N.K. Jemisin

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 6-12, 2021

/ Melanie Marttila

Another week, another batch of informal writerly learnings 🙂 Get ‘em while they’re hot (and not too old)!

Greer Macallister wonders, can writers still be readers? Then, Jim Dempsey provides a guide to style. Kathleen McCleary says, prove it! Kathryn Craft shows you how to heighten tension with a watcher. David Corbett: on killing 22,000 darlings, part 2. Identifying the dead. Writer Unboxed

This is your brain on language. SciShow Psych

K.M. Weiland covers the flat archetype of the parent in part 18 of her archetypal character arcs series. Helping Writers Become Authors

Susan DeFreitas shares six key strategies for emotionally affecting fiction. Then, J. Michael Straczynsky explains why you can’t sell an idea. Ashleigh Renard is selling books on TikTok, no dancing (or crying) required. Jane Friedman

The lotus blossom stereotype. The Take

Jami Gold helps you avoid “talking heads” and other clichĂ©s. Then, Jessica Conoley helps you build your triangle of support with part 2: mentorship. Writers Helping Writers

Colleen M. Story lists five signs you have “writer’s DNA.”  Piper Bayard presents seven character lessons from a real-life heroine. Writers in the Storm

Yes, Virginia, the female gaze exists. The Take

Marina Barakatt examines the value of Lumberjanes. Then, Gabriela Pereira interviews Tasha Suri about crafting conflict in epic fantasy. Later in the week, Elizabeth Sumner Wafler explains how she built her side biz as an editor. Then Rebecca D’Harlingue lists five questions to ask before you write a dual timeline novel. DIY MFA

Kristine Kathryn Rusch continues her fear-based decision-making series with traditional writers.

Chris Winkle explains why we have to let go of meta mysteries. Then, Oren Ashkenazi analyzes five stories with weak stakes. Mythcreants

I tried Harley Quinn’s elevator flip (as one does). Jill Bearup

Sudbury’s Scott Overton writes about an alien artefact found in a northern Ontario lake. CBC

Mike Fleming Jr. reports that N.K. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy lands at Sony TriStar in 7-figure deal; author to adapt. Deadline

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, and I hope you found something to support your current work in progress.

Until Thursday, be well and stay safe!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 4-10, 2020

/ Melanie Marttila

Now that we’ve entered month seven of the pandemic, we have to balance self-care with medical compliance. Be kind to yourself and nurture your creativity with some informal writerly learnings.

Black and Indigenous lives matter. All lives cannot matter until Black and Indigenous lives matter.

Wear your masks. Maintain physical distance. Get your flu shot as soon as you can. Sacrifice now (and really, it’s not that much of a sacrifice) will mean that fewer people have to contract covid-19 and fewer people have to die from it. Compliance is not a violation of your rights. It is respect for your fellow human beings.

Princess Weekes critiques Antebellum and movies about slavery in general. Melina Pendulum

Abigail K. Perry does another Story Grid scene analysis: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows. Erin Tyler shares five tips for writing about family dynamics. DIY MFA

Joanna Penn interviews K.M. Weiland about outlining your novel and filling the well. The Creative Penn

Over on Helping Writers Become Authors, K.M. points out the link between your story’s first and third plot points.

Jenna Moreci shares her top ten tips for killing off characters.

Janice Hardy shows you what makes a good beginning (if you’re struggling with yours). Then, she explains what makes a good middle (beware of getting stuck in the mud). Fiction University

Leslie Vedder shares three tips for cutting your word count (without giving your whole story the axe). Jane Friedman

If you’re not sure about NaNoWriMo, Shaelin looks at the pros and cons. Reedsy

Therese Walsh: the edge of now, and its gift for writers. Then, Donald Maass discusses timeless endings. Kathryn Craft lists five ways paragraphing supports story. Writer Unboxed

The girly girl trope, explained. The Take

Chris Winkle lists five signs your story is classist. Then, Oren Ashkenazi analyzes the Star Trek series finales, from worst to best. Mythcreants

Jill Bearup explains why a corset stopping a knife strike (ala Enola Holmes) is plausible.

