Wednesday links: Pitch Wars, italics, and memory tricks

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.

6 Reasons Why Every Writer Should Enter Pitch Wars Next Year, from Writer’s Digest: I haven’t participated in a Twitter contest yet, but I’ve considered it. This article makes a good case for participating in one next year. Excerpt: “Pitch Wars is a beautifully simple concept— in late August writers submit a query and the first chapter of finished manuscript to four possible mentors; the mentors pick a mentee and work with them for three months; then, in early November, literary agents request full or partial manuscripts based on a writer’s 50-word pitch and first page.”
Italicize this!, from Janet Reid: Have you ever wondered about whether it’s appropriate to use italics in your manuscript? Here’s a bit of a rundown for you. Excerpt: “Oh Lord save me from italics, underlining and bold. Most particularly spare me from these if they are used for more than one word at a time.”
12 Tips That Help Writers Enhance Memory, from Live Write Thrive: I don’t know about you, but I have a pretty bad memory. I’m constantly looking back in my notes to figure out where I was going with something. These tips may help. Excerpt: “Why do writers have a problem with memory? Creativity may be the biggest reason. You have too many ideas, so it’s hard to recall the exact scenario you had on your mind when you thought of at least five other variations after that perfect one.”