Here to Create

We are here to create not merely survive.

102 Resources for Fiction Writing

on November 1, 2007

UPDATE 1/10: Dead links removed, new links added, as well as Revision and Tools and Software sections.

Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration. Also, I recommend some resources for Revision and some online Tools and Software.  Too many links? Pick a few at random and bookmark the rest for later.

CHARACTER, POINT OF VIEW, DIALOGUE

10 Days of Character Building

Name Generators

Name Playground

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting)

How to Create a Character

Seven Common Character Types

Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters

It’s Not What They Say . . .

Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”

How to Start Writing in the Third Person

Web Resources for Developing Characters

What are the Sixteen Master Archetypes?

Character: A compilation of guidance from classical and contemporary experts on creating great dramatic characters

Building Fictional Characters

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Character Building Workshop

Tips for Characterization

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Villains are People, Too, But . . .

Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue

Dialogue Tips

Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills (character traits)

How to Write a Character Bible

Character Development Exercises

All Your Characters Sounds the Same — And They’re Not a Hivemind!

Medieval Names Archive

Sympathy Without Saintliness

Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Difference for Successful Fiction

Family Echo (family tree website)

Interviewing Characters: Follow the Energy

100 Character Development Questions for Writers

Behind the Name

Lineage Chart Layout Generator

PLOT, CONFLICT, STRUCTURE, OUTLINE

How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Plot

Conflict and Character within Story Structure

Outlining Your Plot

Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets

How to Write a Novel

Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense

Plunge Right In . . . Into Your Story, That Is!

Fiction Writing Tips: Story Grid

Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot

Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”

The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations

The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plotting Tricks

Conflict Test

What is Conflict?

Monomyth

The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Plotting Without Fears

Novel Outlining 101

Writing the Perfect Scene

Fight Scenes 101

Basic Plots in Literature

One-Page Plotting

The Great Swampy Middle

SETTING, WORLD BUILDING

Magical World Builder’s Guide

I Love the End of the World

World Building 101

The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life

Creating the Perfect Setting – Part I

Creating a Believable World

An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Setting

Character and Setting Interactions

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Questions About Worldbuilding

Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping

World Builder Projects

IDEAS, INSPIRATION

Quick Story Idea Generator

Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud

Busting Your Writing Rut

Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle

Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips to Engineer a Productive Flow

The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes

Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits

Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging

Random Book Title Generator

Finishing Your Novel

Story Starters and Idea Generators

REVISION

How to Rewrite

One-Pass Manuscript Revision: From First Draft to Last in One Cycle

Editing Recipe

Cliche Finder

Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written

Writing 101: So You Want to Write a Novel Part 3: Revising a Novel

TOOLS and SOFTWARE

My Writing Nook (online text editor; free)

Bubbl.us (online mind map application; free)

Freemind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

XMind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

Liquid Story Binder (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $45.95; Windows, portable)

Scrivener (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $39.95; Mac)

SuperNotecard (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

yWriter (novel organization and writing software; free; Windows, Linux, portable)

JDarkRoom (minimalist text editor; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

AutoRealm (map creation software; free; Windows, Linux with Wine)


48 Responses to “102 Resources for Fiction Writing”

  1. Wow, what a great resource. I feel really honored for your mention to Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud. Thanks!

    Bookmarked and Stumbled!

  2. CSS says:

    You’re welcome. It struck me that talking it out was a great way to tackle a story problem too. Thanks for the stumble!

  3. Lauri says:

    Wow, this an incredible list! Thanks!

  4. CSS says:

    You’re welcome, Lauri! I hope it’s useful for you.

  5. Omar says:

    Here is another really good collaborative web-based mind mapping tool that might be worth looking at comapping.com.

  6. Vivienne says:

    This is really fantastic! Thank you for compiling this resourceful list. I like it so much I linked to it in my writers’ group. You can see the discussion here:

    http://www.blogcatalog.com/group/got-character/discuss/entry/spectacular-resources-for-characters-and-beyond

  7. CSS says:

    Thanks, Vivienne! That looks like an interesting discussion group.

  8. [...] 85 Resources for Fiction Writers – As a writer, I feel its important to know as much about writing as possible. Thusly, the elements of fiction writing bleed into other kinds of writing quite easily. Also, the more your students know about writing fiction, the more the y will understand what they read, right? Check out this great list from Here to Create. [...]

