Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 10-16, 2016

January 19, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Of Writerly Goodness, there is much 🙂

Do you re-read your favourite books? K.M. Weiland shares five tips on how you can up the re-readability factor for your novel.

Janice Hardy explains (ha!) what you need to know about show, don’t tell. Fiction University.

C.S. Lakin shares the five essential components of scene structure. Live, write, thrive.

Later in the week, she offers an older post on the same subject: your opening scene.

Jane Friedman shares Mary Buckham’s advice on how writers can craft effective settings.

Chuck Wendig offers five lessons learned from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Continuing his ruminations on shame and guilt, David Corbett writes the broken arc for Writer Unboxed.

Lisa Cron wonders, why do we write? Writer Unboxed.

Sarah Callender writes about when to ditch the jammies on Writer Unboxed.

Delilah S. Dawson explains what you really need to call yourself a writer.

Porter Anderson uses Erik Anderson’s discussion of diversity—or the lack thereof—in his reading as a jumping off point to explore the issue of diversity in writing. Writer Unboxed.

Dean Wesley Smith offers some tough love for writers who think they’re starting too late.

Carly Watters compares the various methods of pitching and querying. Which one is best for you?

Susan Spann drops by Writer Unboxed to share some tips for writers on how to obtain reversions of your publishing rights.

Delilah S. Dawson writes about using mindfulness and flow as a way to overcome depression.

Later in the week, she continues with this post: ‘just breathe’ is my new motto.

Inspired in part by Delilah’s posts, Chuck Wendig offers his unique take on self-care for writers. Comfort food for your big, squishy brain.

David Bowie’s death (and her own near-death experience) inspired Kameron Hurley to write this post on creation and legacy: Yes, we’re all going to die.

A horse trainer points out the most common writers’ errors with regard to horses. Dan Koboldt.

Two hundred linguists from the American Dialect Society have declared the singular ‘they’ as word of the year. The Washington Post.

A visual timeline of the future based on famous fiction. Brainpickings.

i09 lists their top 40 science fiction and fantasy books coming out in 2016.

And that was Tipsday!

Come on back for Thoughty Thursday, y’all. Hear?

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 29-Dec 5, 2015

December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Gah! Almost didn’t make it, this week. The holiday season is starting to take over (!)

K.M. Weiland offers a final lesson learned from writing Storming: how to choose the right point of view.

Nina Munteanu shares her thought on how to end your novel.

Lance Schaubert picks apart the axiom that there is nothing new under the sun in this post for Writer Unboxed: Old books > new books.

What’s the current Donald Maass is writing about on Writer Unboxed? . . . and the greatest of these is hope.

What Cathy Yardley learned from writing erotica. Writer Unboxed.

So, Chuck Wendig saw this article in The Wall Street Journal and responded, no, ejaculated, most fizzily.

Junot Diaz shares his MIT writing class syllabi with Open Culture.

CBC Books presents its winter reading recommendations.

How the literary class system is impoverishing literature. Literary Hub.

A brilliant spoken word performance that explains depression perfectly. Upworthy.

Air New Zealand’s epic flight safety video:

Grandfather Frost and Baba Yaga: The weird and wonderful world of Russian fairytales. The Guardian.

Futurity examines science fiction’s lasting obsession with Mars.

J.J. Abrams actually said that Star Wars was always a boys’ thing. That toe jam taste good?

Phil and I are enjoying Jessica Jones. Here are a few posts about the show:

Suffering from #droughtlander ? Here’s a trailer for you to drool over. E!Online.

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 22-28, 2015

December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

We’re back on track and heading full steam ahead 🙂

K.M. Weiland shares more lessons she learned from writing Storming: How to write multiple antagonists.

And: Seven easy ways to research an historical novel.

Veronica Sicoe is sharing some of the lessons she’s learned from writing The Deep Link and The Prime Rift. Writing out of sequence is the best way to draft.

