During our meetings, we often refer to other people’s work. Sometimes, it’s advice that we’re following to improve a certain aspect of our writing. Other times, a book we’ve read might have a good example of something we’re talking about.

These resources are listed in each meeting review, and are collated here for ease of reference, along with other interesting or useful stuff.

Writing advice

• Angela Ackerman 2021. Describing a character’s emotions: problems and solutions. Writers Helping Writers.
• Angela Ackerman 2021. How to write emotion well: know your character. Writers Helping Writers.
• Claire Bradshaw no date. Seven things not to worry about during your first draft. Writer’s Edit
• Jessica Brody 2018. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel. California and New York: Ten Speed Press.
• Larry Brooks 2011. Story Engineering: mastering the 6 core competencies of successful writing. USA: Writer’s Digest Books.
• Joslyn Chase 2011. Emotional Writing: One Surprising Method for Creating Emotion in Your Readers. The Write Practice.
• Eva Deverell no date. How to write a party, celebration or feast. EADeverell.com
• Elmore Leonard 2001. Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing. Illustrated by Joe Ciardiello. New York: Harper Collins
• Beth Hill 2011. Creating emotion in the reader. The Editor’s Blog.
• Beth Hill 2011. Zeroing in on words. The Editor’s Blog.
• Rosie Johnston 2017. Things not to worry about: when you’re starting your novel. Rosie Johnston Writes
• Rosie Johnston 2017. Your character interviews all in one place. Rosie Johnston Writes.
• Rosie Johnston 2018. Point of View made easy. Rosie Johnston Writes.
• Rosie Johnston 2018. Through-line – the single most vital trick in writing a novel. Rosie Johnston Writes
• MasterClass 2021. How to write emotion. MasterClass.
• Becca Puglisi 2018. Determining your character’s emotional range. Writers in the Storm.
• quoteresearch 2015. The first draft of anything is shit. Quote Investigator
• Stephen King 2000. On writing: a memoir of the craft. London: Hodder and Stoughton.

Editing advice

• Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price 2018. On Editing. Great Britain: John Murray Learning.
• Sarah Gribble no date The ultimate guide to beta readers: definition, why they matter and how to find them at The Write Practice
• Joe Moran 2019. First You Write a Sentence. The Elements of Reading, Writing … and Life. Penguin.

Publishing advice

• Janey Burton 2022. Will a publisher republish my previously self-published book?. Janey Burton: publishing consultant
• Ol James, ed. no date. Can you publish your book multiple times?. Letter Review
• Emily Harstone 2022. Twenty-four journals open to publishing reprints. Authors Publish

Reading list

This is a list of books that aren’t about writing – typically fiction – that we’ve mentioned during our meetings or referenced in our articles. They generally contain examples of something we were discussing or they teach us something about writing.

• Douglas Adams 1987. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Dirk Gently series.
• Algernon Blackwood 1908. The Kit-bag in Pall Mall: December 1908.
• Lilian Jackson Braun 1966. The Cat who could Read Backwards. The Cat Who … series.
• Charles Dickens 1861. Great Expectations.
• Joseph Heller 1974. Something Happened.
• Joseph Heller 1961. Catch-22.
• Henry James 1880. Washington Square.
• Henry James 1898. The Turn of the Screw in Collier’s Weekly: 27 January to 16 April 1898.
• M. R. James 1931. The Collected Ghost Stories of MR James. London: Edward Arnold.
• Jay McInerney 1984. Bright Lights, Big City.
• George R. R. Martin 1991–. A Song of Ice and Fire series.
• Laline Paull 2014. The Bees. London: 4th Estate
• Barry Perez 1986. Arctic Dreams: imagination and desire in a northern landscape. New York: Scribner Book Company
• Robin Robertson 2020. Grimoire: new Scottish folk tales. With drawings by Tim Robertson. London: Picador.
• Ocean Vuong (poet, essayist and author). His poems.
• Sarah Waters 2009. The Little Stranger.
• John Williams 1965. Stoner.

Other resources

This is a list of other resources that don’t fit into any of the above categories. You might or might not find them useful.

• Julia Cameron 1900. The Artist’s Way: a spiritual path to higher creativity. London: Profile Books Ltd.
• Character AI. https://character.ai.
• Choose your own adventure books: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choose_Your_Own_Adventure.
• Tim Clare: award-winning author, poet and creative writing podcaster.
• Cosy mysteries: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cozy_mystery.
• Jane Friedman 2023. I would rather see my books get pirated than this (or why goodreads and Amazon are becoming dumpster fires) at Jane Friedman.
• Inkarnate: a tool for creating fantasy maps.
• Sam Jordison 2022. The Artist’s Way at 30: Alicia Keys, Pete Townshend and the surprising re-birth of a creativity classic in the Guardian.
• National Centre for Writing: courses and workshops, free writing resources and more. Based in Norwich.
• Grain Culture: Bake Shop – General Store: the delightful café where we often meet to write together during the week. Find it at St Mary's Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4ES.
• Prosper: the delightful café where we hold our monthly meetings. Find it at 16–18 Broad Street, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB7 4AH.
• ProWritingAid. https://prowritingaid.com.
• Scrivener: paid-for novel-writing software.
• Substack: a new economic engine for culture.
• Ruth Wade 2012. Creative writing course at Parkside College, Cambridge.
• wavemaker: free novel-writing software.
• John Yorke 2014. Into the Woods: how stories work and why we tell them. London: Penguin.

Ely Writers elsewhere

We’ve outsourced some elements of the group to other websites, for example, what we’re currently reading, books about writing that we recommend, and pieces of our writing that we would like other Ely Writers to review.

• Ely Writers: Ely Writers on Facebook; this is where we can hang out virtually. This is a public group.
• Ely Writers: Ely Writers on goodreads; this is where we can share books we’re reading, books we recommend, etc. This is a private group.
• r/ElyWriters: Ely Writers on Reddit; this is where we can submit our work for review. This is a private subreddit.