Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 8-14, 2016

May 17, 2016May 17, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

All kinds of writerly goodness for you this week!

K.M. Weiland has made no secret of her disappointment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In classic Kate fashion, she gleans writerly goodness from the experience. Planning your story: what George Lucas can teach you (not) to do. Helping writers become authors.

Later in the week, she offered eight tips for writing child characters.

Jessi Rita Hoffman explains how to write a thrilling action scene for Writer Unboxed.

Sophie Masson shares the building blocks of great young adult fiction. Writer Unboxed.

Lisa Cron advises: don’t accidentally give your characters a time out. Writer Unboxed.

Margaret Dilloway explores overcoming impostor syndrome for Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier shows you why your hero should eavesdrop and make a bad assumption (in four steps). The Better Novel Project.

Janice Hardy looks at writing a character with a gender not your own. Fiction University.

Dan Koboldt offers some tips for creating fundamentalist religions in fantasy.

Chris Winkle offers strategies for defeating the contrivance boogeyman. Mythcreants.

Jami Gold wonders if your plot obstacles are too easy, too difficult, or just right?

Jennie Nash studies great opening lines. The Book Designer.

Chuck Wendig advises us to defy reality and become artists. Terribleminds.

Jami Gold explores how to reach your potential through writing feedback.

Angela Ackerman offers six rules that will keep your critique partnerships golden. Writers helping writers.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Charlaine Harris for the DIYMFA podcast.

Annie Neugebauer says, don’t hate the query—master it! Writer Unboxed.

Janet Reid shares a checklist of things you need to be thinking about between offer and acceptance.

Susan Spann offered some advice on royalty clauses in publishing deals and how authors get paid. Writers in the Storm.

Karina Sumner-Smith guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: is a quick release schedule right for you and your books?

My friend, Kim, is back on the road. This time, she spends an afternoon with Margaret Atwood.

Micah Solomon offers three books that will help you to radically improve your writing. BookBaby

Cory Doctorow shares his vision of how publishers, libraries, and writers could work together. BoingBoing.

Delilah S. Dawson wrote this beautiful post on writing and grieving: someday this pain will be useful to you.

Natalie Zutter shares Nnedi Okorafor and N.K. Jemesin in conversation: masquerade, initiation, and science fiction and fantasy. Tor.com

Bustle wants you to diversify your reading list with these 23 LGBTQ books with a person of colour as a protagonist.

What Bustle says your to-be-read list says about your personality.

Ferris Jabr revisits the lost gardens of Emily Dickinson. The New York Times.

Kathryn Hughes looks at the dystopian world of Beatrix Potter. The Guardian.

Shakespeare and death:

Women swept the Nebulas! i09.

Jo Walton reviews Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning for Tor.com.

A Ken Liu short story will be made into a movie. i09.

John Marcotte reports that Marvel is committing to a Black Widow movie (at some unknown point in the future). Heroic Girls.

And, speaking of Marvel, the next X-Men movie is due out May 27th: X-Men Apocalypse.

Here’s the teaser:

And the official trailer:

Buzzfeed shared what was a sneak peek of Outlander’s next episode (I saw it Sunday) but I thought I’d post it anyway. “Ovaries explode!” – funnee.

See you Thursday for some thoughty stuff 🙂

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, May 1-7, 2016

May 12, 2016May 12, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

CBC covers of the Fort McMurray wildfire and evacuation. Heart-wrenching.

Before you get teary (all over again), the answer to this somewhat sensationalist headline question is yes. Quite a bit, actually. Meagan Campbell asks, is there hope for the pets of Fort McMurray? MacLean’s Magazine.

In fact, West Jet made it possible for evacuees to take their pets with them. This feel-good piece from Buzzfeed.

NASA names a facility in honour of Katherine Johnson, the mathematician who calculated astronaut trajectories. Collect Space.

Jon Mooallem reports on the amateur cloud society that (sort of) rattled the scientific community. New York Times Magazine.

Alex Newman shares the story of a nurse who helps the homeless die with dignity. The Toronto Star.

Jerrold C. Winter examines what the reporting on Prince’s death reveals about our understanding of pain management. Slate.

Depression is a disease of civilization: hunter-gatherers hold the key to a cure. Return to now.

Maria Konnikova explores how people learn to become resilient. The New Yorker.

Being vulnerable is one of the more important things to master in our lives. Jodi Fraser for Elephant Journal.

More western doctors are prescribing yoga therapy. Susan Enfield for Yoga Journal.