How to get comfortable with the f-word. Vaughan Roycroft for Writer Unboxed.

Brunonia Barry asks, are you writing for love or money? Writer Unboxed.

Julie Glover guests posts on Jami Gold’s blog about how grammar can strengthen our writing voice.

Angela Ackerman writes about creating characters that readers trust, but shouldn’t. Writers Helping Writers.

Chris Winkle shows us how to write a riveting fight scene. Mythcreants.

Chuck Wendig considers privilege.

The two posts mentioned in Chuck’s:

Further linkage to be clicked.

C.S. Lakin wonders, is backstory killing your books plot? The Write Life.

Shad interviews Nalo Hopkinson on diversity in science fiction for CBC’s Q.

NPR talks to Ta-Nehisi Coates about his work and the painful process of becoming conscious.

Martha Nussbaum explores how storytelling rewires us and why we have to befriend our neediness to be happy. BrainPickings.

Waterstones prepares for a new chapter as the chain returns to profitability. The Guardian.

Damien Walter writes about the genre versus literary debate. It’s a battle in which both side lose. The Guardian.

The BookBaby blog suggests you focus on your book’s back cover copy.

If you’ve enjoyed a good book and you’re a woman, the critics think you’re wrong. The Guardian.

How a Finnish librarian decoded the world’s folklore. Timeline.

The Best Sci-Fi Books presents its list of the 23 best cyberpunk novels.

Be well until Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 15-21, 2015

November 24, 2015November 24, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Slightly smaller batch this week. Then again, I was traveling and training and NaNoWriMo-ing last week. Some things must be sacrificed.

Sudbury’s new small publisher releases its first anthology. The Sudbury Star.

K.M.Weiland continues to share her lessons learned from writing Storming with this post-and-podcast combo: How to write can’t-look-away chapter breaks.

Then Katie busts six stereotypes of strong female characters.

MJ Bush explores writing unforgettable characters. Yes. For realsies. Writingeekery.

Jan O’Hara writes about surviving trout syndrome and electric shocks for Writer Unboxed. What it’s really about? Learned helplessness.

Gwen Hernandez shares some Scrivener fundamentals on Writer Unboxed.

Chuck Wendig welcomes you to the midpoint of your novel. Let it not sag like an overloaded clothesline.

What did Veronica Sicoe learn about writing faster? Read on and find out 🙂

Writers & Authors shares this cute infographic about the eight reasons writers make great friends.

The CBC shares Booknet Canada’s infographic comparing Canadian and American readers.

The secrets hidden in the gilt.

This might be a bit controversial. Chis Winkle shares lessons learned from the bad writing of Battlefield Earth. Mythcreants.

Barnes and Noble lists its best science fiction and fantasy of 2015.

I may have shared this before, but I am so looking forward to The Shannara Chronicles:

And just because: Bustle presents Sesame Street’s eleven best literary moments.

See you next Tipsday for moar Writerly Goodness.

Tipsday

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

November 17, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

I’m a curating machine 🙂

Angela Ackerman of Writers Helping Writers offers us the NaNoWriMo triage center.
Becca Puglisi takes her turn: On writing badly and redefining failure. Writers Helping Writers.
Jim C. Hines shares his NaNoWriMo pep talk.
Anna Lovind explains why you have to create crappy stuff first, so you can create brilliant stuff later.

Roz Morris discusses the differences between British, Canadian, and American English and why writers should know when to use each. Nail Your Novel.

Writer tech: How to storyboard in Scrivener. Matt Herron for The Write Practice.

K.M. Weiland offers six steps to create a fantastic narrative voice in her lessons learned from Storming series.

Katie then discusses the easiest character she’s ever had to write.

Lisa Cron gives us the inside story on what grabs readers. Writer Unboxed.

Sophie Masson helps us get the most of mentoring, from both sides of the fence. Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier shares ten traits of the mentor archetype on the Better Novel Project.

Kameron Hurley was never in this for the parties.

