Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, April 24-30, 2016

May 3, 2016May 3, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Another lovely batch of writerly goodness for you!

First some Sudbury poet laureate news 🙂

Adriana Nicolucci interviews Kim Fahner for Our Crater.

More poet laureate goodness: it’s been a busy week at Sudbury’s libraries. Jessica Watts for The Sudbury Star.

K.M. Weiland asks, do you have a writing superpower (and why you shouldn’t)? Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she helps us understand how to write scenes your readers will rave about.

Roz Morris shares tips on how to blend a parallel, allegorical fantasy plot into your novel. Nail Your Novel.

Bonnie Randall guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: battling the block.

Marcy Kennedy returns with part two of her reading like a writer mini-series.

Chuck Wendig: What I’d like to say to young writers, part two.

Leanna Renee Hieber guest posts on Terribleminds: what to do when the bottom drops out.

James Scott Bell guest posts on Writer Unboxed: how to weave a message without pummelling your readers.

Steven Pressfield: I can’t squeeze my theme in! My favourite bit: “This is why writing (or the pursuit of any art) is, to me, a spiritual enterprise. It’s an endeavor of the soul. The stories we write, if we’re working truly, are messages in a bottle from our Self to our self, from our Unconscious/Divine Ground/Muse to our struggling, fallible, everyday selves.”

Later in the week, Shawn Coyne posts this: the designated driver. I’ve been listening to The Story Grid podcast and Tim Grahl has just finished his first draft.

Nina Munteanu explores the writer-editor relationship: editors preparing writers.

Stephen Stratford writes an essay on the dark arts of editing for The Spinoff.

Query Shark Janet Reid sounds off on why you should avoid querying services.

Author brands: Which kind of influencer are you? Carly Watters.

Martha Alderson guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog and shows us how to use a plot planner.

Jami Gold looks at brain science from the perspective of how we, as writers, imagine.

I may have shared this before, but it’s a good article: how stories change the brain. Paul J. Zak for Greater Good.

This is long as heck, but Tor.com covers (almost) all the science fiction and fantasy adaptations in production and already on the air.

Charlie Jane Anders explores the moment when science fiction diverged from competence porn. i09.

Cassandra Clare created a fantasy realm and aims to maintain her rule. Penelope Green for The New York Times.

The secrets of medieval fonts. Medieval Books.

David Tennant as Puck. Just ‘cause it’s Shakespeare’s 400th 🙂

Shakespeare is dead: six hot takes. Literary Hub.

Rob Brydon shares Shakespearean phrases in everyday use.

The Doctor’s Long Story, a fan video with heart. Radio Times.

John Boyega and James MacAvoy to voice Netflix’s Watership Down. Comic Book Resources.

Nathan Fillion joins the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, with more than just a prosthetic-covered cameo. Peoples Choice.

Electric Lit shares an infographic that explains the real history behind Game of Thrones.

Sarah Mesle reviews the first episode of season six for the LA Review of Books.

Until Thursday, be well.

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 27-April 2, 2016

April 5, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Woohoo! Gotz a crap tonne of Writerly Goodness for you this week! When I get excited, I get profane 😛

Sudbury’s literary festival, Wordstock, is maturing 😉 The Northern Life.

The Aurora Awards (think Canadian Hugos) nominees have been announced.

Controversial writing post of the week: For me, traditional publishing means poverty. But self-publish? No way. Ros Barber for The Guardian. I should have known when Kathy Owen tagged Kristen Lamb, asked her to read the article and respond to it in a blog post, that this was going to raise a few eyebrows (and a few hackles).

I posted it because I wanted to engage people in thoughtful, engaged conversation (which I’m happy to say it did). I share posts and articles for writers on traditional and self-publishing sides of the creative divide. I’ve made my decision after a lot of consideration. Please do me the courtesy of respecting that position. And hella yeah, you know I’ll respect yours.

Here, for balance, is Kristen’s response: real writers don’t self-publish.
Also, a kind reader pointed me to this response by Paul St. John Mackintosh: an open letter to Ros Barber (less balanced, perhaps, but worth a read). Teleread.

