Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 22-28, 2015

March 3, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris asks the question, can writing be taught?

In a related article . . . things Ryan Boudinot can say about MFA programs now that he no longer teaches in one. The Stranger.

Now, this started up a bit of a kerfuffle. Though the following two posts by Chuck Wendig belong to the current week, I’m offering them as a counterpoint to Boudinot’s. Some people agreed with Boudinot and some with Wendig. Some took exception to the whole conversation. You may judge for yourselves.

K.M. Weiland explores the six elements of an effective story premise in her weekly post and podcast.

And her Wednesday vlog: how to drive your readers wild with hints and hooks without frustrating them. It’s a delicate balance.

Dan Blank posts on becoming a student of your own writing process on Writer Unboxed. I love process-y stuff. This was “in my wheelhouse.”

Heather Webb explores the science of character creation (lots of resources). Writer Unboxed.

The Kobo Writing Life podcast: Mark Leslie interviews Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

This one goes along with my post on Gatekeepers, rejection, and resilience: Ten of the reasons your manuscript might be rejected. Ruth Harris on Anne R. Allen’s blog.

And . . . 12 famous authors on literary rejection. Aerogramme Writers’ Studio.

Tor.com’s Ilana C. Myer deconstructs the strong, female character in SFF.

Okay, I’m gonna link dump here, but each one of these posts on Jim C. Hines’s web site on the topic of representation is well worth the read. Expand your brains.

How to know if you’re really a writer. Authors Publish.

The ALLi watchdog examines the merits of Amazon versus Apple.

May 2, 2015 will be the first ever Canadian Authors for Indies Day. Publisher’s Weekly.

30 books that were challenged by censors. Infographic on CBC Books.

Why How to get away with murder is TV’s most progressive show. The Daily Beast. It’s great storytelling. Also, I watch TV and movies for craft. This belongs in the writing tips post. So sez me.

And that’s all the Writerly Goodness I gots for this week.

See you Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 15-21, 2015

February 24, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris wrote a guest post for K.M. Weiland on Friday the 13th. Though it’s more than a week ago, I didn’t get around to sharing this gem until Sunday (!). So here you go: Four reasons you might be missing out on your best plot ideas.

Katie’s Sunday post and podcast: The crucial way you can figure out how much time your story should cover.

And her Wednesday vlog: Why a killer hook may not be enough to sustain reader interest.

Anne R. Allen offers nine considerations we should all review before we send our first novel out into the world.

Adventures in YA publishing offers this story concept worksheet to help you nail your story’s concept.

Chuck Wendig delivers another excellent post on writing strong women characters. This caused quite the discussion on the SF Canada listserv.

One of those members, Ada Hoffmann, made i09 with her Twitter mini-rant on agency. A cogent summation of the issue.

The second of Nina Munteanu’s posts on rejection. This time: how rejection can help you as a writer.

Dan Blank wrote this wonderful piece for the National Endowment for the Arts on risk in writing. Everyone needs to read this. It’s awesomesauce.

And on the sad side, here’s Oliver Sacks’s piece for The New York Times about what he’s decided to do now that he knows he doesn’t have much time remaining.

Jamie Raintree shares her experience with Storyist on Thinking through our fingers.

Chuck Sambuchino’s definitive guide to manuscript lengths.

Ten authors who took themselves way too seriously. ListVerse.

The writing habits of famous authors, an infographic shared by BookBaby blogs.

The three roles of the shapeshifter archetype. The Better Novel Project.

Buzzfeed shares 21 reasons why the Harry Potter series was the cleverest ever.

So, this priest decided to adapt Leonard Cohen’s “Allelujah” for a wedding:

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

February 17, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

K.M. Weiland offers advice regarding your climax’s place, not structurally, but setting-wise 🙂

How to achieve originality in your fiction. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Roz Morris exposes four dialogue crimes.

How to tell your critique partners exactly what you need. The Write Practice.

Jamie Raintree shares her strategy for scheduling breaks to avoid burnout.

Kurt Vonnegut maps out the shapes of stories. The Washington Post.

Sylvia Plath on life, death, hope, and happiness. Braipickings.

Seven women in the book industry who champion diversity. Quill & Quire.

Is the science in your science fiction accurate? Plausible? Why it matters. Charlie Jane Anders of i09.

Nina Munteanu presents lessons from a linguist. Reverse engineering with Steven Pinker.

Want to add some colour to your diverse characters? Idiom from other languages. TED blog.

Tyler Cowan asks us to be suspicious of simple stories. TEDx Mid-Atlantic.

New Outlander footage from E! online. For the anguish of droughtlander. It will be over soon (ish).

And that’s a wrap for this week.

See you Thoughty Thursday when I have more to contribute to your inspiration files.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 1-7, 2015

February 10, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Most common writing mistakes, number 38: Irrelevant endings. K.M. Weiland. Helping Writers Become Authors.

Katie helps you create a more compelling backstory in three minutes 🙂

Roz Morris posts about what to do when feedback leads you astray.

Then Roz visited Jane Friedman’s blog to offer tips on how to recognize when backstory is sabotaging your novel.

Chuck Wendig shares the emotional milestones of writing a novel. Don’t think I ever left the sphincter-clenching panic stage 😛

How and why Marie Bilodeau made the leap to full time writer.

How Kameron Hurley hacked her writing process with 10,000 word-a-day marathons. I don’t think I could do this, but I find process to be endlessly fascinating.

Kameron, again, on how we can build a more pragmatic SF&F dialogue.

