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. Question: I reviewed that book, will you remember?, from Janet Reid: This is actually Janet Reid answering a question from one of her blog readers, but it’s still worth reading – particularly if you’re a writer who reviews books. Basically, she says that you need to be careful about what you write in your review. Excerpt: “Reviewing is a good way to make sure you are reading in your genre and that’s important. It’s also a good way to hone your writing. All those words in blog posts add up and help develop both your ear and your editing skills.”
2. Editor’s Eye: Tips for Describing Characters, from YA Stands: When writing a novel, you want to be sure that your readers will have a good visual of your characters. But that doesn’t necessarily mean pausing your scene to explain what they look like. Excerpt: “Say our point of view character is meeting someone new. It’s natural that the writer wants readers to know what this person looks like, and that’s not wrong at all. But 80% of the time, the very next paragraph will be a block of description.”
3. The School of Happy Endings, from Writer Unboxed: Not every story needs a happy ending, because not every story needs one. But, at the same time, not every story needs to end sadly. Excerpt: “Now, I’m not for a moment suggesting that sad endings are not meaningful or literary or worthwhile to write and to read. Good grief no.”
Miranda Burski 
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