Alchemy Ink

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 8-14, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Ten things that people who love their lives do differently. Higher Perspective.

Twenty beliefs happy people share. Lifehack. My favourite? #17: They comprehend that happiness isn’t everything.

How to live with mystery in a culture obsessed with certainty and definitive answers. Brainpickings.

RSA’s take on Susan Cain’s message on the power of introverts, plus a link to Susan’s TED Talk. Brainpickings.

The neuropsychiatric dimensions of movement disorders in sleep. Psychiatric Times.

The moon as you have never seen it before. NPR.

Veritasium interviews Commander Hadfield.

 

I love Vsauce rambles. It reminds me of being in university, when ideas ping-ponged off one another in my skull and inspired me:

 

What one artist is doing to educate us about everyday harassment (you know, cat-calls and wolf whistles?). UpWorthy.

Lauren Davis presents ten real-life female spies who deserve their own movies. Why not a novel? Giving you ideas with what Thoughty Thursday is all about! i09.

More training isn’t always the answer. Harold Jarche.

These kitsune (foxes) are so kawaii (cute) it’s kawai (scary). Foxes roam freely in the sanctuary of Zao Fox Village. My Modern Met.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe rocks Brainpickings 🙂

Sergei Polunen’s gorgeous interpretation of Hozier’s “Take me to church.” The Huffington Post.

See you again on the weekend!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 8-14, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila

K.M. Weiland offers advice regarding your climax’s place, not structurally, but setting-wise 🙂

How to achieve originality in your fiction. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Roz Morris exposes four dialogue crimes.

How to tell your critique partners exactly what you need. The Write Practice.

Jamie Raintree shares her strategy for scheduling breaks to avoid burnout.

Kurt Vonnegut maps out the shapes of stories. The Washington Post.

Sylvia Plath on life, death, hope, and happiness. Braipickings.

Seven women in the book industry who champion diversity. Quill & Quire.

Is the science in your science fiction accurate? Plausible? Why it matters. Charlie Jane Anders of i09.

Nina Munteanu presents lessons from a linguist. Reverse engineering with Steven Pinker.

Want to add some colour to your diverse characters? Idiom from other languages. TED blog.

Tyler Cowan asks us to be suspicious of simple stories. TEDx Mid-Atlantic.

 

New Outlander footage from E! online. For the anguish of droughtlander. It will be over soon (ish).

And that’s a wrap for this week.

See you Thoughty Thursday when I have more to contribute to your inspiration files.

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 1-7, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Last Sunday, February 1st, was St. Brigid’s day. Here are nine facts about the day you may not have known. The Independent.

The full moon may have been last Tuesday, but you could still perform these nine rituals to unlock its energy. I think they’d work any time, myself. It might help to combat the Mercury in retrograde crap we’ve been dealing with lately. Or it just might make you feel more confident. MindBodyGreen.

Shawn Achor on happiness. UpWorthy.

What you learn in your 40s. The New York Times.

Deja Vu. It’s okay to be smart.

 

How extreme fear shapes the mind. BBC.

What Stephen Fry would say to God. Hearting this man so hard right now.

 

This pisses me off: How Veterans’ Affairs treats our injured veterans. The Huffington Post.

How being a gifted child can lead to dark consequences. The Calgary Herald.

Though this appeared in Writer Unboxed, it’s something that everyone could benefit from. Why we need to learn how to monotask again, by Therese Walsh.

Seth Godin was a guest on Krista Tippett’s On Being podcast: The art of noticing, then creating.

A fascinating look into the world of the male Geisha. The Daily Beast.

What the Andromeda Galaxy would look like if it was bright enough to see with the naked eye. IFLS.

Feel like getting crafty? Here are 33 ways to use spray paint to revitalize old stuff. Buzzfeed.

Why we should stop docking dogs’ tails. We should also stop cropping their ears and declawing cats. All are mutilations, IMO. i09.

And that’s all the thoughty you get until next Thursday!

Tomorrow’s not only Friday (happy dance day), but it’s also Friday the 13th! And then it’s Valentines. Eventful days ahead!

See you on the weekend 🙂

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 1-7, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Most common writing mistakes, number 38: Irrelevant endings. K.M. Weiland. Helping Writers Become Authors.

Katie helps you create a more compelling backstory in three minutes 🙂

Roz Morris posts about what to do when feedback leads you astray.

Then Roz visited Jane Friedman’s blog to offer tips on how to recognize when backstory is sabotaging your novel.

Chuck Wendig shares the emotional milestones of writing a novel. Don’t think I ever left the sphincter-clenching panic stage 😛

How and why Marie Bilodeau made the leap to full time writer.

How Kameron Hurley hacked her writing process with 10,000 word-a-day marathons. I don’t think I could do this, but I find process to be endlessly fascinating.

Kameron, again, on how we can build a more pragmatic SF&F dialogue.

