Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 12-18, 2017

March 21, 2017March 19, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

This week is filled with informal writerly learnings 🙂

K.M. Weiland shares five rules that will help you write a sequel. Helping Writers Become Authors

Becca Puglisi adds another entry to the character motivation thesaurus: pursuing justice for oneself or others. Writers Helping Writers

Jami Gold returns to the Writers Helping Writers coaches corner: what does it mean to raise the stakes?

Jami follows up on her own blog with three steps that raise your story’s stakes. And later in the week, she posts about balancing rules and voice.

Lisa Cron offers some ways pantsers can use the Story Genius method. Writers in the Storm

David Corbett: emotion vs. feeling. Writer Unboxed

Annie Neugebauer suggests changing up your reading patterns to gain more. Writer Unboxed

Dan Blank shares some great social media tips for writers on The Creative Penn.

Sara Letourneau continues her developing themes in your stories with part 9: the midpoint. DIY MFA

Stacy Woodson looks at mysteries, thrillers, and suspense: does the label matter? DIY MFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Ben Blatt for DIY MFA radio.

Rachael Stephens shares her new favourite plotting method: Dan Harmon’s Plot Embryo.

Dimitra Fimi: inventing a whole language. The Times Literary Supplement

Chris Winkle lists five worldbuilding mistakes to avoid. Mythcreants

Jenna Ireland: racism in a fantasy landscape.

Kobo interviews Margaret Atwood on woman-crushes, feminism, and advice for her younger self. Medium

In the wake of his passing, Richard Wagamese: what it means to be Ojibway. Anishnabek News

Michael Moorcock: what is the new weird and why is weird fiction so relevant to our times? The New Statesman

What “White Rabbit” really meant (with an awesome, vocal-only track). Dangerous Minds

Wil Jones thinks this literary map of the world is simply brilliant. The Indy 100

Cracked lists 21 movie lines nobody actually says. Several commenters have refuted this, but they say these things because they’re said in movies …

Elodie shares one-sentence summations of every literary genre. Sparklife

Angela Watercutter presents the “Jane Test,” a new way to tell if your scripts are sexist. Wired

Patricia Cornwell unmasks “Jack the Ripper.” Tom Bryant for The Mirror.

Beth Elderkin shares the new Wonder Woman trailer: how the girl became the legend. i09

Katharine Trendacosta shows us the latest American Gods trailer. i09

And, phew. We’re done.

Come back on Thursday for some thoughty.

And, in the meantime, be well.

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

January 17, 2017January 15, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

I even have a video in the informal writerly learnings mix this week. W00t!

K.M. Weiland offers her top ten ways to rivet readers with plot reveals. Helping Writers Become Authors

Later in the week Dave Chesson guest posts on Kate’s blog with Boba Fett’s guide to writing cool characters.

Jordan Rosenfeld guest posts on Writer Unboxed: perception and how to identify POV leaps.

Bess Cozby offers five tips for mastering multiple points of view. DIYMFA

Oren Ashkenazi explains how to craft a character-driven story. Mythcreants

Becca Puglisi guest posts on Writers in the Storm: crafting a powerful set up.

Sophie Masson helps you craft the perfect back cover blurb. Writer Unboxed

David Corbett explores the topic of reading while writing. Writer Unboxed

Roz Morris joins the awesome line up of writing coaches on Writers Helping Writers: read more fiction.

Jami Gold explains how writing goals are really about finding out what works for you. Later in the week, she offers some insight into how to make your story meaningful.

Janice Hardy shares some outlining tips. Fiction University

Chuck Wendig tell you how to finish revising, you filthy animal. Terribleminds

Should you submit your work to agents or editors? Jane Friedman

New contributor Kathryn Magendie writes about giving up and giving in. Writer Unboxed

Susan Spann educates us on negotiating options in publishing deals. Writer in the Storm

Gabriela Pereira and Manjula Martin talk money on DIYMFA radio.

