This week’s writing links include the looming start date of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and some reminders on how to prepare for it. Also, we have a list of long awaited sci-fi sequels and prequels, Harper Lee’s letter to Oprah about books, the five unusual habits of Ernest Hemingway (one of them is that he machine gunned sharks trying to poach his catches while fishing) and the conclusion to Lois Lowry’s Giver quartet.

So, yes, November is around the corner and with it will come turkey, the Lions losing on Thanksgiving, some dreary weather and NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month for those unfamiliar is the program that challenges writers to try to start and complete a novel in the month of November.

The effectiveness of NaNoWriMo is often questioned, some dismissing it as gimmicky, but I don’t think it deserves criticism. Yes, it’s difficult to write an effective and coherent book in a month, but if the program gets people writing, then I can’t really foresee any sort of negative effect to it.

Either way, I’m just going to use the month as an excuse to finish projects I’ve been working on (I know this is considered cheating for NaNoWriMo, but oh well). And if you haven’t participated in the program before, why not give it a shot this year? Here are some links to get you started.

Links:

– How To Prepare For NaNoWriMo (writersdigest)

– NaNoWriMo Headquarters (nanowri)

– Sci-fi Sequels And Prequels That We’ve Waited Decades For (io9)

– Harper Lee’s Letter To Oprah About Love of Books (flavorwire)

– The 5 Unusual Habits of Ernest Hemingway (inktank)

– Lois Lowry’s ‘Son’ Finally Concludes ‘The Giver’ (avclub)

– SF Signal Reviews ‘When The Villain Comes Home’ (sfsignal)

– Alan Rickman Knew Harry Potter’s End Years Before Anyone Else (huffington)

– Carolyn Marsden: 7 Things I’ve Learned So Far (guidetoliteraryagents)

– How Not To Use Twitter For Writers (kseniaanske)