Steven Pace reviews a study that finds trees are linked to the reduction of psychological stress. PsyPost

Terri Windling shares some May Day love 🙂

Linton Weeks looks at female husbands in the 19th century for NPR history.

I didn’t know where to put this. Something to keep in your back pocket for your next trivia night? Opium soaked tampons were the Midol of ancient Rome. Atlas Obscura.

Melissa Wiley shares stunning photos of Africa’s oldest trees, framed by starlight. The Smithsonian Magazine.

Hefty shares 20 pieces of ingenious street art.

Hope you got a few inklings from this.

Now it’s time to go write 🙂

This weekend: The Ad Astra 2016 reportage begins.

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 1-7, 2016

May 10, 2016May 10, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

And we’re still on a roll 😉

K.M. Weiland offers six tips to help you finish your book. Helping writers become authors.

Janice Hardy helps you get your novel to the finish line: staying focused enough to write (part two). Fiction University. And part three: resisting the shiny, new idea.

K.M. Weiland shares how to harness the dark side of your impact character. Helping writers become authors.

Jami Gold answers the question, what’s the difference between plot and story?

Talking yourself down and talking yourself up: the two-headed dragon of insecurity. Ella Joy Olsen on Women Writers, Women’s Books.

Donald Maass: pixie dust, the secret ingredient to adding sparkle to your writing. Writer Unboxed.

Fantasy Faction explores languages in fantasy.

Chris Winkle offers four tips for depicting characters with disabilities. Mythcreants.

Chuck Wendig: Hello, I have anxiety. How are you?

Sarah Selecky is back with part three of her writing retreats for your wish list series: make your own retreat 🙂

Sarah Letourneau offers five reasons to do market research on your work in progress. DIYMFA.

New research explains how the pen is mightier than the keyboard. The Literacy Site.

Mallory Ortberg looks at publishing, weight, and writers who are ‘hard to look at.’ The Toast. This really pissed me off.

Jael Richardson launches the Festival of Literary Diversity. Donovan Vincent for The Toronto Star.

CBC Books lists twelve Canadian novels that describe living with mental illness.

Buzzfeed shares 21 examples of exquisite handwriting.

Gregory Woods offers his top ten landmarks in gay and lesbian literature. The Guardian.

Nicholas Lezard reviews Seven Miles of Steel Thistles.

Book Riot shares this massive list of 100 science fiction and fantasy novels by women.

Wil Wheaton mansplains the Star Wars: Rogue One hate. The Nerdist.

Alisdair Stuart reviews Captain America: Civil War (without spoilers!). Tor.com

Fire and Launch wonder if Brandon Stark is the hero of Game of Thrones (contains spoilers). Tor.com

Norman Descendants explores the historical truth of Ragnar Lothbrock.

This Harry Potter themed wedding was tasteful as fuck. Buzzfeed.

See you with your weekly dose of thoughty on Thursday!

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 24-30, 2016

May 5, 2016May 5, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Light-headed? Yeah, I think so. Oh! Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Your thoughty funny for the week:

First, Newsner reports that farts can prevent cancer. Then, IFLS reports that theory stinks.

NASA’s ‘impossible EM drive works: German researcher confirms it can take us to the moon in four hours. Physics-Astronomy.

Then a friend shared this MIT Technology Review article: the curious link between the fly-by anomaly and the ‘impossible’ EM drive thruster.

If Saturn was this close on May 1st, we’d all be dead. Phil Plait for Slate.

Lucy Orr reviews the evolution of AI in popular culture. The Register.

How the “Moth Radio Hour” helped scientists map out meaning in the brain. Amina Khan for The LA Times.

The secret language of narcissists, sociopaths, and psychopaths: how abusers manipulate and traumatize their victims. The Minds Journal.

The Awesome Daily has collected these pictures of the 40 most breathtaking abandoned places in the world.

Cosmopolitan lists 22 of the most beautiful places in the world.

Dala sings Red is the Rose.

Priming the pump, popping the mental corn, call it what you will, I hope it happened.

Now . . . go write!

Thoughty Thursday

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

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Another lovely batch of writerly goodness for you!

First some Sudbury poet laureate news 🙂

Adriana Nicolucci interviews Kim Fahner for Our Crater.

More poet laureate goodness: it’s been a busy week at Sudbury’s libraries. Jessica Watts for The Sudbury Star.

K.M. Weiland asks, do you have a writing superpower (and why you shouldn’t)? Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she helps us understand how to write scenes your readers will rave about.

Roz Morris shares tips on how to blend a parallel, allegorical fantasy plot into your novel. Nail Your Novel.