Joanna Penn and CJ Lyons talk about the dream of quitting the day job to write full time. The Creative Penn

Indigenous readers recommend books. 49th Shelf

Danielle Dutton lists her top ten books about wild women. The Guardian

Terri Windling: old stories made new. Myth & Moor

John Yorke: all stories are the same. The Atlantic

Liz Bourke reviews Certain Dark Things and Sparrow Falling. Tor.com

Man Booker prize winner, Marlon James, is writing an epic fantasy trilogy drawn from African mythology. Natalie Zutter for Tor.com.

Foz Meadows muses on Westworld: (de)humanizing the other. shattersnipe

Heather Wolfe, the “Sherlock of the library” cracked the case of Shakespeare’s identity. Robert McCrum for The Guardian.

A Writer’s Life. Two men have words.

Leah Schnelbach looks back at Princess Mononoke after 20 years. Tor.com

I hope you found something to enrich your skill set.

Come on back on Thursday for some inspiration 🙂

Be well until then.

tipsday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 9-15, 2016

October 18, 2016October 16, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Another harvest of informal writerly learnings for you 🙂

Moar Wordstock Sudbury 2016 news from Kim Fahner, Sudbury’s Poet Laureate. CBC

Emily Franceschini interviews Danielle Daniel for Our Crater.

This week’s #NaNoWriMo round up:

K.M. Weiland suggests you start your outline by asking these four questions. Helping writers become authors
Five types of #NaNoWriMo participants and the tools they need. The Write Practice

Eleana Sbokou guest posts on Kate’s blog: seven things you need to know about writing and editing.

Roz Morris provides a blueprint for keeping the reader gripped. Nail Your Novel

Juliette Wade guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: backgrounding your world through point of view.

Veronica Sicoe continues her series on storyworld design with this instalment on communication technologies.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Amor Towles for DIYMFA radio: worldbuilding from the inside out.

The book monster, or, when writing gets hard. Kate Moretti on Writer Unboxed.

Allie Larkin writes about finding confidence. Writing Unboxed

David Corbett shares what he learned at the beach this summer. And I have another book for the TBR pile 🙂 Writer Unboxed

Lisa Cron explains where drama really comes from. Writer Unboxed

Orly Konig Lopez gives three reasons quitting is an option, and the one reason you won’t. Bonus: guinea pig pictures! Writers in the Storm

Steven Pressfield reminisces about writing “as if.”

Ok. I just can’t resist Harper Lee Hodges. The four steps cats use to explain how to do something. The Write Practice

Julie Phillips: the fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin. The New Yorker

Jamie Raintree shares her story: from agent to publisher, part 1.

Why is it so difficult to get an agent? Liza Dawson Associates

Kristen Lamb explains why we need a synopsis before we write the book.

Catherine Ryan Howard explores her hate/love relationship with writers’ workshops.

Susan Spann helps us understand advances in publishing deals. Writers in the Storm

Adrienne Raphel: a history of punctuation for the internet age. The New Yorker

Four writers share their stories about the search for happiness. The Telegraph

Claire Kirch reports on We Need Diverse Books new curated reading app. Publishers Weekly

The publishing industry risks becoming irrelevant. Tom Welson of Penguin Random House UK. The Guardian

Here’s a lovely bit of storytelling for you. Dia de los muertos from Film School Shorts.

And another video on the role of geometry in visual storytelling. Now you see it

The indigenous science fiction film, Northlander, will be screened across Canada. CBC

Kameron Hurley digs into the first couple of episodes of Westworld.

Alex Cranz reviews the season premiere of Supergirl. i09

James Whitbrook says that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is trying to be Doctor Who with superheroes, and that’s just fine by him. i09

Clara and Eleven were a couple. What we’ve all known, finally confirmed. Caitlin Busch for Inverse.

Katharine Trendacosta reviews the first Iron Fist footage from NYCC. i09

And The Nerdist shares the Iron Fist trailer.

Katharine Trendacosta shares what she learned about The Dark Tower trailer (leaked). i09

The Outlander, season two, gag reel 😀

I hope that you find some news you can use to help improve your craft.

