Wicked Wordsmith

BAD IDEA Launches Writers' Lab

The UK-based site BAD IDEA, launched a writing community where authors can get feedback from their peers. The site accepts short nonfiction entries. Members of the site can rate or comment on them. The lab also offers editorial feedback - but be prepared before you enter The Butcher Shop. It's a no-holds-barred editfest.

Need an Agent? Check out MySpace

If you need an agent, check out LitMatch.net's site on MySpace. It's got a lot of great information. If you're not on MySpace, get an account, and make them a "friend."

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

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Cool Blog from Some FAB Writers

I was surfing through Jane Ann Krentz' website for info on her new novel, White Lies, coming out in January 2007, when I found a link to the blog she shares with writers Stella Cameron, Lori Foster, Elizabeth Lowell, Susan Anderson and Suzanne Simmons. Check it out:

http://www.runningwithquills.com/

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith

Blog Me

No format in the world frees my mind - and my inhibitions - more than blogs.

I love my blog. It's a place where I can truly set myself free, talk about what I want to talk about, fill people in on what's going on in my life and, sometimes, it's entertaining (like the time I bought maternity pants instead of plus size pants, or the story about a nearby building that's shaped like a giant nipple). And there are just days when I can't help but comment on the stupidity of those in the news.

For some, blogging is a bit too TMI - they don't like sharing the trials and tribulations of their lives with thousands of anonymous surfers. Me, I'm pretty much an open book - which generally gets me into trouble. I don't wear a mask every day. I am real and I am out there - I don't know any other way to be. (Of course, sometimes I wonder if I were face-to-face with a person I've just met, would I really tell them about ... well, you'll just have to read the blog and pick a scenario!) Plus, I try to be uninhibited when I write fiction. I've found if I'm not, the writing is stilted, stiff and uninteresting, and I don't take nearly as many chances as the characters want me to. My blog is a great practice ground for freeing my thoughts from 21st century constraints.

I've had my blog for about a year, and so far, strangers have sent me emails of encouragement, or thanks for sharing my thoughts because they pertained to a current situation the reader was experiencing. Friends say they can keep up with me, or laugh at the crazy situations I've faced (especially in bathrooms modeled after doll houses, or with clothes constructed poorly by China's elite child workforce). Blogs are just a fun way to communicate with others - and I am all about communicating, whether it's through a feature story, a journal, an email, podcast, videocast... You get the idea.

But the biggest benefit I've found? I'm flexing my writing muscle. Even though blogs are basically journals that anyone can read - and I tend to let the rules of prose fall to the wayside - they still require your mind to free itself and your fingers to pound away at the keyboard for an allotted amount of time. Not all postings are going to be great. But sometimes, something will just hit you and it will flow onto the page effortlessly. There are times when I write something on the blog that is so striking - or just plain funny - that I save it for future reference. I just know those items will someday work into novels or short stories.

So consider starting a blog. Google free blogging services and find one that makes you comfortable. Be sure to review the rights and permissions area, so if you eventually decide to publish your blog, you still own the materials and the hosting company does not.

Angela Wilson - Wicked Wordsmith
Personal Blog: www.angelawilson.blogspot.com