My favorite Writers' Resources

Critters' Online Workshop

This is the one which has been the most valuable to me. Andrew Burt (bless his hard-working little heart) hosts a marvelously organized on-line critiquing group for writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror. Writers who join are sent a number of stories each week, from which they may choose one or more to read and critique. Once they have done enough critiques (usually takes about a month) they may begin submitting their own stories to the queue.

I found critters to be of use to me as a writer in two ways. The most obvious, of course, was that it gave me constructive feedback on stories I hoped to get published. The number and quality of the critiques I got was quite good; much better than I have gotten from any other online group.

The second was that the more stories I critiqued the more I learned about how a story was supposed to be constructed. I also compared my critiques on a story with those of others who critiqued the story and learned even more. Andrew makes this very easy; if you want he'll send you the combined critiques for each story every week.

Critters also has a pretty nifty web page of writers' resources.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America

In order to join you have to have been published, but there are a lot of nifty things to be found at their site even if you can't join yet.

Science Fiction and Fantasy Workshop

This is a wonderful resource for writers. It only costs $15/year, and you get a huge list of other members with addresses, URL's, etc, as well as something about each person's interests, writing style and what they like to read. You can write to any of them and ask if they will critique some of your work, and most of them are quite obliging. You may be asked to reciprocate. Lots of other resources as well, including articles, examples of synopsis and proposals, and a list of members' pages.

Inkspot

Web page for the writers' newsletter, INKSPOT. Has news, markets, agent listing, workshops, articles and networking opportunities.

Clarion West Writers Workshop

For those who live in the Northwest, the Clarion group is a workshop for writers of all genres, though they do seem to have a greater number of speculative writers. This is a grueling six-week course held in Seattle, WA, but I've heard only good things about it, namely, that you'll come out of it either 1) crushed or 2) a writer of publishable quality. Not for the faint of heart.

For Writers Only

Historical, geographical and scientific site links. Writers' markets, conferences and agents. Author and artist web sites and writers' groups.

My own personal contribution

A Critiquer's Notes: short speculative fiction

I've put together a list of pet peeves, suggestions and examples drawn from two years of critiquing short stories with the Critters group. This started out as a list of reminders to myself of things to remember not to do. When I went into a reading frenzy on books on writing I took notes, and they ended up being blended in with my critiquing notes.

• Introduction and disclaimer
• General Notes
• Conflict and tension
• Resolution
• Characterization
• Emotion
• Point of View
• Dialogue
• Background and flashbacks
• Show, Don't Tell
• Critiquing Others' Work
• Submissions, and getting published
• Mechanics of Writing

Other resources for writers

Victory Crayne's homepage, has articles on writing and critiquing, some motivational stuff, a 'hard' SF workshop and one of her short stories.

Support group for writers & artists, a few good articles on writing.

Touts itself as the web's first independent on-line writing lab. Has "Writer of the Month", some work shops, on-line classes, classifieds, Exit4 (journal of poetry, fiction & photography) Warning: slow to load.

Written by Charlie Harris, beginner's guide to finding stuff, target audience is other writers.

Stoker awards, member pages, horror writing links, and an excellent agent FAQ (of interest to all writers).

Helpful links, author links, schedule for AOL chats for women.

Listing of publishers, organizations, markey info, online workshops, research sites and much more...

The news, information and marketing service for editors, literary agents and writers.

Twelve issues for $19.96, and you get a free copy of "Getting Published: What Every Writer Needs To Know".

Dave has collected online information on publishers, organizations, market info, online workshops, research, advice and book recommendations.

Resources and events of interest to writers.

A list of links to contests, forums, organizations, publications, workshops, conferences and much more.

Online guide with lots of hyperlinks, one year subscription for $12.95.

Features several articles John has written, as well as links to other tips and articles on writing and writing sites.

A virtual bookstore and writer's workshop.

