Positively Sharing Literary Link Love
A few long weeks ago, for the second time in as many years, my laptop brain fried, and I lost everything.
What a headache.
On the positive side, because it happened before, I had just about everything backed up. On the other positive side, I had been saving all of my bookmarks online because losing your bookmarks once is devastating, losing them a second time would be even more devastating.
If we can squeeze a third positive out of this (and I think we can), in getting my sweet new computer up and running, I decided it was time to clean out some of those bookmarks that haven’t been used since my 9th grade term paper on S.E. Hinton.
Positive #4: I now have a wonderful collection of literary websites to share. This isn’t my complete list; I’ll be adding more as I continue sorting. If you’d like your blog or site listed here, please let me know.
And now on to the links. I’m positive you’ll enjoy them all.
Literary Link Love:
Arts & Letters Daily: A daily report of news in the arts and ideas.
Bookforum: Book reviews, author interviews, and commentary
Booksquare: The whole truth and nothing but the truth, unless making it up is easier or funnier
Cannon Fodder: One reader’s journey reading the classics and blogging about them
The Critical Poet: An online poetry forum
Editor Unleashed: Writing, publishing, social media, and community
Editorial Ass: Notes from a recovering editorial assistant
Electric Literature: A quarterly anthology of five top-notch short stories, delivered in every viable medium
Emerging Writers Network: For emerging and established writers and the readers who love them
Escape Into Life: An online arts journal featuring art reviews, poetry, essays, and lots of art
Fictionaut: For adventurous readers and writers
The Fill in the Gaps 100 Project: Post 100 books you plan to read over the next five years (or read everyone else’s list)
Girlebooks: Ebooks by the gals
Hilobrow: An encounter with uncompromising arts and ideas
Janet Reid, Literary Agent: Reading queries for fun, fodder, and best-selling books
JMWW: A quarterly journal of fiction, poetry, flash, nonfiction, and art
Kenyon Review: Exclusive works of fiction,poetry, essays, and more
Lit Kicks: Opinions, observations, and research on the meaning and relevance of literature in modern life
Literary Mama: An online literary magazine featuring mama writers
Make a Scene: Author, journalist, and editor Jordan Rosenfeld
The Millions : Online magazine offering coverage on books, arts, and culture
Nathan Bransford: Literary Agent
Poetic Asides: Writer’s Digest poetry site with Robert Lee Brewer
Poetry Speaks: Experience poetry in exciting new ways
Poets.org: From the Academy of American Poets
Six Sentences: What can you say in six sentences?
Three Guys One Book: Reviews, publishing news, photography, and the popular 3G1B group discussion
The Nervous Breakdown: An online literary publication type deal
Tin House : The online edition of the American literary magazine
Web Fiction Guide: The name says it all
A Writer’s Edge: English words, writing, and books–with a tech touch
The Writing Show: Information and inspiration for writers
Writers: When Inspiration Sags, Hit the Books
One of the many joys of being a writer is finding something that moves you so deeply that you’re inspired to write. What happens, though, when that initial flush fades, and you’re far from finishing what you’ve started?
Staying motivated is a challenge writers face daily. As a world-class procrastinator, I can find hundreds, okay, thousands of diversions that keep me from writing. Sometimes just the process of getting started inspires me, but I’m not always so lucky. When I’m feeling particularly stagnant, I turn to my favorite books to push me forward.
Dennis Tafoya, author of DOPE THIEF and the soon to be published THE WOLVES OF FAIRMOUNT PARK also finds inspiration in books. On his blog, Dennis Tafoya’s Bad Neighborhood, he has started sharing info on books that have taught him something about writing.
He starts his Books That Teach series with SAVE ME, JOE LOUIS by Madison Smartt Bell and explains what the book taught him. He also asks for input. Please visit Dennis’ site and share your favorites.
Can you guess which author I included? Hint: His first name is Philip and his last name is Roth. (Hi Philip! Love you!)
Need a different inspiration boost? Join The Silent Writers Collective on Tuesdays at 9 PM Eastern (US) for the next Silent Write-In.
Go Silent every Tuesday at 6 PM EST-US
Our standing meeting is Tuesday at 9-10 pm EST and 9-10 pm PST (US), but participants are encouraged to “Get Silent” whenever the mood strikes, either alone, with others, online, or in person.
