curation

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 22-28, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping, my friends.

Phil Plait reports on our first interstellar visitor: an asteroid from another star. Did you go out and look at the moon on Saturday? You should have. October 28 was International Observe the Moon Night. Of course, it was overcast here in the Sudz 😦 SyFy

NASA releases its findings from its study of the Kelly twins. IFLS

SciShow: hypnagogia.

 

And in SciShow news, the Alphago AI and how volcanoes may have influenced ancient Egypt.

 

This is amazing. Russell Powell makes paintings with his hand prints. You just have to see it to appreciate it.

 

Livia Albeck-Ripka: for an endangered animal, a hurricane or a wildfire can mean the end. The New York Times

Kulning – an ancient herdingcall – a farewell song to the cows (and it actually works!)

 

For Hallowe’en, Sonya Vatomsky shares the origins of 25 monsters, ghosts, and spooky things. Buzzfeed

We’ll meet again, come December.

Be well until then 🙂

thoughtythursday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 22-28, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Here are your informal writerly learnings for the week.

Janice Hardy continues her 31 day online writing workshop for preptober. Day 22: the inciting event. Day 23: the first act problem. Day 24: the act two choice. Day 25: the midpoint reversal. Day 26: the act two disaster. Day 27: the three act plan. Day 28: the climax. Day 29: the wrap up. You’ll have to read the rest yourself on Fiction University.

Marie lists 24 novels that started off as NaNoWriMo projects. Goodreads

K.M. Weiland: four ways to prevent story structure from becoming formulaic. Helping Writers Become Authors

Angela Ackerman visits Jane Friedman’s blog: using dysfunctional behaviour to reveal characters’ wounds. Then Jordan Rosenfeld takes a turn: four ways to start a scene.

Terri Frank invites you to go beyond Westworld and reinvent the western. DIY MFA

Brenda Joyce Patterson helps you write through fear and anxiety. DIY MFA

Kathryn Craft offers five tips to help you survive a career quake. Writers in the Storm

Jamie Raintree guest posts on Writers in the Storm: waking up early to write. Then, Jamie pops over to Writer’s Digest: building self-care habits so you can write your best work.

Barbara O’Neal helps you vanquish the killer critic. Writer Unboxed

Bran L. Ayres guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog: want to write with diversity but not sure how? Later in the week, Jami wonders, how do you persevere?

Mark O’Neill stops by The Creative Penn: writing while under the influence of depression.

Joe Fassler talked to 150 writers and collected the best advice they had. Literary Hub

Jess Zafarris and Cris Freese share six lessons writers can learn from Netflix’s Stranger Things. Are you binging? You’re binging, aren’t you? Writer’s Digest

This will be the last Tipsday until December—!

Be well through the time change and whatever challenges November presents you.

You are awesome just as you are.

tipsday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 15-21, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Another small, but insightful batch of thoughty.

Julie Beck: imagining the future is just another form of memory. The Atlantic

Ryan Krull reports on homelessness in public libraries. The Millions

ASAP Science asks, why are you anxious?

 

Natasha Frost: before mace, the humble hatpin was the unescorted lady’s best defense. Atlas Obscura

Mattie Kahn interviews Gloria Steinem about Harvey Weinstein’s fall, Hugh Heffner’s death, and the patriarchy’s endless last gasp. Elle

Lyndsey Matthews wonders, is Ikigai the new Hygge? With Venn diagram 🙂 Country Living

Walk Off the Earth covers Hey Ya!

 

I hope something there got your mental corn popping 🙂

Be well until the weekend’s writerly news post!

thoughtythursday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 15-21, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Your weekly dose of informal writerly learnings is here!

First, get your fill of preptober:

Janice Hardy continues her 31 day online novel workshop with day 15: discovering your internal conflicts. Day 16: finding your stakes. Day 17: turning your idea into a summary line. Day 18: turning the summary line into a summary blurb. Day 19: creating the most basic of outlines. Day 20: developing your plot. Day 21: the opening scene.

Gabriela Pereira guest posts on the NaNoWriMo blog: outline your story like a subway map.

Later in the week, Gabriela interviews NaNoWriMo’s Grant Faulkner for DIY MFA radio.

As part of her preptober series, Rachael Stephen shares three efficient techniques for fleshing out characters.

 

Jenny Hansen plots up a storm (for NaNoWriMo) with Writers in the Storm.

Elizabeth S. Craig offers some suggestions on how to be a #NaNoWriMo rebel.

