Welcome to my weekly curation post on the best writing and book links I discovered during the past week.

My hope is to save us both time. How you might ask?

First of all, I list the links to my favorite items in this post. A place I can always go back and find them.

Second, I pass them along to you, and without too much effort, you have them at your fingertips. You can either bookmark the post or save it to Evernote or something similar if you think it will come in handy down the road.

Here are some great articles from last week:

• Finding time to write is always the bane of many writers’ existence. In this article, Jessie Kwak at The Write Life shares a way to protect the most creative times in your day.
• Jennie Nash writes a stellar post on the opening lines to your book, whether fiction or nonfiction. Several examples are provided from some works we are all familiar with from authors like Anne LaMott, Maurice Sendak, and others. Check it out at The Book Designer.
• Who among us enjoys criticism? I’d make a guess and say not one of us enjoys criticism although it is a vital part of successful writing. Read advice from some of the writing greats of the past century as posted by Maria Popova at BrainPickings.
• This week in The New Yorker James Wood shared his thoughts on Edna O’Brien’s latest novel, The Little Red Chairs. Most interesting in the article is learning that O’Brien is now 85 years old and is still writing as strong as ever.
• Mick Silva, writer and editor, blogs under the same name. His recent post, Why Writing Is Not About Creativity, caught my eye and curiosity. If not, why not? Mick shares his thoughts on the topic beautifully.