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

10 Days of Character Building

How Characters Deal with Conflict

Name Generators

Name Playground

The Fantasy Cliche Meter: the Good Guys

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

Character Chart

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

Dialogue: The Best Action

Speaking of Dialogue

Writing Believable Dialogue

Dialogue Tips

Writing Good 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

Plot Tips: Write Who You Are

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

What is Plot?

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Plotting Without Fears

Plot Planner

Novel Outlining 101

Writing the Perfect Scene

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

The Power of Place

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

World Builders

Ideas, Inspiration

Quick Story Idea Generator

The “Write” Idea: 8 Tips for Finding Topics to Write About

Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud

Busting Your Writing Rut

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

Random Book Title Generator

Finishing Your Novel

How to Write the Great American Novel (funny video)

Thanks for reading - CSS

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Comments

Comment from Luciano Passuello
Time: November 2, 2007, 5:45 am

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!

Comment from CSS
Time: November 2, 2007, 6:17 am

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

Comment from Lauri
Time: November 2, 2007, 5:58 pm

Wow, this an incredible list! Thanks!

Comment from CSS
Time: November 2, 2007, 8:42 pm

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

Comment from Omar
Time: November 5, 2007, 9:49 am

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

Comment from Vivienne
Time: November 7, 2007, 12:15 am

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

Comment from CSS
Time: November 7, 2007, 4:49 am

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

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Time: February 25, 2008, 2:46 pm

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Comment from Mousey
Time: March 8, 2008, 4:52 pm

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

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Time: March 11, 2008, 2:16 pm

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Comment from WRC
Time: June 22, 2008, 11:48 pm

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

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