Links Around the Web

ON WRITING

• I always have the biggest problem with overwriting. Agent Mary Kole gives excellent advice on the 2 signs of overwriting and why it's a problem: What is overwriting? Basically, it’s a sense that the prose (and the writer behind it) is trying too hard to get their point across or impress the reader.
  
  
• J.K. Rowling will always be one of my favorite authors. Which is why Melinda S. Collins' post about top 10 tips of writing she learned from studying JK Rowling is a great treat to read: 10) Plot like you're Hermione about to face her boggart.
  
  
• Pacing can be one of the most difficult things to get right in a novel. Jess has a great post on pacing your novel correctly.
  
  
• In the same vein, how do you make sure that each of your scenes isn't drifting in the doldrums? Kristen Lamb has some advice: Every scene must have conflict. Conflict must in some way involve the characters and serve to propel them either further along on the plot arc, or on a character arc.
  
  
• Have you ever thought about writing with Scrivener? Justine Larbalestier has a great post on how she wrote LIAR with Scrivener.

ON PUBLISHING

• One of the great query writing advice is to tantalize the agents reading by ending the query with a hook that makes them want to read more. However, what if your hook is in the twist? The punchline? Agent Mary Kole says that it's okay to give it all away: So revealing plot points isn’t the end of the world…it will at least give me a teaser of the book itself.
  
  
• A lot of writers look for editorial agents when querying. But have you ever thought about how an agent edits? Agent Rachelle Gardner gives us a view into when agents edit: Bottom line, it’s the author’s job to come to the agent with a publishable book.