I have tried to include only links to pages that I’ve found extremely useful and thorough. To make it easier for you I have catagorised them. Although I check the links often, if you discover a broken link please let me know as there’s nothing more annoying than links that lead nowhere.

If you know of a site that doesn’t appear here but should, leave a comment (or email me) and I will check out your suggestion and, if I think it is suitable, I’ll add it to the list. All comments are moderated and posts will be deleted once the link has been reviewed.

I hope you find the links on this page helpful!

Writing Sites I Recommend

AFWD Email Group
AFWD Resouce Website
Snowflake Process of Writing a Novel
The Scriptorium

Character Building

Character Chart
Developing Your Character
Character Building Workshop
The Nonverbal Dictionary of Gestures, Signs and Body Language Cues
Character Motivation
Fantasy Name Generator
Problems with Names and How to Avoid Them
How to Create a Character
What ‘Type’ Is Your Character?
The Magic of Character - An eight part workshop.
Random Villain Generator
The Evil Overlord
Name Generator

Building a Fantasy World

Questions About World Building
A Way with Worlds
Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions
How to Create a Fantasy World
Mixing Science and Magic: A recipe for disaster?
Creating a Realistic Fantasy World
Medieval Demographics Made Easy
Constructing an SF Universe
The Fully Realized World
The Page of Generators - This page can help you with characters, settings, magic, technology, writing and more. If you get stuck, it’s well worth looking at.

Writing a Novel

How to Start a Novel
Chapter One, Page One
Ten Guidelines For Strong Sentences
Tightening the Sagging Middle
How to Finish a Novel
Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction for Kids
Revising Your Writing
Finding Time to Write
Five Fiction Mistakes that Spell Rejection
Common Writing Mistakes

Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue
Creating Dynamic Dialogue
Punctuating Dialogue
Avoiding Reader Confusion - Part 1
Avoiding Reader Confusion - Part 2

Scenes and Plots

What Makes an Effective Plot
10 Points on Plotting
Using the Five Senses to Create the Perfect Setting

Manuscript Preparation

How Do I Format My Manuscript
Manuscript Preparation Guidelines
Word Count: What is a Word?

The Proposal and Submission Process

The Complete Nobody’s Guide to Query Letters
How Long is Too Long?
Selling That Manuscript
Overcoming the Fear of Writing a Synopsis
How to Write a Synopsis
Dowse Writers Markets
Writers Digest - Writers Guidelines
Patricia Kay’s Synopsis Checklist

Handling Rejection

Why Did My Story Get Rejected?
The Art of Being Rejected
Rejection Collection - You are not alone!

You’ve Been Accepted - Now What?

Model Contracts - to have a look at.
ASJA Contracts Watch
Writer Beware - current alerts!

General Links

This section covers everything that doesn’t fit into the other catagories.

Links for Writers
Advice to New Writers
Useful Information for the New Writer
Using Your Reader’s Imagination
Getting Started - Writing for Children
Developing Efficient Work Habits
Finding Your Voice as a Children’s Writer
What is a Short Story?
Cliches: Avoid them like the Plague
Online Tools to Help You Write