pantsing

Tipsday: Informal writerly learnings, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2023

/ Melanie Marttila

You’ve made it through Monday! Celebrate with some informal writerly learnings 🙂

Colice Sanders considers cultural content fender benders: the messy middle. Then, Disha Wallia suggests four plot twists for your second act. Gabriela Pereira interviews Monte Schulz about writing by the seat of your pants—without an outline. Next, Jennifer Dupree shares what she learned about publishing with a small press. Later in the week, Sara Gentry lists five ways numbers can improve your writing life. DIY MFA

A perfect anti-war movie? Like Stories of Old

Vaughn Roycroft shares some writing lessons from housebuilding and marriage. Then, Donald Maass presents other ways to write a hero. Elizabeth Huergo recommends Cecile Pineda’s writing “at the edge of being.” Next, Kathryn Magendie shares how an anxiety episode changed her (dis)belief in writer’s block … Writer Unboxed

What are the Endless? Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. Tale Foundry

Janice Hardy shares five ways to raise the stakes in your scene. Fiction University

C.S. Lakin helps you develop a scene outline for your novel. Live, Write, Thrive

Shaelin shares her successful query letter. Shaelin Writes

K.M. Weiland shares five tips for how to return to writing after a long break. Helping Writers Become Authors

Becca Puglisi explains how inner conflict informs character arc. Then, Angela Ackerman offers a little body language help: fighting attraction in romance. Writers Helping Writers

Why Prometheus risked everything for humans. Fate & Fabled | PBS Storied

Ariel Curry and Liz Morrow help you create a book map for your nonfiction book. Then, Karen A. Chase explains how author platform connects to author brand. Jane Friedman

Miffie Seideman wants you to add a dose of relatable dimension to your character. Then, Jenn Windrow explains what happens when your obsession becomes your profession. Writers in the Storm

How to create compelling character backstory. Reedsy

Tiffany Yates Martin interviews Amulya Malladi about how she prioritizes writing. Fox Print Editorial

Chris Winkle says Wednesday failed The Addams Family, and it didn’t have to. Then, Oren Ashkenazi explains why the fights in The Witch from Mars are so boring. Mythcreants

Kristen Lamb helps you take your hero from “meh” to mythic.

Chuck Wendig unpacks the state of social media (as it pertains to writers in particular). Terribleminds

Marcus Schwabe interviews Vera Constantineau about Haiku Writing Month. Morning North | CBC

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you found something to support your current work(s) in progress.

Until Thursday, keep staying safe and well.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 1-7, 2019

/ Melanie Marttila

Aaaaand … I’m back with some lovely informal writerly learnings for you 😉

Jael McHenry: writing, verbs, and time. Ray Rhamey extols the fun of pantsing. Donald Maass: un-con redux—operation phoenix. Susan Spann cries, curses—foiled again! Cathy Yardley wants you to play to win. Writer Unboxed

Jenna Moreci digs deep to list her top ten dystopian tropes.

Robert Lee Brewer clears up the confusion around lose, loose, and loosen. Writer’s Digest

Emily Wenstrom offers five tips to set (and keep) an author platforming resolution. And here’s my latest Speculations: five awesome ways NASA’s all-woman spacewalk inspires us. DIY MFA

James Scott Bell answers the question, is it necessary to write EVERY day? Then, Angela Ackerman is mastering show, don’t tell. Writers Helping Writers

Writing anti-heroes with Reedsy.

Spencer Ellsworth says, outlines are for revision (say what?)—a different approach for your process. Fiction University

Ellen Brock shares a simple strategy for novel editing.

Chris Winkle shares lessons from the disingenuous writing of Maximum Ride. Then, Oren Ashkenazi considers what makes an antagonistic group problematic. Mythcreants

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you found something you need to fuel your current work in progress.

Until Thursday, be well, my friends.

It’s good to be back.

Tipsday2019

Ad Astra 2015 day 1: Arrival and Julie Czerneda workshop

/ Melanie Marttila

The Ad Astra 2015 reportage starts now!

This year, I managed to find the Sheraton without too much difficulty (yay me). I can be Google Maps challenged at the most inconvenient times, especially when GM wants to send me on the 407 (I am toll route averse) or tells me to pull a u-turn when I don’t see the need for it 😛

Still, I just—just—got checked in to my room in time to run back down and into the workshop.

Julie Czerneda’s workshop was entitled It only hurts when I write: Destroying your story gremlins.

After a brief round of introductions, we got to work. Julie asked us to work in pairs and assigned us a series of writing tasks. The focus on the workshop was to solve the gremlins that many writers experience. The main gremlin was the blank page, or not knowing what to write/how to come up with story ideas.*

  1. Using a grid, storyboard a plot with a beginning, middle, and end (plot emphasis).
  2. Using a grid and a character card prompt, storyboard a plot with a beginning, middle, and an end (character emphasis).

After each exercise, each group shared the results of their efforts.

There was a brief break and then we reconvened for the second half of the workshop.

In the second half, Julie handed out a story worksheet to each pair. We were to fill out the worksheet with the following information: Story idea, Protagonist, Setting, Type of story, Format of story, Readership for this story, and what Feeling we wanted the reader to respond with.

Once the worksheet was completed, Julie handed out cards that added completely random items to the story. My partner and I received these three: What this story needs is a cat; Add an hilarious death; and Rewrite as a comedy.

Considering that I’d elected to fill out the worksheet using my main WIP, Initiate of Stone, a darkish epic fantasy, the cards actually threw three rather large wrenches into the gears.

The point of these wrenches was to concretely prove that we can change our stories, sometimes to good effect, on a dime and at the request of someone else. It teaches you to relinquish control, release from attachment, and may serve you well if/when an editor wants you to make changes your story.

It was a bit of a light bulb moment for me. I learned that I had, to a degree, achieved a certain amount of detachment from IoS. It’s a novel, not one of my vital organs.

Though I think if anyone actually asked me to rewrite IoS as a comedy, I would refuse. Categorically, even.

Overall, it was an enjoyable workshop.

Julie Czerneda

*I walked into the workshop thinking that we were going to be working with our actual story gremlins, as in the problems we are experiencing with our WIPs. It took me a few minutes to get over my disappointment that I was not going to get help with the opening of IoS. I was motivated, as ever, to learn, though, and so I did 🙂

There you have it.

Next week: Deconstructing tropes 🙂 Yes, we had all the fun! Really. I like this kind of thing 🙂