the information but wishing I could read the book that a certain chapter referenced, I then start the hunt. I look at my local library, I look in my university library. Given that my university is huge, when the book isn’t here, I begin to despair. I look at the bookstores, but all the chain stores around here have no imaginative texts at all. I look online, only to find the book is completely out of print, or, I could use my soul and some change as payment to get a mint condition version of the book from Amazon or eBay. If I’m lucky.

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Withdrawal

So, as you all know, I finished my first complete draft this past Friday. This means that I’ve been thinking about the novel the entire weekend, wanting to read it through, but each time, not being able to because I’m too close to the work and so can’t read it without wanting to edit it. I know how my writing mind works: I have to work and work, and then leave it alone for a couple months to be completely unassociated with it. Look at it with fresh eyes. I just love the ending, though. Not how it’s written, but the feeling of it. The mood. The atmosphere and hope.

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Exciting New Links!

Bloomsbury, an independent publisher whose home is the UK, has a wonderful Writer’s Area with articles about how to submit materials, approach a publisher, what you can expect an agent to do for you, and even lists agents from the US and UK/Ireland. I spent quite a bit of time here. They also have a Research Center, which I haven’t played around with yet, but they claim to have over 17,000 cross-referenced, free entries that you can utilize for your writing. I’m just itching to try it out! (And yes, this is the publisher that found J.K.Rowling.)

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Fairy Tales

Stuck in a rut? Want to begin a new novel (since NaNoWriMo is coming up)? I find that I love fairy tales, and that they have the best themes to make the backbone of any good draft. Tired of the Disney versions? Don’t worry, they are by no means the only and official version of these stories.

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Guide to Book Publishing

Things to keep in mind about publishing. A series of reputable articles (there are about seven of them right now, and more coming in the future) that every writer should be familiar with.

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Nifty Online Plotting Tools

I found these tools online by searching “character, writing tools” through Google. Some of these are actually meant for students to map/study an already published text, but I see no reason why we can’t also use them to analyze our own work. Includes the Drama Map, the Circle Diagram, and general themes to start from.

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Fun Character Building Links

Here are some helpful links for character development:

* This BBC Character Builder is fun, I think. It lets you literally “build” how your character looks from a set of hair, noses, eyebrows, chins, etc, and then you answer a series of questions about the character. You can go completely random, or try to build a character you’ve been working on for a while. It prints off onto a nice little profile page for further reference.

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