All the best.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Sept 11-17, 2016

September 20, 2016September 18, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Tipsday is chock full of informal writerly learnings!

K.M. Weiland digs into subtext and gives practical examples for how you can identify and apply subtext in your stories. Helping writers become authors

Later in the week, Kate shares more lessons from the MCU: how to choose the right antagonist for your story.

Roz Morris offers an exercise to show how you can shape your tone in your novel. Nail your novel

Vaughn Roycroft discusses the importance of storytelling in turbulent times. Writer Unboxed

Sara Letourneau helps you find the “why” behind your story. DIYMFA

David Corbett helps you fill linguistic holes with some super fun words. Writer Unboxed

Carly Watters shares four ways to write better dialogue.

Jami Gold: when is backstory necessary? Later in the week, Jamie returns with tips on balancing your story elements.

Margie Lawson offers her rule #17: finessing backstory. Writers in the storm

David H. Safford guest posts on Writers Helping Writers with advice on hunting down story holes using a novel journal.

Janice Hardy continues her blog tour on Marcy Kennedy’s blog. Create an editorial map to make revisions easier. This is, incidentally, part of my process 🙂

Karen Woodward explores short story structure.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Jerry Jenkins on DIYMFA radio.

Christine Frazier compares Star Wars: A New Hope and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The Better Novel Project

Janet Reid shares six reasons she said “no,” recently.

Frances Caballo guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog. A social media strategy that works: CARE about your readers.

Tim Grahl shares his perspective on the effectiveness of Facebook as a marketing tool for authors.

Authors offer their best writing tips. The Guardian

The Baltimore Sun shares John E. McIntyre’s “trigger warning” from his editing class at Loyola University, Maryland.

Moira Donegan covers the Emily Books Symposium session: what is women’s writing? The Awl

Kerry Gold’s L’affaire Galloway explores the UBC incident in its context and subtext (because there’s so much that hasn’t been stated). The Walrus

Janet Reid shares her thoughts on the difference between racism and using potentially offensive language in context in response to one college’s unequivocal idea of cultural sensitivity.

Mary Robinette Kowal offers a textile metaphor for cultural appropriation.

Jim C. Hines unpacks Lionel Shriver’s speech on cultural appropriation.

And here’s Foz Meadows’ response to Lionel Shriver.

Related (because it occured at the same literary festival): a journalist quotes a writer without permission. Liz Spayd for The New York Times.

Award news! Sunburst Award winners announced!

Literary Hub interviews the Biblioasis Bookstore in Windsor.

Wordstock, Sudbury’s literary festival. Nov 3-5, 2016. CBC

Canadian literati are coming to Sudbury for Wordstock. South Side Story

Last week marked the centenary of Roald Dahl’s birth. Here are a couple of the articles that were posted in tribute.

The dark side of Roald Dahl, by Hephzibah Anderson. BBC
David L. Ulin: Roald Dahl’s twisted, overlooked stories for adults. The New Yorker

Shane Koyczan: 152 (audio only)

Wasn’t sure where to put this mixed bit of news. Sad to have lost him, but end-of-life issues are never simple and I honour his right to make this decision. Author W.P. Kinsella ended his life last week under Canada’s new assisted dying legislation. The Guardian

Take a look at Salvador Dali’s paintings of Alice in Wonderland. The Earth Child

Seanan McGuire digs into Pamela Dean’s Tam Lin. Tor.com

Joel Minty offers advice to first-time readers of Steven Erikson’s Gardens of the Moon. Tor.com

Alex Brown reviews the fall 2016 television SFF line up for Tor.com.

Germaine Lussier reports that Disney’s new production of A Wrinkle in Time has its lead. i09

The Curiosity is a fairy tale film about selkies 😀 Germaine Lussier for i09.

Connie Verzak offers some fodder for Droughtlander sufferers. The Daily Record

Hope you enjoyed, my creative friends.

See you on Thursday for some thoughty 🙂

Tipsday

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

July 19, 2016July 19, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Got some goodies for you this week 🙂

Roz Morris shares three steps to a smoother writing style. Nail your novel.

