Neil Gaiman

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 14-20, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Another wonderful week for Writerly Goodness!

What’s the key event and how is it different from the inciting incident and the first plot point? I know I still forget the distinctions. K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors.

And here’s Katie’s Wednesday vlog: How to write a riveting characteristic moment.

Roz Morris shares her experience with repetitive stress injury (RSI).

Kassandra Lamb guests on Jami Gold’s blog: Nine psychology myths you need to avoid.

Tips on picking up the pace from Rebecca LuElla Miller.

Learn about the magic systems of Brandon Sanderson. Tor.com.

Five ways first contact could turn into an epic fail. Veronica Sicoe.

Neil Gaiman offers his thoughts on why stories last. (w/ Podcast) BrainPickings.

Liz Bourke ponders how we speak of strong female characters. This post refers to others I’ve shared in past weeks and takes it in a slightly different direction. Very interesting. Tor.com.

How can you keep readers from hating your characters? Jody Hedlund.

Beth Revis posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: How do you know you’re ready to publish? Agent Carly Watters of P.S. Literary wrote on the same topic last week 🙂

Dave King explores our motivations for writing. Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley asks, why are we self-publishing? Locus.

Porter Anderson takes a look at Hugh Howey’s promotion of self-publishing and what it really means in the context of the continually evolving publishing industry. Thought Catalog.

Related: Nielsen Book’s latest results indicate that self-publishing is more like traditional publishing. Publishing perspectives.

Amazon changes its terms for KDP select. The Digital Reader.

Why I teach diverse literature. The Toast.

What librarians wish we knew about how to use a library. i09.

Authors share the places that inspire them. FlavorWire.

Ten books you should read before you see the movie. The Huffington Post.

Mark Twain’s advice to little girls. BrainPickings.

This is fun 🙂 Classic novels with clickbait titles. BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed shares 22 book-themed gifts for readers.

Watch the Scooby Doo crew’s fashion evolve through the last century. i09.

The first set photos of the new all-female Ghostbusters! i09.

Mike Hale states that Game of Thrones the series is going the way of Lost . . . What do you think? The New York Times.

Here are Charlie Jane Anders’s suggestions about how to fix Game of Thrones. Is it even possible? i09.

How Terry Dresbach’s costumes bring history to life on Outlander. Variety.

Orphan Black’s season finale: history yet to be written. It was awesome (IMO). The Wall Street Journal.

See you Thursday 🙂

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 24-30, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 5 Comments

It’s writer-palooza, er, um. Tipsday. Yeah.

Make sure you include these five factors in your story if you want it to make an impact on your readers. K. M. Weiland.

What’s the trick to creating vivid descriptions? Focus on the obscure details. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Harrison Demchick guest posts on Katie’s blog about what to do with your very long manuscript.

Scars and shame: the secrets of female characters. Barbara O’Neal nails this post for Writer Unboxed.

John Vorhaus gets into something deeper on Writer Unboxed.

Heather Webb asks, As writers, what are we worth? Writer Unboxed.

Jane Friedman writes about the age-old cynicism surrounding the book writing dream.

Kazuo Ishiguro and Neil Gaiman debate “genre fiction” on BBC Radio 4.

Phoenix Sullivan digs deeper into the latest Author Earnings report for David Gaughran.

The Authors Guild dumps Author Solutions (yay!). David Gaughran.

Use these five steps to write a killer elevator pitch for your book. Jennie Nash for BookBub.

Bryan Collins posts the ultimate how-to guide to blogging with Scrivener.

Terrorism in Elizabethan England, a post by Barbara Kyle for English Historical Fiction Authors.

Lauren Carter, whom I’ve featured here on the blog for a workshop she delivered in Sudbury, won the 2014 Room Poetry Contest. Here’s their interview with her.

Ten books that will change the way you think about fairytales. i09.

The horrifying origins of your favourite Disney films. Diply.

Mental Floss presents ten Old English words you should be using.

What do you think of this list of 24 brilliant portmanteaus? Ima start using some of them 🙂 Earthporm.

This little bit of awesome is courtesy of Addicting Info: J.K. Rowling slams Westboro Baptist Church’s hate-tweet.