K.M. Weiland discusses how to know when to write ‘the end.’ Helping writers become authors. Later, she wonders, are you telling the right story? On her author site, Katie urges us to make war, not love, because creativity is an act of defiance.

C.S. Lakin explores the action-reaction cycle in novel scenes. Live, write, thrive. Later, she shows us how to construct scenes using a variety of camera shots.

Catherine McKenzie endures publishing exhaustion on Writer Unboxed.

Jo Eberhardt asks, are you a writer or a storyteller? Admittedly, it’s not such a polarizing question as planner vs. pantser, or literary vs. genre, but in recognizing the spectrum of this apparent dichotomy, could we not find our way to a more balanced view of the more fraught debates? Food for thought. Writer Unboxed.

Tracy Hahn-Burkett wonders whether to TK or not to TK? Writer Unboxed. I did this with my most recent NaNo project. Nothing I left out was critical to the story. It’s all pure research.

Emotional wounds thesaurus entry: being raised by overprotective parents. Becca Puglisi. Writers helping writers.

David Mesick explores creating distinct and grounded anti-heroes. Mythcreants.

Jami Gold (with Angela Quarles) weighs in about writer truth: we’re making it up as we go. I’ve recently said this to a writer friend, and as I mentioned in last Saturday’s update, my process is in continual evolution. We try things out, decide what works (for us) and what needs to be set aside. It can be tough when you learn from established/well known authors. My advice? Do you have to tell them it didn’t work for you? Really? 😉

Angela Quarles guest posts on Fiction University about harnessing your day.

Kathryn Craft offers five tips to sustain you in the query trenches. Writers in the Storm.

Martina Boone helps us decode rejections to identify plotting issues. This only works, of course, if the agent gives you more than a form rejection. Adventures in YA Publishing.

Steven Pressfield advises to analyze your novel like a dream.

Joanna Penn interviews Mark Lefebvre of Kobo Writing Life about how to sell more books. The Creative Penn.

Jane Friedman updates her How to Start Blogging Guide.

Katherine Garcia decries four lies we have to stop telling writers, artists, and other creatives. Everyday Feminism.

I’ve posted this before to great controversy. None of us like change, but we can’t prevent it from happening by ignoring it, especially when there are very good reasons for it. Why you should never, ever use two spaces after a period. Farhad Manjoo for Slate.

Orna Ross says creatives and creativists cultivate independence.

Linda Wasmer Andrews reveals recent research that supports how walking can make you a better writer. Psychology Today.

Five writing retreats to jump start your creativity. The Globe and Mail.

Ursula K. LeGuin on racism, anarchy, and hearing her characters speak. Literary Hub.

Virginia Woolf, the woman who remade the novel. The Independent.

Sarah Hughes examines our enduring fascination with the Brontës. The Guardian.

From alright to zap: an A to Z of deplorable words. Not really. Read ‘em and weep twitch, word nerds. The Guardian.

And this is just fun: Librarian Rhapsody.

Radio Times collects eleven of the best moments from the new Doctor Who.

How Outlander is taking the art of love (and war) to Paris in season two. TV Insider. I can’t believe the wait is almost over! This weekend: droughtlander ENDS!

And this movie looks interesting for the fairy tale set: Tale of Tales. Vanity Fair.

And that should keep you reading through to next week (!) I hope you have a lovely one.

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, September 13-19, 2015

September 22, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

I can barely contain myself! This week’s Writerly Goodness is so . . . GOOD.

So, first Lorraine Devon Wilke publishes this article in The Huffington Post: Dear self-published author, do not write four books a year.

Then all this happened:

Larry Correia dissected and lampooned the article.

Chuck Wendig responded with, Dear any-kind-of-published author: write as much as you want.

And even John Scalzi felt compelled to post, how many books you should write in a year.

</Rant on>It all comes down to the individual. Write as much, or as little, as you want/need to. It was an interesting controversy, however, and worth the read. Wendig mentions the Stephen King article I shared a few weeks ago along with a few others on the topic. Never lose sight of your goals and don’t let stuff like this distract you. Read it and take what you need from it. The rest is noise. Interesting noise, but noise, nonetheless. </Rant off>

K.M. Weiland shares eight paragraph mistakes you may not know you’re making. These are good 🙂

How the poor choice of your character’s goal can kill your novel. Katie’s Friday vlog. Yes, she changed her schedule, like, a month ago, and I’m just getting used to it now . . . Make of that what you will.