If you just keep writing, will you get better? Barbara Baig guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog. Later in the week, Elizabeth Sims guests with this post: internal dialogue is the greatest tool for gaining reader confidence.

K.M. Weiland offers seven reasons you need story theory. Helping writers become authors. She returns with more lessons from Marvel: how to write subtext in dialogue.

MJ Bush brings her usual awesome in her advanced techniques (and insights) for jaw-dropping dialogue. Writingeekery.

Sophie Masson shares a few tips on writing fiction for middle grade audiences. Writer Unboxed.

David Corbett builds on Heather Bouwman’s WU post of the week previous with Sisyphus, happiness, and the Abyss.

Lisa Cron explains why it’s crucial to write ugly. Writer Unboxed.

Marcy Kennedy returns with part three of her reading as a writer series (with links to part 1 and part 2).

Elizabeth Kauffman rounds up some of the DIYMFA launch team’s posts from the last weeks (with a lovely nod to one by yours truly). Gabriela Pereira interviews Emma Straub for DIYMFA Radio. And then Andree Neal writes a guest post for DIYMFA (you might notice her in the round up, as well).

S.L. Huang guest posts on Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds on the subject of manpain (!)

David D. Levine: a passion for Mars. Tor.com

Posche Burke: on white writers, ‘daring’ topics, and the unappreciated legacy of Octavia Butler. The National Post.

Ayodeji Awosika shares the undisputed secret to becoming a great writer. Creativity is a muscle. Be yourself.

How to be a writer: the map is the territory. Ramona Ausubel shares her winding path to publication. Literary Hub.

Award news!

Locus announces the 2016 World Fantasy Awards Finalists.
The Starburst Society’s 2016 shortlist.

Airship Ambassador interviews Holly Schofield.

Connie Verzak recaps the Outlander season 2 finale for Scotland Now. Oh, the feelz.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Celebration reel.

See you Thursday for some weighty thoughty.

Tipsday

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

Cheryl Eddy previews another fairy talish movie due out this year: A Monster Calls. i09

We have to wait until November (no way I’m wishing is here any sooner—love spring, summer, and fall!). Fantastic Beasts and where to find them.

But this weekend! Eeeeeee! Game of Thrones, season six. I really hope they make up for last year.

And that is Tipsday for this week.

Hope you are all well and writing wicked stuff 🙂

Tipsday

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, December 6-12, 2015

December 15, 2015December 15, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

It’s been another great week of Writerly Goodness.

Jane Friedman offers her thoughts on privilege and luxury with respect to her productivity. This is particularly interesting in light of my The next chapter update of last week.

Here’s one of the articles Jane links in her post (above): The writing class by Jaswinder Bolina for the Poetry Foundation. I actually shared one of the others last week . . .

Jane later tries to answer the question; do men receive bigger book advances than women?

Why I choose to write publicly about my anxiety. Kameron Hurley.

K.M. Weiland returns to her most common writing mistakes series with this entry: Anticlimactic endings.

David Corbett explores shame, guilt, and hope, referencing other excellent posts by Tom Bentley and Donald Maass, in this post for Writer Unboxed: The redemptive arc.

Lisa Cron continues her exploration of backstory on Writer Unboxed: What we’ve been taught about backstory and why it’s wrong.

Tor.com offers their list of the SFF characters they couldn’t stop talking about in 2015.

Sherman Alexie: How storytelling can create social change. The Take Away.

Elizabeth Gilbert discusses not getting an MFA on The MFA Project.

Open Culture shares 48 hours of Joseph Campbell lectures for free.

Mental Floss offers Edison’s footage of Mark Twain in his home.

Charles Dickens once created an entire library of fake books. He titled them all himself. Someone was wearing his clever trousers. Open Culture.

Karin Scheper wonders whether to conserve or not to conserve on the Medieval Books blog.

Ah, another lovely entry in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows. Kudoclasm:

And with that bit of poetry, I leave you.

Until Thursday, mes cheres!

Tipsday

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?