curation

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

/ Melanie Marttila

Good things come in little packages?

Publishers Weekly: The print book is making a comeback.

Why the self-published ebook is no longer the new query. Anne R. Allen.

K.M. Weiland’s most common writing mistakes series, part 37: Unnecessary filler.

In Katie’s Wednesday vlog, she talks about the one rule about backstory that matters.

Roz Morris and Peter Snell co-host “So you want to be a writer?” on Surrey Hills Radio. Listen to them all!

Canadian authors share their New Year’s resolutions. Canada Writes – CBC.

The 50 most anticipated books of the first half of 2015. The Globe and Mail.

David Bowie answers the Proust Questionnaire. Brainpickings.

Access Hollywood asks Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfe about the second half of Outlander, season one.

Check out these cool maps of fictional places from BookRiot.

Can we answer my first question, “yes”?

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 28, 2014-Jan 3, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Peg Fitzpatrick shares Elizabeth Gilbert’s Happiness Jar project. Write the happiest moment of your day down and put it in the jar. It’s as simple as that.

The seven habits of happy people that they never talk about. Mind Body Green.

The age of loneliness is killing us. The Guardian.

WikiHow explains how to recognize a psychopath.

Back in September, just before DevLearn, Twist recorded a conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson about science literacy and the future of work. Awesome stuff.

The eight books Neil believes everyone should read to understand the thinking that has historically driven western culture. Brainpickings.

Moar Neil, this time from the Business Insider: Why role models are overrated. It starts a playlist, but they’re all interesting videos . . .

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This article by Keith E. Stanovich for The Scientific American made me think about thinking. Metathinking? Anyway, it’s about dysrational thought and intelligence.

Thought we were more enlightened than this? I did too. Excellent reality check and novel fodder. i09.

Ten comics intended to shut down terrible arguments (but that might really only inflame the situation—please use with caution). i09.

These ten Futurama jokes will make you smarter. i09.

Another study confirms that ereaders disturb proper sleep patterns leading to various health complications. If you read anything before sleeping, make it a paper book. NPR.

The science of sleep: dreaming, depression, and how REM sleep regulates negative emotions. Brainpickings.

Why is NASA looking at your Christmas lights from space? Futurity.

We didn’t get to see this, but apparently there was a comet that could be seen with the naked (or binoculared) eye on New Year’s. The Christian Science Monitor.

There’s this star and it’s headed straight for our solar system. IFLS.

The Large Hadron Collider is coming back online at double the power to track down that tricky Higgs Boson and solve more of the mysteries of the universe. The Independent.

Archaeologists have unearthed a 6000 year old mega-temple built by a matriarchal society. World.Mic

These photographs of ancient trees are absolutely fabulous. BoredPanda.

Here are the top five National Geographic videos of 2014. Varied topics, but all fascinating.

People buy the strangest things. The Examiner.

An old-timey cover of Stay with me by Christina Gatti:

 

This guy casts his boxer puppy as Indiana Bones. Too kawaii for words. i09.

That’s your thoughty for the week.

See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 28, 2014-Jan 3, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

K.M. Weiland’s last post and podcast of 2014! The difference between your story’s hook and your story’s heart.

Chuck Wendig’s 2015 publishing wishlist.

Here’s a podcast you may want to check out: Coode Street. The episode I’m sharing features Robert J. Sawyer and Peter Halasz having a heated, but friendly, discussion about Canadian Science Fiction.

The best science fiction and fantasy books of 2014. i09.

Brandon Sanderson explains why superheroes are so hard to get right. i09.

Western fairy tales given a Korean makeover. i09.

Arthur Kade interviews Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfe from last summer (in case you needed a little droughtlander viewing).

 

Neil Gaiman’s eight rules of writing on Brainpickings.

Margaret Atwood’s timeless advice for writers. The Huffington Post.

Our poet laureate is putting poetry on our transit 🙂 The Northern Life.

Opportunities for writers in January and February 2015. Aerogramme Writers’ Studio.

19 short story competitions from same.

Enjoy!

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 21-27, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

Sixteen tips for dealing with seasonal affective disorder (SAD). The Toast.

Anna Maria Tremonti of CBC’s The Current interviews psychologist Brian Little about personality types.

The elusive art of inner wholeness. Parker Palmer on Brainpickings.

Wendell Barry on solitude and why pride and despair are the two great enemies of creativity. Brainpickings.

The power of applied physics. i09.

