Informative Industry Sources (Self-Pub & Traditional):
ALLi (Alliance of Independent Authors)
A Newbie’s Guide To Publishing
The Book Designer
Bookbub Partners
Reedsy
Jane Friedman’s The Hot Sheet
Platform, Marketing & Promotion Advice:
Kristen Lamb: We Are Not Alone
Problogger
Jane Friedman
The Creative Penn
Molly Greene
We’ve put together a terrific collection of our best marketing advice, handouts, promotional swipe files, and more, so if you want to know how we handle marketing and promotion, bookmark this link.
Protect Yourself & Your Writing:
Writer Beware: Find scammers before they find you
Copyscape: Think maybe someone’s stolen a blog post? See if you’re right.
Professional Services & Tools For Writers:
Fictionary: Intelligent online STORY editing software that helps writers and editors create award-winning fiction. (Give the free trial a try – your story will thank you for it!)
ProWritingAid: Premier and affordable software to help you strengthen your writing. There’s a free trial & this is used by nearly 1 million professionals (note: affiliate link)
BetaBooks: Beta Reader Management software for authors (great way to include your fans in the writing process and make them feel like insiders!)
Reedsy: a marketplace of vetted professionals to help authors publish
ScribeCount: Track your digital sales, bestseller rank & more
TechSurgeons: Hosting & website design (specializes in author sites)
Anti Social: Shut off social media or internet and focus on work
Siteliner: Search for broken website links and more
Editing, Coaching & Formatting Services:
C.S. Lakin: has edited several of our thesaurus books
Michael Dunne: our proofreader–highly recommended
JD Smith Design: quick and professional. Designs our covers and interiors
Fawkes Editing: September is a Resident Writing Coach who knows her craft
Heart of the Story: Sara is a former Resident Writing Coach and poetry expert
Marissa Graff: a Resident Writing Coach and editor with Angelella Editorial.
Lisa Poisso: a Resident Writing Coach and professional editor
Stuart Wakefield: a compassionate writing coach and editor
Astrion Creative: Erica proofread The Conflict Thesaurus and did an outstanding job
A Powerful Writing Tool:
One Stop For Writers®: Build deep, memorable characters, fresh plots, and a world readers won’t want to leave using this site’s arsenal of storytelling tools. Need step-by-step help as you plan, write, and revise? Our Storyteller’s Roadmap will guide you to a publish-ready novel.
Writing can be easier! Give the free trial a spin.
More Help…
Scrivener: An excellent “does it all” writing & organization tool
QueryTracker: Great organization & information software for your agent search
The Writers Helping Writers® Toolbox: Lots of free downloads on writing & editing
Hiveword Online Fiction Organizer: great little online organizer & writing tool
Save The Cat Tools: Must have printable sheets that work on Save The Cat principles
Jami Gold’s Worksheets for Writers: A plethora of excellent writing & editing tools
Writing Pacemaker: A completely customizable way to track word count progress and set word count goals to fit your writing style and productivity schedule
Story Structure Database: Movie breakdowns to help you master story structure
Word Frequency Counter: Find your overused words quickly with this counter
100 Online Dictionaries: If you are looking for specific or niche information, give these specialized dictionaries a whirl
Recommended Online Learning Centers
Writing for Life Workshops
Write Now Mastermind
Writer’s Digest University
Recommended Writing Communities
Fictionary Community: Learn craft, network, and find resources
The Creative Academy: Find your people, build relationships, and grow together
Scribophile – a community that focuses on critique swaps and open discussion
The Critique Circle – critique exchange community (Where Becca and I met!)
SCBWI Message Board (for Kidlit or YA writers).
NaNoWriMo – The “write a novel in a month club”
Seekerville – a writing blog with a big community heart.
Angela’s Vault of Wonders
MythBank’s World Mythology 101: a compendium of myth and folklore
Litcharts: a directory of literary devices and terminology
Rainy Mood: Write to the sound of rain
Blade Play & Incised Wounds: A primer on knife wounds
Reverse Dictionary: find related words
Action Verb List: Lose the bland and get specific
Silk: Create something beautiful while thinking through writing problems
The Skeptic’s Dictionary: weird and wonderful story inspiration
Author Name Pronunciation Guide (helpful!)
Onomatopoeia Dictionary: write sounds
Writing Realistic Injuries
The Character Therapist: Put your characters on the couch
The Writer’s Knowledge Base: A search engine for writers
One Stop For Writers® Pinterest Board: best of the best writing articles
Writers Helping Writers® Pinterest Board: our most popular articles in one place
One Stop For Writers’ Checklist and Tip Sheet Database:
Want to add sophistication to your story?
One Stop for Writer’s massive database of checklists and tip sheets will help you navigate story problems, refine your ideas, and take your story from good to great.
Just click, download, and share. Happy writing!
Great Article Thanks For Sharing Information…..
Do you sell the different thesaurus books together as a bundle?
