Website Review:
LindaHutchinson.com
By Dina Malki
Copyright © 2009 by Dina Malki, All Rights Reserved
www.lindajhutchinson.com
What can be an emerging writer's worst nightmare? To hear other
established
writers and editors say that writing cannot be taught. Writing, they
believe, is a God-given talent. That is true, but before you
plunge
into hopelessness, hold it right there! Writing is also a craft
that
you can learn how to hone and nurture. All you need is time,
willingness, persistence, passion, patience, and above all, resources.
An insightful place to gather information about the craft and business
sides of writing is
http://www.lindajhutchinson.com.
Linda
J.
Hutchinson, the author of the site, is a generalist as she describes
herself. As a photojournalist and freelance writer, she writes
extensively for trade journals specializing in heavy equipment
construction. She also has a wealthy portfolio of articles about
writing, marketing, parenting, food, living with chronic illness, and
volunteerism.
A winner of the Preditors and Editors Site Award in December
2007, the website is loaded with free resources pertinent to every
aspiring writer. While maintaining a visually attractive layout that
is easy to navigate, it offers a life support system of an unlimited
variety of tools to help writers hone their crafts. Among the rich
content of the site are links offering free downloads, listing writers
organizations, and providing lists of agents, conferences, markets,
newsletters, and classes.
When I asked Linda for one piece of advice she could spare (and she is
very generous in giving away tips) she declared her mantra: "Networking
is the name of the game." Linkedln,
Twitter,
MySpace, The Writer's
Chat room, Muse Conference Board, Murder Must Advertise, Freelance
Writers and Editors, and Facebook are among the many places where Linda
is networking. You can find all these links on her website.
Other links offer computer help, advice about contracts and rights,
dictionaries and encyclopedias, and scam alerts as well as screen
writing, spell checker and grammar, editing, critiques, and copy writing
guides. Once you dive into the website, you should be able to surf
through an endless treasure of valuable links that would make your plate
overfilled with satisfaction.
The site further offers reading recommendations for both writers and
readers, and a lot of advice of do's and don'ts. It does not forget
about the young writers as it dedicates a page "for the kids." The
"showcase" feature is where Linda interviews writers, authors, and
agents. You can read all the previous interviews in the "past showcase"
link.
Had enough? Still would like to hang around and surf longer? Then stop
by one of Linda's six writing blogs; they're interesting and amusing..
My favourite is "A writer's blog" where Linda goes patriotic and
discusses anything from politics to Wal-mart consumer reports.
Even better, get a copy of Linda's valuable e-book: Bare Bones Basics
of: So You Want to Be a Writer. I got my own copy as well as
a couple of freebies with it; I have my hands full with resources for
many months ahead.
A rich website with a touch of style won't hurt; Lindajhutchinson.com
has also a link to an online gift shop. I know exactly where to go for
my next shopping spree.
www.lindajhutchinson.com
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