And now …

K.M. Weiland follows up on a recent post: the only good reason to write. Helping Writers Become Authors

Jan O’Hara shares lessons learned from Ruby Dixon: how to write sex scenes that readers can’t and won’t skip. Writer Unboxed

Julianna Baggott: the writerly skills test. Writer Unboxed

Porter Anderson considers the book doula. I love how Porter presents the evidence and lets the reader decide what they think about the topic. Writer Unboxed

A.K. Perry ponders the eternal question: to outline or not to outline? DIY MFA

And here’s my most recent DIY MFA column—the science in your science fiction: artificial intelligence.

Jami Gold helps you decide what you should show and what you should tell. Then, she helps you find balance between showing and telling.

Tamar Sloan stops by the Writers Helping Writers coaching corner: what’s the real purpose of writing?

Is there such a thing as a good MacGuffin? Robert Wood, Standout books.

Adrienne Liang interviews Patrick Rothfuss for Omnivoracious: what brings him joy?

And that was your writerly goodness for the week.

Be well until Thursday!

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Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 8-14, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Here are your informal writerly learnings for the week 🙂

First, your preptober fix of NaNo:

Janice Hardy continues her 31 day NaNoWriMo prepcourse on Fiction University. Day eight: developing the character arcs. Day nine: choosing your point of view. Day ten: choosing your POV characters. Day eleven: finding your theme. Day twelve: choosing your setting. Day thirteen: determining your goals. Day Fourteen: discovering your external conflicts.

Arthur Klepkuchov shares his first (and last?) winning NaNoWriMo. Writer Unboxed

Rachael Stephen: creating a powerful character backstory.

 

Grant Faulkner on Writer’s Digest: how one month of NaNoWriMo can lead to a lifetime of better writing.

K.M. Weiland: four reasons you’re confused about scene structure.  Later in the week, Kate explains why we need more thematically pertinent female protagonists. Helping Writers Become Authors

Roz Morris helps you figure out what should go into your story’s ending. Writers Helping Writers

Sacha Black helps you improve your sentences: getting jiggy with the nitty gritty. Writers Helping Writers

Angela Ackerman guest posts on Writers in the Storm: does your villain have well-developed motivations?

Emily Wenstrom answers the question: should writers be on LinkedIn? DIY MFA

Bess Cozby shows you how to build rest and retreats into your writing routine. DIY MFA

Sarah Callender shares her experience with a bun in the oven: the gestation period of a novel. Writer Unboxed

Writing what you (never hope to) know: empathy, perception, projection. Kathryn Magendie on Writer Unboxed.

Orly Konig Lopez explains why every writer needs writer’s events. Writers in the Storm

Jami Gold: genre is worldbuilding. And, later in the week, Jami asks, how do you define success?

Alex Acks is perplexed by the river systems of Middle Earth. Tor.com

Alison Flood reports on Vita Sackville-West’s miniature book, said to have inspired Virginia Woolf’s Orlando. The Guardian

Sophie Elmhirst celebrates Philip Pullman’s return to his fantasy world. The New York Times Magazine

Nell Irvin Painter: Toni Morrison’s radical vision of otherness. New Republic

Alexandra Alter profiles Nnedi Okorafor for The New York Times.

Laura Bradley: the strange history of “nolite te bastardes carborundorum.” Vanity Fair

Be well until Thursday, my writerly friends 🙂

tipsday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Oct 1-7, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Just a little bit of thoughty this week.

Julie Ireton: report says Phoenix was doomed from the start. CBC

What new Governor General Julie Payette’s coat of arms means. CBC

Sherri Borden Colley: after 200 years without a land title, Nova Scotia black communities offered hope. CBC

David Eagleman explores the impact of neuroscience on the criminal justice system: the brain on trial. The Atlantic

SciShow news: how to bring someone back from a vegetative state and generating energy from evaporation.

 

ASAP Science: how to learn faster.

 

Robert Wicks on the necessity of self-care:

 

I hope something in this mix got your mental corn popping.

Fare thee well until the weekend!

thoughtythursday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 1-7, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Here are your informal writerly learnings for the week!

This is October now … and so you know what those of us who do the crazy of NaNoWriMo are doing. Yup. NaNo prep (not to be confused with those other preppers). For the month of October, therefore, I will be posting lots of tasty NaNo prep materials, which can be pretty useful even if you don’t participate 🙂

K.M. Weiland assembles her complete guide to preparing for a successful NaNoWriMo. Helping Writers Become Authors

To help y’all prepare for NaNoWriMo, Janice Hardy’s running a 31 day novel workshop. Here’s the first instalment: brainstorming your idea. Day two: develop your hook. Day three: what’s driving your plot?  Day four: creating your characters. Day five: developing your protagonist. Day six: creating the novel’s conflict. Day seven: developing your antagonist.

Laura Highcove lists the pros and cons of NaNoWriMo. DIY MFA

Rachael Stephen continues preptober with how to be an early bird.

