100 Favorite Writing Things for my 100th Post!

(celebrating)

.

Welcome to my 100th post!!! Before I get to the list, I want you to know it took me a very long time. I would like a virtual pat on the back. *patting self on back*  But I also want you to know that I had a blast. It was like reliving the last four years of writing fun.

Everything that can be is linked to the website, author, book, contributor, etc. (There are 100+ links. Just look for the orange). I hope you have a lot of fun hopping around. I know I did. If you don’t have time to check out all the links, bookmark this page and come back. There’s a lot of great stuff below. 

Disclaimer: the lists aren’t ranked. They’re in complete random order. Top 10 was good enough.

And by the way, thanks to everyone who contributed! One thing I’ve learned is there are a lot of people out there (you) who know a lot about writing. The online writing community has some of the most generous people I know. Everyone is quick to share ideas, tips, insights, and it’s so amazing.

Okay. Enough talk.

Are you ready?

.

.

.

(This list is taken from a previous post, which has an explanation for each item here.)

1. Writing. Is. Hard.
2. The first draft is the hardest.
3. Fictional people can—and will—talk to you. And that’s a good thing.
4. Read! A lot!
5. A: Have a writing reader. B. On the flip side, have some non-writer readers.
6. You can’t please everyone, so please yourself first, then figure out who your target audience is and write to them. 
7. Research.
8. Write for the right reasons. Most writers don’t make a lot of money.
9. Don’t give up.
10. Writing is one of the most exciting, fulfilling things I’ve done, and it can be for you as well.

.

.

>

1. Write first. Edit later–Kyra
2. People say it’s important to read your genre, and it is so you don’t use a structure that’s overused. But it’s also good to read the classics and things completely outside your genre. You’ll make connections you didn’t think you would. Find bits and pieces you can make your own–Sarah
3. Write your heart–Lynne
4. Reading the story aloud to yourself. I find this helps me to make the changes that the oral interpretation will suggest–Linda
5. Write for yourself—what you’re passionate about in life–Charissa
6. There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are–W. Somerset Maugham
7. Don’t give up!–Sarah
8. Every author has a long road–Sarah
9. Books aren’t written; they’re rewritten–Michael Crichton
10. Write what you love. Don’t try to write what you think the readers love. They will love your enthusiasm, plus most of us can’t fake passion–Lynne

.

.

.

.

You know the ones. More often than not, these words add nothing to the story but word count. When I get close to my final draft, I do a search and destroy for these and you probably should too.

1. That
2. Had
3. So
4. Is, am, were, was
5. -ing verbs
6. Just–Kyra
7. Was–Michael
8. Utilize, just, though–Tobi
9. I love descriptive words, but hate the overuse of some. Just let the river flow ! It doesn’t have to be the rushing/gurgling/ melodic/ angry/ etc. river ! Let the paragraph speak to the description and the reader will get it. Christian authors especially tend to get caught up in “flowery” language. Again, reading aloud points out those over-done words or phrases–Linda
10. Adverbs, smile–Charissa

Side note: I wrote a post here about a fun way to use Wordle.com to spot your crutch words. It might surprise you. I know it surprised me.

.

.

.

.

1. Jeff Goins
2. Rachelle Gardner, literary agent
3. Shelli Johnson
4. Blake Snyder. He is a screenwriter and his tips are for screenwriting, however, I’ve started using his beat sheet for my outlines and it works.
5. How-to-write-a-book-now.com. Cheesy title, but I’ve used the outlines and character sketching on this website, and it’s helped me tremendously.
6. Someone mentioned my blog which was pretty cool/nice/sweet/awesome. Thanks!
7. Twitter. If you’re looking for writing advice, I highly recommend joining Twitter. There are hundreds–thousands–of authors on Twitter chatting about writing every day. Even if they blog, they’ll post their links on Twitter. If they use Tumblr, they’ll post their links on Twitter. And the cool part is you can respond to their tweets and many times they’ll write you back. Speaking of which, come find me at @rlbelliston
8. Blogs. I want to list all of yours, but I’m afraid I’ll miss someone. I follow 40+ blogs and like I said, I’m amazed at the generosity of people in the writing community. There are a million ways to write a book. At least some of those will work for you. Find your favorite authors online and follow their blogs. Chances are, they’ll have some writing tips.
9. Cassie likes Janice Hardy’s blog
10. Tobi likes Janet Reid’s blog

.

