85 Resources for Fiction Writing
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 85 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration. Too many links? Pick a few at random and bookmark the rest for later.
Character, Point of View, Dialogue
How Characters Deal with Conflict
The Fantasy Cliche Meter: the Good Guys
The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test
Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting)
Handling a Cast of Thousands - Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters
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?
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Fiction Writer’s Character Chart
Villains are People, Too, But . . .
Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue
Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills (character traits)
The 100 Most Important Things to Know About Your Character
How to Write a Character Bible
Character Development Exercises
Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outline
How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method
Effectively Outlining Your Plot
Conflict and Character within Story Structure
Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets
Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense
Plunge Right In . . . Into Your Story, That Is!
Fiction Writing Tips: Story Grid
Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot
The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations
The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plotting Tricks
The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps
Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes
The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life
Creating the Perfect Setting - Part I
An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
Character and Setting Interactions
Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds
The “Write” Idea: 8 Tips for Finding Topics to Write About
Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud
Newsworthy Inspiration for Fiction Writers
Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle
Bubbl.us (online mind map application)
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
How to Write the Great American Novel (funny video)
Thanks for reading - CSS
1Luciano Passuello
wrote on 2 November 2007 at 5:45
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!
2CSS
wrote on 2 November 2007 at 6:17
You’re welcome. It struck me that talking it out was a great way to tackle a story problem too. Thanks for the stumble!
3Lauri
wrote on 2 November 2007 at 17:58
Wow, this an incredible list! Thanks!
4CSS
wrote on 2 November 2007 at 20:42
You’re welcome, Lauri! I hope it’s useful for you.
5Omar
wrote on 5 November 2007 at 9:49
Here is another really good collaborative web-based mind mapping tool that might be worth looking at comapping.com.
6Vivienne
wrote on 7 November 2007 at 0:15
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
7CSS
wrote on 7 November 2007 at 4:49
Thanks, Vivienne! That looks like an interesting discussion group.
8Mousey
wrote on 8 March 2008 at 16:52
W00t! Stumbled, and the first word I saw was ‘NaNoWriMo’… And I started grinning my head off. Yay NaNoers! I am so bookmarking this.
9WRC
wrote on 22 June 2008 at 23:48
Excellent. Will be forwarding it on to members of the Writers’ Resource Centre. Thanks!
10Jen Bluekissed
wrote on 13 September 2008 at 11:42
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
11Bootsie Wevon
wrote on 3 March 2009 at 19:21
Nice resources. I LUV WRITING!!!!!!!