Tuesday's Tips for Flailing Writers

About.com has selected 7 books as Summer Reading for Writers. (Ignore their online shopping links, though. Buy local!)


Spinning off of that 'buy local' line, Joe Queenan and The NYTimes recommend neighborhood escort services for authors touring unfamiliar areas. (No parenthetical required.)


Italics, quotations, or line by line verse -- what are the rules for writing a character singing? (And a follow-up question for the Fantasy folk: Aren't the rules different when the song is in Elvish?)


Quips & Tips for Successful Writers humbly submits 6 Tips for Submitting Sample Chapters to Publishers. (My advice: Treat it like dating. Save your steamy sex scenes 'til at least the second submission.)


Kristen of Pub Rants is an agent, so you really oughta heed her advice to authors who think they're going to meet up with an agent at a conference. (Unless you enjoy awkward introductions and uncomfortable silences. In which case, as you were.)


Write to Done has 5 Simple First Draft Secrets. (An unsolicited 6th: Remember, it's only your first draft. This is like learning to cook when you know you're the only one who's gonna eat it. Worse comes to worst, you stick your finger down your throat and vomit/place your finger firmly on the Delete key and curse the muse.)