Ongoing Writing Education

I'm committed to continuing my education. It's so important to me, I have an entire section of my annual business plan devoted to it.


You might be wondering, how do writers continue their education? It depends on the person! There are so many ways authors can enhance their knowledge.

One way I contribute to my ongoing education is with subscriptions to magazines on writing. Two  of mine come automatically with my membership to organizations. RWR, Romance Writer's Report, is a monthly magazine put out by RWA, and it's loaded with terrific articles and interviews. ACFW recently launched their debut magazine which will be published quarterly. It's a gem.

Another way is to attend conferences. If you can't afford one or don't have time to travel, there are plenty of great online conferences and many are free.

Just meeting with other writers can add to your knowledge. I learn so much about what's happening in the publishing industry, not to mention plotting tips, contest information, and anything else writing related simply by meeting with other writers on a regular basis.

Fantastic blogs on writing abound. If you aren't sure where to start or are looking to add some new sites to your list, I highly recommend checking out Elizabeth S. Craig's Twitterific round-up each week. She also co-founded the Writer's Knowledge Base, an online emporium of all things writing.

For the fast track on what's going on with the publishing industry, I suggest reading Porter Anderson's "On the Ether" series each Thursday. These are intense posts, centering on the behind the scenes action of Amazon, the big six publishers, and the rapidly changing publishing climate. Porter does an amazing job of staying on top of the latest developments and he adds expert insight into what they mean. I can't recommend On the Ether enough. It's not a quick read, though, so grab a cup of coffee and rope off half an hour.

My recent means of continuing my writing education is a short, daily craft lesson from The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing, which features 77 short interviews and articles written by best-selling authors on all aspects of writing. I plan to read them in order, and I'm assigning myself one each weekday.

If you're in the mood for a new book on the writing craft, check out Jody Hedlund's fantastic list of books for writers.

How do you keep your education fresh?

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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