Crows understand analogies. So much for calling someone a bird brain 😉 IFLS.

How to find faster than light particles. IFLS.

Say hello to our new galactic neighbour. IFLS.

The dominant life form in the cosmos is probably superintelligent robots. Really? Motherboard.

American management explained. Tickld.

25 of the most creative sculptures you’ll ever see. EarthPorm.com

25 wild parenting moments from EarthPorm.com.

Looking back at Christmas with a couple of videos.

The Pogues:

 

And your Christmas kawaii:

 

It may be January first, but Janus looks back as well as forwards 😉

Have a great rest of the week, y’all!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 21-27, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

K.M. Weiland offers beta readers a guide.

Sarah Lovett of DIY MFA shares the reasons why you need to start a writers’ group or critique circle.

What traditional publishing learned in 2014. Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Town hall debate: what every literary writer needs to know about the digital disruption. Hosted by Porter Anderson and featuring (among others) Jane Friedman. The focus may be on literary writers, but this is informative for all writers. Vimeo.

Steven Pinker, author of Sense of Style: The thinking person’s guide to writing in the 21st century, interviewed by the CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti.

Steven Pressfield on his “overnight” success.

Giving yourself the gift of writing, by Barbara O’Neal.

Madeline L’Engle on creativity, hope, getting unstuck, and how studying science enriches art. Brainpickings.

This kid’s theory about The Princess Bride is AWESOME!

The ancient origins of modern science fiction tropes. Blastr.

Words that used to be considered poor English that are now accepted. Gives you a little perspective on your current grammar bug-a-boos, doesn’t it? Mental Floss.

Hope you have fun tomorrow night!

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 14-20, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s Christmas Day . . . whee! I’ll be sharing a great meal with the family. Hope all of you are similarly occupied today.

Creative people are paradoxical. Who knew? 😉 Fast Comapny.

What it means to have the heart of an empath. Sensitive is also one of the defining traits of the introverted, so you may find some enlightenment here. Elephant Journal.

I have this amazing friend (Hi, Dani!) who’s been teaching mindfulness to her class. They made this video:

 

Have a look at the lovely (and detailed) maps being sent back to us from Mars. Wired.

The huge issues science fiction movies conveniently gloss over. Cracked.

How ancient Romans made stronger concrete than we do. Construction companies, take note. i09.

I’m not even sure where to put this . . . The blood-curdling sound of the Aztec whistle. Dangerous Minds.

A creative musician figured out a way to translate the information contained in tree rings into piano notes. The result is amazing. IFLS

This is awesome. How a 3D printer was used to make prosthetics for a dog born with malformed front legs. Fabulous implications for human application, too, don’t you think? IFLS.

See you Saturday!

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 14-20, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 6 Comments

It’s Christmas Eve Eve . . . if that makes any sense 😀

K.M. Weiland on the difference between theme and message.

An excellent podcast by DIY MFA’s Gabriela Pereira on some of the ways you can outline.

Why a year-end review is important for writers. Jamie Raintree on thinking through our fingers.

And related to that, Dr. Jonathan Ball on how he uses Jamie’s awesome word count Excel spreadsheet to track his writing progress. Whether you think the post is sexy or not (I rather think Jonathan was being facetious with his post title), there are some great ideas in there. And that, to me, is sexy.

Why emotional excess is essential writing and creativity. Do you agree? Brainpickings explores the diaries of Anais Nin.

Common sayings you may be misusing. How stuff works.

The Lord of the Rings mythology explained in four minutes. CGP Grey.

 

Need something to tide you over until Outlander resumes its season? Here’s a sneak peek. E! Online.

That’s it for this week.

All the best of the season to you, whatever that means to you. To me, it’s still Merry Christmas 🙂

Tipsday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Dec 7-13, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Why every year seems to pass more quickly than the last. The Mind Unleashed. An argument for remaining present in the moment if I ever heard one.

The CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti interviews Bletchley Circle code breaker.

Albert Einstein wrote to Marie Curie and advised her to take heart and ignore the “trolls.” i09.

28 months on Mars. What Curiosity has taught us so far. The New York Times.

Two blue giants engage in interstellar merger. IFLS.

Is there a parallel universe that moves backward in time? IFLS. As one friend commented, science is finally catching up with Merlin (The Once and Future King, T.H. White).

One physicist has a groundbreaking idea about why life exists. Business Insider.

