Friday, May 25, 2012

Nail Your Novel: A Blog Tribute

I got SO many great book recs from Amparo's post, Books on Craft: Which Are Your Faves?

Then today I found one on my own I'd like to add to my library. If it's anywhere near as helpful as the author's blog, it's a winner! 

on amazon

As a writer who has six books under her belt, this subtitle spoke to me: Why writers abandon books and how you can draft, fix and finish with confidence. 

I didn't start writing any of my books with the intent to abandon. Well, maybe one, but that was a guilty pleasure based on a dream. (Don't ask.) *blushes insanely* Okay, I shouldn't have brought that up. 

But mostly I write with the hope of sharing my work with others. The despair that causes all authorial abandonment comes from a lack of confidence in one's work. 

Maybe we're just inherently hard on ourselves, or maybe we've been rejected one time too many. Maybe we've been reading freakin' bestsellers all year and are comparing ourselves unfairly to the finished product of dozens of publishing pros!

Whatever the reason, I know I'm not the only one ever to abandon a pseudo-finished book. But it's a problem I don't want to repeat. So I clicked over to check out Roz Morris's blog with the same title as her book: Nail Your Novel

Come to find out she just won Website of the Week from Writers' Digest! 

She also has very clever posts like Doctor Who and the Infinite Possibilities: How Original Ideas Take Time, which is made of win for anyone who has ever come up with a brilliant novel concept that lacked focus; and Writing Fast, Writing Slow - and Why One Book a Year Suits Hardly Anyone, including a pretty neat little 6-bullet description of her writing process. 

I've already found a lot of helpful stuff there, so I'm paying it forward to you in hopes you find it as mind-stretching as I have.

So... I'm three and a half weeks away from popping out this baby (real baby, not a book). Before or after you visit  Roz's blog to explore the awesomeness...

Leave me your favorite children's books recommendations in the comments! (Baby is a boy, if that matters.)

10 comments:

Carissa said...

Oh my goodness, congrats!! I'm not so good with books for teeny tinys, but when he gets older I love these 'classics' (aka from my childhood): Rotten Island, Jamberry, The Clever Carpenter and Good Dog Carl - all of which I gave my niece last year! So many great children's books out there.

Kim Murray said...

Congratulations! Boys are so much fun :) My boys and I loved specifically two books by Mem Fox: Time For Bed and Where Is The Green Sheep. Enjoy!

JeffO said...

In terms of real young, almost anything by Dr. Seuss. Boynton board books (I always loved 'But Not the Hippopotamus' for some reason in particular). And, seek out the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne. The Disney stuff is nice, but the original has such charm. And congratulations and good luck!

Amparo Ortiz said...

CONGRATS!!!!! I wish I could hug you through the screen!!!!

I DID get a ton of awesome book recommendations, too. It's been a lot of fun to discover super helpful advice. My sanity has been restored :) Now if you'll excuse me, I must go check out Roz's blog!

ilima said...

Congrats. Books...anything by Mo Willems are my kids' favorites right now.

Cordelia Dinsmore said...

Congratulations! Babies are such wonderful little people. Our favorite around here was "I'll Love You Forever." And we also liked The Kissing Hand, but that's a bit later.

Sigal Tzoore said...

I love Leo Lionni and especially his Fish is Fish. And Sandra Boynton. Her books are fit to sing.

R.H. Russell said...

The Napping House by Audrey Wood and Don Wood. Congrats!

Kell Andrews said...

My kids loved Karen Katz lift-the-flap books, and COUNTING KISSES is so much fun with a baby. Also love Karma Wilson's BABYCAKES.

Roz Morris aka @Roz_Morris . Blog: Nail Your Novel said...

Thanks so much for featuring my book and blog here - and all best wishes for your flesh-and-blood WIP!