The best of the many excellent resources I’ve used in the course of my writing. It’s not a complete list of everything I’ve discovered and used, but I’d recommend these first.
People.
J B C Editing – Jeanne will be editing Invasion! . . . just as soon as I finish hyper-tweaking it.
Ross Lampert Blog – Ross chairs the Cochise Writers writing group and has accumulated a wealth on useful information for both writing and critiquing fiction.
Groups.
Writers.Huachuca.Org – Not a writing group, but an informal gathering of writers, future writers, and resource providers to chat and network about all things writing . . . and many things that are not related to writing at all. Writing is a solitary occupation, so this gives everyone a chance to chat with others so afflicted. We meet the first Saturday of each month, from 1000-1200 hours, at the Sierra Vista Public Library.
Tools.
yWriter – Excellent tool for creating your novel one scene at a time, then organizing your scenes into chapters (and reorganizing them!), then fabricating that stuff into a book. It’s free, and designed by a programmer-turned-author. I’ve been using it for years and love it.
Books.
Punctuation for Writers – by Harvey Stanbrough. English punctuation is a nightmare, inane traditions masquerading as absolute truth. This book cuts through the crap. The best of many excellent books by Harvey.
On Writing – by Steven King. Part biography, part general guidance on how to write fiction. I was into the third month of writing The Forgotten Adventures of Dolley Madison when I decided to start reading books on fiction writing. I digested a a dozen books . . . then all the conflicting advice gave me mental vapor-lock and I couldn’t write a word for an entire month. On Writing broke through with one simple concept repeated over and over again so that even new writers could get it: The Story Rules! The Story is the Boss. The Story comes First! He covers much more (some day I’ll post my On Writing Cheat sheet!), but his emphasis on clearing the deck so your story can shine was exactly what I needed. Caveat – I’m not a horror-fiction fan, and don’t care for Steven Kings books or movies. This book, however, made me a Steven King fan!.
Writing the Breakout Novel – by Donald Maass. Excellent tips on how to make a good story much better. I read it, took lots of notes, modified my story extensively, then just recently I read through this book again to make sure I didn’t forget anything. Excellent!