Bonnie Randall guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: battling the block.

Marcy Kennedy returns with part two of her reading like a writer mini-series.

Chuck Wendig: What I’d like to say to young writers, part two.

Leanna Renee Hieber guest posts on Terribleminds: what to do when the bottom drops out.

James Scott Bell guest posts on Writer Unboxed: how to weave a message without pummelling your readers.

Steven Pressfield: I can’t squeeze my theme in! My favourite bit: “This is why writing (or the pursuit of any art) is, to me, a spiritual enterprise. It’s an endeavor of the soul. The stories we write, if we’re working truly, are messages in a bottle from our Self to our self, from our Unconscious/Divine Ground/Muse to our struggling, fallible, everyday selves.”

Later in the week, Shawn Coyne posts this: the designated driver. I’ve been listening to The Story Grid podcast and Tim Grahl has just finished his first draft.

Nina Munteanu explores the writer-editor relationship: editors preparing writers.

Stephen Stratford writes an essay on the dark arts of editing for The Spinoff.

Query Shark Janet Reid sounds off on why you should avoid querying services.

Author brands: Which kind of influencer are you? Carly Watters.

Martha Alderson guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog and shows us how to use a plot planner.

Jami Gold looks at brain science from the perspective of how we, as writers, imagine.

I may have shared this before, but it’s a good article: how stories change the brain. Paul J. Zak for Greater Good.

This is long as heck, but Tor.com covers (almost) all the science fiction and fantasy adaptations in production and already on the air.

Charlie Jane Anders explores the moment when science fiction diverged from competence porn. i09.

Cassandra Clare created a fantasy realm and aims to maintain her rule. Penelope Green for The New York Times.

The secrets of medieval fonts. Medieval Books.

David Tennant as Puck. Just ‘cause it’s Shakespeare’s 400th 🙂

Shakespeare is dead: six hot takes. Literary Hub.

Rob Brydon shares Shakespearean phrases in everyday use.

The Doctor’s Long Story, a fan video with heart. Radio Times.

John Boyega and James MacAvoy to voice Netflix’s Watership Down. Comic Book Resources.

Nathan Fillion joins the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, with more than just a prosthetic-covered cameo. Peoples Choice.

Electric Lit shares an infographic that explains the real history behind Game of Thrones.

Sarah Mesle reviews the first episode of season six for the LA Review of Books.

Until Thursday, be well.

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 17-23, 2016

April 28, 2016April 28, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Lots of videos for your edutainment this week 🙂

Science confirms: men are terrified of smart women. I was sceptical. Not all men are like Phil, or most of the men I know, I guess. The Mind Journal.

Speaking of smart women . . . Melissa McCarthy can’t get respect. The Vulture.

Lolly Daskal shares seven rituals successful people use to de-stress and stay productive. Inc.

Jordan Gray asks four honest-as-fuck questions that we can use to chart our courses to bliss.

Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it the right way. Quartz.

Tor Constantino helps us switch from pursuing happiness to being happy with these five tips. Entrepreneur.

James Webb writes about existential depression in gifted children. Creatives of any age tend to succumb to this. The Unbounded Spirit.

Time captures the aftermath of the recent Japan earthquakes.

Tesla unveils a new battery that can power your home off the grid. Eat Tomorrow.

NASA saw something come out of a black hole for the first time. Blastr.

On SciShow: Restless leg syndrome. It’s a thing. I have it when I get anaemic.

It’s okay to be smart looks at how slime molds are redefining our idea of intelligence.

ASAP Thought wonders, what makes tattoos permanent?

And . . . should you swear more often?

Ask a Mortician delves into a bog body murder mystery.

Patrick Lynch supplies proof that the Pythagorean Theorem predated Pythagoras. Phys.org

The White Wolf Pack shares some amazing photos of the Sami, Finland’s indigenous people.

If you like abandoned places as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to check out Iris van Wolferen’s site.

Dangerous Minds presents Herbert Baglione’s eerie shadow paintings in an abandoned psychiatric hospital.

Ten really weird crow facts. Aves Noir.

Beethoven’s 5th in the style of Chopin by Syd R. Duke.

Les frissons musicale! The Amalgamation Choir.

And, on that note (pun intended) I’m out of here until next Tipsday!

Have a fabulous weekend!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, April 17-23, 2016

April 26, 2016April 26, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Dialling back on the writerly goodness this week, but there’s still a shit-tonne to share 🙂

Sudbury IS Reading Town Canada. April 30 to May 8, 2016.

