So there are dozens of directing advice and writing help threads out there - which is great, of course. But I haven’t really seen threads out there regarding outside resources (blogs, books, etc.) that have aided you as writers and I really wanted to give people a place to share things that help them!
It can be anything regarding the writing process: writing advice, plot structure tips, worldbuilding. All up to you. No wrong answer or wrong way to find something helpful!
To start off the discussion, my top two resources are Wrex Writes and Helping Writers Become Authors. Wrex Writes has been very useful to me in terms of implementing self-care in writing. I’d recommend it to anyone who is very perfectionistic, self-edits constantly, etc. and needs validation/some kindness. (Check out his essential posts.) Helping Writers Become Authors is amazing as well, but this resource is more for sheer knowledge about writing. Every blog post I read from there, I feel like I’ve gained something or been introduced to something new. I even have all three of her writing books! Highly, highly recommended.
I’m in the slow and steady process of getting back into creative writing, so for editing purposes, I really like the Grammarly extension.
I’m a horrible speller and I read pretty quickly, so I might not always catch errors. I wish I knew about it when I was still in school, but it was always really helpful for work related tasks, and it’s also served as a helpful tool for my blogs in the past.
Also, this reminds me that I forgot to recommend Scrivener - essentially a program all about story organization. You can use it to keep track of information about characters, setting, chapter dialogue, whatever you want really. It costs some money (40 dollars for the mac version I bought, I think), but it was worth it for me personally. I’m sure they still have a trial version if anyone thinks this might be helpful for them.
Here are some images from their website so you can get a better glimpse of what the interface looks like.
It’s too much organization for me, but for writers who are super detailed and into worldbuilding, World Anvil might be a good resource. It was made originally for tabletop rpg games, but can be used by writers as well since it lets you make detailed pages about your world and create timelines + maps. Only downside is that if you don’t pay for a membership, it won’t keep your published world “private” to other viewers, but you can avoid this by only saving your work as drafts.
I don’t have any specific resource. Whenever I’m interested in something I google the question and read all sources in order, until I find all the information I think I need.
Definitely. I do that a lot for research prep if I think it’s needed; occasionally, I’ll check out writing blogs on Tumblr if I see they have a lot of indexed resources.
sdskjsdf Tumblr went wild little over a month ago with the “female-presenting nipple” crackdown of 2018, which did nothing to stop porn… or the porn bots…
Not to mercilessly self-promote, but I’m going to mercilessly self-promote.
I’m currently compiling my own website specifically to help Episode and Wattpad writers with their writing processes. It focusses on topics that apply to those platforms and digital writing as a whole. Check it out! shanniiwrites.com
I never used to get why people loved making Pinterest boards, and now it’s crucial to my brainstorming process for developing characters. And it’s fun! Same deal when it comes to making playlists.
Writing with Color is another good link if you need resources that, as they put it, are focused on racial and ethnic diversity. If you as a writer worry about stereotyping and seek to create respectful portrayals of people of color, they’re the blog you want.
The issues they discuss are pretty diverse as well; I’ve seen posts about writing the complexities of interracial relationships in fiction, othering, racial coding in fantasy characters, and much more. And if you have specific questions regarding your own story or want to know what x experience is like from someone who has personally lived it, it is possible to submit a question to them for review.
