Well, it’s been a couple of weeks since I last posted a Writing Music post. But while it’s been on hiatus, I’ve been busy discovering plenty of new music, as well as many other amazing writing resources too. Today I thought I’d share a song I’ve been enjoying recently, and also some of the most helpful or interesting links that I’ve discovered over the past week. It seems a shame not to share the goodness around.

This week’s Writing Music is a mashup of Shake It Off and Shake It Out, by Evynne Hollens. It’s an upbeat, energy-filled song, which would suit an optimistic character as a bit of a character anthem perhaps. It would be the perfect song for a character who’s had a hard life in the past, but who is ready to move on and make a better life for themselves. It could also possibly suit a charismatic rogue who rolls with the punches and takes life as it comes.

These are some of the blog posts that I’ve enjoyed most over the past week. Some are fun, some are helpful, and all of them are awesome. Hop over and give them a read, and maybe show the authors a bit of love with a comment.

Liz Brooks@Out of Coffee, Out of Mind
How to be an Eccentric Writer

Writers have a bit of a reputation of being rather eccentric. But have you even wondered how to be a true eccentric writer? Liz has the only guide you’ll ever need to convince the world that you are a mad literary genius.

K.M. Weiland@Helping Writers Become Authors
The Only Thing You Need to Know AboutWriting Strong Female Characters

There’s always a lot of discussion about female characters and what makes a great strong female in a book. K.M. Weiland helps clarify what exactly makes a female character strong, and it’s not the ability to outfight the males.

Aimee Meester@To the Barricade
The ‘Strong Female Protagonist’ Problem

Another great post on strong female characters. Aimee outlines a few truths about strong female protagonists that are super important to keep in mind when writing. Strong females can be girly too, guys.

Aimee Meester@To the Barricade
The ‘Bad Boy Love Interest’ Problem

This is my other favourite post from Aimee this week. Bad boy love interests are very common in books at the moment. In this post, Aimee lists a few problems with this trend along with a few truths about writing guys.

Stephanie Morrill@Go Teen Writers
The Go Teen Writers Summer Writing Challenge and a Giveaway

If you’re looking for some more writing motivation, you should definitely check out the Go Teen Writers summer writing challenge. Set yourself a goal and write alongside heaps of other writers this summer/winter. Plus there's also an awesome giveaway that you should totally check out.

What have you been listening to this week? What is your favourite blog post you’ve read recently? Find any of these links interesting? And would you like to see more of these round ups in the future, maybe of different sorts too?