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Publishing Resources ListMake sure you

the news article!
So you've written something freaking awesome. You've edited a million times (and if you haven't, turn around and go do that. Right now). You think you maybe want to take the leap and try publishing something. But you have no idea where to start.
Well, this is a good place to be.
This the journal where I'll be keeping a running list of all the publishing resources I find, both on and off dA. Most of it will probably be related to literary journals, since that's the stage where I'm at in my literary career, but I'll add things about book publishing as I find them.
If you ever find a great resource, or if you'd like to request something specific, please leave me a note in the comments.
Also this journal is probably going to be super-messy and slightly badly-categorized for the first few weeks, so if anything looks out of place and/or you can think of a better way for me to organize this, please

Punctuating Poetry Part OneSome people believe poetry shouldn't be punctuated and others are still taught to put a comma after every new line. So where is the balance? What does one - especially one new or growing in poetry - do? Well, that's simple: a poet must punctuate with purpose!

In order to punctuate with purpose, however, a poet must understand two things: what she wants to achieve with the poem and what a piece of punctuation can achieve in a poem. This means a poet must understand more than the common rules of punctuation; she must know the effect that certain punctuation points can have on a reader or in a text.

This overview tackles punctuation in poetry

Poetry Self-Edit ChecklistPoetry Self-Edit Quick Start Guide and Checklist

Introduction

The idea behind this is to give newer poets a way to better edit their poetry themselves, without having to rely as much on an external editor. It can be frustrating, especially for new poets to request feedback from a friend, or worse, to post a poem, and have all of the responses be about grammatical errors and other details. We write poetry to convey ideas and emotions, and when something is off technically about the poem it distracts the reader. When a reader is distracted enough to notice an error or other problem it means they might spend th

To Create a CharacterAre you starting a story? Do you have an incomplete, flawed, or no character at all? It's happened to me many times and in my struggles to perfect my creations, I have learned a few things. I present you with seven easy steps with a challenge each to get you thinking.

Grab a piece of paper and a pencil. Let's start…

Step 1: Past
When creating a character, you must first establish a past. Even a person with amnesia has a past, they just don't remember it. Pasts are important, they show what shaped the person and why they are the way they are today.

If your character has a scar, why? If they have amnesia, why? If they have a phobia of

Character Motivation

Everyone's heard that characters should have goals, something they want and must strive for, overcoming obstacles and antagonists in order to obtain. Because, well, a story is the record of your character's journey toward achieving a goal.

While all of this is true, I think a lot of writers lose sight of an even more important aspect of character. That is, motivation. Sure, you know what your character wants.

Why?

That's the gist of motivation. What is the psychology and reasoning behind your character's goal? If your character is driven to make money, is his motivation greed? To pay off a debt? To support his family?

Motivation is your c

Style vs. Voice - A Guide

A Writer's Guide to Style vs. Voice

Here on dA, there seems to be a lot of confusion and general mass hysteria when it comes to the subjects of writing style and voice. What are they? What's the difference? Can you write one without the other? How important are they, anyhow? Do you really need either of them? Wait, what are they again?

I like to think I'm somewhat of a self-made genius in the art of simplifying the complex, so here's my boiled-down summation of the two topics:

Style is the form and structure with which you write.

Voice is the attitude and perspective with w

The Purpose-Driven Plot Pt. 1

Part I - The Big Four: Exploring Plot Types

Before we start, it will be prudent to know what kind of plot you seek for your project. There are four main types that we will explore here:

- The character-driven plot.
- The event- or situation-driven plot.
- The world-driven plot.
- The concept- or theme-driven plot.

The character-driven plot is employed in stories that are propelled forward by the learning, changing character or characters. Harry Potter is an example of character-driven plot. I have one friend who is absolutely certain that this is the future of literature, because of the way we view and understand the human psyche.

The

Writing Style--The Bottom Line

Writing Style - The Bottom Line

“Words are like sunbeams.  The more they are condensed, the deeper they burn.”       - Robert Southey

“Prose is architecture, not interior decorating.”       - Ernest Hemingway

Writing style is made up of two things: cadence and variation.

Good style is clear, readable, and invisible.  Its purpose is not to attract attention to itself but to transport readers into the world of your story.  If your readers notice your style without purposefully intending to study it, your style needs to be impro

Prose Critique BasicsProse Critique Basics

Critique... we all want it. We all need it. But what exactly is the embodiment of this fear-inspiring, often frustrating word?

Ever since dA rolled out their advanced critique system in 2009, I've made it a point to read through many prose critiques, mainly in seeking a person to look at my own work. While most critiques are helpful to some degree, it never fails to surprise me how many exist out there are nothing more than in depth comments. Just the critic's opinion or view on the piece, which is usually made of nothing but positives. In short... a review. Of course, the receiving authors snatch up whatever feedback

Creating VoiceWhen you write dialogue, when you write dramatic monologues, when you write in first person, your character must have his own voice.
Voice is in part the distinct vocabulary, grammatical tendencies and spoken patterns which are unique to your character. A linguist would call this his idiolect.
Voice’s other part is made up of the interests and obsessions of your character: what sort of things they notice about the world, how they interpret them in relation to their previous experiences, and what emotional colouring they give events. We might call this perspective.