Words with lost meanings (AKA that word you keep using. I don’t think is means what you think it means). Merriam-Webster

Petra Mayer: amidst global troubles, the MacArthur “Genius” Grant winners provoke and inspire, including N.K. Jemisin, Jacqueline Woodson, and Christina Rivera Garza. NPR

Emma Reynolds reports that the 2020 Nobel Prize for literature awarded to Louise GlĂŒck. CNN

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you took away 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, Aug 25-31, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Ah. Here we are in September. Back to 
 all the things. Ease back into your routine with some informal writerly learnings.

Lainey Cameron advises you use a three-tier backup plan. Then Tiffany Yates Martin helps you to reclaim the creative spark in troubled times. Writers in the Storm

K.M. Weiland explains how to use a truth chart to figure out your character’s arc. Helping Writers Become Authors

Julia Munroe Martin wonders, what makes you love your main character? Molly Best Tinsley explains how hearing voice(s) led to order in a previously chaotic manuscript. Barbara O’Neal explains what happens when the book takes over everything. Writer Unboxed

Pathologist Jane Bennett Munro wants to help you explain forensics to readers. Elizabeth Spann Craig

Jeanette the Writer reveals the secret importance of readability. Tess Enterline explains why it’s okay (and sometimes necessary) to step away from our writing.  Constance Emmett shares five tips for writing complex, flesh and blood, LGBTQ+ characters. DIY MFA

Janice Hardy doesn’t want you to create cardboard conflicts. Fiction University

Jami Gold explains how sequels make scenes stronger. Then, Kris Kennedy stops by to explain how to avoid info dumping by making backstory essential.

Chris Winkle: how to turn your fanfic into your original fiction. Then, Oren Ashkenazi answers the question, how do cannon affect your naval combat? Mythcreants

Robert Lee Brewer considers OK vs. Okay vs. O.K. Writer’s Digest

N.K. Jemisin, Jasmine Guillory, and Lauren Wilkinson: publishing’s still owned by white men. The Washington Post

Nick Venable talks to the creators of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance about the challenges of making a puppet series on Netflix. Saw the first episode—love! CinemaBlend

And that was tipsday. I hope you found something to help you progress with your work in progress.

Come back on Thursday for some thoughty goodness 🙂

Tipsday2019

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 25-31, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

I proudly present you informal writerly learnings for the week.

K.M. Weiland answers seven frequently asked questions. Helping Writers Become Authors

Anne Greenwood Brown discusses visual thinking on Writer Unboxed.

Barbara O’Neal shares a few tips on dealing with judgement. Writer Unboxed

John J. Kelley: what mystery propels your novel? Writer Unboxed

Jeff Shear guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog: a brief history of the fantasy genre.

Kristen Lamb warns about the dangers of premature editing.

Jami Gold fills in another blank in her writing craft master list: parallelism.

Chuck Wendig offers an analogy for character agency: history versus destiny. Terribleminds

Chris Winkle lists six types of turning points for climaxes. Mythcreants

Jenna Moreci lists the ten tropes that drive her crazy in fiction.

 

Then, she follows up with the ten tropes she LURVES.

 

N.K. Jemisin interviews Neil Gaiman on writing the comics—and queer characters—we need. Literary Hub

Halimah Marcus and Benjamin Samuel came up with this fun way to build a novel pitch. Think I’ll use a D20 and a D6 🙂 Electric Lit

Geeta Dayal shares Ursula K. Le Guin’s deeply weird and enjoyable electronica album. Because Ursula. The Guardian

And that was Tipsday.

Be well until Thursday!

tipsday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Aug 28-Sept 3, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

We are once again full of the informal writerly learnings.

K.M. Weiland offers six reasons you need to make way more writing mistakes.* Helping writers become authors

Kate returns later in the week with more lessons from the MCU. This time it’s all about backstory, the number one key to relatable characters.

