RiverWriters.com: Make Your Writing Flow!

  Writing Smarter, Not Harder, the Workbook Way by Colleen Reece. email Colleen Reece . Nothing fancy, nothing highbrow and costs $13.95 + shipping. For both fiction and nonfiction & a children's version available as well. Tell her you heard about it from me.

  Building Great Fiction, 6-tape set with worksheets from Lauraine Snelling. Snag it at Lauraine Snelling's Website . Please tell her I sent you. It won't save you any money, but it will make me feel good. Worksheets included.

  Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne & Dave King. Get yourself a writing buddy or two or three and do this book with book exercises and your own work.

  Techniques of the Selling Writer by Dwight V. Swain. Pick out what you need & flow with it. His explanation of scene-sequel makes sense. The print's tiny and there's not much white space, but you'll get stuff you can use.

  A big dictionary. I grew up reading the dictionary (and the encyclopedias) for fun and I turned out all right. Keep learning new words.

  Good 'ole Roget's.

  Quotation books, one sorted by author and one sorted by topic. Can use as writing jumps or to paste inspiring ones on your computer monitor.

  GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict by Debra Dixon. Leads you through developing the story you want to tell. Worksheets too.

Calling all writers under 18! Are you a young writer who scribbles pages and pages or types furiously on your keyboard? Hooray! More power to ya! Bonnie Bruno’s site for young writers will give you tools. When you’re ready for a writing coach, I’m available for hire! I teach writing to a private educational cooperative to junior high and high school students, and I like working with young writers who want to learn to write better.

"You Can Market Your Book" by Carmen Leal is a comprehensive resource for getting your published book out there, regardless of whether you published it yourself or a publishing house did. Her site has many resources as well. I've known her for several years, although we've yet to meet in person—only by phone and email!

Writing Fiction: If you're a seat-of-the-pants writer or more methodical and linear in your approach to writing commercial or popular fiction (genre as opposed to literature), check out The Plot Doctor, aka Carolyn Greene. I’ve been using her scene cards to rough out scenes and plan on using them to review scenes I’ve already written to make sure they propel the story forward. Her three-ring binder of information, examples, and worksheets might be the next step in your development. See her site.

Back to Life Preservers