Everyone can benefit from different resources, whether it’s to improve a skill or even to just get a different perspective. One of my favourite writing resources when I was a kid was books about the craft. I read a LOT of them, in my weird little introverted way thinking that yeah, writing is like studying and I can just learn to do it.

In this day and age, we have a lot of different resources, and ways to communicate amongst ourselves, and it’s fantastic! I don’t even have to go outside, bonus! Books are still good- even just reading is a great resource. You can’t write unless you read, after all, to paraphrase Mr. King. With the introduction of the internet in homes there are a vast number of platforms we can access. Here are a few that I find personally useful:

• Youtube I follow writers, editors, other general bloggers/vloggers. They have a lot of advice and opinions, a lot of it professional, really applicable stuff that can be used in writing your book, as well as marketing and selling that bad boy to publishers. A few I enjoy in particular are:
  • Kim Chance  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtcDmM2bgezD0c95Y38OAcg Kim covers a bit of everything on her channel, and I live for her weekly vlogs and instagram streams. She’s really perky and inspiring, and her debut novel Keeper is out early 2018
  •  Ellen Brock https://www.youtube.com/user/KeytopServices I only found Ellen the other day through recommendations, but I’ve been binge watching her videos as I do my spring clean of my room/office to get in the zone for the weather change (it’s also an excuse to procrastinate, obviously).
  •  Kristina Horner https://www.youtube.com/user/italktosnakes/videos Kristina is one of the first ever vloggers I watched, and the reason I even know things like Nanowrimo exists! She’s perky, fun, and a massive nerd, which really makes the process easier to enjoy.
• Dedicated forums I’m currently not really on any but the Nano forums, which I occasionally lumber through, but over the years I have definitely read my fair share. This is a good way to connect with similar writers and bulk post information.
• Twitter there are actually a lot of good hashtags for writing challenges, titbits, and all sorts! They’re all super fun and interesting and it’s a fantastic way to connect with other people in the industry, and not just writers!

Among these and other online resources, we still have the good old fashion in person ones. Writer’s groups/centres are super handy (I’m part of the SA Writer’s Centre and I’ve been slowly attending things as my anxiety lessens) and they’re enjoyable as well as useful.

Sorry for the short post. Does anyone have any resources that they use that I haven’t mentioned? I’d love to hear. I hope you’re all having a fantastic week and get a lot done. I’m attending the first Nano event of the year Saturday so hopefully my next blog will include a bit of that.

Happy writing,

Emma-Kate xoxo