Useful plotting advice

As promised, another post this week to make up for the short offering on Tuesday. This list of plotting suggestions comes from Alicia Rasley: a writer who is most known as a romance writer and writing instructor. Her writing booklets are quite inspiring.

Ouch!

Mel slapped me.

No, not really. But she did point out that I haven't posted 2 weeks in a row. But I have a good excuse, honest!!! School. (Insert ominous crescendo here.)

We are back to school at last, which I'm decidedly ambivalent about. But the resulting shuffle of time management means that I have to change my "Will Post" date to Tuesday, I think. Mondays are now all about school and the baby. Otherwise, I've been doing actual writing (as opposed to blogging?). I finally managed my first article for the Post-Tribune and have been thinking through a new romance.

So I caught wind of this post by Maureen Johnson from Claire Zulkey on MBToolbox. Oh how I laughed! Jimmy Stewart only adds to the fun.

[But then, doesn't he always? In the first romance novel I was writing (I've since declared it hopeless -- ironic given the nature of Johnson's blog) the romantic hero was partially based on Jimmy Stewart. However, Stewart is hardly the Romance-Novel Hero type: he's no square-jawed, uber-muscled rake. I'm ashamed to admit this, but originally, this character was a tailor as well. Can you believe it? Yeah. That was not going to work. Oh well. Sigh. I've been a nerd from waaaay back. ]

That's my humble offering this week. I'll work on something more substantial as the week goes on. Thanks for the motivation, Mel!

Poetry toys

I love a good poetry toy! (See "Instant Poetry" entry). Here's another called Erasures. Feel free to post the link to your poems here. Here's my work of genius: "Luna". Snark away.

I Dream of Funding

I fantasize that one day I'll get paid to write. Not just a token amount scarcely enough to pay for a subscription to the local newspaper, but really paid. (I also fantasize that I'm living in the south of France while I'm doing this paid writing, but that's beyond the point...) So today's blog focus is money: winning it, earning it ... whatever works.

First up, a few resources for grant-seekers:

• The most comprehensive list is a subscription service from PEN America Center. Once I finish paying of my local newspaper subscription, I'll invest in this resource.



• The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies can help locate regional funding for writers and artists and give the heads up to more obscure resources. Don't pass up their links to other sources.



• And this is the National Society of Arts and Letters, which prides itself on encouraging young artists.



• Finally, if you're hiding an "exceptional" publication credit in your back pocket, you can always apply for an NEA Literature Fellowship

And next, a few good sources (other than your creased and coffee-stained copy of Writer's Market) for contest information:

• My personal favorite, Poets & Writers Magazine's Grants and Awards page. It's elegant, it's easy to use, it's inspiring. Awww.



• Winning Writers is also great reference for poets looking for contest info.



• The Poetry Society of America also publishes a pretty exhaustive list of contests and retreats on their Resources page.



• Writing-World.com also features a long list of contests.
  
  
• If you're a screenwriter, the Writer's Guild of America sites both list screenwriting awards and fellowships.

And finally, a few sources for paying work:

• WritersWeekly.com has a decent freelance job list.



• As does my other fave writing site, Mediabistro.com

Don't forget that most genres have their own lists of contests and awards. For example, you'd naturally check out the RWA if you're a romance writer, but would you think of checking out The Cat Writers' Association if you write about cats?

I'm still looking for the "Creative Writing in the South of France Grant", though. So clue me in if you find it, alright?