Jane Friedman gets back to basics: writing the synopsis.

Bonnie Randall posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University about rejection and how to deal with it. I love this, because it’s basically my take on the experience.

Our fractured days: Steven Pressfield offers advice about staying on schedule when life (or other things) happens.

Gwen Hernandez joins Writer Unboxed with this post: Nine (or more) things I love about Scrivener.

Kameron Hurley asks what will you sacrifice and offers a review of The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

Later in the week, Kameron tackled cold publishing equations.

Porter Anderson weighs in on the latest Authors Earnings Report.

Mira Jacob writes about her experience with diversity (or lack thereof) in American publishing for Buzzfeed.

Usually, VSauce would appear on the Thoughty Thursday roundup, but this week, Michael was talking about language, linguistics, and math. IT’S AWESOME!

And the poetry of The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is back. Here are two lovely entires:

This is part of why I stopped at getting my MA (and still, in many ways regret going that far). The shit graduate studies asks you to vomit out in the name of “higher” education. Tickld.

Ursula K. Le Guin speaks to myth, modernism, and why she’s suspicious of the MFA. Salon.

Margaret Atwood waxes political and literary on the topic of our (un)freedom. The Guardian.

Aja Romano of the Daily Dot presents “dreadpunk” as a new subgenre. It seems like good ole Gothic to me. Do we really have to redefine these things? What do you think?

Electric Lit shares this poster about yoga for writers.

Buzzfeed presents 21 signs that prove booksellers are clever 🙂

Dogs and books! Two of my favourite things together! The cute! Bustle.

Eeee! Wasn’t this a tasty week? Yes. I equate writing craft and book porn to consumables 🙂 Nom. Nom. Nom.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, August 30-September 5, 2015

September 8, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

W00t! This past week was all about the writerly goodness!

K.M. Weiland explains how to write a sequel that’s even better than the first book.

Are your plot and theme working together? Helping writers become authors.

Katie gives us a virtual tour of her writing space.

Why you should look into the psychology of writing and the cognitive science of the perfect writing routine. Brainpickings.

In the wake of his post on the mistakes of inexperienced writers, Chuck Wendig wrote on the subject of your discouragement.

How to be a successful writer: stop comparing yourself to everyone else. The Write Life.

Vaughan Roycroft explored how to rekindle your motivation on Writer Unboxed.

Then, Kristan Hoffman wrote about getting over the hump. Writer Unboxed.

Gabriela Pereira shares her mindfulness manifesto on the DIYMFA podcast.

Mike Swift writes about the singularity of voice for Writer Unboxed.

Joanna Penn points out five problems you should avoid in your first novel.

Chris Winkle lists 44 words to seek and destroy in your draft. Mythcreants.

Ginger Moran shares the four S’s of sustained creativity on Tim Grahl’s blog.

Steven Pressfield writes about resistance and hooks. In this context, hooks refer to the provocative comments readers make for and against you and/or your book.

Christine Frazier deconstructs back cover copy to help you writer your blurb. The Better Novel Project.

Bonnie Randall offers her book signing cheat sheet to those who wish to stay sane while everyone ignores them. Janice Hardy’s Fiction University.

Agent Carly Watters offers writing diversity campaigns, resources, terms, and tells you how to read between your lines.

Writers talk about the complexity of race. The Guardian.

Neil Gaiman: my parents didn’t have any . . . rules about what I couldn’t read. The Guardian.

J.R.R. Tolkien expounds on fairy tales, language, the psychology of fantasy, and why there’s no such thing as writing for children. Brainpickings.

The fun stuff: brain fart, bants, and fur baby added to the Oxford online dictionary. Writers Write.

Quirk Books found these ten music videos based on literature.

I hope something here helps to support your creative life.

I’ll be back on Thursday with a teeny tiny bit of thoughty.

