My favourite websites for writers - Creative, Agents and Online Writing Communities and just added, free books!!

Hi all! I hope you managed to click on a couple of the participants in the RFW A-Z Appreciating the Zealotry challenge. Next post down if you'd like to have a read...

Now onto today's post which is all about links. I do a lot of web surfing while sitting in cafes or libraries with my netbook while I procrastinate about which project to work on out of my myriad of projects. I thought it was about time I shared the results of some of my searching for writing edification.


STOP PRESS: Kiru Taye just sent me a link to a Beach Book Blast. There are free excellent kindle books to be had from 23-25 May. I just bought myself some...

Here are 10 of my favourite web hang outs:

1. Easy Street Prompts - first of the creative sites for when your writer's brain needs a boost. You can troll through photos and video-based writing prompts. Somewhere in there you'll find inspiration for sure. I'm amazed at how many short stories I've written based on a prompt or a first sentence.
2. The Story Starter - There are over a billion opening lines here, more than enough to keep you writing for a few lifetimes. Great if you write short stories, especially.
3. Story Starter for Kids - If you teach writing to school students as I do, or if you just want to get your kids to write, here is a junior Story Starter. (This one only had 2,360 story starters when last I checked).
4. Pub Rants - Moving onto some agents' sites. This is a great site for when you're knocking your ms into shape - everything you ever wanted to know about publishing and submitting. There are big-time authors sharing advice and there are real query letters to learn from.
5. Rachelle Gardner - Writer's Digest gives Rachelle's site the 'Best of the Best' agent's award. Great questions and answers about writing and publishing, great discussions in the comments. Always something to learn/think about, and hopefully eventually do something about when you finish your coffee. Here's a cracker of a post I loved on 7 Bad Habits of Successful Authors.
6. Absolute Write - moving on to online writing communities. This one offers forums where you can get advice from real people who have experience in the world of fiction, freelancing, editing etc.
7. Backspace - A third of the members here are published/agented, well worth a look. You have to pay to participate in the forums but even nonmembers can lurk and read advice-filled articles.
8. National Novel Writing Month - one of my personal favourites. Join 250,000 writers who challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in the month of November. Lots of interaction if you like that sort of thing, lots of novel tracking which is exciting, but I join it just for the motivation and I never give up when I've set myself an achievable goal. I've written three novels in the past three years using NaNo as my inspiration. There is a follow up editing NaNo type thingy but I somehow manage to miss that! 
9. Writing.com - I'm sure you probably already visit this site on a regular basis. You can do a lot for free - share your work, enter contests, join writing circles - lots of writer-related activities.
10. Review Fuse - If you like writing reviews, you can get three reviews back for every four you write. You have to be a paid-up free (haha) member though to use this service. 

• Do you have any favourite sites to share?
• Would you like me to share more another time or would you rather just get back to your writing? 

PS. And talking of finding inspiration through prompts, keep your eyes open for the next RFW prompt on Friday June 1 - Yes, No, Oh, alright then! Write your 400 word story/poem using this prompt. (Sounds right up my alley). Go to the RomanticFridayWriters site for more info...We'd love you to join us. Open to all writers.