Wednesday links

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few.

Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past week.

1. Having Self-Discipline All Year (Not Just During NaNo!), from Jody Hedlund: Writing a novel is, of course, a goal all by itself. But in order to accomplish that big goal, it’s important to make meet smaller ones along the way. Excerpt: “On the other hand, I was struck by the realization that for many writers, NaNo is probably one of the only times when they set goals and work really hard to meet them.”

2. 10 Dos & Don’ts for the Aspiring Novelist, from Writer’s Digest: Mary Simses, author of The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop & Cafe, gives 10 examples of what writers should and shouldn’t do. Excerpt: “Writing a good short story forces you to create and develop a character and take a plot from beginning to end in a limited number of pages. It also prepares you for writing a novel, because each chapter is basically a short story.”