Thursday, February 04, 2010

Thursday Thirteen: Sites for Writers

Today, I bring you 13 useful websites for writers.

1. Character Building Workshop. If you're interested in creating a character and are stuck, this is a good place to start. If you're interested in taking courses or just being involved in a community, then you might like the Writer's Village home site. They also offer a free 7-week class, which I have taken and found helpful.

2. Writer's Market "Paid Services." This is a listing of stuff writers might like to pay for, like conferences, contests and self-publishing. This is a new site and I haven't fully explored it but it looks like a nice reference.

3. 50 awesome resources for writers. This site has software, most of it open source and free, that writers might find useful.

4. Funds for Writers. C. Hope Clark offers up a listing of grants and contests. She has three different newsletters, two of which are free, and her paid listings are worth the small price she charges.

5. Absolute Write. This site used to be one of my favorites but I find it a little difficult to navigate these days. Even so, there is an awful lot of information there and it is worth checking out.

6. Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Even if this is not your genre, there is a lot of information on this site. The "Writer Beware" site in particular is invaluable. There are a lot of people out there who just want your money.

7. MediaBistro. This site is for writing of all kinds, and it offers classes, information, etc. Some of it is free.

8. The Chicago Manual of Style. This is where you go when you need to know where the commas fall, whether to write out numbers or use numerals, that kind of thing. The "questions and answers" section that comes out once a month is a hoot.

9. U. S. Copyright Office. One of the first places you should check out. Understanding and knowing what you're giving away before you sign a contract is incredibly important.

10. Writer's Weekly. This offers up-t0-date information on the industry. Very informative.

11. Behind the Name. If you're interested in naming characters, this is a wonderful site. If you just want to know what your name means, it's a good site, too!

12. National Writers Union. More industry information from a different perspective.

13. American Society of Journalists and Authors. This organization has a strict membership requirement but they offer free information that anyone who writes should find valuable. They send out a public portion of their newsletter each month which offers up interesting articles.

Lots of people play Thursday Thirteen: find out more about it here. My other Thursday Thirteens are here. This is my 125th time I've done this!

6 comments:

  1. Thanks for posting these, what a great resource!!

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  2. For the writers out there, this is one awesome list. Most helpful.

    My 13 is listed below my Thursday Thunks...scroll down a bit on my blog entry. It's all about odd surnames and their origins today ---like Suess, etc. Here they are I'm going through the Mr. Linky right now, so if you've stopped by already and I didn't know.......thanks for the visit.

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  3. I didn't know there was so much out there for writers!

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  4. Thanks for the list! I've learned a good deal from Hope Clark. She lists some good resources in her newsletters.

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