Idiolect
Firstly, a story: I am English, middle class, and I studied at Oxford. When I worked in a supermarket cafe in inner-city Cardiff (Wales) I’d get customers who would say, after half a minute’s banter about their breakfast at the till, “hang on, you’re too clever to be working here!” They didn’t say this because I had told them my life story,

Characterization and Names Characterization and Nomenclature:
What's in a name?

As an author, one of the most important tasks in writing a story is building a character. Every small trait that a writer leaves, builds, and hints at, draws a reader into the story and gives them an image of each character, be it protagonist, antagonist, or miscellaneous extra. However, many writers overlook one of the strongest traits that a character can have: a name. Nomenclature can be one of the most powerful assets that a writer has in their endless battle to build a lifelike character.

The uses of a name

The craft of literature is always at some level a decision-making process.

Eastern Poetry FormsThe Haiku Club: Eastern Poetry Forms

JapaneseHaikaiHaikuSenryuHaigaHaibunRenga
WakaTankaKyokaTanka DrawingTanka ProseRensakuChokaKatautaMondoSedoka

KoreanSijo

ChineseCiFuShiQu
JintishiLushiWuluQilu
JuejuWujueQijue

Southeast AsianGo Vat (Cambodia)Luc Bat (Viet Nam)Pantoum (Malaysia)Pathya Vat (Cambodia)Tanaga (Philippines)Than Bauk (Burma)Ya Du (Burma)

Middle EasternGhazalRuba'i

Modern / DerivativeCinquainGogyokaLanturneHaynakuRengayRenga Tree

5 Ways to Get Fantasy WrongYes, you're writing a fantasy story. Yes, that means many of the normal "rules" of reality are suspended. It doesn't mean you can just write whatever you like and expect your readers to swallow it. The existence of dragons they'll probably accept. Moscow being the capital of France they probably won't.

The key to "selling" weird, fantasy stuff to your reader (like dragons and half-elves) is making the world at large believable. This means getting the simple things right. So on that note:

1. Factual Errors

There are things in the wide-world of fiction that are fantasy elements; things like dragons, unicorns, and women who find beards sexy.

Writing Tips - Organisation

Writing Without Confusing Yourself (Or Your Readers)

Writing is a very personal, individual undertaking. Everybody approaches the activity a bit differently from the next guy. Some people can come up with concept, plot, characters, and everything else and just sit down and write. Others need to take time to figure out what's going on; what's going to happen in the story, and how it all fits together. Others still will find themselves getting stuck somewhere along the middle, losing track of everything or changing an idea mid-way through, or never know how to end. These are the people for whom this has been put together. Those of you who can

Helpful NaNoWriMo Links and GuidesOnce again, the other cruelest month is upon us. November is National Novel Writing Month, where aspiring novelists attempt to pen 50,000 words in 30 days. The task is daunting, but possible—it requires an average of only 1,667 words a day. Last year, at least 42 deviants managed to reach their goal.

Before You Begin:

Believable Fiction

Research: How to Do It

The Process:

Writing Tips: Organization

The Writing Process

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An Idiot's Guide to Lit Mag Publishingby *SadisticIceCream

Resources & Stock Images / Tutorials / Writing

©2011-2013 *SadisticIceCream

EDIT 6/24/12: Looking for help with book publishing? Check out my companion guide, An Idiot's Guide to Book Publishing.

I've been wanting to write this for a long time, but now that I'm on summer break I've finally had time to do it!

This is meant to be a companion of sorts to my Publishing Resources Journal; since I can't embed links into the text, I refer to the Journal a couple of times and point to a few resources that will be particularly handy during the submission process.

I hope you all find this helpful! Let me know if I can improve on the organization or add anything that could also be elucidating.

Daily Deviation

Given 2011-07-09

An Idiot's Guide to Publishing by ~SadisticIceCream "is very, very helpful for writers attempting to be published for the first time. It has information from preparation to coping with responses, written in an easy-to-understand way." ( Suggested by =angelStained and Featured by `nycterent )

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Mood: Joy

~voiced-otter Apr 7, 2012 Hobbyist Writer

Thanks for this. I'll keep this in mind if I decide to publish any writing. Very helpful.

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*SadisticIceCream Apr 8, 2012 Writer

You're welcome! Feel free to bombard me with any questions I might be able to answer, too.

Reply

Mood: Joy

~Nephtalia Mar 25, 2012 Professional Writer

Thank you for this.

It's incredibly helpful.

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*SadisticIceCream Mar 25, 2012 Writer

You're welcome! I'm glad you think so.

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~WrittenRevolt Dec 9, 2011

This has (also) been added to #theWrittenRevolution's Resources for Aspiring Authors.

Again, thanks.

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~tankgirly Nov 17, 2011

I am just puling my hair out about writing a decent covering letter and synopsis at the moment, your article is a godsend! Thank you so much.

Reply

*SadisticIceCream Nov 17, 2011 Writer

You're welcome! I'm glad I could be of help.

_{Also, you get bonus cool points for being a Star Wars fan.}

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~tankgirly Dec 7, 2011

I am!

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~NikkiSeven Aug 20, 2011 Professional Writer

Thank you for posting this. Very informative and encouraging.

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*SadisticIceCream Aug 20, 2011 Writer

You're welcome! I hope you find it helpful.

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