Why J.J. Marsh doesn’t want your free book.

Open Minds Quarterly answers the question, what makes a writing contest legitimate?

How Harper Lee’s long-lost sequel was found. The Atlantic.

15 thought-provoking SF films that are worth your time. Taste of cinema.

George R.R. Martin explains why The Winds of War isn’t on HarperCollins’ 2015 list (yet). The Daily Dot.

And here is the season 5 trailer for Game of Thrones:

 

I’m putting this in Tipsday because. My favourite song from the Fifth Element soundtrack. I had no idea it could be sung without electronic assistance O.O

 

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 25-31, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

It’s provincial by-election day here in the Sudz. Lot’s of controversy flying about lately. We’ll see what the people decide.

Fast Company makes the case for treadmill desks.

The ideal work schedule as determined by circadian rhythms. The Harvard Business Review. Like my employer would ever let us do that!

Time really is relative. It slows when we’re afraid, speeds up as we age, and gets warped when we’re on vacation. Brainpickings.

What would it look like if the world’s wealth was divided equally among all the world’s people? Thanks to the Observation Deck, now you know.

Another reason to unplug for a while: it turns out that you have to be bored to get creative. The Next Web.

The time to talk about end-of-life issues is now. The Atlantic.

It’s Okay to be Smart discusses five (plus one) weird involuntary behaviours:

 

Ever wonder what the underside of an iceberg looks like? You’re welcome. IFLS.

What this mega solar farm means for the future of clean energy. GigaOm.

From Quarks to Quasars introduces us to “Super Saturn,” the planet with a huge-normous ring system.

What can these ancient planets tell us about the possible civilizations in their pasts? i09.

The Telegraph offers photos of 17 haunting Holocaust memorials.

“Let’s go fly a drone over Auschwitz,” said one clever BBC cameraman. World.Mic

The lost and abandoned places theme continues this week with England’s abandoned theme parks. BBC News.

What happens to all the fish trapped in a flooded and then abandoned mall in Bankok? A friend suggested eels might be more numerous than the fish (!) Gizmodo.

Would you spend a year in the woods to create art? A friend commented that this was distinctively Blair Witch-y. I agree, but it’s awesome nonetheless. BoredPanda.

Lindsay Stirling covers Senbonzakura:

 

Could you imagine trying to feed this pack of Samoyeds in a non-chaotic manner? Forget them, what about trying to feed yourself with all those hungry puppy eyes watching you?

Getting all thoughty all over your Thursday 🙂

Guess what? TOMORROW IS FRIDAY!

Let the dancing begin.

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 25-31, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 5 Comments

February already? What the heck happened to January? 2014? Holy cow!

Publishers Weekly analyzed book sales by category for 2014. Interesting stuff (says the SF&F writer whose eyes popped at those numbers . . .).

K.M. Weiland’s podcast and post combo covers ways for lazy writers to identify and overcome their weaknesses. Lazy? I say smart 😉

With all the stuff you have to do in your opening pages, don’t forget to begin with your protagonist. Katie’s weekly vlog. I must admit, openings still kick my ass.

David Corbett discusses types, archetypes, and the occasional real person on Writer Unboxed.

Janice Hardy tackles the tricky topic of internal questions. When should your characters ask them and when shouldn’t they?

Kameron Hurley discloses her earnings and explains why she hasn’t quit her day job. True, but demoralizing for those of us aiming for that loft goal. I think it helps if you like your day job.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Guy Kawasaki and Peg Fitzpatrick for DIYMFA on social media for writers.

A.V. Club interviews Amber Benson (listed here because, among other things, she’s written the Calliope Reaper-Jones series).

This ticked me off: the Colleen McCullough obituary debacle. Back-handed compliment? Damning with faint praise? The Guardian.

I don’t know what you want to call it, but this response by The Washington Post’s Alexandra Petri certainly hit the spot.

Too fond of exclamation points? Here’s a handy infographic from Hubspot that will help you identify whether you really need one or not.

There. Now you can’t say I’ve never given you anything . . .

Hugs from Writerly Goodness.

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 18-24, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila

A first-person account of the Paris rally. Psychiatric Times.

Redefining mental illness. The New York Times.

Drink more tea. It’s good for your mental health. The Canadian Mental Health Association.

Love this comic from Everyday feminism on body policing.

The Huffington Post. The surprising cause of addiction—it’s not what you think.

The LA Times reports on the dangers of sitting all day. One of the reasons I now have an adjustable desk at home.

Why you should take notes by hand instead of by lap top. Lifehack. This is how I do all my conference learning these days. I listen, take notes by hand, and then transcribe those notes later in a blog post. That’s three exposures to the same information by three different methods. Do I remember more? You betcha!

Jane Friedman shares ten resolutions for a saner internet—and life.

The potential quantum effect of parallel worlds on our own. Mother Nature News.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope’s latest and highest resolution picture, you can now get new perspective on how vast the universe is. IFLS.

