Beatrix Potter

Tipsday: Informal writerly learnings, Jan 1-7, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

Welcome back to tipsday, your opportunity to get your fill of informal writerly learnings.

A heavily cloud-veiled moon above a winter naked tree.
A heavily veiled moon.

Chuck Wendig shares his writer’s resolution 2023: mounting an aggressive defense. Then, he declares, “Eat shit, robots!” (Or: No, the absolute intrusion of artificial intelligence is not inevitable.) Terribleminds

Lisa Hall-Wilson explains how to edit for deep point of view.

Visions of the future onscreen vs. reality—what came true? The Take

Greer Macallister considers choosing your habit, which reframes resolutions or goals in terms of habit-forming. Thought-provoking for this time of year. Then, Allyson Rice says, I’m sure I’ve landed on a federal list somewhere. Donald Maass discusses chaos and creating fiction. Then, Sarah Callender explains when good enough is good enough. Terah Shelton Harris discusses what we ask of our readers. Writer Unboxed

Elizabeth S. Craig offers some thoughts about writer self-care for the New Year.

Beatrix Potter: the secret life of a Victorian genius. Absolute History

Angela Ackerman wants you to force your character to make hard choices. Then, Colleen M. Story shares five reasons it’s still a good idea for a writer to have a blog. Writers Helping Writers

Ken Brosky reveals the biggest mistake even expert writers make. Then, Michael Evans presents the author-creator marketing playbook. Jane Friedman

How to set writing goals and actually achieve them. Reedsy

Karen DeBonis explains how to talk about your book. Then, J. Alexander Greenwood reveals how to get booked on a podcast by answering one question. Writers in the Storm

Tiffany Yates Martin finds out how Kyla Zhao revises by writing her way out of loneliness. Fox Print Editorial

Gabriela Pereira interviews Mary Robinette Kowal about writing diverse characters via nuanced shifts in language. Then, Manuela Williams talks about point of view in poetry. Stacy Frazer takes you from idea to drafting in five steps. Then, AK Nevermore shares how finding her tribe helped silence her self-doubt. DIY MFA

Chris Winkle analyzes five stories that crawl along. Then, Oren Ashkenazi says that the Willow series is a terrible sequel. Mythcreants

Hey! January 1st was public domain day 2023. Ever wanted to write something based on a property coming into the public domain? Duke Law

Another fabulous resource, courtesy of Jane Friedman: Dr. Mardy’s Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations. Having trouble putting something to words? Find out how other writers and thinkers have done it. It really helps.

Thank you for visiting, and I hope you found something to support your current work(s) in progress.

Until Thursday, keep staying safe and well.

Tipsday: Informal writerly learnings, March 13-19, 2022

/ Melanie Marttila

You’ve survived Monday! Reward yourself with some informal writerly learnings 🙂

Sophie Masson helps you use varied narrative forms in your novel. Then, Dave King wonders if you’re drowning your story in imagery. Barbara Linn Probst wants you to write secondary characters with purpose and pizzaz. Porter Anderson: evil and The Age of Madness. Writer Unboxed

K.M. Weiland: how do you know when you’re a successful author? Helping Writers Become Authors

Ellen Brock explains how to write your novel as an intuitive pantser.

Lori Freeland returns with to comma, or not to comma, part 3. Then, Lynette M. Burrows shares even more things she wishes she knew before she published (also, part 3). Eldred Bird tells a modern writing horror story. Writers in the Storm

Tim Hickson wonders if there’s any hope for Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series. Hello, Future Me

Lori Walker reviews 1984 by George Orwell—in graphic novel form. Then, Stephanie BwaBwa fills your self-publishing toolkit for authorial success with writing tools. Ashley Christiano helps you beat writer’s block and plot your novel with tarot cards. Brittany Capozzi explains five ways the vagus nerve helps writers focus. DIY MFA

Shaelin explains how to write compelling secondary characters. Reedsy

Ashleigh Renard explains how to make money through social media without being an influencer. Then, Caroline Topperman helps you figure out which social media platform is the best. Jessi Rita Hoffman unpacks children’s dialogue: they don’t talk like adults. Jane Friedman

On her own channel, Shaelin shares how she works on multiple projects. Shaelin Writes

Lucy V. Hay helps you figure out if your story is a mystery, thriller, or horror. Then, Becca Puglisi recommends choosing the right job for your character. Writers Helping Writers

Nathan Bransford: writing a book is a time game.

Dr. Moiya McTier explains what constellations mean to different cultures. Fate & Fabled | PBS Storied

Story theme: definition and examples for a controlling idea. Story Grid

Chris Winkle examines six types of downward turning points. Then, Oren Ashkenazi discusses five conflicts with weak turning points, and how to fix them. Mythcreants

Angie Hodapp is zeroing in on comps (part 2). Pub Rants

This story will break your heart—The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. Tale Foundry

Anna Russell enters the secret life of Beatrix Potter. The New Yorker

Erin Somers reports how editorial resignations at big houses spark reckoning. Publishers Lunch

Jonah Berger analyzes the science of blockbusters: what makes a good story? University of Pennsylvania, Wharton

Why Game of Thrones already feels dated. The Take

Allegra Hyde considers what makes a great opening line. Literary Hub

Anne Delaney unpacks filler words and floor holders: the sounds our thoughts make. JSTOR Daily

Thanks for spending some time with me, and I hope you found something to support your current work in progress, whatever stage it’s at.

Until Thursday, be well and stay safe!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 14-20, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Pub news, literary deaths, and videos, oh, my!

The big issue of the week: The Huffington Post is proud that it doesn’t pay its writers.

