Great Resources for Writers

If you're like me, you probably have several writing books on your shelf. You read them and revisit them and take notes from them and highlight them. Then when you're writing you try and remember what they said about something you're working on. The best is when you read something to watch out for in your writing, like using adverbs, and then go back to your writing to find it all over the place. Been there? While the best way to become a better writer is to do just that and write, there are some things that can turn on a light bulb and speed along the process of making you a better writer. Tools for your tool belt you can use when crafting your fiction. I have discovered that the writing itself isn't the hard part, but coming up with a great story can be a lot of work. One of my favorite things to do and something I really enjoy, but a lot of work. The two books I got the most out of are:

1. Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life
   by Terry Brooks
2. On Writing
   by Steven King

So if you haven't read those then you should pick them up and give them a read. You'll thank me for it. If you don't want to lay down some coin to get great writing advice, then I also have two awesome resources for you that are free.

The first is David Farland's Daily Kick in the Pants. You'll find the subscribe button on the upper right of the page. David emails you often with great writing advice. He is a veteran writer and what he has to say is worth reading. You should also check out the Writing Tips page on his website. David writes all kinds of stuff in many genres, but he's most famous for his fantasy Runelords series.

The other resource I've come to love is from Michael J. Sullivan, one of my favorite new epic fantasy authors. He has been giving writing advice every week on his blog. A lot of it has helped me and the way he writes makes it fun. If you haven't read the first in his new Trilogy, then you owe it to yourself to read Theft of Swords. If you're not sure then check out a free short story in the same world he wrote called The Viscount and the Witch.

If you're still looking for more free resources to find great writing advice then check out my list of, you guessed it, "Great Writing Podcasts" located on the right column of my website. Thanks for stopping by, happy reading and happy writing!