As an author, I am parched!
I am forever thirsty for knowledge on honing and developing my writing skills. Some say it takes writing several thousand words to find your author voice. Some say it’s a million. While there is no substitute for actual ‘bottom-in-seat-fingers-on-keyboard’, there’s definitely a case to be made for getting there a little quicker.
This is where valuable resources such as writing craft blogs, podcasts, courses, and coaching come in. Here enter the experts! Where we tread now, thousands have come before. It’s our duty to soak up their wisdom born of down-in-the-dirt-experience and bask in the hope that by learning from the experts, we are on the way to our own wordsmith excellence.
Here are some of my favourite places to discover the most useful and actionable writing craft hydration:
Created by Gabriela Pereira, an author, speaker, and entrepreneur. Specialising in a self-guided approach to learning, she calls this a do-it-yourself alternative to a Master’s degree in writing which is accessible to everyone. It’s her mission to educate writers at various stages of their careers and empower them to take an entrepreneurial path to learning and professional growth.
Balancing the three elements of writing, reading and community, the blog features articles covering these staple subjects. Gabriela also presents diyMFA Radio – a podcast now nearing 500 episodes! She and her guests do a deep dive into specific aspects with the craft and business sides of being an author.
C. S. Lakin is a novelist, a copyeditor, and a writing coach. Specialising in annotated critiques, she also teaches workshops on writing craft at writers’ conferences and retreats around the US. Having published several books on developing your writing craft, she runs a blog jam packed with great advice from herself and talented industry professionals, and offers online courses on writing, editing, and marketing. If you’re looking for quality insight into the world of writing and publishing, then this is an excellent place to find it.
Founded by fiction author Janice Hardy in 2009 with the goal of showing writers ways to build a solid foundation to their writing. She provides tips and advice that can be directly applied to your wonderful work in progress without the headache!
The blog has nearly 3000 articles by Janice and guests providing advice on developing and writing your novel, overcoming common problems, editing and selling. Aimed at both traditionally published and independent authors, every subject is covered here. As well as her novels, Janice has also published a fantastic selection of non-fiction books on writing craft for you to get stuck into.
K.M. Weiland is the award-winning and internationally published author of many acclaimed writing guides, as well as fantasy and adventure novels.
Running since 2007, she’s published over 1,500 posts – the archive covers an exhaustive collection of resources and how-to content which will keep you busy for months! She has also produced a Story Structure Database for hundreds of well-known movies and books across many genres, which is a great tool for new authors or for anyone switching genres or needing a refresher.
Founded in 2017 by author Louise Dean, who was looking for a solution to loneliness as a writer. Starting by collaborating with other writers, she was inspired to create her first writing course. The Novelry is a gorgeous website, and the blog features weekly articles from bestselling authors and publishing professionals from their friendly community.
Louises’s team provides courses on writing and editing your own novel. When you join a course, you get access to the online community, which is worth its weight in gold – a brilliant place to make writer friends and share your writing and publishing experiences with kindred spirits.
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Founded in 2006 by Kathleen Bolton and current editorial director Therese Walsh, Writer Unboxed is dedicated to sharing empowering and inspirational ideas about the craft and business of fiction. Now hosting more than 50 contributors, the site encourages community and conversation across the comment sections of its articles and within its thriving Facebook group.
Writer Unboxed has held several in-person UnConferences, and in 2022 held their first online event – the Unboxed OnConference. Their purpose is to accommodate opportunities for community interaction and connection while providing valuable sessions on the craft and writing life. In their words, their events are part symposium, part networking affair, part workshop, part retreat… That’s a lot of parts!
Writers Digest has been helping writers improve their craft, achieve their goals, and recognise their dreams since 1920. Their mission is to connect writers with the community, education, and resources they need to bring their creative vision to life.
On the site you will find sections dedicated to fiction, screenwriting, non-fiction, and poetry – helping writers of all genres and formats develop their craft and hone their business skills at every stage of their career.
Mignon Fogarty is the founder of Quick and Dirty Tips and has created an ecosystem of experts across many different fields of expertise to help us live better, from getting fit to parenthood. I am sure we can all agree that a healthy writer is a better writer.
For writing tips, follow the Grammar Girl podcast and blog where Mignon and her guests provide tips on grammar, punctuation, style, and business to improve your writing. As well as guiding the direction of the network, Mignon has written seven books, including the New York Times bestseller Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, and has developed an iOS game called Grammar Pop.
Sometimes you just need to give your eyes a break from reading and listen to a podcast instead. Write-minded is a weekly podcast for writers seeking inspiration and real talk about the highs and lows of writing life.
Hosted by Brooke Warner of She Writes and Grant Faulkner of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), each episode of Write-minded features an interview with an author or publishing industry professional. Brooke and Grant bring a sense of belonging and realness to the conversations with their shared spirit of community, collaboration, and a deeply held belief that everyone is a writer and everyone’s story matters.
Not for the faint-hearted or those possessing of delicate sensibilities. I would be remiss here not to give a swear warning! Sacha Black is a best-selling and competition winning author, rebel podcaster, professional speaker, and big personality.
This weekly podcast show is all about motivating creatives with an inner rebel. Listen for interviews, industry news, tips, tricks, and tools to help you take your creative business to the next level. If you have a wicked sense of humour, then you’ll probably laugh.
There you have it – a plethora of brilliant resources to help you take your writing from great to fantastic.
Amy Holmes writes romantasy new adult fiction under a mysterious pen name. When not writing, listening to excellent music and feeding her gym addiction, Amy can also be found somewhere in Milton Keynes, UK, coordinating the ARC and Beta projects for The Niche Reader.
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Join our email list for content and opportunities to help you develop your writing, promote your books, and build your author business.