How could I resist this piece by National Geographic on animal commuters?

Keep on learning! It’s the only way to live 🙂

See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 18-24, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris with more tales from her masterclasses for The Guardian. This week, your inner horse, johari windows, and finding your character’s true nature.

K.M. Weiland on “on the nose” dialogue, how to recognize it, and how to remedy it.

In her weekly vlog, Katie discovers the one common element in all the books she loves. Want to make sure you have it? Watch and learn.

After a lengthy pause, MJ Bush posts about how to know your character deeply in one step: the back door. Writingeekery.

I have a writer-crush on Chuck Wendig because he writes bad-ass stuff like this: 25 ways to be a bad-ass maker who makes bad-ass stuff.

Dave King writes about forthwringing tonguishness, or, why English is such a mutt language, on Writer Unboxed.

Dan Blank answers the question: why bother with email newsletters? Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier of The Better Novel Project interviewed on the writing education, technology (WET) podcast.

 

Writing is self-hypnosis from Stephen King:

 

Four plots structures you want to avoid. The New Yorker.

Fabulous bookshelves brought to you by BookBub. My faves? Nine and nineteen.

Why season three of Orphan Black is going to be even crazier. The Nerdist. Yeah, it’s a TV show, but damnit, it’s also great storytelling.

The Guardian. 20 previously unknown Pablo Neruda poems discovered in Chile.

It was a lovely week for writerly goodness.

Enjoy, my friends.

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 11-17, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Let’s start with a moment of silence. Please use that time to look at these images from Paris in the wake of the terrorist attack. The Boston Globe.

 

Fast Company asks, what is your beautiful question of 2015?

The subtle art of not giving a fuck. This post by Mark Hanson was shared by Delilah S. Dawson. It’s pure awesomesause.

And here is one of my favourite memes on the subject:

Field of Fucks

Canva shares six ways to stay creative under pressure.

Mary Jaksh of Write to Done compiled this list of creativity posts and articles.

Why not everyone who tries drugs becomes an addict. IFLS.

Bell’s Let’s Talk campaign takes aim at ending the stigma around mental illness.

Clara Hughes’s testimonial:

 

How women are working to change the public perception of body image. UpWorthy.

How will language change in the next 100 years? The Wall Street Journal.

Bill Nye’s new book and talking Darwin over dinner. Science Friday.

i09 presents eight logical fallacies that fuel anti-science sentiments.

Space Suite, a short video by Lucas Green and shared by Phil Plait on his Bad Astronomy blog.

Neil deGrasse Tyson answers the question, “what’s the meaning of life?” UpRoxx. Best answer since 42.

How many smells can you smell? It’s okay to be smart.

 

Why do dogs watch—and react to—TV? National Geographic.

Does my dog know what I’m thinking? It’s okay to be smart.

 

Do our dogs miss us when we go away? BrainCraft.

 

Foxes in photos from MetaSpoon.

The beauty of abandoned greenhouses. MessyNessyChic.

Dark and lonely roads photographed by Andy Lee. Bored Panda.

2200 year old mosaics uncovered in ancient Greek city. Twisted Sifter.

Imogen Heap is one of my favourite musicians, but she’s also a musical inventor and innovator. Consider her brilliance in this article from CNN about her Mi.Mu gloves.

Owl City and Lindsey Stirling: Beautiful Times. Just lovely.

 

Last week was uber thoughty! Who’d a thunk it?

See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 11-17, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

I am so tired . . . but more about that on the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy some Writerly Goodness!

Agent Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary guest posts on Anne R. Allen’s blog: You may not need an agent, but why you may want one anyway.

Karen Woodward outlines her critique process.

The anatomy of a kick-ass query letter, from DIYMFA.

Eight query tips no one tells writers from agent Carly Watters.

Writing a synopsis. Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

How to turn a short story into a novel. Roz Morris helps you Nail Your Novel.

How to transition to your story’s climax with a gatekeeper by Christine Frazier of the Better Novel Project.

Advice about advice from Jamie Raintree.

Then, Jamie posted this over on Writers in the Storm: four steps to happy writing productivity. Who says you can’t be happy and productive?

Delilah S. Dawson guest posts on Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds. 25 lifehacks for writers from a hack writer 🙂

Nnedi Okorafor looks at why science fiction created by African writers is still considered alien.

Quill & Quire previews spring 2015 books.

Buzzfeed compiles a list of 33 of the creepiest lines in fiction.

From Elle: How many women does it take to create the perfect sex scene? You know which one we’re talking about, don’t you? Oh yeah. Outlander: The Wedding.

The latest Outlander trailer for the second half of season one:

 

And . . . an Outlander soundtrack! In case you love the music as much as the show (and the novels) 🙂

The science of Game of Thrones. It’s okay to be smart.

 

And that she be it for this Tipsday!

Buh-bye, la!

Tipsday