All That Damn Help

Help for writers on the web is plentiful...to damn plentiful...every, or it seems like every, somewhat successful writer wants to help all of the struggling "wanna-be" writers...of course for a price.

That's fair...they have made a mark and have the right to make a few bucks and if we need the help (and we do), then it's only fair that we pay for it.

The problem, as I see it, is what help do we choose. It's like going to the donut shop. Yes, give me a hot cup of  correct English and a dash of spelling and sweeten that with  a spoon full of how to edit. Now I need...well maybe the strudled Character and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card, or maybe the appled Conflict & Suspense by James Scott Bell, or maybe a glazed Stephen King on Writing, they all look yummy.

Oh what the hell, I'll take them all and throw in the carameled Write Right by Jan Venolia.

Now that we have all this help and more tweeting help, emailing help and facebooking help coming at us every second of every day, when do we stop using all this help and  write?

We don't. Once we've bought everything the chocolate covered book store has to offer, we lay around and get "Info-fat" and full of trepidation. We fear writing...no we dread writing. How can we measure up to "Them"?

I guess it's better to put off writing to read about writing than to play games but we all know that the only way to learn to write is to write.

So what do we do?...of course...we go to the net for help..why not?

Author DiAnn Mills has some good advise in her blog post "10 Steps to Nail Your Story"

"I’m all about ways to ensure stories delight our readers. That’s why we writers write. The process of shuffling through blogs, how-to books, and conference workshops for the most effective way to create reader appeal is an ongoing process.

Someone is always trying to hammer a new method into our brains....." read the full article...

For me, this article made sense.

What are your thoughts?

Is her article actually something worth while?

gs batty