Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Can My Manuscript Be Saved?

MENTAL STATUS: Much more alert. I couldn't figure out why I was so sluggish yesterday, then I forgot I had to use decaffeinated coffee because we were out of the good stuff. I'm now drinking a REAL cup of coffee today. :)

Last night as my hubby watched the the college championship football game, I diligently worked on correcting my poor manuscript. I mentioned (I think) that I've been taking an online course, "Can this Manuscript Be Saved?" given through Earthly Charms. The author, Susan Meier, has been giving us some really wonderful tips.

I have to tell you, I thought my manuscript was a hopeless case, needed to be ripped apart and rewrote until I barely recognized it. But Susan has given me some great pointers, and I've really been able to step back and see it with fresh eyes. I think.

I hope.

So, anyway... I started to think. (Yes, dangerous). How cool is it that I'm not only able to take an online writing course from the comfort of my own home and fleece pajamas, but I have access to many websites and blogs that post wonderful writing tips—as well as other tips? (Like, did you know you could buy an evening gown on eBay? I just found that out at the Romance Divas forum. See? We do talk about other things besides books.)

Where was I?

Oh. So how did writer’s "write" before? I mean, all they had was a pencil and a notebook and absolutely NO outside information.

Well, you could say, “Hey, Jennifer, you have a computer, writing books, and have access to tons of writing information and you’re not published.”

Um, yes, you could say that. But that would just be mean. So I’ll ignore it—and post some of my favorite writing links anyway:

For Query and/or Synopsis:

Rose City Romance Writers

The Complete Nobody's Guide to Query Letters

Kathy Carmichael

Bronwyn Jameson

Overall Writing Tips:

Brenda Coulter

Rita Herron

Charlotte Dillon

Desert Rose RWA

Romance Writing Tips

Oh, BTW, Jenny Crusie and Bob Mayer are doing a FREE online workshop for the year. Click here if you want to read it.

What are your favorite writing links?

3 comments:

Chicki Brown said...

That caffeine charge in the morning is essential!

Glad to hear the online course is helpful. I wish I could've taken it. Thanks for the links. I'm familiar with some of them, but I'm going to check out the others right now.

Another great information is http://www.gabrielleluthy.com/. It's like an online library!

Jennifer Shirk said...

Cool! Thanks.

Elle Fredrix said...

Hi Jennifer!

I've found a ton of usful info here:
http://romance.fictionfactor.com/articles.html