Laura Drake helps you find your perfect critique partner. Writers in the Storm

Kristen Lamb has a little tongue-in-cheek advice for you. Fun is for losers! If you aren’t miserable, you’re doing it wrong! Later in the week Kristen returns with 50 shades of butt-in-gear—the ultimate slacker’s guide to writing success.

Bryn Greenwood: haters gonna hate (but you don’t have to). Writer Unboxed

Writerly wisdom from Donald Maass: the world is inside out. Writer Unboxed

Jo Eberhardt encourages us to write like a girl. Writer Unboxed

Gabriela Pereira interviews Jodi Kendall for DIY MFA radio.

C.S. Lakin visits Writers Helping Writers: what’s the dark night moment all about?

Ari Ashkenazi: five ways David Weber built the Honorverse into an immersive world. Mythcreants

Even John Scalzi is having a challenging writing year. Whatever

Elizabeth Bear wonders, where are all the women? Tor.com

Terri Pous shares 17 bits of word nerd trivia. Buzzfeed

And that be it until Thursday, my writerly friends.

Be well until then!

tipsday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Sept 24-30, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s time to get your mental corn popping!

Ibram Kendi, one of Americas leading racism scholars, says that love and education aren’t the answer. Lonnae O’Neal for The Undefeated.

Reni Eddo-Lodge posted this back in 2014: why I’m no longer talking to white people about race.

The reaction to the post, both from people of colour who shared her experience, and by white people who were changed by the post and begged her not to withdraw from the conversation, led Reni to write a book of the same name.

Now that book is out.

Colin Grant reviewed Reni and her book for The Guardian earlier this year: why “racism is a white problem.”

And, just last week, she was interviewed on The Link.

Do we really have two brains? It’s okay to be smart

 

And, honestly, I couldn’t not share this one. SciShow answers the question, why do your farts smell worse in the shower? Oh yeah. They went there 🙂

 

SoulSpot presents the Native American version of the zodiac.

Yes. This is silly. But we all need some silly sometimes, amirite? If you feel sad, just remember, horses can grow moustaches. Bored Panda

A puppy’s life – 1 day per second. What a mush face!

 

And that was thoughty Thursday.

Be well until the weekend!

thoughtythursday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Sept 24-30, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

I proudly present your informal writerly learnings for the week.

I think this is my favourite post of K.M. Weiland’s this year: six lifestyle changes you can make to protect your creativity. Later in the week, Kate shares four ways to amplify your characters’ subtext. Helping Writers Become Authors

Sara Letourneau assembles this list of 12 questions you can use to determine the themes of your writing life. DIY MFA

Stacy Woodson lists the pros and cons of joining a writing organization. DIY MFA

Tamara Linden stops by DIY MFA for #5onFri: five sticky grammar mistakes and how to avoid them.

Sarah Moore guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog: when you shouldn’t hire and pay for a professional editor.

Susan Spann warns about the hidden dangers in short-form publishing deals. Writer Unboxed

Barbara O’Neal explains how to plant the magic beans of story. Writer Unboxed

Diana Raab tells you how to create a sacred space for your writing. Writer Unboxed

Erika Liodice explains how to find the right developmental editor for your book. Writer Unboxed

Nathan Bransford: how writers can beat imposter syndrome.

Kathryn Craft helps you finish your novel one stroke at a time. Writers in the Storm

Jenna Moreci explains how to write a solid chapter.

 

C.S. Lakin guest posts over at Writers Helping Writers: the ten key scenes you need to frame up your novel.

Rachael Stephen reviews the tragic plot embryo as part of her Preptober series. With silly shenanigans at the end.

 

Kristen Lamb explains why guilt is a lie and how boundaries benefit everyone.

David Peterson (the linguist who created languages for Game of Thrones and Defiance): how to create a fantasy language. Unbound Worlds

I hope you found something of value in this mix. Come back on Thursday for your weekly dose of thoughty 🙂

Until then, my friends, be well.

tipsday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Sept 17-23, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Last week’s technical difficulties meant fewer thoughty posts than usual.

Geoff Johnson reveals the threat of the great nutrient collapse. Politico

Sam Dylan Finch lists five ways to lovingly support someone who has C-PTSD. Let’s Queer Things Up

Numbers ‘were my mother tongue’: how autistic savant Daniel Tammet sees language. CBC’s “The Current” with Anna Maria Tremonti

This amazing tree shows how all languages are connected. Bored Panda

Brenda Knowles explains the trouble with over controlling our emotions. Space 2 Live

This artist draws her cat in 12 different styles. The Best Cat Page

I hope there was something in this small offering that got your mental corn popping.

Be well until the weekend.

thoughtythursday2016