Friday's Interesting Links

Writing

Interesting perspective on the "write what you know" advice:
http://amyandthepen.blogspot.com/2009/08/writing-tip-incorporate-what-you-know.html

Five things about writing as a career:
http://www.deadlinedames.com/?p=1532

Tips for planning your interaction with an agent at a conference:
http://chipmacgregor.typepad.com/main/2009/08/cec-murphey-stops-in.html

Decent dialogue tips. I'd also add that using voice recognition can improve your overall dialogue.
http://www.bizzia.com/articles/five-tips-for-great-dialogue/

This is the start of a series on how to cut your novel by 20%. So far, the advice is solid and I agree with it. Often I find the "cut by" articles too simplistic, so I will be watching this series.
http://storyfix.com/how-to-cut-your-manuscript-by-20-and-love-it

And more tips on what to look for when shortening:
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/08/tighten-up-your-manuscript.html

10 things to know about being a professional writer:
http://blog.markcnewton.com/2009/08/07/some-interesting-things-i-never-knew-about-being-a-writer/

Some suggestions on how to make traditional openings in romance unique.
http://www.iheartpresents.com/2009/08/writing-competiton-tips-don%E2%80%99t-let-the-plot-get-in-the-way-of-the-story/

I like this philosophy regarding pantsing and outlining. It has a lot in common with my approach:
http://menwithpens.ca/fiction-writing-pantser-or-plotter

Science

This fascinates me because I have an innate compass, but even so, I navigate by triangulation. At a certain point instinct tells me I've gone too far. In contrast, my youngest hates cities because he gets disoriented without being able to see the big landscapes.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17658-we-cant-help-walking-in-circles.html

Promoting/Submitting

When is a publicist a good idea?
http://bookendslitagency.blogspot.com/2009/08/hiring-publicist.html

Rachelle Gardner's take on publishing in the current economy:
http://cba-ramblings.blogspot.com/2009/08/bad-economy-whatever.html

I've been going back and forth on the Google Settlement, trying to understand it, but today I signed up only to discover I've already got something listed. It's worth doing just to check:
http://www.scbwi.org/Pages.aspx/Current-News?September-4--2009--Google-Book-Settlement-Opt-Out-Date

With the caveat that a brilliant story can overcome almost anything, here's a list of agents' dislikes for opening chapters.
http://www.writersdigest.com/article/what-agents-hate/