Link insanity

(Right now I'm listening to Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue on Classical MPR and couldn't be more pleased. What a great tune for a Friday morning!)

For those of you that use Google Reader or some other service to see all the new posts of blogs you're following, what's the "magic number" of unread blogs that stresses you out? For me, it's anything over 300. If I have over 300 unread blog posts, I know I have a serious problem.

That was my deal yesterday so instead of chatting on gchat or playing on Facebook, I simply started reading my unread blogs. And wow--so many interesting posts!

Here are some cool things I read/learned...

Blogging in General

There have been many posts recently discussing blogging in general. Has blogging peaked? Is there blog fatigue? Do you blog for your potential readers or do you blog about the writing process? Or both?

Anne R. Allen's post has great links to some big industry perspectives including Janet Reid, Kristen Lamb, and Nathan Bransford, whose blogs I strongly recommend clicking through to read.

One of the better posts I read on the topic was from Roni Loren over at Fiction Groupie. You can read her awesome response in The Post In Which I Rant About Blogging, Platforms, and the Pressure on Writers. Can I get an AMEN!?

If you're like me, you'll want to arm yourself with a bag of peanut butter M&Ms as you gnash your teeth trying to figure out what to do next. Personally, I really like what Anne Allen said:

"If you're blogging because you like it and you enjoy connecting with other writers and potential readers, then by all means keep it up. And don't listen to marketing experts or worry about your stats."

To wrap up blogging, I also enjoyed (and highly recommend) (and may or may not be guilty of the 3rd point) Sophia Chang's Top 3 Things Well-Meaning Bloggers Do That Drive (Me)Readers Nuts. Word verifications drive me banana crackers, people. I bet they do the same to you.

Character "stuff"

• 14 Do's and Don'ts for Introducing Your Protagonist by Anne Allen
• Seven Character Types That Build Your Story by Adventures in YA and Children's Publishing
• Janice Hardy has some massively handy-dandy links on the left side of her blog. But her post on Do You Feel It? Plotting With Emotional Layers is equally helpful if you're in the character doldrums like yours truly. 

Writing and NaNoWriMo-related posts

• How to Make Magic Real by Cheryl Reif. Something about this post really resonated with me. It seems so simple, and yet, it isn't (at least for me).
• To Plot or Not to Plot -- this is an 8-part series on plotting and story structure written by Ingrid over at Ingrid's Notes. Very helpful and easy to follow, possibly because there are pictures. 
• My friend Zeki (check out her new blog, Unique Ink) pointed me to this Narrative Structure Cheat Sheet by Alexandra Sokoloff over at Murderati. Right click, print.

New Bloggers on the Block
Four writer friends of mine have started new writing/life blogs. If you have a moment, please stop by and share some love!

• Crit groupper, wine provider, and friend Eromese Joyce has started a new blog called Erojoy's Writer's Block. He latest blog on why we write stemmed from our crit group last week. What a discussion...
• YA writer and fellow road trip partner in crime, Adrianne Russell has a new blog called The Writer's Republic. And she jumped right into the blogging world--look for her upcoming MonsterFest (hosted by none other than Sommer Leigh at Tell Great Stories) post on Oct 27!
• I mentioned Unique Ink above, but I'll do it again here... Zeki is a sci-fi/fantasy writer and zombie lover (who I think has a penchant for Steampunk, as well) who is quite possibly the most excited person for NaNo that I know. Read some of her earlier posts for an idea of her world building!
• Luke Nolby is a fellow critique partner and if he wasn't so dang nice and smart, I'd kinda hate him for being only 20 and already having a story that is ready to query. Luke is currently spending the semester in Africa and blogs about his experiences at This Is Africa.

And finally, because I could always use more hope, Natalie Whipple's post on hope made me happy. Thank you, Natalie, for the authorial warm fuzzy.

And finally, I like to blog, but I don't like the look of my blog. Maybe it's the blue. Maybe it's the font. Maybe it's the layout. I'm not sure. But I do know that I'm open to suggestions and tips! Bear with me over the next few weeks as I try out some new things.