Kim Stanley Robinson

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 18-24, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

It’s the last tipsday of July? Where the hell has the time gone? And so fast? Ah well, console yourselves with some informal writerly learnings.

Jan O’Hara shares what an unnatural book marketer learned while Marie Kondo-ing her house. Then, Dave King exposes the dangers of editing. Barbara Linn Probst explains what to do when you take a break from your work in progress. Heather Webb says, when the going gets tough, the though get going (in publishing). Late in the week, John J. Kelley offers some tips for when characters meet: close encounters of he initial kind. Writer Unboxed

What is Toph’s character arc? Hello, Future Me

K.M. Weiland: why everyone should write (even if you think you stink). Helping Writers Become Authors

Angela Ackerman promotes writing character descriptions that hook readers. Then, Sudha Balagopal encourages you to flavor your fiction with foreign expressions. Later in the week, Ellen Buikema encourages you to think about why you’ve chosen the road to writing. Writers in the Storm

Copyediting vs. proofreading. Reedsy

Bonnie Randall helps you access deep point of view via description (and a writing exercise). Fiction University

Nathan Brandford wants you to try to separate process from product (outcomes).

Is your book ready for an editor? Reedsy

E.J. Wenstrom shows you how to plan an online book launch. Then, Sara Farmer considers classic girl detectives. Gabriela Pereira interviews Brandie June about character dynamics in a fairy tale retelling. Later in the week, Kim Catanzarite shares five copyediting mistakes you’re probably making (and how to eradicate them). DIY MFA

El Silbón: The Deadly Whistler of the South American Grasslands. Monstrum | PBS Storied

Angie Hodapp shares four ways to create inter-character conflict. Pub Rants

Becca Puglisi helps you figure out whether fight, flight, or freeze is your character’s default response. Writers Helping Writers

Chris Winkle explains how to make large conflicts exciting. Mythcreants

Chimera: mythology’s magical multi-species monster. Tale Foundry

Kathleen Newman-Bremang: it isn’t just Gossip Girl—TV has a major colorism problem. Refinery 29

35 Canadian books to check out this summer. CBC Books

Phil Pirello introduces us to the version of Aliens we never saw. SyFy

Kim Stanley Robinson considers the novel solutions of utopian fiction. The Nation

Davide Tristan: one megahit later, we check in with the creator of Enola Holmes. ABC27

Vicky Qaio reports that Canadian authors C.L. Polk and Silvia Moreno-Garcia among World Fantasy Award finalists. CBC books

Neda Ulaby: when your book publishes in a pandemic. NPR

And that was tipsday. 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!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 3-9, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

Even as various provincial governments consider “opening up,” we are becoming aware of reports from China and South Korea that their attempts to do the same are resulting in another spike in infections and deaths. While I think that, with testing and tracking and sufficient PPE, a certain degree of business resumption can occur, I’m worried that the testing, tracking, and PPE are not in place as yet.

Time will tell.

In the meantime, this week was another rich one for informal writerly learnings. Enjoy!

Sara Letourneau explains how your protagonist’s motivations influence your story’s themes. Later in the week, Gabriela Pereira interviews Helen J. Darling for an inside look at self-publishing. Pamela Gay shares five ways to write about something difficult. DIY MFA

Sonja Yoerg encourages you to give your story the time of day. Donald Maass: the meaning of meaning. Julie Carrick Dalton considers the earned plot twist. Jennie Nash: the secret to more efficient revision is pattern recognition. Writer Unboxed

How to develop a novel, part 3: plot & world. Reedsy

Nathan Bransford shows you how to weave exposition naturally into your story. Later in the week, he suggests giving your protagonist a mini-quest before the plot takes off.

Aziraphale and Crowley share a message with the world.

Tiffany Yates Martin wants you to give your characters agency. Then, Susan DeFreitas serves up the next part of her developing a writing practice series: captivating. Jane Friedman

Jami Gold explains how to improve your story with action beats. Later in the week, she wonders, do your characters take on lives of their own?

The Take explains the woman-child trope.

Joanna Penn shares her self-editing process. The Creative Penn

Meg LaTorre explains how to juggle writing and parenting. Writers Helping Writers

Fae Rowan show you how small decisions can make big story impact. Julie Glover: in defense of editing as you go. Writers in the Storm

Juliette Dunn profiles five characters coded as autistic. Mythcreants

What English does that no other languages do. NativLang

Eileen Hunt Botting introduces us to Mary Shelley’s journals of sorrow. The Times Literary Supplement

I’ve been trying to avoid a lot of overt covid-19 material, but Kim Stanley Robinson’s article is too amazing not to share. Coronavirus is rewriting our imaginations. The New Yorker

And this: Sabrina Orah Mark. Fuck the Bread. The Bread is over. On making your own fairy tale, embarking on your own epic tasks, and finding meaning. Beautiful and wrenching and ultimately hopeful. The Paris Review

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you’ve taken away something to support your current work in progress.

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

Tipsday2019

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 29-June 4, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Your Writerly Goodness for the week!

Bonnie Randall upcycles and upends clichés on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

K.M. Weiland offers six tips for how to organize your novel’s edits. Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she provides three resources to help you unlock fascinating character goals.

Leanne Sowul explores learning through failure for DIYMFA.

Kristen Lamb looks at botched beginnings and common first page killers.

Ruth Harris lists nine ways editors can make you look good and seven ways they can make you miserable. Anne R. Allen’s blog.

Julia Munroe Martin asks, are we having fun yet? Why can’t the work of writing be fun? Writer Unboxed.

OMG, I love this! Lauren Carter explores the difference between discipline and devotion.

Juliet Marillier writes about focus, and how to regain it. Writer Unboxed.

Donald Maass characterizes the difference between literary and genre as the difference between scenes and postcards. Writer Unboxed.

Jami Gold wonders, can we track out improvements in writing quality?

Becca Puglisi covers this entry in Emotional Wounds for Writers Helping Writers: Being Stalked.

Here I am, curating the curators again 🙂 Elissa Field shares some great resources in her Friday Links for Writers.

Porter Anderson interviews Aron Levitz of Canada’s WattPad Studios. Porter Anderson Media

Debut novelist Anakana Schofield wonders why media is more interested in her than her novel, and . . . why can’t she get paid? The Guardian.

Sachiko Murakami interviews Anita Anand on the hardest thing about being a writer. Writing So Hard.

This is BEAUTIFUL. Astronomers attempt to date Sappho’s Midnight Poem using the stars. Carey Dunne for Hyperallergic.

Elizabeth Alsop says, the future is almost now. On the power of science fiction storytelling. The Atlantic.

Kim Stanley Robinson explains the technology behind his novel, Aurora. BoingBoing

Storytelling sadness for me: Makiko Futaki, the animator behind some of Studio Ghibli’s best anime, has died 😦 Konbini

Yum! Brit Mandelo wrote an amazing essay about Maggie Stiefvater’s Raven Cycle. Please do not read this if you haven’t read the full series. Major Spoilers! But it’s so good 🙂 Tor.com

This goes in Tipsday. One of my favourite ballads that tells a lovely story 🙂 The Once: Maid on the Shore.

 

Have fun! See you Thursday.

Tipsday