We meet via Twitter using the hashtag #SilentWriters. If you aren’t on Twitter, we have a group on Facebook, or just click the email link to the right, and we’ll get you in on the fun.
Our gatherings start with a few minutes of socializing, sharing info, etc, but after that we all agree to shut up and write. We’re not a critique group, we’re not limited by genre, education, experience, or skill. We just get together to write.
We hope you’ll join in. We’re a new group, but everyone who’s gone silent with us has found it’s productive hour. Gotta love that!
Let It Flow
[picapp align=”left” wrap=”true” link=”term=pouring+no+people&iid=7685213″ src=”7/3/8/b/Liquid_pouring_from_8de2.jpg?adImageId=12649849&imageId=7685213″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /]
Next Silent Write-In Tuesday, 4/27
Ray Bradbury said,
We are cups, constantly and quietly being filled. The trick is knowing how to tip ourselves over and let the beautiful stuff out.
Join us for the next Silent Write-In and tip yourself over to let the beautiful stuff out.
The Silent Writers Collective is meeting again this Tuesday, April 27 at 9 pm EST (6 pm PST). As always we will meet via Twitter using the hashtag #silentwriters.
The Write-In begins promptly at 9 pm EST, with a few minutes of chat, news, tips, questions, etc. Then the we go silent and commit one hour to writing. At the end of the hour, participants can continue writing (and are encouraged to do so).
No RSVP necessary, just show up on Twitter, watch for the hashtag and join in.
If you aren’t on Twitter, we have a group on Facebook, or just click the email link to the right, and we’ll be sure to get you in on the fun.
Please spread the word to all your writing friends.
Hope to see you Tuesday!
BIC HOK TAM: We’re Not Talking Thai
[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=old+typewriter&iid=239335″ src=”0235/9072c0a6-3c1b-4e44-b45e-3c3427a5bf7c.jpg?adImageId=12542102&imageId=239335″ width=”234″ height=”351″ /]
Silent Write-In This Tuesday
Butt in Chair.
Hands On Keyboard.
Typing Away Madly.
That’s the motto of Book-In-A-Week, the website where writers commit to a scheduled writing frenzy for one week each month. Think NaNoWriMo in hyperdrive.
As a three time winner of the Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers, the site is clearly onto something good. Namely, that if you’re going to write, it takes time, commitment, and effort.
Along those lines, the next Silent Write-In will be Tuesday, April 20 at 9 pm EST (6 pm PST). We will meet via Twitter using the hashtag #silentwriters.
The Write-In begins promptly at 9 pm EST, with a few minutes of chat, news, tips, questions, etc. Then the we go silent and commit one hour to writing. At the end of the hour, participants can continue writing (and are encouraged to do so).
No RSVP necessary, just show up on Twitter, watch for the hashtag and join in.
If you aren’t on Twitter, we have a group on Facebook, or just email me and I’ll get you in on the fun.
Please spread the word to all your writing friends.
Hope to see you Tuesday!
To Write Good Books, Skip the How-Tos
Richard Bausch: Put the manuals away, read the writers themselves
.
It’s exciting news that The Atlantic is again publishing fiction. The May issue is out now, and it includes Fiction 2010, the annual fiction supplement to the magazine.
There are some wonderful writers included, and I plan on spending a good part of my weekend being both entertained and educated by them.
There’s one piece in particular I’d like to share with The Silent Writers: The essay titled, How to Write in 700 Easy Lessons by Richard Bausch.
Bausch’s love of his craft comes through so strongly and beautifully that it’s hard not to find inspiration in it. The essay advocates something we’ve all heard many times before. Namely, in order to write well, one must read, read, read. He’s not talking about how-to writers books that proclaim some kind of shortcut to a finished product, he’s talking about literature.
He goes beyond telling us that we must read by explaining why it matters. To paraphrase, Bausch says:
Spend the time to absorb what is there in the vast riches of the world’s literature, and then craft one’s own voice out of the myriad of voices.
This incredible thought humbles me. That Boccaccio, Flaubert, Bronte, Hemingway, Judy Blume, S.E. Hinton, and, of course, Philip Roth (my personal favorite), are out there waiting to teach us, is a richness I’d never considered. We can absorb and learn from them, and then with time, effort, patience, passion, and great great love, we can go on and our own voices.