Related: How do writers get paid in a world addicted to free? Kristen Lamb.

Two literary losses this week.

K.M. Weiland shares five important ways storytelling differs between novels and movies. Later in the week, she posted about hacking readers brains by using all five senses in your description. Finally, she explains why cool for cool’s sake character traits are not, in fact, cool.

Roz Morris wonders whether you’ve left an important scene out of your story.

C.S. Lakin shows us the benefits of breaking down scene structure into three parts. Later, she looks at scenes as segments and capsules of time.

Densie Webb explores writing as compulsion on Writer Unboxed.

Andrea Phillips guests on Terribleminds: Throw everything at the wall. On the messiness of modern careers.

Christine Frazier analyzes fight scenes on The Better Novel Project.

Christian Cameron shares his thoughts on faith, piety, and writing about religion.

Foz Meadows: we can’t just adapt science fiction and fantasy novels—we have to transform them. Tor.com

Dan Blank started his own YouTube channel (and, yup, Ima share all of them):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Porter Anderson reviews the progress of Shelfie and Bitlit at three years.

Catherine Ryan Howard updates us on the progress of her two novel deal.

Jim C. Hines: My mental illness is not your inspirational Post-it note.

Haruki Murakami writes about how he became a running novelist. The New Yorker.

Phylogenetic analysis suggests that fairy tales are much older than we thought. Phys.org

The good people of the Science Fiction & Fantasy Marketing Podcast interview Beth Revis.

 

I really like Shane Koyczan’s poetry. Here are several samples for your listening enjoyment.

 

 

 

 

Valentine laments the lack of original book titles. The Guardian.

Mental Floss lists 15 things you may not know about Beatrix Potter.

Altas Obscura shares 15 real-world locations of science fiction dystopias.

Buzzfeed lists 27 products for book lovers.

And that was Tipsday.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, 24-30, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

The video frenzy has calmed down, but the space has been filled with all kinds of Writerly Goodness!

Your NaNo novel is a hot mess. K.M. Weiland explains how to approach revision and editing.

Katie posted later in the week about how to write realistic fight scenes and later still with the number one problem with backstory (and how to fix it).

Outlining your scenes will help you write a great novel. C.S. Lakin.

Sue returned with another entry in her scene structure series: understanding the truth about character arcs.

Roz Morris gives us a simple way to understand show, not tell.

Everyone is all about structure, the outline, and planning rather than pantsing. Well, I’m proud to identify as a plantser. Steven James explains to Writer Unboxed readers how abandoning your outline can improve your story.

Bonnie Randall guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University writing about matching actions and emotions.

Christian Cameron writes about war, violence, and killing characters.

Cara Sue Achterberg shares how she added a touch of fantasy to her novel. Author First.

Don’t worry, it only gets harder. Dan Blank explains why it’s important to keep your focus where it belongs. Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley considers kindness and conventions. Later in the week, she’s committed to the drop and offers a few words of advice on non-compete clauses and rights grabs.

The politics of justice: Identity and empire in Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Trilogy. Liz Bourke for Tor.com.

Renee Baum helps us to see writing as surgery for the soul. The Elephant Journal.

The Book of Kells is now free to read online. It’s a masterwork of medieval illumination. Trinity College Dublin.

Jake Rossen asks, why do books have blank pages? Mental Floss.

There’s a new Beatrix Potter story to be published after 100 years. CBC.

Eight words reveal the sexism at the heart of the English language. The Guardian.

Stephen Fry, Ina McKellen, and Melvyn Bragg share their stories for this new online course, Literature and mental health. The Independent.

Hit Record: a different kind of social media. Check it out. It looks awesome.

Shane Koyczan’s Crush:

 

Outlander casts Brianna for season two. The Hollywood Reporter.

It was a good week. Here’s to another!

See you Thursday 🙂

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, July 26-August 1, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Interesting stuff this week. Veeerrry interesting 😉

Controversial feminist Camille Paglia lectures on Shakespeare’s evil women. CBC’s Ideas.

Don’t know what the ‘vocal fry’ is? Faith Salie demonstrates:

Naomi Wolf advises young women to eschew the ‘vocal fry.’ The Guardian.

In response, Erin Riley calls shenanigans. The dislike of the ‘vocal fry’ is just an excuse to ignore young women’s voices. The Guardian.

Loneliness is on the rise in the age of connectivity. CBC’s The Current.

The Heart and the Bottle is a modern fable about denying difficult emotions. Brainpickings.

The Crossroads of Should and Must, an intelligent illustrated field guide to finding your bliss. Brainpickings.

What the best education systems in the world are doing right. TED.ed

I know I’m usually more about the astronomy than the astrology, but July 31st was the second full moon in the month, also called a blue moon. Apparently, it had astrological significance as well (!)

Brainpickings introduces us to Beatrix Potter, mycologist.

Carbon engineering. IFLS.

There is a two billion year old, natural, nuclear reactor in Africa. IFLS.

The Smithsonian introduces us to the bejewelled skeletons of Catholicism’s forgotten martyrs.

Water intoxication in dogs is another summer hazard to watch out for. The Huffington Post.

Why are dogs so insanely happy to see us when we get home? i09.

Discarded images presents this list of the top ten Medieval butt-licking cats. Thanks to Diana Gabaldon and her daughter for this 🙂

Kawaii! Watch a baby pygmy hippo have a swim. IFLS.

Now . . . since I’m heading out of town on the weekend (for two and a half weeks), I’m going to take me a brief break from the weekend posts. It’s just a bit much while I’m on the road. I will continue to curate Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday, though, so come on back and check it out next week.

Thanks for your understanding.

Thoughty Thursday