Ollie, as transcribed by his human, James Stack, prefers to frame rejections as declines.* Sir Oliver of Skygate Farm

Regine Ward shares seven common truths that will help writers handle rejection productively. Live, write, thrive

On the other side of the coin, Pamela Hodges shares six ways to let go of past writing and tackle something new. The Write Practice

Kellie McGann: why we write. The Write Practice

Kassandra Lamb offers four ways to add depth to your stories on Jami Gold’s blog.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Delia Ephron on DIYMFA radio. On Friday, Emily Wenstrom shares her top five takeaways from the Writer’s Digest Conference.

Victoria (V.E.) Schwab: this book is broken and other things I tell myself while writing.*

Anna Elliott shares four ways to recapture the joy of writing.* Writer Unboxed

Last week’s Spark in the summer replay was episode 299, which features an author who live-streamed the writing of a book, and an interview with David Mitchell on how Twitter played a role in the creation of his novel, Slade House. Awesomesauce. CBC

Nora Jemisin (N.K. Jemisin): I would just love to write and not have everything turn into a political battle. David Barnett for The New Statesman.

The Library of America will publish Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Complete Orsinia. David Streitfeld for The New York Times. The actual title of the article is misleading, implying that Le Guin is denying that she’s a science fiction author (something of which she’s accused other writers in the past). Not so. She’s tired of the epithet being used as a reason to exclude writers of excellence from the literary canon. As she says, she won’t be pushed out. Kudos!

Locus interviews Kelly Robson.

And then, THIS: On being a late bloomer.* Kelly Robson in Clarkesworld. Really, I want to give this article ALL THE STARS. I think Kelly single-handedly saved me last week.

Christine Schrum: what growing up in sulphur city taught me about beauty.* Latitude 46  We’re still strange children, by the way.

Julie Czerneda posts on The Black Gate about the challenges of living a #rurallife.

Beth Cato explains why we need more trans heroes in genre fiction. The MarySue

A Writing the Other Roundtable: how to stay in your lane.

 

John Scalzi asks some special guests to post about writing the other. Whatever

Jim C. Hines says, don’t look away: how we fight sexual harassment in the science fiction and fantasy community. i09

Jo Walton writes about science fiction, innovation, and continuity. Tor.com

Meir Solovichik gives us some insight into the secret “Jews” of The Hobbit. Carnage and Culture

You have to read this letter Josh Corman wrote when uncomfortable parents asked his school to ban The Handmaid’s Tale. Bookriot

Jessica Stillman reports on more evidence to support the link between reading and empathy. Inc.

Jake Parker: finished, not perfect.*

 

Another brilliant entertainer, gone 😩 i09’s Germaine Lussier revisits five of Gene Wilder’s defining film roles. Note: If the video isn’t in the frame, scroll back to see it.

Shakespeare and performance. Oxford University Press.

 

Outlander has cast Lord John Grey. Entertainment Weekly

Netflix announced that they were renewing Stranger Things on Tuesday last week. On Wednesday, the creators shared this first teaser for season two. They had no idea what was in the pipe, no, they didn’t 😉 Katharine Trendacosta for i09.

Tim Stack has additional details about season two on Entertainment Weekly.

Writers Relief celebrated National Dog Day with pictures of these book-loving hounds.

*posts that comforted me this past week.

I hope you’ve found some comfort here as well 🙂

Have an awesome week until Thursday and then come back to fill up on thoughty!

Creative sustenance. It’s what I’m all about.

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Aug 21-27, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

Sorry to have missed a week of curation, but life happens. I’m back now, though, and here with your informal writerly learnings for the week 🙂

Jane Friedman explores discourse communities as a means of distinguishing yourself among agents and editors. Writer Unboxed

Heather Webb writes about revision and how to make it through. Writer Unboxed

We need to give ourselves permission to begin, courage to continue, and forgiveness to try again. I so needed this, Dan Blank. Bless you. Writer Unboxed

Angela Ackerman offers some advice on creating mood in a scene using light and shadow. Writers helping writers

Later in the week, Angela announces the expansion of One Stop for Writers.