John Doyle writes about Outlander and the triumph of the true female superhero. The Globe and Mail.

Caitriona Balfe’s serves up an insider’s view of Outlander. LA Times.

How Outlander broke the mold with their two-part finale. MTV.

Cute writing comic from The New Yorker.

Have a good week until Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 17-23, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Seems like I’m all about the Writerly Goodness lately 🙂

Not all hybrid publishers are created equal. Jane Friedman in Publishers Weekly.

Here’s K.M. Weiland’s post and podcast on the perfect midpoint.

Avoid false suspense unless you want to ruin your climax. Katie’s Wednesday post.

How to silence your inner critic and defeat your writing demons. The Write Life.

Jules Feiffer in conversation with Neil Gaiman. Publishers Weekly.

The Publishers Weekly podcast: Rose Fox and Mark Rotella interview Naomi Novik.

Two Kurt Vonnegut articles from Open Culture: Eight tips on how to write a good short story, and how to write with style.

For Lois. Shane Koyczan’s poem from Superman to Lois. LOVE.

Female literati pick summer’s best books. Harper’s Bazaar.

Nine great science fiction books for people who don’t like science fiction. i09.

20 obscure English words that should make a comeback. Matador Network.

For balance: Fifteen words you should eliminate from your vocabulary if you want to sound smarter. The Business Insider.

Ballagàrraidh: The knowledge that you have been domesticated. The dictionary of obscure sorrows.

Is this what Shakespeare really looked like? BBC News.

This artist combined different cats and birds to create a whole new class of gryphons 🙂 Tumblr.

Check out these gender flipped Disney characters from Yue “Sakimi Chan” and then check out the links to Yue’s work on Deviant Art and Tumblr. UpRoxx.

How about these historically accurate Disney princesses? Buzzfeed.

The Huffington Post shares this list of ten things you may not know about Sailor Moon.

Who’s the best new superhero, The Flash, or Marvel’s latest incarnation of Daredevil? Salon.

Ok. So there was this big thing on the interwebz last week about the latest rape scene in Game of Thrones. I don’t want to get into the controversy, but I will present a number of posts on both GoT and Outlander and how the sexual violence portrayed in them differs.

As ever, you’ll have to decide for yourselves.

George R. R. Martin responds to criticism of Sansa’s rape scene in Game of Thrones. The Huffington Post.

Tobias Menzies shares his experience playing Black Jack Randall on Outlander. He’s terrifying in the role, by the way. Such an amazing actor. The Vulture.

Scotland Now recaps Outlander, episode 15.

How Outlander got it right and how Game of Thrones got it wrong. Playboy.

IndieWire weighs in on Outlander vs. Game of Thrones.

And a bonus: Never go anywhere without a Murtaugh! Q&A with Duncan Lacroix on playing Murtaugh. Access Hollywood.

See you on Thursday 🙂

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 8-14, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Sir Terry Pratchett passed away last week.

Here’s Neil Gaiman’s very worthwhile talk at JCCSF. It basically turned into a tribute to his friend.

 

Here is BuzzFeed’s ranking of Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

Sir Terry will live on in the words of his books and in the hearts of his readers.

 

K.M. Weiland’s Sunday blog and podcast is dedicated to writers on the verge of writing spectacularly complex characters.

Why is your awesome protagonist boring readers to death? Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Janice Hardy’s month-long novel revision workshop on Fiction University continues. Here’s day eight.

Jodie Renner guests on Anne R. Allen’s blog with this step-by-step guide to writing a prize-winning short story.

Therese Walsh explores multitasking further on Writer Unboxed. Snakes on a brain.

Veronica Sicoe posts on how to clean up your manuscript formatting in MS Word.

Kameron Hurley muses on the virtues of becoming a professional writer.

The second round of Jim C. Hines’s guest posts on representation in SFF begins with this post by LaShawn Wanak on false narratives.

Grammarly presents the strange origins of English idioms.

Grammarly (again) offers ten quotes from Winnie the Pooh that will make you smile.

BuzzFeed weighed in with these 31 quotes from children’s books.

