by Lazarus Black
They say not to market yourself to other writers, and I'm not trying to do that. Most of the "Writing Tips & Resources" are for people interested in learning how I do what I do because it's a window into me as an author. And this page is no different — although it has the added benefit of helping me remember some of these great resources if I ever forget them and can't access my browser's bookmarks.
Resource compilations by Legendary Authors
David Farland/Wolverton is the closest to a writing mentor that I've ever had. He passed away before we could talk in great detail after my Writers of the Future win, but he wrote me the most incredible e-mails. Fortunately, he put a ton of his lesson online for others:Â https://mystorydoctor.teachabl...
The incomparable Jonathan Mayberry has great resources on his website:Â https://www.jonathanmaberry.co...
Formatting
Really, the only one anyone cares about:Â https://www.shunn.net/format/
My own templates:Â https://www.lazarus.black/blog...
Tools
For manuscripts, I use Scrivener for MacOs: https://www.literatureandlatte... I used to use Google Docs and loved it - but I'm very fiddly with plot and stuff and like Scrivs management tools. MS Word is okay. Used it for many years, but MS admits that it nerfed the MacOs version - specifically the typesetting tools that I personally find incredibly useful that most people don't. Plus, I don't like the subscription model where all my works might suddenly be unable to open or, worse, MS might update their EULA to suddenly gift all my writings to them in perpetuity (a la the D&D OGL fiasco).
I currently use ProWritingAid instead of Grammarly:Â https://prowritingaid.com/
I haven't needed a mapping tool yet, but friends say this is a good one:Â https://www.wonderdraft.net/ (Personally, IÂ might just use Illustrator and Photoshop, because I've been using them for 35 years.)
Submitting
Not to be confused with Grindr, The Grinder is an amazing FREE tool for authors to find and manage submissions to various publishers: https://thegrinder.diabolicalp... (So far, I've found it more useful than Duotrope. That may change one day.)
Same thing as The Grinder, but for managing submissions to Agents:Â https://querytracker.net/
Groups and Seminars
Founded by David Farland/Wolverton, I joined Apex in 2019 and it has made all the difference to me in the world:Â https://apex-writers.com/
IÂ went to my first Superstars in 2022:Â https://superstarswriting.com/
I joined Apex in 2019 and it has made all the difference to me in the world.
Contests
The only one I can recommend is Writers of the Future. It's FREE to enter. You can enter every 3 months. You keep all your rights. It's judged by the most famous authors in the field of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and everything in between). Win cash awards. Win PAID publication (yes, on top of the award money). Win a free most-expenses paid trip to Hollywood, California for a week of lectures and hob-nobbing with those same famous SFF authors. Received a huge trophy on stage at a massive red-carpet event. Have your story published in a best-selling anthology.... there is nothing else like it on Earth for writers and young illustrators. https://www.writersofthefuture...