Home page for this writers' magazine. Speculations is bimonthly and costs $25 for a one year (6 issue) subscription.

Warning: slow loading. Has some good links to resources for writers.

Has a dictionary, thesaurus, language translator, pronunciation guide and lots of other useful things.

Slow loading.

Markets, articles and book list review. Links to groups, workshops, some magazines, other resources.

The Online Journal of the Speculative Imagination.

Web site designed to help writers overcome hurdles. Kind of an online support page for writers.

Classes, tutoring, mentoring and writers' groups.

By Jeffrey Carver. Some pretty basic stuff.

Questions & answers, market lists and advice to writers. Mary has had a number of short stories published.

Compiled by the CMU School of CompSci.

Ezine, free creative online writing classes, Intro to creative writing, writers' resources, books.

Online magazine created to spark the imagination of writers. If you are looking for inspirations on a regular basis, you can subscribe for $7 for 20 issues.

Writers' resources.

By Moira Allen, who has written 3 books and a variety of non-fiction articles.

A guide to publishers and writing services for serious writers.

Includes links to Orson Scott Card's groups, tips and articles, NESFA contest and lots more.

Creative Reference for Today's Writers.

They offer programs for writers improvement in every genre. Send up to 20 pages of your work for an evaluation. Not sure if this is legit or not, am currently checking it out.

Has a great agent search engine.

A New York based group of agents which seems to have a slight sf/f bias.

A New York based group of agents which seems to have a sf/f bias.

A six week course held in Manchester, New Hampshire. I haven't heard anything about it, but with big names like Harlan Ellison and Patricia McKillip as guest lecturers there's bound to be some substance.

Eight tapes for about $10 each on writing romance fiction. The sample chapter of her book seemed very well written to me.

Selected links for writers of speculative fiction.

Fantasy novelist from my neck of the woods. Several useful articles.

A listing of response times from various speculative publishers and editors.

They offer to "showcase" your fiction so you can get exposure to the net-reading public. Uncertain what kind of traffic they have.

Internet writing journal. Interviews, articles, features.

Writing how-to and advice from Michael Banks. Lots of articles.

Markets, articles, references, agents, tips, books, websites, message board. Great references for writers.

Market information

Write a story based on one of the three sentences provided, 500 words or less. Win a gift certificate or two year subscription to Sci-Fi Entertainment. Low stress. Have fun.

No hypertext, straight ASCII file of speculative fiction markets with addresses, a brief description of guidelines, URL (if there is one), what they pay and if they're "PRO" or not.

The Monthly Marketletter for SF/Fantasy/Horror/Mystery Writers & Artists

The "only market guide to publish FULL and COMPREHENSIVE submission guidelines for writers and artists/illustrators".

A Resource for Writers of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror.

Links to various interesting sites.

Just type in your word, gets the meaning(s) back with pronunciation, etymology and simular words.

Home page for the magazine. Has guidelines, biblio and some advice for writers.

Has guidelines, reviews, writing tips, forums and archives.

Home page for the publication.

Yahoo's listing of speculative magazines.

Some books I would recommend

If I was to recommend one book as a primer for sf writers, this would be it.

I am not a horror fan or writer but this book was *excellent*. I would highly recommend it to all writers. Horror writers should NOT miss it. It addresses a lot of the mistakes commonly made in writing horror.

A good little intro book for authors who are ready to start learning better writing techniques. Remember the MICE principle!

If editors tell you that your characters are flat or unlikeable, try this book. Has good suggestions for creating characters.

Great reference for those who want a sf book with a complex, believable system of space travel.

Will help you to build an integrated and well thought out alien race. Considers biology, society, psychology and how all those factors work together.

Even if you don't care much about the science on your alien world this book can help keep you from making stupid mistakes that will stop your book at the door. If you are a world builder, this book can be an invaluable resource.

 

Miscellaneous resources:

Bibliography of nuclear war stories in sf

The Moon in science fiction

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