It’s a long, long year from Labour Day to Labour Day, so here are a few links with writing tips, literary advice and creative experiments to hone your skills between 3-Day Novel Contests.
Other Creative Pressure-Cookers
NaNoWriMo
Every November is National Novel Writing Month.
Crazy8s filmmaking festival
Our fellow Vancouverites! Pitch your film idea in 5-minutes; winners get funds to produce their film in an 8-day rush.
Script Frenzy
Write a screenplay in a month. Happens every April.
24-Hour Comics Day
Create a graphic story in a day. Every October.
National Novel Editing Month
(Though every month should be editing month.)
Writing and Reading Resources
A few links, organizations and festivals which the 3-Day administrators love,
and which you might too.
Write or Die
Set a time limit and a punishment level. Then, if you stop writing, look out.
Written? Kitten!
A nicer approach. Meet your word count goal and get a kitteny reward.
“Preditors” and Editors
A good resource site for educating yourself about scam publishers, literary agencies or writing contests.
AbsoluteWrite “Background Check” forum
A discussion forum for writers to pass on their own experiences with shady literary scams.
Magazines Canada
Canadian mags of all types. Find your periodical markets here.
Geist Magazine’s Writers Toolbox
Good advice and writing exercises to help perfect your prose.
Council of Literary Magazines and Presses
U.S. organization of independent publishers – another good source for markets.
Common Errors in English
3-Dayers take note! Mind your pique/peek/peak and your lose/loose!
List of Grammar Resources
A great set of links from the Editors Association of Canada
Another List of Writer’s Resources
A good compilation of U.S. sites from the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses.
Places for Writers
News about (mostly Canadian) calls for submissions, events, and writing contests.
Roget’s Thesaurus
Because there are so many ways to say “I love you.”
Strunk and White Online
The famous, debated, yet still relevant (sez us) style guide.
The Word On The Street
One-day festival of words happening the last Sunday of every September in Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Kitchener.
AWP Association and Conference
Giant annual writers and publishers conference, happening every February in rotating cities across the U.S.