K.M. Weiland shares everything you need to know about writing third person point of view (POV). Helping writers become authors.

Dave King writes about writing class accurately in an historical context for Writer Unboxed.

Elsa S. Henry guest posts on Terribleminds about writing blind characters realistically.

K.M. Weiland points out the one major pitfall of writing strong characters. Helping writers become authors.

Becca Puglisi discusses friends as enemies for Writers Helping Writers.

Diverse fantasy is better fantasy. Fantasy Faction.

Oren Ashkenazi lists five signs that your story is racist. Mythcreants.

Ricardo Fayet lists twelve common writing mistakes even bestselling authors make. BookBub.

What’s your potential? Dan Blank on Writer Unboxed.

Jamie Raintree shares her thoughts on the real reason we want to be published. Writers in the Storm.

Awesome process alert! Kameron Hurley discusses why she writes non-chronologically. I can’t. One thing needs to lead to the next for me. But try it out. If it works for you, why not do it? Process is an evolutionary thing.

Janice Hardy explores how to balance writing and working without losing your mind. Fiction University.

Kameron Hurley writes about the slog on the mountain and the calm before the storm.

Related: Lauren Carter writes about climbing gear.

Jim C. Hines considers shield theory as a way of explaining spoon theory to his son.

Publishing news: proposed settlement reached in Harlequin class action suit.

SFWA contracts committee alert.

Nina Munteanu examines the moving target of indie publishing. What every writer and editor needs to know.

I read Janet Reid’s blog religiously. Here’s an excellent post on author/agency agreements.

Carly Watters interviews Kurestan Armada concerning her first year as an agent for the Things I wish I knew series.

Agent Chip MacGregor defines success. MacGregor Literary.

Chris Winkle analyses the fantastic writing of Andy Weir’s The Martian. Mythcreants.

Charlie Jane Anders lists eighteen short stories that pack more of a punch than most novels. Gizmodo.

Michael Peck explores the literature of cyborgs, robots, and other automata. Literary Hub.

Leah Schnelbach wonders why we’re still white-washing Asian characters. Tor.com

These are all kinds of beautiful: Studio Ghibli’s greatest works drawn in Art Nouveau. Go Boiano.

Colm Tóibín on writing. Sentences as rhythm. Sentences as brush strokes. Yummy. Louisiana Channel.

Jeanette Winterson examines Shakespeare’s take on love: bed tricks and broken women. A friend took exception to the dim view of Anne the piece presents, but y’all know not to believe everything you read, right? The Guardian.

The manuscripts of the first two English women writers are now on display. Alison Flood for The Guardian.

Thoughty Thursday is full of videos. See you then.

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, April 10-16, 2016

April 21, 2016April 21, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

It’s mega-thoughty Thursday this week 😉

This is the next emergent issue in Canada: the quality of life in First Nations. This is our Prime Minister’s next big challenge. One First Nation has become the focus of media, recently, but it is not the only place where living conditions have been shown to be deplorable.

Attawapiskat in the news:

In Attawapiskat, by Louise Bernice Halfe with photography by Larry Towell. The Walrus.
Dying from hopelessness: Attawapiskat is desperate to stop suicide epidemic. CBC’s The Current.
Joseph Boyden writes about the true tragedy of Attawapiskat. MacLean’s.
Attawapiskat is not alone: Indigenous suicide is a national problem. “. . . [C]olonialism . . . deprives people of the ability to create their own futures and shape their own destinies.” Bob Rae for The Globe and Mail.

Just because our Prime Minister’s a geek (and yes, I realize he was dodging a question, but he did it well, don’t you think?).

Sandra Martin explains why we need better end-of-life policies in seniors’ residences. The Globe and Mail.

North Carolina passed ridiculous legislation that discriminates against transgendered people in the name of safety. Lindsay King-Miller covers the issue for role reboot.

Carla Ciccone wrote an article to warn women about Jian Gomeshi and it nearly destroyed her life. Chatelaine.

Samhita Mukhopadhyay wonders, will ‘it’s on us’ finally put an end the sexual assault on America’s college campuses? I hope so. It’s time and long past. Mic.com

Jia Tolentio explains how empowerment became a product for women to buy. The New York Times Magazine.

Leah McLaren explains why she’s teaching her son to embrace the ‘girlish.’ The Globe and Mail.

James Phelps, MD, makes the distinction between borderline personality disorder and bi-polar disorder. The Psychiatric Times.

The Mighty shares the secrets of people with anxiety.

Nancy C. Andreasen shares the secrets of the creative brain. The Atlantic.

