Welcome to tipsday, your chance to fill up on informal writerly learnings.

LA Bourgeois recommends you start with a small step. Then, E.J. Wenstrom suggests you start guest blogging to build your author platform. Sara Farmer introduces us to the pioneering, bestselling Anna Katharine Green. Then, Carol Van Den Hende explains how to engage book clubs. Heather Campbell shares five common first-draft mistakes (and how to fix them). DIY MFA

Writing second point of view. Reedsy

Greer Macallister considers writing birth, giving birth, and the internet. Jim Dempsey: the writer’s ultimate responsibility. Juliet Marillier writes the unlikely hero. Then, Kathryn Craft says secondary characters deserve a life of their own. David Corbett considers backstory as behavior: pathological maneuvers and persistent virtues. Kathryn Magendie offers a squirrel’s guide to never ever, ever, ever give up (until you must). Writer Unboxed

The art of verbing nouns. Shaelin Writes

Penny C. Sansevieri suggests a marketing revamp for your older book title. Then, Colleen M. Story poses three questions to ask yourself when writing about past trauma. Piper Bayard is writing spies: who or what is listening, and why? Writers in the Storm

Joanna Penn interviews Dharma Kelleher about self-doubt and writer’s block. The Creative Penn

Why Edgar Allan Poe isn’t just a sad boy. It’s Lit | PBS Storied

Angela Ackerman explains how to write a book when you have no idea what you’re doing. Helping Writers Become Authors

Jyotsna Sreenivasan helps you see the value of percolation. Ashleigh Renard: a thousand new email sign-ups in a week? It’s possible. Jane Friedman

Jami Gold figures out the good balance between scene and sequel. Writers Helping Writers

Over on her own blog, Jami follows up with this post: how can we recognize the difference between scene and sequel?

The disposable Black love interest. The Take

Story tropes are the building blocks of scenes. Then, they cover the five commandments of storytelling. Story Grid

Chris Winkle explains how we can beat defensiveness. Then, Oren Ashkenazi reveals how The Book of Boba Fett could have been good. Mythcreants

Kristen Lamb reveals how characters grow and change organically through their arcs.

The #cheugy problem. The Take

Kalani Pickhart provides a literary guide to understanding Ukraine, past and present. Electric Lit

Jennifer Senior interviews Margaret Atwood about envy and friendship in old age. The Atlantic

Sarah Stark says it’s time to abolish the fat villain trope. Inverse

H. Claire Taylor says indie publishing has a creep problem. Medium

Julia Métreaux wonders if Batman is a hero, or a new Mr. Hyde? JSTOR Daily

A True Story: Lucian’s absurd 2^nd century space travelogue. Open Culture

Adrienne Westenfeld explains why some famous novelists are all about Substack. Esquire

Thanks for taking the time to visit, and I hope you found something to support your current work in progress.

Until Thursday, be well and stay safe, my writerly friends 🙂