I’m amazed! I can hardly contain myself. The flood gates have opened and the writing market has finally moved into the 21st century and picked up their cyber-pens and are writing about their secrets and themselves. Well … probably not all their secrets but enough to tantalize any writers curiosity. Editors, agents, and publishers all seem a bit mysterious and more than a little omniscient to a writer, especially to new writers. What do they really do, what are they looking for, and most importantly, how can I (the writer) get them to read my story/book? Yes, there are many books on the how-to’s of crafting a query letter, manuscript formatting, storytelling do’s and don’ts and anything else revolved around writing and publishing. Much of that information has been put online in one place or another but most were offered as second hand information. Now, editors, publishers, agents and public relation experts are offering the information themselves and many are using blogs to tell their own stories as editors, publishers, agents and public relation experts.

I’m trilled with this new discovery, at least, it’s new to me. I guess it’s been longer than I though since I went in search of writing resources with a focus on blogs about writing in general. I did find a few, some better than others but it was difficult weeding through blogs that had little or nothing to do with writing, so I gave up. But now, because I have committed to filling my resource directory with online writing resources, I’ve discovered a wealth of writing related blogs from agents, editors, and publishers. I think I’m still in shock. I keep looking at them and reading the skillfully crafted information and find myself in a state of wonderment. So much so, that I’ve become dysfunctional. I can’t seem to pick one to write about here or add their links to my directory, though I have added a few. I get caught up in reading and while I’m reading my mind tries to race to the finish line ahead of me. My muse is one happy little muse. She could care less that I’ve become overwhelmed with it all. She only cares that I’m involved with some aspect of writing, period.

I even revisited a story I started more then ten years ago and on my way to work today, my mind was trying to workout the problems I was having when I abandoned it. I can not tell you how long it’s been since I’ve done anything like that … is my resistance to writing waning? It’s like I’ve become an observer to my own life and can’t believe what’s unfolding in front of me. I’m shivering with excitement, laced with a good amount of fear.

I have found several good editors and agents blogs that I want to write about. Not all are using their real names for obvious reasons but all are well worth visiting on a regular bases. The one that got me thinking about my long ago story is Flogging the Quill (great name don’t you think!) by Ray Rhamey, a novelist and a freelance editor. His latest post is What This Editor Does, which outlines his editing process. While his blog offers some great information, it’s not what inspired my revisiting an old story. He has another site for marketing his editing services, editorrr.com, and I’m glad I found his site and took the time to read his tips and techniques section.

I’m not real sure why the sudden inspiration appeared from what I read on Rhamey’s site. I’ve read it all long ago but the section on passive voice sent my mind into a tailspin. Passive voice is not easy to get a grasp on when it comes to storytelling. Most writers, especially new writers, fall victim to the no-no of over-using passive voice. Using an active voice engages the reader, holds their attention and makes for more dynamic writing in general. Rhamey doesn’t get into a detailed explanation of active voice verses passive voice. Why that part of his tips section grabbed my attention is a mystery to me. It may have been his tip on using a word processor to find all the “ing” and “to be” words in a story, then edit them out by finding an active verb rather than a passive one that sparked my desire to revisit an old story.

For more agents, editors, and publishers sites, please check out my Writing Resource Directory. These kind of sites will be placed under Writers Markets. There’s only about 22 sites listed so far but it will be growing as time permits.