Monday, May 14, 2012

A Random Act of Kindness Blitz

Today, many writers are participating in a special event, created by Becca and Angela at the Bookshelf Muse. We're all focusing on writers who make a difference in the writing community--either on a small and personal scale (a supportive critique partner, a writing mentor), or on a larger scale. The online writing community is very tight-knit and supportive....probably because the writing life can be so isolating. Most of us have someone in this community who we find especially inspiring and helpful.
To commemorate the release of their book The Emotion Thesaurus, Becca and Angela at The Bookshelf Muse are hosting a Random Act Of Kindness BLITZ. There are many writing friends who are supportive on a daily basis--I couldn't name them all here or the blog might crash. Some writers always comment on my blog (and I read and appreciate every comment I get), some are always there for me on Twitter, RTing the links I share. There are some writers who read my blog on Facebook on Networked Blogs and like my posts there. Some writers are folks I know in person--they give me career advice (which is incredibly appreciated, since it can be hard to know what direction to go in as a writer.) Then there are writers who provide me with inspiration and writing advice. I subscribe to some incredible blogs--a few of those blogs that I could even set up Twitter to automatically tweet everything they post...because their posts are always good.
So today, I'd like to recognize one of those writers--K.M. Weiland. Her posts are top-notch resources for writers who are interested in improving their work. I tweet every post because the information there is invaluable for writers. Her main blog is Wordplay and she also posts on a rotation at the AuthorCulture blog. She writes fiction, short stories, and nonfiction--her books can be found here. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Katie has just finished a ten-part series on story structure that covered everything from the inciting incident (place the inciting incident in the first 25% of the book and pull the protagonist into that incident) to the midpoint ("it must act as a personal catalyst upon the main character") to the resolution ("the resolution should give the reader a concrete example of how the character's journey has changed him.") And this was just used as an example. Go to K.M. Weiland's blog to find posts on backstory, dialogue, pacing, and more. As a thank you for her resource for writers at Wordplay and to follow the rules of the Random Act of Kindness Blitz, I'm sending her a bookstore gift certificate so she can spend a little time relaxing with a book. Becca and Angela designed this blitz to encourage us to recognize other writers--they urge us to "send them an email, give them a shout out, or show your appreciation in another way. " Becca and Angela have a special RAOK gift waiting for my blog readers as well, so hop on over to The Bookshelf Muse to pick it up. Who has helped you on your journey to publication or provided helpful resources or encouragement for you? Have you discovered K.M. Weiland's blog? Which blogs do you find especially helpful for writers?