Why J.J. Marsh doesn’t want your free book.

Open Minds Quarterly answers the question, what makes a writing contest legitimate?

How Harper Lee’s long-lost sequel was found. The Atlantic.

15 thought-provoking SF films that are worth your time. Taste of cinema.

George R.R. Martin explains why The Winds of War isn’t on HarperCollins’ 2015 list (yet). The Daily Dot.

And here is the season 5 trailer for Game of Thrones:

I’m putting this in Tipsday because. My favourite song from the Fifth Element soundtrack. I had no idea it could be sung without electronic assistance O.O

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 18-24, 2015

January 27, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris with more tales from her masterclasses for The Guardian. This week, your inner horse, johari windows, and finding your character’s true nature.

K.M. Weiland on “on the nose” dialogue, how to recognize it, and how to remedy it.

In her weekly vlog, Katie discovers the one common element in all the books she loves. Want to make sure you have it? Watch and learn.

After a lengthy pause, MJ Bush posts about how to know your character deeply in one step: the back door. Writingeekery.

I have a writer-crush on Chuck Wendig because he writes bad-ass stuff like this: 25 ways to be a bad-ass maker who makes bad-ass stuff.

Dave King writes about forthwringing tonguishness, or, why English is such a mutt language, on Writer Unboxed.

Dan Blank answers the question: why bother with email newsletters? Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier of The Better Novel Project interviewed on the writing education, technology (WET) podcast.

Writing is self-hypnosis from Stephen King:

Four plots structures you want to avoid. The New Yorker.

Fabulous bookshelves brought to you by BookBub. My faves? Nine and nineteen.

Why season three of Orphan Black is going to be even crazier. The Nerdist. Yeah, it’s a TV show, but damnit, it’s also great storytelling.

The Guardian. 20 previously unknown Pablo Neruda poems discovered in Chile.

It was a lovely week for writerly goodness.

Enjoy, my friends.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 11-17, 2015

January 20, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

I am so tired . . . but more about that on the weekend. In the meantime, enjoy some Writerly Goodness!

Agent Laurie McLean of Fuse Literary guest posts on Anne R. Allen’s blog: You may not need an agent, but why you may want one anyway.

Karen Woodward outlines her critique process.

The anatomy of a kick-ass query letter, from DIYMFA.

Eight query tips no one tells writers from agent Carly Watters.

Writing a synopsis. Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

How to turn a short story into a novel. Roz Morris helps you Nail Your Novel.

How to transition to your story’s climax with a gatekeeper by Christine Frazier of the Better Novel Project.

Advice about advice from Jamie Raintree.

Then, Jamie posted this over on Writers in the Storm: four steps to happy writing productivity. Who says you can’t be happy and productive?

Delilah S. Dawson guest posts on Chuck Wendig’s Terribleminds. 25 lifehacks for writers from a hack writer 🙂

Nnedi Okorafor looks at why science fiction created by African writers is still considered alien.

Quill & Quire previews spring 2015 books.

Buzzfeed compiles a list of 33 of the creepiest lines in fiction.

From Elle: How many women does it take to create the perfect sex scene? You know which one we’re talking about, don’t you? Oh yeah. Outlander: The Wedding.

The latest Outlander trailer for the second half of season one:

And . . . an Outlander soundtrack! In case you love the music as much as the show (and the novels) 🙂

The science of Game of Thrones. It’s okay to be smart.

And that she be it for this Tipsday!

Buh-bye, la!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 4-10, 2015

January 13, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

Good things come in little packages?

Publishers Weekly: The print book is making a comeback.

Why the self-published ebook is no longer the new query. Anne R. Allen.

K.M. Weiland’s most common writing mistakes series, part 37: Unnecessary filler.

In Katie’s Wednesday vlog, she talks about the one rule about backstory that matters.

Roz Morris and Peter Snell co-host “So you want to be a writer?” on Surrey Hills Radio. Listen to them all!

Canadian authors share their New Year’s resolutions. Canada Writes – CBC.

The 50 most anticipated books of the first half of 2015. The Globe and Mail.

David Bowie answers the Proust Questionnaire. Brainpickings.

Access Hollywood asks Sam Heughan and Catriona Balfe about the second half of Outlander, season one.

Check out these cool maps of fictional places from BookRiot.

Can we answer my first question, “yes”?

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

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

December 16, 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: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Nov 16-22, 2014

November 25, 2014 / Melanie Marttila

Roz Morris has some excellent thoughts on choosing a title for your book. It’s more important than you think.

On finding your theme with K.M. Weiland. Guess what? It comes down to your character’s arc 🙂

How your editor can irritate you, and why that’s a good thing. Anne R. Allen with Judy Probus.

Victoria Mixon outlines the three vital steps to creating your protagonist.

Dave King is back on Writer Unboxed with another Buffy-inspired post: Everything I need to know about character, I learned from Buffy.

Jamie Raintree shares three strategies to stay motivated on long-term projects. Thinking through our fingers.

The seven roles of the healer archetype, on the Better Novel Project.

Julie Sondra Decker explores what happens while you wait. In propinquity.

Margaret Atwood came to Sudbury to celebrate her birthday last week. It’s the last time she’s going to make the journey, so we made a thing of it 🙂 TVO’s Steve Paikin (also Laurentian University chancellor) interviewed her.

And then the CBC’s Jessica Pope got a little Atwood action as well.

Ursula K. LeGuin at the National Book Awards. The New Yorker.

And the video: