Resources / ideas that have transformed my writing life:
Drafting:
Anne Lamott on ‘Shitty First Drafts’
Liz Berry on a Slow, Rich, Exploratory Drafting Process
Creativity:
Dr. Edward de Bono – who devised the concept ‘Lateral Thinking’
Rod Judkins’s mind-altering book: ‘The Art of Creative Thinking’
How Creativity is Helped by Failure
How There’s No Time Limit for Success
Creative Imagination vs. Technical Imagination
Getting Published:
Examples of Great Books That/Great Writers Who Bounced Back from Multiple Rejections
Why You Should Aim for 100 Rejections A Year
The ‘Jo Bell Method’ of Submitting to Magazines
Helena Nelson on How (Not to) Get Your Poetry Published
Kristen Roupenian Interview, discussing her getting published
Short Story Magazines To Submit To
Bernadine Evaristo on rejection, ambition, and having a vision
Literary Essays / Interviews about Writing Craft:
Audre Lorde: The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action
Chuck Palahniuk on “Burnt Tongue”, “Received Text”, and “Recording Angels”
A Selection of the Greatest Literary Essays
Raymond Carver (one of my favourite writers): ‘A Storyteller’s Notebook’
George Saunders on what writers really do
George Saunders interview – on writing fiction
LitHub – A great resource for writers and readers
Brain Pickings: Famous Writers’ ‘Rules for Writing’
The Guardian: Famous Writers’ “Ten Rules For Writing”
Interview with poet Don Paterson
Insights into Literature:
The ‘In Our Time’ Literature Podcasts – discussions of classic literature
Story Structure:
Mythic Structure: The Heroine’s Journey (by Maureen Murdock and others)
Mythic Structure: The Hero’s Journey (by Christopher Vogler)
Mythic Structure: The Seven Basic Plots (by Christopher Booker)
‘3 Words That Are Guaranteed to Make Your Writing Better’
George Saunders on Not Planning Ahead
Poetry Resources:
London’s (amazing & free-to-use) Poetry Library
Teaching Resources:
Facilitation resources for Teachers
A lifeline for writer-teachers: The National Association of Writers in Education