Pain

Tipsday: Informal writerly learnings, March 5-11, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Did you survive Monday after daylight saving? I almost didn’t. Recuperate with some informal writerly learnings 🙂

My favourite DST meme:

Greer Macallister shares five ways to rediscover your writing joy. Then, Tiffany Yates Martin is assuaging the pain of punctuation. Juliet Marillier considers writing home. Next, Kathryn Craft discusses navigating the road from journalist to novelist. Writer Unboxed

Heroes don’t have to be boring. Hello, Future Me

Piper Bayard offers help with writing about recruitment for the intelligence community. Then, Colleen M. Story shares some quick tips to help you avoid five types of writing-related pain. Penny C. Sansevieri reveals five reasons your Amazon ads aren’t drawing in readers. Writers in the Storm

K.M. Weiland explains how to write literary fiction. Helping Writers Become Authors

What is creative writing? Reedsy

Elizabeth Spann Craig discusses newsletters, even if they’re just sent for releases.

The mentor archetype: definition, ten examples, and hot to write. The ally archetype. The hero archetype. Story Grid

A.H. Plotts shares what her DIY writing retreat taught her about her writing practice. Then, Dominique Richardson offers advice on finding alternatives to ableist language. Alison Schaffir wants you to evoke your inner teen. Next, Julie Slaughter suggests five ways to reduce writer anxiety. DIY MFA

How Bloody Mary turns fear into fun. Monstrum | PBS Storied

Kim Catanzarite declaims, to give it away, or not to give it away. Then, Gemma Whelan explains how bad publishers hurt authors. Jane Friedman

Lisa Poisso explains the difference between an editor and a book coach. Thin, Liz Alterman shows you how to ask for book reviews (and why you should). Writers Helping Writers

Create a daily writing practice. Reedsy

Nathan Bransford says, don’t worry about spoilers in a query letter.

Tiffany Yates Martin composes a letter: dear author …. It’s the writerly hug you didn’t know you needed! Fox Print Editorial

Chris Winkle suggests seven easy conflicts for light stories. Then, Oren Ashkenazi analyzes Star Trek’s best antagonistic species. Mythcreants

Thank you for spending some time with me, and I hope you found something to support your current work(s) in progress.

Until Thursday, keep staying safe and well, my writerly friends!

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 9-15, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

A good mix of inspirational, research-y, and learning stuff this week.

Patti Neighmond: can you reshape your brain’s response to pain? NPR

Zaria Gorvett explores how modern life is transforming the human skeleton. BBC

Mike MacEacheran looks at what unicorns mean to Scottish identity. BBC

Johny Pitts’ Afropean captures the experience of black women in Europe. Refinery29

Phoebe Wood debunks eight myths about bisexuals/pansexuals (and their representation) in honour of Pride Month.

Cara Anna reports that Botswana decriminalized gay sex in a landmark case. “More than two dozen countries in sub-Saharan Africa have laws criminalizing gay sex, often holdovers from colonial times.” AP

ASAP Science wants to find out what would happen if we burned all our garbage.

Andrew Freedman writes a special report on our plastic planet. Axios

Rachel Love Nuwer considers the planet’s other imperiled elephants. In his book, Giants of the Monsoon Forest, Jacob Shell explores the ancient, mutually beneficial alliance between Asian elephants and their human neighbors. UnDark

Because tardigrades. Thomas Boothby, TED-Ed.

I hope something here got your mental corn popping.

Until next tipsday, be well, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories!

ThoughtyThursday2019

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, June 24-30, 2018

/ Melanie Marttila

Here are a few things to get your mental corn popping.

Alessandra Codinha: who will save the elephants? Vogue

Sarah Stankorb reports on the daughters’ great escape from Christian fundamentalism. Marie-Claire

Nicola Twilley: the neuroscience of pain. The New Yorker

Mayim Bialik: living with social anxiety

 

Eul Basa reports that Canadians will now have their phones searched when crossing the US border. Narcity

Franchesca Ramsey debunks seven myths about cultural appropriation on MTV’s Decoded.

 

What does it mean to be Métis? The Economist

And now for something completely different …

It’s okay to be smart: it’s okay to fart!

 

Tomorrow is Friday. Celebrate!

And be well until I post my next chapter update on the weekend 🙂

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2017

/ Melanie Marttila

Just a little bit of thoughty this week.

Frank T. McAndrew, PhD explains why our grief over a dog is so intense. Psychology Today

Heather Plett: what it really means to hold space for someone. Uplift

Pallab Ghosh reports on the discovery of our oldest human ancestor (and, boy, is it a beauty). BBC

John Walsh examines how doctors measure pain (and whether it’s of any help to patients). The Guardian

John Broich revisits how journalists covered the rises of Mussolini and Hitler. The Smithsonian Magazine

An open letter from the Canadian tech community: diversity is our strength. BetaKit

Rachel Browne covers Prime Minister Trudeau’s fight against fake news. Vice

Toronto’s Sick Kids hospital will provide surgeries for patients affected by the U.S. travel ban. Maclean’s

Jenny Zhang shares an amateur’s guide to activism for frustrated Canadians. Medium

Johnny Silvercloud: why isn’t anyone talking about the radicalization of whites? AfroSapiophile

Rae Paoletta reports on NASA’s twin experiment. Gizmodo

John Newsom: science illiteracy in the U.S. is a serious threat according to Neil deGrasse Tyson. Greensboro

ASAP Thought: a brief history of the fear of immigrants.

 

Detroit’s muddy bottom conceals cars, cannons, and guns. Robert Allen for the Detroit Free Press.

Hope it was enough to get your mental corn popping, ‘cause you know I want to inspire you to create great things 🙂

See you on the weekend.

Be well until then.

thoughtythursday2016

Thoughty Thursday: Things that made me go hmmmm on the interwebz, Feb 15-21, 2015

/ Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Emojis for introverts, brought to you by The Huffington Post.

Why we’re part of a sexual spectrum, not a dichotomy. Nature.

Why even reasonable people still doubt science. National Geographic.

Pain really is all in your head. NPR.

More wonderful abandoned places from PBS Newshour.

And pictures of an abandoned Ontario house brought to you by HGTV.

Kids reacting to rotary phones:

 

Hilarious dog fetch fails:

 

Zoo babies from The Smithsonian Channel:

 

A Muppet classic for you:

 

Absolutely loving Florence + the Machine’s latest:

 

And that, she be it ’til Saturday.

Thoughty Thursday