Are there still people out there that think climate change is a conspiracy? Ask them to watch this:

 

Images of Bhopal and its people, thirty years after the disaster. The Altantic.

Rinelle Harper calls for national inquiry into violence against aboriginal women. The Huffington Post.

What an x-ray reveals about the art of Artemesia Gentileschi.

How one boy responded when his friend came out to him. Elite Daily.

Amazing uncensored art reflects modern society. So bad, so good.

Here’s some inspiration for you: Why you will fail to have a great career. Larry Smith’s TEDxUW talk.

 

This is just fun: someone created a map of the UK with only the rude place names listed. *giggles* Buzzfeed.

Ok. Time to get a little weepy over our canine buddies. Why dogs never really die. Tickld.

And on that sombre note, Thoughty Thursday is adjourned.

See you Saturday for all things updatey 🙂

Thoughty Thursday

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Nov 30-Dec 6, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Diana Pitaru of Psych Central wonders, are we afraid of losing our darkness?

TED talks to pick you up when you’re feeling down.

The trouble with bright girls. Psychology Today.

Anita Sarkeesian is just getting started. Bloomberg Businessweek. One of my favourite bits: “Harassment is the background radiation of my life.” And still she fights on. The definition of courage.

Alanah Pearce has started reporting young harassers to their moms. The Huffington Post.

Trauma dog helps victims on the stand during sexual abuse trial. The Huffington Post.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 25 years since the Montreal Massacre was perpetrated. Poet Penn Kemp posted about some of the commemorative and healing events taking place.

The world’s oldest engravings found on 500,000 year old shells. IFLS.

Abandoned and tragic places are fascinating to me. Drone footage of the Chernobyl exclusion zone from IFLS.

Thanks to Phil Plait for posting this wonderful video on his Slate Bad Astronomy column.

Cymatics, the science of sound from Nigel Stanford.

 

Cody C. Delistraty of The Atlantic wonders, can creativity be learned? What a new study reports.

The difference between opinion and reaction. Prolost.

Walking helps us think. The New Yorker.

Veritasium. Why innovation in education is not the end of the teacher.

 

Reasons you should move to Finland. Buzzfeed. We have most of this stuff right here in Canada, though, especially in Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and many other northern communities where the Finnish have settled. My last name? Finnish 🙂 Yes, my mom has a sauna and makes Finn bun. Om-a-nom-a-nom-a-nom.

I only hope this is true. The Huffington Post.

Kawaii time with Buzzfeed: 21 reasons to be thankful for your dog.

Stanley the Airedale talks to his mom on the phone.

 

Thoughty Thursday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 30-Dec 6, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Here’s another post and podcast on theme from K.M. Weiland. This theme stuff is a little brain-twisty. Katie makes it accessible without getting didactic. That’s exactly what you have to do with your theme.

Jane Kisacky writes about literary hypochondria for Writer Unboxed.

Ruth Harris wrote this wonderful post for Anne R. Allen’s blog on managing your social media for sanity.

Listen to the Creative Penn podcast. This week’s guest: David Farland 🙂

What Catherine Ryan Howard learned about rejection. Catherine, caffeinated.

Karen Thompson Walker. What fear teaches us. TED Talk.

 

11 books aspiring writers should read. Bustle.

25 words you should add to your vocabulary.

Pixar’s 22 rules of phenomenal storytelling.

Chuck Wendig’s simple, no-fuckery plan to write and the no-fooling, fix-that-shit plan to finish your goddamned novel.

Last week, we learned that readers have more empathy. This week, writers are proven to have better coping skills and better physical resilience. Go figure. Arts.Mic.

I think this might go along with last week’s reader discovery. Book ban in prison repealed. BBC.

How not to build a future society. BBC.

If any of you out there are like me, you’re in agony waiting for April and the resumption of the Outlander season. Here’s a little teaser for you to tide you over courtesy of The Nerdist.

I am a BIG B5 fan, so when I read about a reboot movie, I was vibrating on a higher level. Ars technica.

The Saturday Evening Post DC superhero series by Juan Carlos Ruiz Burgos. Deviant Art. I waffled about whether to put this on the Tipsday post or the Thoughty Thursday post.

The Creative Arts Shop on Etsy offers Doctor Who themed merchandise. I kind of like the fingerless gloves meself.

Buzzfeed presents some awesome writing nooks.

The science of Shakespeare on CBC’s Ideas.

Do you write in your books? Consider this post by Tim Parks for The New York Review of Books.

Tipsday