Writing Advice (From an Agent!)

Nathan Bransford is one of the many agents who blog, and he's one of the better ones out there. I follow a lot of blogs and long before I started following his I was reading his work. That's because what he writes gets picked up and redistributed throughout the 'Blogosphere'.

And now it's my turn to push his stuff.
Today he has put up a pretty complete index» of his advice articles on writing.
Go now, check it out, bookmark it and follow his blog.
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Nice Agents and Smiles

pic from: Bastholm

Reading the agent blogs today I came across this post on Janet Reid's site at about the same time as someone linked the above pic into IRC.

Janet Reid's other post today is a funny tale that should give some hope to authors struggling to get published today. It's also a good reminder to be nice with everyone you deal with, for you never know when you might meet them again.

And on the topic of meeting people again, I came across this happy ending to a story also on Janet Reid's blog.

Some more Writing humour to lighten your day, courtesy of Agent Rachelle Gardner.


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Secret Agent Contest: What's the Hook?

An interesting contest just wrapped up over at Miss Snark's First Victim. The contest was simple, write a first page to a story and have it evaluated by an agent, with feedback given to you. The best first pages 'win'.

I don't think there was a physical prize but the value of the commentary from an agent is worth more than a free book or cute trophy. Even for those who didn't 'win'. There were 60 entries ranging from way out there speculative fiction to more contemporary settings.

The 'Secret Agent' for this contest was Kristen from Pub Rants. On her blog she discusses the experience and the value to be gained, not just from her comments, but from those of the entrants. That's because in order to participate in the contest each entrant was required to comment on the at least 5 other entrants. In a sense this created an online flash mob/critique group. The comments are insightful and the discussion is a great look at writing the first page and developing a hook.

And speaking of resources, Jeffrey A. Carver, has created a detailed online resource of references and lessons to help develop your skills as a Speculative Fiction writer. Many common concepts and terms specific to the writing industry, like the above mentioned "Hook", are explained and explored there.


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