Vanity Fair analyzes the Game of Thrones season 5 trailer.

And HBO is doing a 30-day countdown. Here’s the first instalment: Who are the sand snakes?

Tor.com shares 13 fantasies that are based on myths from the British Isles.

Lessons for writers from Bavarian Fairy Tales. The Take Away.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 28, 2014-Jan 3, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

K.M. Weiland’s last post and podcast of 2014! The difference between your story’s hook and your story’s heart.

Chuck Wendig’s 2015 publishing wishlist.

Here’s a podcast you may want to check out: Coode Street. The episode I’m sharing features Robert J. Sawyer and Peter Halasz having a heated, but friendly, discussion about Canadian Science Fiction.

The best science fiction and fantasy books of 2014. i09.

Brandon Sanderson explains why superheroes are so hard to get right. i09.

Western fairy tales given a Korean makeover. i09.

Arthur Kade interviews Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfe from last summer (in case you needed a little droughtlander viewing).

 

Neil Gaiman’s eight rules of writing on Brainpickings.

Margaret Atwood’s timeless advice for writers. The Huffington Post.

Our poet laureate is putting poetry on our transit 🙂 The Northern Life.

Opportunities for writers in January and February 2015. Aerogramme Writers’ Studio.

19 short story competitions from same.

Enjoy!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 7-13, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Hachette wants to turn Twitter into a bookstore. I’m still not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. Bloomberg Businessweek.

Do agents Google potential clients? You bet your sweet bippy. Survey conducted by Debbie Ridpath Ohi.

The most common writing mistakes series, part 36: Too much introspection and not enough interaction. K.M. Weiland.

Blogging for authors: How to create a blog that will grow with your career. Anne R. Allen.

How to become a writer by Lisa Cron for Writer Unboxed. It takes time and patience, practice and persistence.

Last week, I shared a post about writing in your books. This week, I discovered that monks annotated their illuminations 😛 Catholic Memes.

Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre unearthed. The Guardian.

Margaret Atwood’s ten rules of writing. Brainpickings.

Buzzfeed shares 51 of the most beautiful sentences in literature.

This is the coolness: a periodic table of figures of speech. LifeHacker.

Nearly perfect movies and what they teach us about storytelling. Charlie Jane Anders for i09.

Steven Moffat finally agrees that a woman Doctor is a distinct possibility. Can I get an “Amen” my sisters? Though he also says it’s too soon to think about a new Doctor. i09.

Five lessons Peter Capaldi learned from Doctor Who. Wired.

Beautiful poetry from Shane Koyczan:

 

Neil Gaiman recites “Jabberwocky”:

 

This is going to be one splendid movie 🙂

 

Paftoo’s secret room in Roz Morris’s Lifeform Three was based on this real underwater ballroom. Sunny Skyz.

May your week be full of fantastic nonsense 🙂

See you Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 9-15, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Last week’s big publishing news in The Globe and Mail: Where is Simon & Schuster heading?

What Amazon’s strategy may mean for publishing today. Someone saw this coming. Rebecca Allen. The Digital Reader.

Are there things more important to writing than talent? Anne R. Allen says yes. Yes, there are.

Roz Morris explains how a good editor helps you to be yourself.

How much realism does your novel need? K.M. Weiland.

Pantaphobia. That’s it! Fabulous post on Writer Unboxed about fear and the writer by Myra McEntire.

Sometimes, you’re going to hate your work in progress. Read Chuck Wendig’s thoughts on how to get through it (over it? around it?).

Young writers working together to reach their NaNoWriMo goals. CBC.

Can you afford to be a writer? Deborah Mundy for The Toronto Star Books.

Why writing shouldn’t be your first career. ALLi.

Neil Gaiman’s eight rules of writing. Brainpickings.

Anne Lamott on the true gift of friendship and the uncomfortable art of letting yourself be seen. Brainpickings.

Virginia Woolf on how to read a book. Brainpickings.

How to build a fictional world with Kate Messner. Ted.ed.

 

How writing fiction is helping people with mental illness. CBC.

That’s all the tips I have for you this week.

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 26-Nov 1, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

K.M. Weiland uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to show how your characters’ goals can be meaningful.