Then, she wonders if Goodreads ratings correlate to sales.

Next, she reassures us that everything is not awful.

Finally, Kameron explains why having a writing-related day job does not ‘ruin’ you for fiction. Silly rabbits.

Mary Robinette Kowal helps us discern when writer’s block is depression. And when it’s not.

Madeleine Dore shares fifty ways to take care of yourself in the arts. Performing Arts Hub.

Dan Blank discusses the three essential ingredients to creative success. Writer Unboxed.

Building a better world through science fiction: the new utopians. New Republic.

Carly Watters shares fifteen things she’s learned in her five years as an agent.

Declining ebook sales hit home with the big five. Publishers Weekly.

Erin Lindsey is in search of a more nuanced discussion of women and gender in SFF: When Mary Sue failed the Bechdel test. Tor.com.

Margaret Atwood addresses the lack of diversity in fiction: In Tolkien, there are hardly any women at all. The Guardian.

Buffy Ste. Marie recommends eight books she loves. CBC.

Neil Gaiman stops by Buzzfeed to offer writing advice.

100 pieces of writing advice from Chuck Wendig.

The Myers-Briggs types of 101 famous authors. BookRiot.

It’s going to be okay. I did not know this. The Oatmeal.

Judging medieval books by their covers.

Finding Dory’s going to be a-dory-ble 🙂 Space.

Krysten Ritter kicks all the butt as Jessica Jones. i09. <Starts this Friday, guys!>

Tor.com lists all the TV series and movie adaptations of SFF books in the works.

Ima check out SyFy’s new series The Expanse. Tor.com.

Come back next week for more Writerly Goodness.

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

November 10, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

First up: NaNoWriMo:

Don’t get stuck during NaNoWriMo. Jami Gold on Writers in the Storm.
Roz Morris gives us five tips for writing a useful draft at speed.
Chuck Wendig writes an informal NaNoWriMo pep talk: The perfect machine vs. the art monster.
He follows up by sharing how he writes 50(-ish) k words per month.

To temper things, Chuck then wrote that writing advice is bullshit.

The Query Shark CrimeBake 2015 effective queries workshop.

Common writing mistakes, pt. 45: Avoiding ‘said.’ K.M. Weiland.

What Katie learned about writing funny dialogue in the course of writing her novel, Storming.

Donald Maass offers his thoughts on positivity and protagonists on Writer Unboxed.

Marcy Kennedy guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog with five tips for finding POV errors.

Beth Revis builds a great first chapter on Writers Helping Writers.

Therese Walsh shares lessons from Breaking Bad on Writer Unboxed.

Matriarchies, patriarchies, and beyond. Mike Hernandez for Mythcreants.

Delilah S. Dawson writes for the Mary Sue: Everything I love is problematic.

Ellipses can be powerful or annoying. Here’s a guide to using them well. Lexicon Valley.

They’re adding more words to the dictionary again. The Guardian.

What your bookshelf says about your personality. Bustle.

How to judge people by the covers of their books. Bustle.

Literary address quiz, anyone? Ace it, and get a cheeky wink from Simon Pegg :)The Reading Room.

Levar Burton – Problems only book lovers understand:

Monstress: the fantasy comic about race, feminism, and the monster within. The Hollywood Reporter.

I didn’t mind The Golden Compass movie, but a series would probably be better. i09.

Lego Doctor Who? Eeeeee! i09.

Come back next week for more awesome. MOAR I say. Moar.

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

November 3, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

The NaNoWriMo posts keep on coming. I think we’re going to be neck deep in them the whole month of November (!)

K.M. Weiland explains how to win NaNo with totally doable daily and weekly writing goals.

Christine Frazier shares her day-by-day NaNoWriMo outline. The Better Novel Project.
Jenny Hansen says, don’t stop—your novel is calling you. More Cowbell.
Each writer must make his choice whether to NaNo or not. Chuck Wendig offers us a balanced list of reasons for and against.

