Does anyone have links to any in depth writing advice from well known authors?

[DAgent]

I've looked online of course and have found a few bits and pieces, the odd youtube video even, but it mostly just boils down to a few very minor bits of advice, some much the same as everyone else's, other rather unique to that person.

Then there's the odd Master Class which I will admit I have been tempted with forking out the dough for.

Has anyone managed to find some really in depth breakdowns of the writing processes used by different writers?

I'll do some digging of my own later on (when work allows me a break or two) and post some things I've found as responses.

 

[G.T.]

I'd start with Brandon Sanderson's lecture series on youtube. I'm not a huge fan of his work but he is well known.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I take it you’re already familiar with SK’s On Writing?

 

[JS Wiig]

I'd start with Brandon Sanderson's lecture series on youtube. I'm not a huge fan of his work but he is well known.

In addition, I would include the “Writing Excuses” podcast.

 

[Juliana]

Writing Excuses is fabulous.

Susan Dennard has some solid advice (and loads of it!!!) on her website:
For Writers – Susan Dennard

 

[Toby Frost]

Writing Resources Index Thread

Welcome to the SFF Chronicles Writing Resources Index Thread The purpose of this thread is to provide an index of the many resources that have been posted to this forum over the years, allowing people to find items of interest to them. It is split into sections and to view the links available...

www.sffchronicles.com

 

[sknox]

What are you looking for? An introduction to writing fiction? To writing fantasy or SF in particular? Interested in simply reading advice from great writers just to hear what they have to say? Looking for specific advice on specific challenges you currently face?

There are many kinds of advice. Knowing what kind of seeker you are will help you find the right mountaintop guru.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Joanna Penn has a lot of blog articles and podcasts. Ben Galley isn't far behind.

 

[zmunkz]

I'd start with Brandon Sanderson's lecture series on youtube.

Agreed! Here are his BYU lectures, where he teaches creative writing.

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSTzdBlo5WBDYapYaDq4A0cgQDk2CWhRD

 

[Susan Boulton]

Just a word of caution, it can be useful to read and listen to how other writers, write, but there comes a point when you have to find out and work out how you write. You need just to write, even if you are muddling through something. You can learn, least in my opinion, more by actually writing, than all the blogs, and books.

 

[sknox]

>You can learn, least in my opinion, more by actually writing, than all the blogs, and books.
Which is not quite to say those sources have nothing lto offer. Nor that what one can learn from actually writing is the same stuff as one can learn from books, blogs, etc. That is to say, they can supplement one another.

Also, writers are not static creatures. We evolve, or at least change. What's appropriate to the first-time novelist might well be old hat to someone who has published ten novels and had success. What's appropriate to the mystery writer may be irrelevant to the YA fantasy novelist. Not all can be learned from books and blogs, but not all can be learned from the plain act of writing either. It doesn't have to be a question of where "more" is learned. It's more a matter of finding what resonates for a particular writer at a particular time.

I don't know about others, but I well remember being at the point of the OP. I was staggered by the number and range of questions I had, the breadth of my uncertainty. I welcomed recommendations concerning this or that, but I really wanted a Great Big List so I could look around for myself, searching for that resonance that I could not describe but could recognize.

 

[JS Wiig]

I don't know about others, but I well remember being at the point of the OP. I was staggered by the number and range of questions I had, the breadth of my uncertainty.

I too remember such. I remember reading all kinds of blogs on writing and watching all kinds of videos on writing and reading memoirs of famous writers and listening to podcasts on writing. I even have a list. I remember thinking, as an engineer brained human, “this should be easy, all I have to do is input words into these various and sundry plot points and sentence structures and viola! JK Rowling!”

Then I began to participate in the challenges here and soliciting feedback, and I learned a lot, particularly about rejection and handling critique, two things that can make or break a prospective writer, and can only be learned by experiencing them.

So yes those things are useful, but only when put in practice with a feedback loop that more often than not feels like a gut punch.