Wednesday links: Tips to start writing, book blurb POV, silencing your inner critic, and types of phrases

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. 5 Ways to Get Out of Your Own Way and Start Writing, from WOW! Women on Writing: We all have a little trouble getting our writing started now and then. WOW! has some tips to help in those situations. Excerpt: “As much as I would like to say I can’t relate and that writing is always a blast 100% of the time, sometimes it feels like that – homework. On the days writing feels like my high school physics class all over again, I have a few tips I’d like to share about how I get out of my own way and start writing.”
2. Marketing Copy: The First- Versus Third-Person Debate, from Writer Unboxed: Have you thought about whether you’ll write your book blurb in first-person or third-person POV? Jan O’Hara has already done some research on the subject; the results are quite interesting. Excerpt: “To get a handle on best practices, I did an unofficial survey of followers on my Facebook page—presumably people open to my fiction—and asked them what they thought of first-person book blurbs.”
3. How To Keep Writing When That Critical Inner Voice Won’t Shut Up, from Writers Helping Writers: I know I hear it now and then–that voice that says I may not be cut out to be a writer. Sometimes, it’s hard to turn it off. These tips could help. Excerpt: “You went to bed last night floating on air and wondering whether it really is too early to begin writing that acceptance speech for when you win the Pulitzer. But this morning when you reread your WIP, well, either monkeys got into your laptop while you were sleeping, or, let’s face it, you’ve been deluding yourself.”
4. 7 Types of Phrases That Add Detail to Your Writing, from Immortal Words of a Mortal Author: Need a grammar refresher? In this post, J.J. Burry goes over seven types of phrases you could use–and likely are using–in your writing. Excerpt: “Welcome to your crash course in phrases of the dependent variety! Do you feel like you’re at school, yet? Don’t fret, there’s no test. This time.”