Worried that your character isn’t likeable? Katie advises you to try this technique.

Carly Watters explains why perfect characters are a problem.

Angela Ackerman shows how your characters past trauma determines her character flaws. Writers Helping Writers.

Beth Revis explores the book of your heart on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

Chadwick Ginther interviews Julie Czerneda about returning to science fiction after a fantasy hiatus.

Then Julie appears on Jim C. Hines’ blog, answering the question, what do I call it?

Delilah S. Dawson (as Lila Bowen) talks about the silly ideas that grow into novels. Barnes & Noble.

Emily Johnson offers a step-by-step guide to home workplace organization on C.S. Lakin’s Live, Write, Thive.

Renovate you sentences with active phrasing. Chris Winkle for Mythcreants.

43 words you should cut from your manuscript immediately. Diana Urban.

David Mitchell is so over the genre wars. Salon.

More David Mitchell: In praise of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea. The Guardian.

If the novel is dead, so are we all. Junot Diaz on BigThink.

Is solarpunk the new cyberpunkpunk? SciFiIdeas.

Charlie Jane Anders reviews Maisy Williams’ guest appearance on Doctor Who. i09.

And then she took a look at Supergirl: dorky cuteness still packs a punch. i09.

Natalie Zutter reviews Supergirl for Tor.com.

Emily Asher-Perrin wonders if Marvel is shying away from a Black Widow movie because they know they’ll never get it right. Tor.com.

A short film offers a vision of post-apocalyptic Earth. Gizmodo.

And that is Tipsday.

Hang tight until next week, my friends.

And for those of you fighting the NaNo fight with me: keep writing.

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

October 20, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Have I told you how much I enjoy sharing all this Writerly Goodness? I LURVES it!

Roz Morris points out that gender is not the only agenda when considering equality in publishing.

Sheila Williams, editor for Asimov’s since 2004, guest posts on the Women in Science Fiction blog.

K.M. Weiland continues her NaNoWriMo prep posts with six tasks you’ll love yourself for checking off your NaNo pre-writing list.

Sherry D. Ramsey guest posts on Liana Brooks’s blog on her journey from NaNoWriMo to published author.

Katie answers one of the most frequent questions to come across her desk: what’s the hardest part of a novel to write?

If your protagonist is always right, readers will hate her (or him). K.M. Weiland.

I lurve Chuck Wendig when he writes posts like this one: go big, go weird, go you, and fuck fear right in the ear.

This. Is. SO. True. And, so sad. The Kubler-Ross model of grief applied to editing and rewriting. Chuck Wendig. Terribleminds.

Last week, K.M. Weiland compared weak plot points to dimpled or hanging chads. This week, David Corbett looks at the Iran nuclear deal as an example of four corner conflict. Writer Unboxed.

Donald Maass writes about the magnanimity of the author on Writer Unboxed.

Porter Anderson looks at Amazon Crossings on Writer Unboxed.

Want to get your book published? Start here. Jane Friedman.

Man Booker Prize winner, Marlon James’s first book was rejected nearly 80 times. Hope for us all, people. The Guardian.

Will the Amazon scandal with phoney authors and fake reviewers result in a resurgence in print book sales? The Memo.

Kristine Kathryn Rusch tackles the latest Author Earnings report (cause she was a little late addressing the last one).

Has Sabaa Tahir written the next Game of Thrones? The Huffington Post.

Helen Marshall (whose short fiction collection Gifts for the one who comes after has been nominated for nearly every applicable award, and won at least one) is interviewed on the This is Horror podcast.

How’s this for book porn?

The earliest documented use of fuck (so far) discovered. The Daily Mail.

Flavorwire showcases a video game based on Murakami’s magical realism.

Wise Ink shares eight infographics every writer needs.

Buzzfeed presents jokes for book nerds.

Maisy Williams made her debut on Doctor Who this past week. It was a good episode. Space.

