Wednesday links: Creativity, being a better writer, your online presence, knowing your characters, and cute relationships

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. Seven Steps to Improve Your Creative Habits, from Huffington Post: I’m sure we’ve all been there — we want to be writers, but we just don’t feel creative enough. Sometimes it’s just a matter of waiting for a good idea; but other times, you need to take the initiative to kick your creativity into gear. Excerpt: “Having worked with writers for many years and researched creative habits, we found there isn’t one magic bullet to make you into a creative powerhouse. In fact there are seven – so here they are, seven ideas to tap into your inner muse and start creating on a regular basis.”

2. 11 Ways to Become a Better Writer, from Books & Such Literary Management: We all need a break from writing. But that doesn’t mean you can’t do things that will help make you a better writer. Excerpt: “Recently one of my clients decided to take a much-needed break from writing and most writing-related activities, for a few weeks over the holidays. I encouraged it, and I think many writers can benefit from a hiatus every now and then.”

3. Survey Results: What Agents, Editors and Art Directors Look For Online, from InkyGirl: Your online presence is important. And if you didn’t believe that before, you likely will after checking out these survey results. Excerpt: “77% of respondents said that when they are considering taking on a new client, author and illustrator, they ALWAYS research them online. The rest said they sometimes do.”

4. 10 Questions You Need To Ask Your Characters, from Writer’s Digest: If you want your characters to be believable, then you have to get to know them. There are a lot of ways to do this, of course, but asking these 10 questions is a good way to start. Excerpt: “The most important part of your novel is the part that will never been seen by the reader.  It’s the part that’s just for you.  It’s the part that only you know.  Well, you and your character, that is.”

5. Cute Relationships, from The Writing Cafe: There are a lot of relationships that your characters can have. If you’re going for something on the cuter side, you might find these tips helpful. Excerpt: “I recently participated in a workshop where the story we were reviewing contained a relationship that was supposed to be cute. Here are some of the tips that got passed around.”