Emma Watson

And here we go with another batch of informal writerly learnings 🙂

Sophie Masson expounds on the joys of writing in an unfamiliar setting. Writer Unboxed

Kathryn Craft says you need to earn the backstory by raising a question. Writer Unboxed

Becca Puglisi teaches subterfuge in dialogue. Writers in the Storm

Jenny Hansen shares … a story of balls. Writers in the Storm

Chuck Wendig: so, you’re having a bad writing day. Terribleminds

Roz Morris stops by Writers Helping Writers to improve your suspense in stories with … the big tease.

Angela Ackerman looks back: why we must invest if we want a writing career. Writers Helping Writers

Janice Hardy continues her birth of a book series: creating the characters. Fiction University

Kristen Lamb explores the creative benefits of being bored.

Terri Frank joins the DIY MFA team: five ways to use the library to nurture your reading life.

Gabriela Pereira stops by Jerry Jenkins’ blog to teach us how to write dazzling dialogue.

Then, Gabriela interviews Ann Kidd Taylor for DIY MFA radio.

Gary Zenker returns to DIY MFA: how to get the most out of a critique.

Elise Holland offers five poetic tools to enhance your prose. DIY MFA

Jane Friedman explains how to pitch agents at a writers’ conference.

Chris Winkle lists seven ways to bring characters together. Mythcreants

Nancy Kress looks at the science in science fiction: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Tor.com

Richard G. Lowe Jr.: how better world building will keep you out of trouble. AutoCrit

Brandon Taylor: who cares what white people think? Literary Hub

Emily Van Duyne wonders why we’re so reluctant to take Sylvia Plath at her word? Literary Hub

Jane Austen comments on love and happiness. Oxford University Press.

David Barnett: how traditional British folklore is benefiting from modern culture. The Independent

Emma Watson interviews Margaret Atwood about The Handmaid’s Tale. Entertainment Weekly

Nancy Kress shares seven things she’s learned so far … Writer’s Digest

Karen Grigsby Bates: how Octavia Butler wrote herself into the story. NPR

Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that after four years in negotiation, HBO and George R.R. Martin are producing Nnedi Okorafor’s Who Fears Death as a series! i09

Marc Snetiker gives us a first look at A Wrinkle in Time. Entertainment Weekly

Charles Pulliam-Moore: the reason publishers rejected A Wrinkle in Time is the same reason Ava DuVernay is making the movie. i09

And Cheryl Eddy shares the A Wrinkle in Time trailer! i09

It’s been an exciting week for series and movies. So looking forward.

Come back on Thursday for your weekly dose of thoughty!

Until then, be well.

tipsday2016

Fast Company presents this lovely infographic on humanity’s greatest architectural achievements since pre-history. Fascinating.

Geoglyphs found in Kazakhstan. IFLS.

How fire may cave shaped our preference for evening entertainment. The Economist.

Thirteen misconceptions about global warming from Veritasium.

The top ten unsolved mysteries of science. IFLS. Yes. There’s still stuff we don’t know 😉

The physics of space battles from It’s Okay to be Smart:

David Brin peers into the future of AI and robot brains. Contrary Brin.

Michio Kaku: Science fiction is becoming science fact. THOnline.com.

Scientists band together to Stand up to Cancer. Upworthy.

We’re getting closer to finding a solution to spinal cord injuries. IFLS. Today, rats. Tomorrow, the world 🙂

Your brain makes decisions while you sleep. IFLS. This explains the 3 a.m. epiphany 🙂

Madness and the muse from the Chronicle of Higher Education. Is there a real connection between mental illness and creativity, or are we focusing on the wrong data? As a writer with depression who knows other writers with depression, I’m predisposed to the positive correlation. As Mr. Science likes to remind me, however, correlation is not scientific proof, and the numbers can be manipulated to say just about anything the person collecting them wants. Keep that in mind when you hear about “the latest study on . . .” whatever. While math is the basis of physics, and therefore the hard sciences, statistics tends to be the basis for many of the so-called soft sciences (psychology, sociology, etc.). Numbers can be manipulated by the clever statistician. I’m not saying they always are, but it’s something to think about.

A blood test for depression shows that the disease is not a matter of will. The Huffington Post.

This has been all over the web in the last week: Emma Watson’s speech at the UN on achieving gender equality. #HeForShe

There are seven kinds of English surnames according to Ancestry.com. Which do you have? Though my surname is Finnish, there’s a town in Finland called Marttila. It means St. Martin. So I have a surname based on a place.

Over 25 applications that can make your life easier from the TED blog.

Three Clydesdales born at Warm Springs Ranch. KSDK.com.

And, kind of related, Budweiser’s latest anti-drinking and driving ad is a real tear-jerker. 93.1 WPOC.

This cat is an opera singer. Just add scratchies.