A Great Start and the Next Step
[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=vertical+staircase+no+people&iid=5287710″ src=”3/f/b/c/Chihuahua_at_the_37d8.jpg?adImageId=12452499&imageId=5287710″ width=”234″ height=”321″ /]
Our first online Silent Write-In went remarkably well. We had 11 participants, seven on Twitter, two on Facebook and two via email.
The feedback I heard told me that it was a productive hour, so I’m excited to keep the momentum going. The next scheduled Write-In is scheduled for this Tuesday, 9 pm EST, but rather than waiting, I thought we might try one this weekend. What time? Well, I’ll put out it there for a consensus. Weekend schedules can be crazy, so please let me know via comment what day and time works best for you.
With interested writers from across the U.S., Canada, Australia, the UK, and beyond, timing can be dicey, so I’m open to scheduling Write-Ins whenever they’re needed or wanted.
I will also mention that anyone is welcome to use the #SilentWriters hashtag. If you have a group of writers you work with, and you want to get together online to write, please feel free to use it.
Thanks again for all the interest, and please spread the word. We writers need to keep each other motivated!
You Write by Sitting Down and Writing
Jon Winokur, on his ever inspiring website, Advice to Writers uses the words of Bernard Malamud for today’s quote of the day:
You write by sitting down and writing. There’s no particular time or place — you suit yourself, your nature. How one works, assuming he’s disciplined, doesn’t matter.
— Bernard Malamud
It’s true. How one works doesn’t matter, as long as one IS working. But that’s the challenge, isn’t it? It’s so easy to get caught up in the endless distractions that pull us away from writing. A few distractions can turn into a few days, or weeks, or (yikes!) even months, of not writing and then our excitement turns to dread.
The only way to break out of that cycle is to follow Mr. Malamud’s advice:
Sit down and write.
If you have a hard time motivating yourself to do that, join The Silent Writer’s Collective for our Silent Write-Ins. By committing to a group effort, many writers find it’s easier to stay motivated and reach goals. Writing, as we’ve all heard many times, is a solitary endeavor, but sharing our efforts with a group makes it easier, and can help us reach our writing goals.
Next Write-In, Tuesday 4.13.2010
[picapp align=”right” wrap=”true” link=”term=typing+blurred&iid=5273674″ src=”7/c/e/d/closeup_of_a_ba64.jpg?adImageId=12301963&imageId=5273674″ width=”234″ height=”171″ /]
Our next Silent Write-In will be this Tuesday, April 13 at 9 pm EST (6 pm PST). We will meet via Twitter using the hashtag #silentwriters.
The Write-In begins promptly at 9 pm EST, with a few minutes of chat, news, tips, questions, etc. Then the we go silent and commit one hour to writing. At the end of the hour, participants can continue writing (and are encouraged to do so).
No RSVP necessary, just show up on Twitter, watch for the hashtag and join in.
If you aren’t on Twitter, you must be on Facebook, right?? Search Silent Writers Collective on FB and you’ll find us there.
Email me if you have any questions, and hope to see you Tuesday!
Welcome to the Silent Writers Collective
Time to be quiet and write
.
If you find it difficult to put distractions aside and just write, you might want to join us.
Our mission, quite simply, is to write.
My name is Olivia and I started this group in 2008 when I realized that I wasn’t writing as much as I wanted. Between work, home, family, and all the other distractions of life, writing had dwindled to grocery lists and work memos.
I talked to other writers I knew who faced the same challenge, and we committed to meeting for at least one hour each week to write in silence. One hour may not sound like much, but it’s a start. We found our successes building on themselves, and once again, writing became a priority.
When I moved from Baltimore to Phoenix, our group did not want to end, so now we meet online. Our gatherings start with a few minutes of socializing, sharing info, etc, but after that we agree to shut up and write.
I decided to open the Silent Writers Collective up to anyone who is serious about finding the time to write. We’re in the early stages of organizing, but we welcome you to join us.
Feel free to email me for more info or sign up for the RSS feed to get details on our next Write-In.
Thank you for visiting the Silent Writers. We hope you’ll join us.
The Silent Writers Collective 