A Few Useful Blogs for Writers

I don't write alone. That is to say, I pull encouragement from the world around me and I value listening to the voices of other writers. I want to recommend a few blogs that have been helpful for the advice and encouragement they give to writers and the writing process. Blogs are a free and lively way to pick up strategies for writing and editing, marketing your published work, and keeping connected with working communities. The writers life is a solitary one and touching base now and then with other writers and artists improves the psyche and lifts the spirit and helps to convince you to keep at it—you are not alone.

One of my favorites is Brain Pickings which arrives in your mailbox on Sunday mornings. I used to receive a paper copy of the New York Times and my Sunday morning was spent climbing through the paper with my coffee and enjoying the exhilaration of the NY ambiance. Brain Pickings is my new Sunday morning read that covers philosophy, sociology, literature, spirituality and just plain great thinking. The blog is written by Maria Popova who has written for Wired UK, the Atlantic, The NY Times, and Harvard's Nieman Journalism Lab. It's a marvelous and award-winning blog.

Another great blog for writers is called "Writing Wednesdays." You can sign up at Steven Pressfield.com for this blog that is filled with encouragement and a continuing reminder of techniques for establishing plot, characters, scenes, etc.  Pressfield works with another writer, Shawn Coyne, who does an excellent weekly blog which can be accessed at his website StoryGrid.com. Both of these blogs give serious guidance to both professional and fledgling writers, and both of these guys are terrific teachers.

A Parish Near Ebbets Field