102 Resources for Fiction Writing

Thursday, 1 November 2007, 8:00 | By C.S. Swarts
Category : NaNoWriMo, Writing | Tags :

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)

24 Comments for “102 Resources for Fiction Writing”

  1. 1Luciano Passuello

    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. 2CSS

    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. 3Lauri

    Wow, this an incredible list! Thanks!

  4. 4CSS

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

  5. 5Omar

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

  6. 6Vivienne

    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. 7CSS

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

  8. 8Mousey

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

  9. 9WRC

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

  10. 10Jen Bluekissed

    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

  11. 11Bootsie Wevon

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

  12. 12Amy

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

  13. 13Sarah

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

  14. 14vic

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

Trackbacks

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  7. 7. 10 Handy Fiction Writing Resources | Literaryzone, a blog for fiction writers
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