I didn’t know where to put this tasty tidbit: How to see all the companies tracking you on Facebook and block them. Tech Insider.

The Shell Grotto in Margate, England.

Göbeklitepe. An amazing ancient site.

Photos of the Fukushima exclusion zone show how nature has taken over in a few years. BoredPanda.

Phil Plait debunks the planet nine comet scare for Slate.

Yuri Milner develops Breakthrough Starshot. CBC.

Phil Plait presents a tale of three Jupiters in four parts. Part one: A lonely young Jupiter wanders the galaxy. Part two: A Jupiter analogue orbits another star. Part three: Jupiter’s brother has three suns. And, finally, part four: Great Jupiter’s ghost! Slate.

Where do minds belong? In this fascinating essay, Caleb Scharf speculates on the fate of human, and alien, intelligence. Aeon.

Ariana Eunjung Cha examines Sean Parker’s revolutionary project to ‘solve’ cancer for The Washington Post.

Sarah Laskow considers the original copy of the Malleus Malificarum in Cornell’s witchcraft collection for Altas Obscura.

Food in its growing state 🙂 Bright Side.

Dog shaming always makes me smile. They know we’ll always forgive them 😉 Here are a couple of sites to bookmark in case you need a mid-week pick-me-up. Dogshaming and Dog Shame Awards.

Be Deutsch! Just AWESOME.

All the best.

See you on Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

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

April 19, 2016April 19, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

I can’t believe how much writerly goodness I have for you this week. WTF’s going on here, anyway?

Angela Ackerman wonders, why do characters resist change? Writers helping writers.

David Corbett argues that conflict isn’t the engine of story. Writer Unboxed.

Lisa Cron explains what ‘let it go’ really means. Writer Unboxed.

Sarah Callender helps us create delightful, messy characters with the humble ampersand. Writer Unboxed.

Lance Schaubert talks talecraft on Writer Unboxed.

Jami Gold explores paragraph breaks and voice in her building blocks of writing series.

Janice Hardy helps you get what’s in your head onto the page. Fiction University.

Margie Lawson shows us how to make strong writing stellar. Writers in the Storm.

Chris Winkle shares some tips on narrating layout and position. Mythcreants.

Kelly Simmons explains how your personality type wreaks havoc on your writing and offers ten things you can do about it. Writers in the Storm.

In times of doubt, Chuck Wendig advises you to write what you love. Terribleminds.

Leanne Sowul offers some tips to keep writing when times are tough. DIYMFA.

K.M. Weiland shares twelve ways to rock your novel research. Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she explained how to moderate reader reactions to character sins.

I’m curating the curators, now 😉 Elissa Field shares a number of quirky research sources for writers on her Friday links for writers.

Jamie Raintree offers the three most common query mistakes and advice on how to fix them.

Roz Morris shares a discussion on the benefits of editors from Author Fringe 16.

Nina Munteanu writes part two of her ecology, women, and science fiction post: praxis. Great discussion with some of Canada’s best women SF writers and editors.

Kim Fahner shares some of her lessons learned from her week in Banff with Lawrence Hill (and meeting with Alice Major). Upon her return, she struggled with decompressing and managing her creative energy.

The first of three posts by Jim C. Hines on trigger warning shenanigans inspired by Stephen Fry’s poorly thought out comments: Trigger warnings are censorship, and other nonsense. He returned the next day with Trigger warnings as an impediment to healing and mental health. Here’s the third instalment: when trigger warnings attack!

John Grisham and Donna Tartt headline the author protest of Mississippi’s anti-LGTBQ law. Electric Lit.

Doctors and psychiatrists may soon prescribe fiction to help youth with mental illness. <This is me, cheering like Kermit—yaaaaaaaaaaay!> The Guardian.

Rod McDonald, Canadian designer of the typeface Classic Grotesque, heads for Manhattan launch party. The Toronto Star.

An interview with transplanted Sudburian, Matthew Murphy. Quebec reads.

Sian Cain covers Sir Terry Pratchett’s memorial for The Guardian.

Hedgehogs are the keepers of order and knowledge in Slavic fairy tales. Tiny Donkey.

Ten facetious book dedications that actually got published. Books rock my world.

Orna Ross shares a Celtic creation story.

This is awe-inspiring: The librarian who saved Timbuktu’s cultural treasures from al Qaeda. The Wall Street Journal.

Film dialogue from 2000 screenplays, broken down by gender and age, shows how sexist movies are. Polygraph.

No trailer for this yet, but Story of Your Life looks like it might be a good SF film to check out. Movies.com