Roz Morris shares three surprising to measure your progress when you’re writing a slow burn book. Nail your novel

Susan Brooks guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University on the importance of being genre-specific. Part one of a new series. Later in the week, Janice guests on Jody Hedlund’s blog, sharing five reasons your plot stalled. Then, Marcy Kennedy stopped by to explore indie choices: writing in multiple genres or specializing.

Jenny Hansen guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog (while she recovers) and offers some strategies for overcoming fear, the writer’s enemy number one.

Leanne Sowul writes about the importance of quality sleep. DIYMFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews MJ Rose for the DIYMFA Radio podcast: build buzz around your book.

Jamie Raintree guests on Writers in the Storm: the career mindset comes before the writing career.

Love this woman’s big squishy brain 🙂 Kameron Hurley shares her thoughts on why being a writer is an exercise in cognitive dissonance.

K. Eason shares six tips for writing a science fiction series. Writer’s Digest

Steven Pressfield studies stuff that works: True Grit and Paper Moon, which are essentially the same movie . . .

DBC Pierre lists ten books all writers should read. With the exception of a couple, they’re not what you’d think. The Guardian

John Bradley evokes Marshall McLuhan’s statement, “the medium is the message” to examine how we read and how it affects us. The Wild Detectives

Brandon Taylor states that there is no secret to writing about people who do not look like you. Literary hub

Sarah Gailey encourages SFF writers to “do better” when it comes to writing sexual violence. Tor.com

Laurie Garrison’s #women_writers manifesto aims to build the community of female authors. Lara Williams for The Guardian.

It was the 101st anniversary of James Tiptree Jr. (Alice B. Sheldon)’s birth. Tachyon Publications offers this tribute to her work and influence. Leah Schnelbach writes this article on Tiptree and the power of the SF community for Tor.com.

Fiona Macdonald reports on the secret libraries of history for the BBC.

Alexandra Alter interviews Hugo award winner, N.K. Jemisin, for The New York Times.

J.M. Frey explores how fantasy tropes can bring out the power of being a fan girl. The MarySue

And here’s the cover reveal for her new novel 🙂

Cheryl Eddy presents all the new science fiction and fantasy books you must read this fall. i09

Charlie Jane Anders previews Dominik Parisien’s new fairy tale anthology, The Starlit Wood for i09.

Katharine Trendacosta shares photos of some of the set pieces for the Ready Player One movie for i09. I have to say that this was one of my favourite novels I read last year. So looking forward. Here are some more from Collider.

And that was Tipsday.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz May 25-31, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

Tipsday

It’s a short one this week.

So a note to begin with about how I organize these things. I generally start off chronologically, but if thematic groups emerge, I tend to put them together. This is why you’ll generally see some familiar names on my list, like K.M. Weiland. Katie always posts on Sundays, so she generally appears first, followed by Anne. R. Allen and Roz Morris, who also post on Sunday.

Everything else is just organized the way my brain sees fit, which may not always make sense to anyone but me … but there you have it: my mad method.

So it should be no surprise that I’m starting off with K.M. Weiland and the final post in her Creating Stunning Character Arcs series: The Resolution.

Later in the week, she announced her forthcoming book, The Writer’s Digest Annotated Jane Eyre. Guess who’s got an ARC to review? Got it in one, my friends 🙂

Roz Morris posted about drafting her scenes out of order and revealed the title of the work in progress (WIP) hitherto known as The Mountains Novel.

52 terrific tips on how to write well from Psychology Today. Includes lots of links to other resources.

Carly Watters offers advice on writing secondary characters.

N.K. Jemisin’s Wiscon 38 guest of honour keynote.

 

And now, a moment of silence for the passing of the bright light that was Maya Angelou.

 

“A bird doesn’t sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.”