Five Resources for Writers You May Not Have Heard About

These days my laptop and I are pretty much inseparable (much to the chagrin of Maile, who sometimes needs to remind me to close things up and be present). Most of this is the result of loving what I do and just being plain busy: working on five book projects, all at various stages of development; writing my own blog posts, 5-7 days a week; and writing 6 blog posts a week for other organizations.

It’s a lot of fun.

This week, as I thought about the projects I’m involved in, I started to realize that I couldn’t do it by myself. It’s easy to forget this, since I work at home, hidden away, looking like I just rolled out of bed (for most of the day). But there are some great resources out there for writers:

– my friend Andi runs creative writing classes in Virginia and online. You can check out her class offering HERE.

– if you are a blogger, you have to check out Bryan Allain’s new tool, BlogRocket. He has a free eBook that contains invaluable information for bloggers, a forum that you can become a member of, and will soon be releasing a 12-week BlogRocket Booster Course that will do wonders for your blog. Find all of that stuff HERE. (As one editor of the project, I had secret access to the Booster Course material and implemented just a few of the things from Week One – my traffic is up 40% in the first week. If you want to build your blog’s audience, this course is worth it).

if you are interested in learning about all aspects of social media, including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and a zillion other programs and networks, you need to check out Ken Mueller’s company, Inkling Media. He blogs on a daily basis, doling out social media wisdom for the masses. He is also going to be speaking at a parent-training event on social media at the Family Center of Gap this coming Monday. Details on that are HERE.

– Wylio is a website that provides a search-engine for creative commons “commercial use” images. It’s a great database of pictures you can use on your blog or website, and it’s basic service is FREE! Check it out HERE.

– Finally, if you’re looking for an incredible writer’s conference to attend, check out Sarah Cunningham’s announcement for Story 2011: Imagine Nation HERE

These are just some of the resources that I follow and enjoy. Check them out if you get a chance.

Are you familiar with any of these folks? What other writing resources do you use?

 

7 Replies to “Five Resources for Writers You May Not Have Heard About”

  1. What a noble post, Shawn. Yes, it’s me, the almost already a great writer who’s having trouble getting past the Intro of my (honestly) revolutionary fathering book. That you would dare, out of goodness, offer me these tools to craft my craft even craftier and face the possibility I may, some long day away, nudge up to your level and possibly compete with whatever book you’re someday going to write, now that is mighty Christian of you. Very Christian indeed. Only now I hope the rapture DOESN’T occur today so I can use these tips.

    And I’ll add my favorite, Jane Friedman of Writera Digest an outstanding blog of professional writing and publishing helps,
    http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/

  2. BTW, did a sincere “Thanks” ever emerge out of my pre-java cleverness? Thanks because I need these, have only a couple of them, and am saving your post to explore these folks.

  3. HOW ABOUT THE OLD FASHIONED PAPER AND PEN. THERE IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS BETWEEN THE HAND AND THE BRAIN…WHEN i TYPE AND CALL IT WRITING….PERHAPS I AM “OLD SCHOOL”…..TECHNOLOGY IS GREAT…SAVES TIME…BUT I FIND MY WORK MORE SATISYING IF I WRITE FIRST….AND THAT MEANS LITERALLY WRITING!

    1. Ah, the good old pen! I have strayed a bit from that practice, but you have given me a good reminder. Thanks Robin!

  4. I did register to receive Bryan Allain’s e-book — it has some really useful tips in it for sure. As for the other resources you list, they are all new to me. So thanks for the head’s up…I’m going to check them out this week!

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