Wednesday links: Cliche endings, gag orders, after the publishing contract, and showing emotion

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few.

Since I missed last week’s post (I’ll be giving you an explanation about that soon, I promise), here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past two weeks.

1. Cliches to Avoid: 4 Story Endings Your Readers Will Hate, from The Write Life: Many writers have the ending of their novel in mind before they even begin writing it; for others, coming up with an ending can cause a lot of stress. Regardless of which camp you fall into, you’ll want to make sure that your ending isn’t a cliche. Excerpt: “You worked hard to create a beginning that grabbed your readers, so make sure to write an ending that lives up to the rest of your story. Relying on clichés will only leave your readers feeling disappointed and dissatisfied.”

2. Gag Orders in Publishing: What We’re Not Allowed to Say, from Aria Glazki Writes: While this post isn’t exactly advice-related, it does give a good perspective on the censorship writers face — not within their novels, but when they’re in the public eye. Excerpt: “Regardless of the route an author takes, however, we as a group are repeatedly, vehemently warned against discussing any topic* that can be seen as polarizing or political. *Unless a book is specifically about a polarizing topic, and then that one topic is considered acceptable for that one author.”

3. Things to think about after your publishing contract is executed, from Dystel & Goderich Literary Management: It doesn’t matter what type of writer your are — your work isn’t done when you sign a publishing contract. There are still a lot of things that you need to do, and this list is a good overview of what some of those things are. Excerpt: “You’ve sold your book and are about to embark on a new experience.  Recently at a writers’ conference at Sarah Lawrence College, Julie Shoerke provided some tips which I think are extremely valuable and which I would like to pass along here.”

4. Hidden Emotions: How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show, from Writers Helping Writers: There comes a time in every novel when at least one character wants to keep their emotions hidden. But, as an author, you may want your readers to know how that character is feeling. That’s when you need to figure out what tells your character may have. Excerpt: “One of the struggles that comes with writing is when a character feels  vulnerable  and so tries to hide their emotions as a result.  Fear of emotional pain, a lack of trust in others, instinct, or protecting one’s reputation are all reasons he or she might repress what’s going on inside them.”