Friday Fives

Paper Hangover asks the question What are your five favorite research tools or resources?

1. Google. When I want an answer I google it. Google has been really helpful this year in helping me identify all the veggies in my CSA box and helping me come up with ways to prepare them.

2. Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook by Donald Maas. The exercises in this book are really great for writing complex characters. If I'm stuck I try to sit down with an exercise in this book and see what I come up with.

3. An Old Friend From Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir by Natalie Goldberg. I love this book. I'm not writing a memoir but the exercises in here are so great for getting me to put pen to paper. Most pages have a word at the top of them and then a question and the direction to write for ten minutes.

4. Blogs. There are so many wonderful blogs out there that I think of as resources in my writing.

5. The Loft Literary Center This is where I take writing classes and attend conferences. I love to sit in the coffee shop in this building and write. This is where both the Writing Groups I'm involved with meet. I've learned so much here and had access to wonderful teachers. It is just a wonderful place. They are trying to offer more online classes so you can take a class without having to brave a Minnesota winter.