You know all those blogs that start “7 tips for…” or “56 ways to…”? Full of good advice and earnest exhortation? I normally have several of them in this monthly round up post. Well this blog post should be entitled “One tip for producing a monthly blog post round up without spending HOURS on it the last day of every month. Do it as you go along, FOOL!”

So here we are. After more labour than was necessary:

Whose life is it anyway? Novelists have their say on cultural appropriation – interesting article at The Guardian on a hot writer-y topic.

Elena Ferrante and the Power of Appropriation – Adam Kirsch at the NY Times

The Kind of Style That Turns Readers Into Fans – James Scott Bell at The Kill Zone.

The Girl on The Train & Two Critical Elements of ALL Great Stories – Kristen Lamb, thought-provoking as usual.

Dispelling the Myth of Strong Female Characters – Megan Leigh at SFWA, with interesting (often contrary) comments at The Passive Voice

Are Self-Published Books Inferior to Professionally Published Books? – The old chestnut rears its head again – if nuts have heads. Also discussed at Passive Voice

Writers, Please Eat a Snickers and Chill the Hell OUT—Sincerely, Readers – Kristen Lamb.

The Importance of Fiction – by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

What it Takes to Be a “Real” Writer – Kristen Lamb

Cassandra Khaw: Five Things I Learned Writing Hammers On Bone

Nik Abnett: Five Things I Learned Writing Savant

Katie Fetting: Five Reasons Writers Choose To Break History

 

Eleven Sneaky Ways To Rescue A Failed Story – tips from the Writers’ Village

Stop Explaining Your Story (And Start Showing It)  /  How Your Narrative Distance Affects Show, Don’t Tell  /  Why We Tell, Instead of Show in Our Writing  /  The Problem With Telling, Not Showing Telling  /  How Filtering the Point of View Affects Show, Don’t Tell  /  How to Find a Balance Between Showing and Telling  – a series of blog posts from Janice Hardy, who has a new book out on the subject.

Four Kinds of Pace – Donald Maass at Writer Unboxed.

4 Tips for Preventing Flat Descriptions – Janice Hardy

The Dreaded Synopsis—What It REALLY Reveals About Our Writing – from Kristen Lamb

Backgrounding Your World Through Point of View – Juliette Wade at the Fiction University.

7 Things You Need to Know About Plotting and Editing – K M Weiland

17 Fiction Writing Experts Reveal Their Secrets to Good Story Titles

Writing fighting: Five options for characters who are outgunned, outmuscled and out of luck. – Andrew Jack at Evil Writers

NaNoWriMo Specials
NaNoWriMo Prep: Planning Your Novel – Janice Hardy

How to Find and Fill All Your Plot Holes (How to Outline for NaNoWriMo, Pt. 4) – K M Weiland

A Cooling Mist Of NaNoWriMo-Flavored Novel Writing Advice – Chuck Wendig

NaNo Prep Part 2 – Beth Hill at the Editor’s Blog. Link to part 1 in the text

 

How A Writer Quiets His Self-Doubt – “Silence your CRITIC and let your ARTIST run naked and on fire through a field of blood and daisies.”

Control What You Can Control: Good Writing (And Life) Advice – “PANTS ARE THE OPIATE OF THE MASSES.”

Ten Quick Story Tips To Use Or Discard At Your Leisure

Five Storytelling Lessons From Hamilton’s America

A Cooling Mist Of NaNoWriMo-Flavored Novel Writing Advice

Why Is Horror So Anathema In Publishing?

 

Marketing
Thinking of Running a Facebook Ad? Proceed with Caution – Martha Conway

Promoting a Sequel in a Book’s Back Matter (With Examples!) – Diana Urban at BookBub

7 Tips for Avoiding Book Marketing Trends That No Longer Work – Penny Sansevieri

 

Newsletters
What’s Your Newsletter Plan? Part Three – Jami Gold at the Fiction University. Links to parts one and two in the post.

 

Page-flip messing up Kindle Unlimited page reporting? – many authors with books in KU are reporting plunging royalties. This may explain why. Link to the Passive Voice, which links to the original discussion on Amazon’s Kboard community.

What You Really Want to Know About Self Publishing – Janice Hardy at the Fiction University

Creating Single-Author Box Sets: Part One – Marcy Kennedy

 

 

Storyworld Design: Transportation Technologies – Veronica Secoe doesn’t post often (enough) but she’s a scifi writer’s gold. So she goes into resources, not hints and tips, because this shit? You want to keep it.

9 Free Online Grammar Resources compiled by Writers Write

17 Resources For Writing About Troubled Fictional Characters – again, compiled by Writers Write