Why you might be ruining your story’s best scenes. Katie’s weekly vlog.

Roz Morris writes about how to handle the passage of time in prose.

Four ways to write a killer plot twist. There are no rules blog. Writer’s Digest.

Is writing a matter of magic? Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds.

Creativity isn’t what we think it is. Kevin Ashton. Medium.

Bad writing advice explained by Mary Robinette Kowal.

Neil Gaiman reimagines Hansel & Gretel. Brainpickings.

How NaNoWriMo can improve your writing process. Anne R. Allen.

Jaimie Raintree explains how NaNoWriMo can change the way you write throughout the year. Thinking through our fingers.

More NaNo prep from BookBaby blogs.

What really distracts NaNo participants. There are no rules. Writer’s Digest.

Why Jeff Goins will never use Microsoft Word again.

Kurt Vonnegut on the shapes of stories.

 

Beowulf, read in the original Old English. Open Culture.

And leaping forward a few centuries, here’s what Shakespeare sounded like in Elizabethan English. Open University.

 

Five examples of how the languages we speak can influence the way we think. TED blog.

Learning new words stimulates the same parts of the brain as sex 🙂 IFLS.

Know an Outlander widower? This post is for him 😉

This short film is a beautiful interpretation of what Rosetta might help us achieve. I put it in Tipsday, because it is awesome storytelling.

The top 100 science fiction themed songs of all time. i09.

SyFy focuses on the genre that made them a specialty channel. i09.

Enjoy!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz May 18-24, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Tipsday

Roz Morris responded to a writer in a bind. The result was this post.

If you’ve read Lifeform Three, you’ll find this Roz Morris post on the inspiration of the Surrey landscape interesting. If you haven’t read the novel, you’d better get cracking!

The Geeks’ Guide to the Galaxy interviews Mary Robinette Kowal. Listen to the podcast.

Speaking of podcasts, listen to K.M. Weiland’s fourteenth instalment in the Creating Stunning Character Arcs series. Or read the post. As you wish, dear reader.

The draws and drawbacks of success as an author from The New York Times.

Jan O’Hara tells us why our characters need to make tough choices. Writer Unboxed.

And yes! Now WU has its web issues sorted, here’s Lisa Cron’s wonderful post: What kindergarten got (and still gets) really, really wrong.

Three more things you need to know about exposition and telling by Victoria A. Mixon.

Agent Carly Watters has some advice for when you start comparing yourself to other writers.

Maggie Stiefvater writes about how her characters are not based on her experiences, but they answer the questions she asks in her head.

Tech Crunch interviews Hugh Howey.

The Paris Review resurrects their interview with John Steinbeck.

Anne Lamott on how to handle the haters. Brainpickings.

Two of my favourite Neils talk about genius. More Brainpickings brilliance.

Writers’ Relief offers five techniques to help turn short stories into novels.

The Bookbaby blog presents this interesting infographic about 24 books that predicted the future.

Enjoy, my writerly peeps 🙂

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz April 27-May 3, 2014

/ Melanie Marttila

Thoughty ThursdayThis week, a recipe for inspiration. For your consideration.

A pinch of introspection. How we know who we are. Joshua Knobe on BrainPickings.

A spoonful of introversion. 30 Problems only introverts will understand from Tickld.

A wee tipple of a comic on what to do when you’re feeling overwhelmed.

A taste of Neil Gaiman’s anti-bullying sentiments. Difference is magic.

A little edumacation on autism. What we know, and what we don’t know. Wendy Chung’s TED talk.

 

A smidgen of imagery. The 2014 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. The Atlantic.

A fair bit of travel. Distractify’s 25 cities your should visit in your lifetime.

Too much of one place I wouldn’t want to go. The forecast calls for spiders, from I fucking love science.

Some physical activity. Walking leads to increased creativity. The American Psychological Association.

A heaping serving of mortality. I guess I was feeling a little morbid this week.

And … to make it all better, and because I love you, a sweet bit of PUPPY STAMPEDE!

Mix it all together and what do we have? You tell me, folks 😉

It’s all Writerly Goodness.