On free writing tools

by Silver on Thursday, February 7th, 2013

Posted in: writing, yay
2 Comments on On free writing tools

About a year ago I started to write seriously, every day after work for one to two hours and I’ve gotten better, I’ve learned a lot and I feel like have shit-ton to learn more. I just have to put in the hours. Grit.

I wanted to share some tools that have helped me learn through the last year. These are tools from basic theory to conversations about storytelling and work etiquette. And even if you don’t want to write, there’s plenty of entertainment value.

1: Youtube:

Youtube is revolutionizing education as we know it, no longer does one have to be present or pay for academic information and if you have the willpower to put in the hours, you don’t even need assignments. It does lack the social feedback, but if you’re an introvert like me then you’re likely not missing out. And in the worst case scenario, you can always join a forum.

Andrew Stanton: The clues to a great story is a great TED talk and everyone must watch it.

Brandon Sanderson
A New York-times best-selling fantasy author lecturing the basics of storytelling is a must for anyone as clueless as I was. Think about what you want about the genre of his books, but he’s a proven author with great teaching skills.

Let’s jump into the hard stuff: Dan Wells, a published author gives a lecture on Seven-point story structure. It’s a pretty neat way to form a story.

2. Podcasts:

Writing Excuses

This is my favorite podcast about anything related to writing. It’s hosted by previously noted Brandon Sanderson and Dan Wells, as well as Howard Tayler and Mary Robinette Kowal and often visited by a published author of different genres. The episodes go through anything from plotting to editing your manuscript and they’re only fifteen minutes long.

 

5by5 back to work

This is not a writing podcast but it does touch the matter in few episodes and more than that, the hosts Merlin Mann and Dan Benjamin talk about attitude and work etiquette more than enough. It’s a good podcast, listen.

 

3. blogs:

I’m not really into reading blogs, but I’m trying as you can see. Here’s one that I’ve liked and if you have suggestions then please let me know. I desperately want to find good blogs on writing.

Kidlit
This is a blog from Mary Kole, an editor, and it focuses on children’s and YA stories. It’s well written with some great gems.

Have a great Thursday, take a moment and enjoy the material!

Cheers,
Silver