...

.

1. Gerald N. Lund. Not only is he an award-winning, best-selling LDS author, he’s my dad and is a better father than an author. Plus, he reads my stuff and gives lots of writing advice. (My mom, Lynn Lund, is seriously amazing, too. When I do a post on music someday, I’ll tell you more about her.)  I feel extremely blessed–gross understatement!–to be their daughter. 
2. Stephenie Meyer. Another relative, a cousin on my hubby’s side, though I’d like her books even if we weren’t related. Yes. You can hate me for being related to so many amazing people, but don’t. Don’t hate me. Please.
3. Jane Austen
4. Suzanne Collins
5. Shannon Hale
6. Julianne Donaldson
7. Ally Condie
8. Rebecca Belliston. Hey, if I don’t like myself, who will (besides my parents)? :) Plus, most days I’d rather spend time with my own stories than other books, so I must kinda like them, right?
9. JoLynne likes Anne Tyler, Amber Argyle
10. Tobi likes Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs, Rachel Vincent, Devon Monk, Carrie Vaughn

.

.

.

.

I have to admit, I haven’t read many books on writing. Some, but not a lot. And the ones I’ve read were just okay, so I’ll list the only one I liked, plus the two I want to read. Then I’ll post your ideas.

1. Self-editing for fiction writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King
2. You are a Writer, So Start Acting Like One, by Jeff Goins (one I want to read)
3. Save the Cat, by or Blake Snyder (one I want to read)
4. Charissa likes Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White,
5. Immediate Fiction, by Jerry Cleaver, and
6. On Writing by Stephen King
7. Tobi likes Bird by Bird, by Anne Lamott, as well as Stephen King’s. Seems like a lot of people mention Stephen King’s book. I need to read it.
8. Sarah likes Story, by Robert McKee, and
9. 10 Rules of Writing, by Elmore Leonard

.

.

.

1. James Dashner
2. Dan Brown
3. Rick Riordan
4. Leigh Fallon
5. Jessica Khoury
6. Veronica Rossi
7. Mary E. Pearson
8. Brandon Mull
9. Amy Krouse Rosenthal
10. Will Smith. Yes, I know he’s not an author (I don’t think), but his website cracks me up. Simplicity to the max, yet he knows he still has to have a website. Love it.

Now here comes my unsolicited opinion. Women, the men are killing us on websites. There are far less men in the writing community (at least that I see) and yet their websites are some of the best of the best. We need to step it up girls (me included).

.

.

/

.

1. MIA: I Love Writing!
2. A Chance to Escape
3. First Lines Can Make or Break You
4. Clean Romance: Old-fashioned Idea or New Trend?
5. Taking a Little Leap
6. Writing is Like Cleaning, Only Better
7. How to Spot Your Crutch Words: Fun with Wordle
8. Writing Tip Tuesday: Read Your Manuscript Aloud
9. If 90% of Communication is Non-verbal, How does that Affect Writing?
10. Taking out the Trash

.

..

.

1. Weeding and Mulching
2. Cleaning the Garage
3. Taking out the Trash
4. Cleaning the House
5. Getting your teeth straightened by an orthodontist for two painful years
6. Ironically my favorite part of the writing process
7. Filtering your friend list on facebook—Cassie
8. The end of Sophie’s Choice, or
9. Beating my head against a wall and expecting the wall to cave—Tobi
10. Finding Waldo—it takes a lot of time and work and casting ‘unnecessaries’ from your mind to refocus on what it is you really want to write —Charissa

 .and 

.

.

1. I can’t help it
2. I love to escape into another world and another time for a few hours
3. If I’m daydreaming all the time, and talking to myself anyway, I might as well make a few bucks at it
4. I can change what bugs me in a story. I can’t do that in movies. Ugh!
5. I want to make someone laugh, cry, learn, or forget about their pathetic day for a few moments
6. It changes me, stretches me, and forces me to get out of my comfort shell
7. I meet new, fascinating people–including some who aren’t real
8. It’s freakin’ fun! —Cassie
9. I write to release the stories inside me and make sense of my world–Charissa
10. Without an outlet, the voices in my head would take over. Or I could be less creepy and say I write because I want to make the world better, one story at a time–Tobi

.

Well, that’s 100 things for my 100th-ish post! Hope you enjoyed it. If you did, I hope you’ll share it. I had a blast gathering and remembering. Thanks again to those who added their thoughts to mine!