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Writing StoryCraft Database

True Story: I didn't know there was a craft to writing, but there IS!

I tried to write my first story in 2004. It was fascinating for pages, but quickly became linear and went no-where. I figured I must not have what it takes and gave up.

Later, I had a thought. Subtle, yet profound.

Musicians must learn the notes, chords, and structure of music before they can improvise. 

Artists spend years with technique and craft before they impress us and make it look easy. 

I wonder if there's a craft to this creative writing stuff?

Well... there is! It's learnable. Here are some of the best Links, Books, Authors, Teachers, Podcasts, Articles, Tools, and anything else I've found helpful to my own writing all in one central link-database.
Enjoy, Learn, Grow, Study, Write!
*Update as of 12/24/2023, some of these links are broken and some resources outdated, some are still timeless and amazing. I'll be cleaning up what's here, and adding more in the coming year. When my wife died, June 25, 2018, I couldn't write a word, but now after five years, I'm ready to start again, with a fresh set of perspectives, and a trauma-informed dark humor, and maybe, just maybe a little wisdom. Shalom. PSS: I also know what a database actually is now, so I'm considering building one based on writing, to be determined...

WRITING CRAFT LESSONS/EDUCATION


Articles by me:
  • Article: Writing Craft: Show / Don't Tell
    • I build a single sentence using show / don't tell. Building layer on layer, showing how you can take the thought you had in the draft, and build it into the final version.
  • Article: Writing Craft: Getting UnStuck
    • Several people have asked me to help them get unstuck. Here's one (of many) possible lessons along those lines.


Books, Articles, Authors, Authorities, Podcasts, and more (that are not me):


See Also,

    WRITING CRAFT TOOLS


    Research It!

    • ChatGPT-4 - (https://chat.openai.com) has become invaluable as a research tool. I can ask it specific questions (Would an Officer in the USAF have this skill?) and get targeted responses with links that I can use to read and verify the answers. It also helps me with StoryCraft. I can paste my outline of the story structure, and ask it for plot holes or weaknesses, and it will itemize them! https://chat.openai.com/g/g-oBrrXepkk-storycraft-editor
    • Notion: (https://www.notion.so) is the new best notes and research tool. There is even more functionality than Microsoft OneNote. I still have all my OneNote research saved, but I'm moving it to Notion.
    • Microsoft OneNote (Best Notes Tool Ever!) < Until it was replaced by Notion, but keeping this up, it's still useful.
      • This is my favorite! I've used Evernote and GNotes, but this just works best for me. It sinks from my Android Phone to my Windows Computer seamlessly. It stores all the notes I could ever want, with links. I wrote the entire first rough draft of my first novel in One Note before moving all of that later to Scrivener. 
      • Writing: I keep research, ideas, plot line ideas, character bios, links to the thousand little things I wanted to put into the story, random ideas, all of it here. It's my digital brain. 


    Write It!
    • Scrivener, by Literature & Latte - $40 
      • Michael Hyatt (here) first turned me on to this program. It is absolutely the best thing I've seen for writers who want to publish any book Fiction or Non-fiction. He even uses it for publishing blog posts, and other content. 
      • This program allows me to write my scenes in any order they come to my mind. When it comes to Story Structure, I'm a Pantser or Edit-As-You-Go, not an Outliner. So this tool allows me to move scenes around, re-organize whole sections and see the story through corkboards at every level 1 inch view and 10,000-foot view. 
      • Thanks to Michael Hyatt (and his Affiliate Code: MICHAELHYATT) I got it at a discount.
    • yWriter 5 - Free (switched to Scrivener, but this got me started)
      • This program pretty much does what Scrivener does, but for free. But being free, it's a bit less User-Friendly. Think "Open Office vs Microsoft Word". They both get the job done, but the user experience is way different. I used yWriter happily until I could afford Scrivener. 
      • This program also has one feature I didn't find in Scrivener (maybe it's there, but I didn't find it), a timeline broken down by POV. 
      • yWriter is a word processor which breaks your novel into chapters and scenes, helping you keep track of your work while leaving your mind free to create. It will not write your novel for you, suggest plot ideas or perform creative tasks of any kind. yWriter was designed by an author, not a salesman! 

    Edit It!
    • Grammarly - Free and Paid/Month 
      • The free version is MORE than I need right now, but in the future, I may start using the paid version. That depends on how much I'm writing, and how much it's paying me. 
      • This is an App/Extension that checks your grammar, in outstanding ways. 
      • There is a Chrome Extension, that checks your grammar from within your browser, no matter what site you are typing on (Facebook Twitter, Comments, Etc.,). 
      • There is a Microsoft Extension for Word and Outlook. I'm using it right now to edit my first novel. I'm seriously considering publishing my first novel without an Editor thanks to Grammarly.
    • Worthy Mentions:
      • Ginger - They have a free Chrome Extension. I'm trying it out now.
      • AutoCrit - You can paste it into the website for free, but you buy the software. Haven't tried it, but it came recommended by a Writers Group.
      • Hemingway Editor - Also came recommended by a Writers Group. Costs. Haven't tried it yet.
      • Hemingway App - Same company, just the online version. Paste the text in online and look for errors. 

    Publish It!
    • Kindle Direct Publishing - is where I publish the Kindle copy of the book.
      • You can upload a word document and it will format it for you. However, it's not quite right that way. Learn a bit about formatting, (Scrivner helps there too) and then upload it. This site puts it into Kindle directly.
      • Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP), Digital Book & Audio Book
      • Draft2Digital (D2D), Digital Book
      • Google Play, Digital Book
      • Kobo, Digital Book
      • Apple Books, Digital Book
      • Barnes and Noble Press. Paperback Book
      • Ingramspark, <<< She, and every other Indie Author, hates this company<<<<<

    Promote and Sell It!
    • Domain.Com - is where I buy my domain names. Still true in 2023.
      • Someone said, can't recall who, that you shouldn't host the website where you bought your domain name. That way, if you end up in a dispute with the host of the site, you can start a new site (keep that site template saved on your personal cloud somewhere, GDrive?) and go point the domain name to the new site while you are fixing the dispute.
    • Blogger - This is where my website lives. Still true in 2023.
      • This service, offered by Google, will let you build a blog for FREE. It's hands-down the easiest to use. WordPress has a learning curve that is much steeper (and more restrictive) than Blogger.
      • Templates/Design: Blogger comes with some enhanced templates, but I prefer to use another site called BTemplates. I download a template I like from there and upload it to Blogger. Then, I personalize it. I then save a copy of that template to my cloud (GDrive or OneDrive) in case I need it later. 
      • Article: How to use Blogger.Com and Domain.Com to host your Top Level Domain Name for less than $10/Year. 
      • Article: Maybe I should write a post about the top (10?) things I'd do when starting a new Blogger Blog.

    • GUMROAD: - Sell products, name your own price! I don't use this anymore, but it's a fun option.
      • I can upload a PDF copy of my book and sell that direct from my website to consumers. I can name a price, or allow them to name their own.
    • IFTT 
      • Social Media tool mostly. Let's me automate "If Blogger post, Then Post to Facebook" or whatever I want it to do, it's got 1,000s of options.




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