Publishing Consultant. Natalie Audley
Advice On Getting Started & Websites To Turn To.
There are a lot of websites that can help a writer get started, as well as further develop your writing. I have linked below to some motivators I use to get inspired, and websites I would suggest having a look at for further support.
1. READ.
As widely as you can, especially new releases, to better understand the market, what is selling and what appeals to you. Once you know your genre, read this extensively too. It will also give you in an insight into tropes of the genre, to see where something works and where you could have done better or improved an idea.
It can get expensive so join a library, review for NetGalley or buy second hand.
2. WRITE.
In different formats - be it on notepads, your laptop, dictated to your phone, or scribbled over post-it notes. There's an old maxim of keeping a journal by your bed, but ideas can occur at the strangest moments. Try changing up your mode of writing or position, too.
It is a good idea to have a target for the day, be it five hundred words or 5,000. Aim for it, hit it and then take a rest. It is better to write something than to continue staring at a blank page.
3. WRITER’S BLOCK.
It happens to everyone. Sometimes it is best to leave a project for a day or two until fresh inspiration strikes again. I personally like to have more than one project on the go, in order to bounce an idea off in a new project and then return to the original. There are sites as listed here which can motivate you to keep writing, as well as ones guaranteed to prove an ever-growing area of distraction [see Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest].
In order to unblock writer’s block, I have found the following useful:
- Listening to music or an audiobook, especially non-fiction
- Going for a long walk
- Not beating yourself up - it is a natural part of the process and one you need to go through, to get on top of new idea or direction.
But the best trick I think is to get out of your own head as much as you can for at least a few minutes until you feel prepared to return to your writer’s world.
4. WRITER’S BOOKS.
There is so much choice and range out there, and everyone has their own particular favourite in terms of writer’s books. The most useful ones I have read are:
- Stephen King’s On Writing
- John Yorke’s Into the Woods: How Stories Work and Why We Tell Them
- Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down The Bones
- Writers and Artists Yearbook [a new edition is released yearly]
The top three provide an interesting and oftentimes insightful look at why and how humans write stories, whereas the Writers and Artists Yearbook provides a look at publishing more broadly in terms of a business model. It is the go-to place to find and contact agents, or you could just Google them or look on Twitter.
​
USEFUL WEBSITES:
OPPORTUNITES
https://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom
https://opportunities.creativescotland.com
​
GENRE FICTION
https://www.writerswrite.co.za
http://www.sfcenter.ku.edu/other.htm [Science Fiction]
https://www.zoeyork.com + https://www.youtube.com/c/ZoeYorkWrites/featured [Romance]
https://www.tonyriches.com [Historical]
https://sophiehannah.com [Thriller]
https://pshoffman.com/writing-resources/resources-for-horror-fiction-writers/ [Horror]
https://www.joannaboyle.co.uk [YA]
​
MOTIVATORS TO WRITE