Hi Jackie, We do not sell the guides as a bundle in print, just as this would be a bit costly for most people and typically Amazon will have our books on sale at at better price (as people get free shipping). As far as ebooks, Becca and I opted to keep our ebook prices a a fair price across the board rather than do what traditional publishers do and slap on the same price as the print. However, we did create one ‘bundle’ for the Positive and Negative Trait books so we could hyperlink them together, making it easier to move between positive and negative traits. You can find that one here: https://writershelpingwriters.net/the-character-trait-boxed-set/
I hope this helps answer your question. YOu can find out where all of our books are and your preferred stores here: https://books2read.com/ap/njVQWn/Angela-Ackerman
Hi Becca and Angela, first: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Second: I have a specific question relating to one of your Thesauri.
My one question is, in response to what you have written in The Emotional Wound Thesaurus, that of the LIE being the key component in a character’s arc, is it possible that “Emotional High-Points” (I don’t exactly know how to define them, but I imagine them to be the opposite of Emotional Wounds) ALSO carry their own lies?
Thank you so much for everything you do. I recently bought four brand new copies off your thesaurus list.
Ignacio
Hi, Ignacio! I’m so sorry to just now be getting back to you; somehow, your comment slipped by me :).
I believe what you’re asking is if really big positive moments in the character’s life can result in a lie the same way wounds do. So, winning a coveted prize or having a baby, for instance. This is very interesting question. I think that any big, impactful moment can change the character. But I don’t believe positive moments will have the hugely negative impacts that a wound does. The reason a wound gives birth to the lie is because it’s the brain’s way of trying to make sense of what happened so it can ensure that horrible thing never happens again. Whose fault is this? How did I let this happen? What’s wrong with me? This whole thing could’ve been avoided if I’d just done X, Y, or Z.
But positive moments are different. They build confidence instead of self-doubt. They make the character feel powerful instead of weak. These events build the character up instead of tearing them down. There’s no need to try and keep these keystone moments from reoccurring, so there’s no need for our brains to try and make sense of it to try and protect the character.
I’m sure there are exceptions. Someone who comes out #1 in a challenging competition may begin to believe that they’re better than everyone else, that others are inferior. But the process of that lie forming is different and will have different factors leading up to it than an emotional wound does. So I think the two situations are very different.
This was a thought-provoking question. I hope I answered it to your satisfaction. Thanks for bringing it up!
WOW! Thank you so much for responding!
Yes, this makes a lot more sense. The reason I asked this question is because recently I read Oedipus Rex by Sophocles; since it mentions how Oedipus solves the riddle of the Sphinx, this made me think if previous achievements also set up the character to believe a lie about themselves.
Thank you!
– Ignacio
I am just now revisiting a post you published in October of 2015 titled ” Planning a Novel: Character Arc In a Nutshell.” It is extraordinary! Thank you for such an informative article!
So glad you found that post helpful! These four things are really four cornerstones of a story, and when we figure them out, everything else becomes much easier. 🙂 Happy writing!
Good post guys
I have used WHW for a couple of years. I am amazed every time I take a couple minutes to explore the site. My solution: SET A REMINDER IN MY PHONE CALENDAR!
Thanks, again!
Mike Emminger
Wow! what an awesome one-stop info for all the prerequisites and requirements for authors.
I have bought most of your books and gifted to a good friend too.
Please share with us more info to help us be self-published successful authors soon.
Thank you 🙂
I am just a wannabe amateur writer, and I am grateful for all your invaluable resources that you have enlightened us with. Honestly speaking, your first thesaurus is like the first glimpse of light in a long dark tunnel where I was stuck and lost for a long time. I am deeply thankful for your great effort. I would love to see like everybody else out there more thesaurus. If you plan to release thesauruses on outer and inner conflicts I do believe that would be one of the greatest gift one can experience as a writer. I hope you will take my request under your kind consideration.
Thanks & Regards
What a lovely note–we are so happy we are able to help you! And I don’t know if you are aware, but in addition to our books, we have a site that houses ALL our thesauruses – 14 in all. I mention this because today we just put up a Character Motivation thesaurus that looks at the internal and external motivations of a character. LOL, how’s that for good timing? The link is here if you wish to check it out: https://onestopforwriters.com/character_motivations
It’s fantabulous !!!! 😍
That’s terrific—so glad it will help!
I am seeking help to write my book
Hi there, Bakari. 🙂 You’ve come to the right place because this site is filled with articles and tools to help you write. If you have a specific problem you need help with, try to give me as much detail as possible so I can direct you to the right articles or tools, or you can use the search function in the right side toolbar. 🙂
The Dick Tracy watch for writers.
Thank you!! 🙂
What an amazing collection of resources! Thank you so much!
Thanks. That is a lot of good info. I appreciate you! 🙂
Thanks for a very helpful post.
Love your books. This resource page is a treasure for writers. Thanks for your generosity.
So glad you’re enjoying it, Jeff!
What a great resource! Thank you for sharing.
Happy to share, Sue! Thanks for your visit. 😉
Wow! Great lineup of resources. Thanks so much for sharing them!
<333
I am constantly looking for resources for writers and I must say that this is such an amazing list. Thank you for taking the time to put this together!
Vary happy it helps! 🙂
What an incredible list! Thank you so much for sharing.
Happiness is mine,indeed!
This is generosity!
Happy you found us, Edgardo!
This is such a helpful list. thank you so much. I will check them out.
I love everything about your site. Lots of info for a newie!
Thanks,
Richard Freeze
Thank you so much for this massive list.