  9. Mousey says:

    W00t! Stumbled, and the first word I saw was ‘NaNoWriMo’… And I started grinning my head off. Yay NaNoers! I am so bookmarking this.

  10. WRC says:

    Excellent. Will be forwarding it on to members of the Writers’ Resource Centre. Thanks!

  11. I really enjoyed this comment. I appreciate how I can find oodles of resources on this blog. I miss your blog posts!

    http://www.jenbluekissed.blogspot.com

  12. [...] 5. For those of you planning on losing your minds this November for NaNoWriMo I have a link that I found while trolling their forums. It has a bunch of links that should helpful. And even those who don’t plan to participate, the links should be helpful for any writer. It’s 85 Resources for Fiction Writing. [...]

  13. [...] Here to Create » 85 Resources for Fiction Writing (tags: Resources reference writing fiction) [...]

  14. Bootsie Wevon says:

    Nice resources. I LUV WRITING!!!!!!!

  15. Amy says:

    This is going to help out my writing a lot. Thanks for the resources.

  16. Sarah says:

    A very huge list of useful resources. It is going to take a lot of time to go through this.

  17. vic says:

    thanks a million !
    this is best collection
    whenever i feel down or need inspiration , now i know where to come

  18. [...] Linc’s English Blog « Creating story arcs – a blog lesson. Some resources to keep you writing October 5, 2009 85 resources for writing [...]

  19. [...] 85 Resources for Fiction Writing- Yes, 85 very cool sites, programs, and tips for writing. Take care before you click the link- you’ll be reading for hours. [...]

  20. [...] for Fiction Writers. If anyone reading this happens to be a writer, you can read the article here.  There’s a lot of links about character building on here that I haven’t seen before, [...]

  21. tonton says:

    I am an aspiring writer and happened upon this site early one morning and found it’s recources to be amazingly helpful and would like to thank you all!
    I feel like I can do anything and go anywhere with my writing now. Once again, Thank You!!

  22. Rachel says:

    I just died and went to heaven…
    I happened across this post on tumblr today. you are a saint.

  23. [...] Writing tips/inspiration/tutorials/etc: Go! [...]

  24. Brimshack says:

    Ooh, excellent list of sources!

  25. [...] 102 Resources for Fiction Writing [...]

  26. [...] ran into 102 Resources for Fiction Writing today, which has a ton of articles on Plot, Conflict, Structure, and Outline. I’m still [...]

  27. Taylor says:

    You pretty much just saved my bacon with this list. I’m a novice writer who’s pretty much had almost no guidance beyond 12 years of basic English classes in public school and reading a lot, so this was a ton of help. I can’t tell you how much even just a few of these articles helped me.

    Thanks a lot!

  28. [...] Also, I found a fabulous post on tumblr with a ton of resources: 102 Resources for Fiction Writing. [...]

  29. [...] you dig the idea like I dig the idea as far as interdisciplinary methodology goes, here are some writing resources to help you along your persona novella way. Share [...]

  30. [...] 85 Resources for Fiction Writers – As a writer, I feel its important to know as much about writing as possible. Thusly, the elements of fiction writing bleed into other kinds of writing quite easily. Also, the more your students know about writing fiction, the more the y will understand what they read, right? Check out this great list from Here to Create. [...]

  31. [...] Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate [...]

  32. [...] Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue,Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining,Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas [...]

  33. dunmurderin says:

    An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding is a broken link; I found the article available at http://www.victoriastrauss.com/advice/world-building/

  34. [...] Des conseils d’écriture : 102 Resources for Fiction Writing (en [...]

  35. [...] Here’s a frightfully large list of links to various character-building elements. The entry dates to 2007 so don’t expect every link to work. [...]

  36. Very nice write-up. I absolutely love this site. Thanks!

  37. FishFace. says:

    Yeh hello im bored in an english lesson (:

  38. We absolutely love your blog and find many of your post’s to be precisely what I’m looking
    for. Would you offer guest writers to write content to suit your needs?
    I wouldn’t mind producing a post or elaborating on a lot of the subjects you write regarding here. Again, awesome website!

  39. [...] 102 Resources for Fiction: Another list filled with many different resources for writing. [...]

  40. There is certainly a lot to know about this topic. I really like all of the points you made.

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