Every day, as a writer, I get up and get online and check out different things –blogs, news, email, etc…  I spend a good amount of time on the computer every day. On the days I’m lucky enough to actually write, it never fails that I visit each one of these five sites.

1) Dictionary.com

Along with this site comes thesaurus.com. A writer’s best friend. Whether I’m working on my novel, a short story, or an article, this site is invaluable to me. You’re all smart; no explanation needed, right?!

2) Webmonkey.com

This site is an HTML cheatsheet. Of course a writer wouldn’t need this for a story or novel, but every writer should have it bookmarked and use it. Why? Because every writer should have a blog. I’ve preached about platforms before, so I won’t prattle on here.
Blog owners need to know how to do links and font sizes and colors and such to make their posts more appealing to the reader’s eye. Webmonkey is only one of many sites that has a page of these cheats.

3) Flogging the Quill

This may be another one that you’re asking, ‘why?’ about. Well, it’s because Ray points out the obvious about the work people send in to him. And he’s nice about it. Other writers weigh in as well.
New posts are put up only three times a week, but blog readers visit daily. There is always something new to learn about editing, revising, and what readers want. This site helps teach us what works and what doesn’t in our own writing.

4) Twitter

Yup. That’s right. Twitter. Reason being, all of the people I follow are either writers/authors, agents, editors, or publishers. I get some great advice and tweet about what I’m up to and it lights a fire—gives me drive. Every time I used to get on Twitter, I ended up writing more than days I didn’t. So now, I visit the site daily. The “#” searches are great and I’ve solved many a problem just by chatting.

5. News site of your own choosing.

I have my own preference, but I don’t want this to get political. The news site is my homepage on my phone and I always visit it for a reality check. Get out of my own head for a bit. Writing is my world, but there is another world out there… Plus, one can gather many ideas from the news — art imitates life, right? Or is that the other way around?

Anyway, there you have it. Those are the sites I look at daily, and I think you should, as well. Are there others that you’d like to add to the list??

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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This week, I was lucky enough to have editor and author, Ray Rhamey, decide if my work was worthy of a read. Was my writing up to par? Could I make him turn the page?

I allowed Ray and others to decide if I had a strong enough beginning to make them read on. The first sixteen lines of both my prologue and my first chapter were posted on his website, Flogging the Quill (FtQ), for all the (internet) world to see and judge.

Was this bravery or stupidity?
I think I was brave—for what it’s worth…
One cannot gain without first giving up something, right? In this case, and in Sarah’s (who did the same thing a few weeks ago), something great came of the risk.

I learned that while my writing is strong in and of itself (basically no grammatical errors), I could stand to improve. And I knew that. But now I know how—or at least have different suggestions on hand to work with … since I’ve learned to take all feedback with a grain of salt.

Going into this critique, I knew my first chapter wasn’t going to pass the test, but was fairly sure my prologue would. Eh, it was half and half for both, barely—sort of. Ray turned the page of my prologue. He read on in the first chapter strictly because of the prologue. But he did say my work was something he would’ve liked to have read more of… So who knows?
All I know for sure is that my doubts about my first chapter were founded, and that even though my prologue seemed great, it could use improvement. More clarification. More of a sense of the evil involved. Just more, you know?

With Ray’s phenomenal notes he sent me and what was posted on the page by both him and other writers, I already have a far better version of the prologue. But he’s so phenomenal in how he edits that he didn’t take away my voice. It’s still my work—my words, my style, my pacing, my cadence, my everything—but more. It’s more good. Yes, I did just write that. OK, so my prologue is better (is that better?).

If any of you feel like checking it out, have at it, but just know my work has already improved.
I suppose the point of this post is to make others aware (although you should already know!) of the fabulous Mr. Rhamey’s site and book and his excellent advice.
But I also want to see how you all feel about editors and others critiquing your work. We’ve had two critiques on here, so this also my way of questioning what you’ve thought of those!
Is it too risky to throw yourself to the world, where you can possibly lose yourself in the process? Can you lose your voice and your plan for the story?
Or is it an invaluable tool that everyone should take advantage of?
My vote is for the latter.
How about y’all?

