by Stephanie Morrill
Stephanie writes young adult contemporary novels and is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com. Her novels include The Reinvention of Skylar Hoyt series (Revell) and the Ellie Sweet books (Playlist). You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and check out samples of her work on her author website including the free novella, Throwing Stones.
There’s something so exciting about discovering a new website you love, which is why a few weeks ago I started bugging the writers in my life about which writing websites they love or feel are particularly relevant for young writers. Here are some of the ones that were recommended to me:
Teens Can Write Too
A great blog by teen writers, for teen writers. They’ve been around for a few years and have a great community going on. I love the blog chain thing they do every month where they gather lots of views on the same topic. Great stuff.
Post to check out: Learning From Other Writers
Tessa Emily Hall
A blog by a YA author who encourages teens to “embrace their uniqueness, tap into their potential, and pursue the impossible.” Here you’ll find writing prompt challenges, great tips, and a unique glimpse of the writing world.
Post to check out: Discover The Story of Your Heart
Inklined
Love this blog by Sarah Faulkner, a teen writer with a big heart and lots of wisdom. She also runs a teen book chat on Twitter once a month. (#TBkchat 8pm EST first Monday of the month.)
Post to check out: Make Your Characters Ugly
Dreaming Hobbit
This blog covers some really interesting and unique writing topics. You can easily wander around this site for a few hours and enjoy Emily’s very honest voice.
Post to check out: Don’t Let This Problem Kill Your Action Scene
Vaguely Circular
This is a group blog that explores a variety of writing-related topics. I’m partial to their “Weekly Wrap-ups” which link to interesting writing articles or just cool stuff that could inspire your next great book idea.
Post to check out: A Novel A Day (which explores the topic of if you should write every day.)
Hilari Bell – Writing Tips
Our friend Sarah Faulkner shared this site with me. There are great, in-depth articles here about all kinds of writing topics. I haven’t had a chance to read them all yet, and I’m excited to go back.
Post to check out: Twisted Plots
Dan Wells – Story Structure
Dan is one of my favorite writing teachers. He’s funny, he’s real, and he’s super smart. The above is a link to a class he taught on story structure. Great stuff. He’s one of the podcasters on Writing Excuses, which is also excellent, but we talk about it often enough on here that I didn’t want to repeat myself by adding it to our list.
Helping Writers Become Authors – K.M. Weiland
An amazing blog for writers at all stages. Basically any writing question you have is answered somewhere on this website. And Katie is a rock star on Twitter as well.
Post to check out: Your Book’s Inciting Incident: It’s Not What You Think It Is
Shallee McArthur – Index for Writers
Shallee was a guest of ours back in November (Beyond Fancy Clothes and Funny Foods—Creating the Culture of Your Story) which is when I learned about this lovely index to articles on her website.
Post to check out: Turn An Idea Into A Killer Story Concept: Go Big Or Go Home
Janice Hardy’s Fiction University
There are so many articles on this website. Like … so many. I could get lost here for a while.
Post to check out: Prep Work: Ways To Be A More Productive Writer
The Story Starter
Creative Writing Prompts
Story Spinner