Helpful Reads
- Rejection of Rejections: A Novel Approach to Overcoming Barriers to PublicatonTo keep your spirits high after receiving a rejection letter.
- Shitty First DraftsFrom Anne Lamott's book on writing, Bird by Bird. Don't be afraid of writing a poor first draft; instead, realize that writing is an iterative practice, recognize that starting is often the hardest part of writing, and embrace your shitty first draft.
- Writer's Block StrategiesFrom the Center for Writing Studies at the University of Illinois.
Motivating Apps
- Hemingway AppThis app is mainly a fun tool to help you write more like Ernest Hemingway. It will highlight sentences for you if they're long and confusing, point out when you're using passive voice, and show you words and phrases that might have a simpler alternative. This is a fun editing tool, not something to rely on.
- The Most Dangerous Writing AppCheck out The Most Dangerous Writing App to get you started on writing and to kick up your adrenaline. You set a time limit, and if you stop writing before time is up, everything you've written will be lost. It's stressful and encouraging. For added excitement, try hardcore mode.
Writer's Block Books
Bird by Bird by Call Number: PN147 .L315 1994; also onlineISBN: 0679435204Date: 1994Through hilarious narrative, Anne Lamott discusses reminds us all that writing is a difficult process. "Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report on birds written that he'd had three months to write. [It] was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books on birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him, put his arm around my brother's shoulder, and said. 'Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.'" With this basic instruction always in mind, Anne Lamott returns to offer us a new gift: a step-by-step guide on how to write and on how to manage the writer's life.
On Writing Well by Call Number: PE1429 .Z5 2001ISBN: 9781417750573Date: 2016Warns against common errors in structure, style, and diction, and explains the fundamentals of conducting interviews and writing travel, scientific, sports, critical, and humorous articles.
