These are A Few of my Favorite Blogs

With apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein and the strains of "These are a Few of my Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music playing in my head, I thought I'd share some of my favorite writing blogs with you. 

But first, a disclaimer. This list does not include every blog I read. The ones listed here demonstrate excellent writing; they  are consistently great sources of writing instruction and advice; and are ones I point my writing students to.  For the most part, the authors of these blogs don't promote themselves, their books, or their services. They generously provide their expertise to the writing community- both for those who write for children and young adults, and for those who write for adults. 

So, in no particular order and without further fanfare here are my top picks:

Janice Hardy writes fantasy and science fiction for teens, is a former Writer's Digest writing instructor, and offers tremendous writing advice on The Other Side of The Story. My favorite posts are her Real Life Diagnostics;  "a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues." Readers send in their work with questions and Janice diagnoses them on the blog. Thus it is part critique and part example.  As we all know, one of the best ways of learning to write is figuring out what works, what doesn't, and how to change it. Janice generously offers solution to writer's problems. I am looking forward to finishing this draft of Half-Truths and submitting a snippet myself!


Kathy Temean's blog, Writing and Illustrating, was one of the first blogs I started following dedicated to writing and illustrating for children and young adults. Kathy's posts include interviews with agents, authors, and illustrators; publishing news, industry trends, contests, book reviews, and more. Each Saturday she features a different illustrator who shows the process he/she took to create a picture book. These inevitably knock my socks off. I can't draw a decent stick figure and it is a privilege to view the behind-the-scenes work these illustrators put into each drawing.  By the way, Kathy is an author, award winning artist/illustrator, and the Regional Advisor for the NJ SCBWI. I wonder how she has time to breathe. 

I met Lorin Orberweger last year at the Free Expressions Your Best Book Workshop in Charlotte which she coordinated. She is an author, independent book editor, ghost writer, writing instructor, and one of the most encouraging yet "this-is-what-your-manuscript-needs-nail-it-on-the-head-person" I have met in my writing journey. Her Write Line blog includes book reviews, a First Page feedback column, insightful articles about the writing craft, industry information, as well as writing challenges and prompts. 

Janet Reid, the literary agent better known as the Query Shark, is to queries what Janice Hardy is to book snippets. Janet invites writers to submit their queries which she critiques. Once again, writers can learn from her as to what works and what doesn't. I'm not at the query stage yet, but when I get there, I'll be hunting through her blog to glean from her generous instruction. And after I've spit-polished my query, it'll be in her submission queue. 

Emma Darwin is the novelist and short story writer behind This Itch of Writing. Each of her blogs are like mini-writing courses. They are meaty, thought-provoking, and include much of what novelists need to know. In this particular post, Emma lists 13 posts that will help writers get published. I go back and re-read her posts when I am stumped with such tricky questions like psychic distance-which I didn't even know existed until I read her blog!

Jeannie Campbell's blog, The Character Therapist, brings a unique twist to the writing blogosphere. She is a a licensed marriage and family therapist as well as a freelance writer, author, editor, and book reviewer. Her posts provide writers with psychological insights into characters which they might not have considered. Since writing is all about delving into and showing the complexities of people and relationships, Jeannie's blog is a unique source of information. She recently began a series on character archetypes. Don't miss it. 

So, here's a thankful round of applause to all of these bloggers who generously feed the rest of the writing world. 

Now it's your turn. What is your favorite writing blog? 

Where Does Your Character Belong?

My sister, Barbara Federlin, has the distinction of being the only person to read the entire rough draft of my manuscript. As a result, she understands what I'm trying to do and her input is invaluable as I move forward.

When my sister visits, inevitably we end up in the
kitchen baking with our mother. I'd say
we look like we belong together!

She is also a re-evaluation counselor and has thought a lot about what motivates people's behavior, how past hurts effect present choices, and what hinders growth and personal relationships. 

In other words, good material for novelists to consider when creating layered characters. Recently we talked about "belongingness." She mentioned several questions that she uses when counseling people:

1. Where do you belong? 

2. Why do you belong in this group?

3. How do you feel about belonging to this group?

4. Who do you trust to talk to about your feelings?

5. How do your feelings and thoughts effect your interactions with other people?
6. What actions will you take as a result of these feelings, thoughts or beliefs?

These questions feel like the types of questions which Donald Maas asks in Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, which I am slowly working through. And, they also reminded me of a point which Janelle Bitikofer made in a recent blog interview with Joyce Hostetter: 

"How many times have we heard from editors and readers that 

cardboard characters who have no emotional depth are boring and 

no one wants to buy books about them. It does seem so important to

ask ourselves, 'How does what's happening to our characters make 

them feel and think, and how does how they feel and think affect 

their behavior?'"

Take a minute to answer my sister's questions. First for yourself, 
and then for your character. You may learn a lot about your characters--and yourself.

******************

An excellent online resource for probing your character's psyche is The Character Therapist. Browse through the case notes on the right hand side of Jeannie Campbell's blog and you'll find that she has tackled many psychological issues that your character may face. Here are two blogs which I found particularly helpful: Character Flaws and Locus of Control.