Emily Asher-Perrin wishes Hollywood would stop doing these five things. Tor.com.

Top up your tank and get writing!

See you Thursday.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, October 4-10, 2015

October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Another wonderful week of Writerly Goodness.

Roz Morris takes a snap-shot from her self-editing masterclass: Do you have a plot, or a premise? I’m currently reading Larry Brooks’s Story Physics, and this is one of his big issues 🙂

K.M. Weiland offers seven ways NaNoWriMo can help you be a better writer all year long.

Chuck Wendig shares some options for outlining your NaNoWriMo project during National Plot Your Novel Month (NaPloYoNoMo) 😉
Grant Faulkner, executive director of NoNoWriMo stops by Writer’s Digest to talk about what makes NaNo work.

The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) isn’t just for figuring out who you are. Katie shows how you can use it to analyze your characters. BTW, I’m an INTJ, if you wanted to know.

Katie posted later in the week about ‘the call’ and the questions you want to ask when considering an offer of representation.

Agent Carly Watters explains what an agent will want to know on the infamous call.

It was a good week for Katie: Why weak plot points are like the Bush-Gore vote-counting debacle.

Jordan Rosenfeld and Martha Alderson team up on Writer Unboxed to review master scene types for page-turning plots.

Lisa Cron makes her long-awaited (and triumphant) return to Writer Unboxed with this post. Who knows more about story: writers or The Pentagon?

Catherine Ryan Howard shares her year of amazing productivity. This was the post that got me Muse-Ink last Saturday.

Kameron Hurley explores the temperature at which writers give up.

Benjamin Sobieck guest posts on Christine Frazier’s The Better Novel Project to talk about how to write fantasy weapons.

Ben Thompson gives us a two part post in response to the NYT article that reported the faltering of ebook sales in the face of strengthening print sales. Disconfirming ebooks, and Are ebooks declining, or just the publishers?

Kristine Kathryn Rusch takes a look at the latest Author Earnings report.

Jane Friedman shares five observations on the evolution of author business models.

Lachesism. From the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows.

iDiva presents some women science fiction authors you should read.

I’m looking forward to checking out Jessica Jones. Here’s the preview on i09.

Come on back for a short and sweet Thoughty Thursday.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Sept 27-Oct 3, 2015

October 6, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

This week’s offerings:

We all “know” we’re supposed to be honest in our fiction, but what does that really mean? K.M. Weiland.

Katie features One stop for writers, by Angela Ackerman, Becca Puglisi, and Scrivener’s Lee Powell, on her personal blog. We have to wait until October 7 to sign up, though. (Hey! That’s TOMORROW!)

Then, Katie offers two warning signs that you’re starting your story too early in her Friday vlog.

Bonnie Randall is back with another great post on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: Getting psyched out.

C.S. Lakin gives us a list of ten questions that will help check our stories for underwriting. Live, write, thrive.

Every journey starts with a first step. Every story begins with the first word. About gittin’ ‘er done. BookBaby blogs.

Cathy Yardley asks, is your story complex, or overly complicated? How to build complexity without confusing your reader. Writer Unboxed.

Nicole Winters writes about how she kicked research in the butt. Writers in the Storm.

Canadian small press Bilblioasis is doing great things (with three books on the Giller long-list). The Globe and Mail.

Now is not the time for realistic fiction, says Margaret Atwood. NPR.

Elizabeth Gilbert warns of the perils of ignoring your creative self on CBC’s Q.

Eleanor Arnason guest posts on the Women in Science Fiction blog.

Chuck Wendig asked a few cool people to write guest posts on his Terribleminds blog. First, Stina Leicht offers her thoughts on message fiction in SFF. The S.L. Huang defends escapist, blow-shit-up-hell-yeah, popcorn entertainment. Then, editor John Adamus explains why getting an independent and professional editor to review your work is so important.

Anna Lovind explains why she ditched her beautiful career in publishing. Annapurna Living.