{Oh, and what about a first page critique – first sixteen lines? We’ve done the first five sentences and the first 500 words plus query, if one was available—but what about the first ~230 words? (The first page of an average paperback.) Can you get readers to read on to that oh-so-important second page??}

Thoughts….

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Since winning her first writing competition at a young age, Eden Tyler, has only fallen more in love with the written word. She uses her English, Psychology, and Sociology backgrounds to create depth to her own stories and novels while contributing to and running websites about writing. This is what fulfills her, along with working as Co-Editor for Fuel Your Writing, but she also enjoys the freelance work that puts food on the table (and that ever-essential roof overhead) for her family.

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Okay, after reading Liz’s post below, I went through my MS and here’s what I found.

My eyes were glued to the hottie in uniform.
I fumbled around the door until I found the button, my eyes never left his. Holy Cow.
I kept my eyes down, too scared to look up.
His eyes penetrated mine.
His piercing eyes swam in that knee-weakening smile.
Andrew’s eyes shot daggers through me, as he looked me up and down.
His eyes still scaled my body, and he didn’t look discussed with what he saw.
He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you since he came in about five minutes ago.
His eyes longed for me.
I noticed several pairs of eyes on me.
“What? That call sucked. He was going for the ball. Eyes on ball means no pass interference you stupid refs.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, his eyes screening the woods.
He glared, looking at everyone, but his eyes settled on Vincent.
His eyes were troubled.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him.
My eyes locked to his, and I felt as if all the blood from my head pooled in my stomach.
His eyes smoldered.
His eyes studied my legs before finding their way back to mine.
He eased in front of me, his eyes softened.
His eyes locked on mine.
Turning slowly, my eyes shifted to him.
His eyes were back on me.
His black eyes were laced with danger and longing.
My eyes didn’t leave Andrew’s.
My eyes traced his muscular arms.
He lifted my face so my eyes would meet his.
Andrew’s eyes smiled at me.
His jaw flexed and his eyes burned. I couldn’t believe how sexy he was.
Her eyes became cold.
When he came to a stop, he finally turned to me, his eyes angry, scared.
I would’ve known if he had, my eyes never left him.
His eyes danced.
His eyes jumped around and he wouldn’t look at me.
The next day at school, all eyes were on me.
His eyes almost bugged out of his head.
His eyes sought forgiveness.
I looked at Vincent; his eyes danced with excitement.
James asked, his eyes smiled and his voice calmed me.
I shrugged, keeping my eyes on that car.
Andrew’s eyes bore into mine.
I couldn’t find it in me to take my eyes off her.

So back to the question at hand. Is this wrong? It can’t be taken literally, but since we know it’s figuratively, does it stand? You tell us.

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Ray
post on first scene.

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Because I’ve been somewhat ‘stuck’ in my writing, I’ve taken this opportunity to do some revisions. I’ve checked out a couple of websites looking for advice and have found some useful tips. Here at Flogging the Quill I’ve also come across something I don’t totally agree with, and would like your opinion. Toward the middle of the post you’ll find this:

eyes

This is an example of improper usage. Many writers use “eyes” when what they really mean is gaze, or glance, or stare. Some examples in which I take the usage to the next logical step.

Her eyes were on the floor. (Luckily, no one stepped on them.)

His blue eyes bored into her. (And then blood gushed from the two holes in her belly.)

She felt the woman’s eyes searching for her. (It tickled when they slid across her face.)

His tired eyes land on me as he glances around the room. (Then they drop to the floor and bounce across the room.)

My eyes follow the headlights. (I ignore the wrenching pain when they leave their sockets.)

Roger kept his eyes on the road. (He realized his mistake when the ice cream truck ran over them.)

While I find this comical, I must admit I use sentences like these a lot:

I threw my hands over my head and fell back, eyes still glued to my attacker.

His eyes drilled a hole in the floor.

His eyes trailed the ground in front of us.

So my question is this– is it wrong to use sentences such as these? Could they be improved by using the verb stared, glared, gazed, etc?

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