See you then!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 26-August 1, 2015

August 4, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Tipsday is back, full force. Feel the Writerly Goodness 😉

K.M. Weiland shares four ways to write a likeable protagonist at the beginning of the character arc. Helping writers become authors.

Related: Chris Winkle asks (and answers), do characters need to be likeable? Mythcreants.

Here are two ways to make the most of your climactic setting, Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Writer Unboxed continues its Diversity series with Gabriel Valjan: Import foreign cultures into your fiction.

Jami Gold shines a light on diversity issues.

Kim Bullock gets confessional on Writer Unboxed: The elephant in my living room.

How to write a novel in the dark, by Siobhan Adcock. The Daily Beast.

This is crazy-awesome Writingeekery. MJ Bush decided to live blog her 24 hour write-a-thon to draft her next book.

More Writer Unboxed: Jo Eberhardt shares a personal story about the power of fiction. [Mel’s note: Mary Brown’s The Unlikely Ones was one of the books I latched onto in my university years. Wonderful.]

Jeff Gerke guest posts on C.S. Lakin’s Live, Write, Thrive blog about hacking your reader’s brain.

Callie Oettinger revisits a past post on Steven Pressfield’s blog: Lay a little heavy on the business side.

Your second life starts when life cracks you open. Justine Musk on stepping into the bigger story.

Virginia Woolf believed that the best mind is an androgynous mind. Brainpickings.

Janis Joplin speaks about creativity and rejection in her final, lost interview, rediscovered and animated. Fabulous. Brainpickings.

Portland Monthly features home grown author Ursula K. le Guin. Amazing read.

Ever thought, ‘gee, I’d like to ask Ursula K. le Guin about writing’? Well, now you can! The Book View Cafe.

Neil Gaiman talks in his sleep. His wife, Amanda Palmer, found a forgotten recording of one of their nocturnal conversations and created this whimsical animated short. Brainpickings. [Mel’s note: I take a strange kind of comfort in the fact that I talk in my sleep, too. Phil doesn’t record our conversations, though.]

Fantasy writer N.K. Jemesin upends the racist and sexist status quo. The Guardian.

Haruki Murakami shares the moment he knew he’d be a writer. The Telegraph.

Jill Soloway calls for a matriarchal revolution in film. The Vulture.

How changing your reading habits can improve your health. Fast Company.

Charlie Jane Anders of i09 writes about ten books we pretend to have read and why we really should. For the record, I’ve only read one of these, Dune.

Foz Meadows writes about Sens8 for Tor.com. Just for the record, Phil and I loved the shite out of this Netflix Original.

CBC is now producing webseries: The Riftworld Chronicles. Tamoh Penikett stars 🙂

Buzzfeed presents seventeen (gif) faces that every grammar nerd will relate to.

Authors tweet #tenthingsnottosaytoawriter. Entertainment Weekly.

Interesting stuff coming up on thoughty Thursday, See you then!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 19-25, 2015

July 28, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

As I post this, I am MELTING. Today it was 36 degrees Celsius (with humidex, it was over 40). For my American friends, that’s about 100 Fahrenheit. We have no air conditioning. This is not a complaint, just a statement of fact. We haven’t had weather like this in the Sudz for a number of years.

Now the sun has set, we have all the windows open and all the fans on.

And now, back to your regular programming.

This is just . . . read it and beware of strangers bearing option deals! Tess Gerritsen explains why she dropped her Gravity lawsuit and now advocates for authors in Hollywood. The Mary Sue.

Who should you be writing for, your readers, or yourself? Helping writers become authors. K.M. Weiland.

Katie shares the key to writing good action scenes in her Wednesday vlog.

Writer Unboxed begins a new series on diverse voices in writing and publishing. Their first guest was Grace Wynters: Why diversity in publishing matters.

Steven Pressfield makes the distinction between the craft of writing, and your craft of writing.

How to write with confidence. MythicScribes.

The anatomy of a page turner with Barbara Kyle.

This is incredible fun: Atlas Obscura presents their obsessively detailed map of American literature’s most epic road trips.

Here’s a lovely Tumblr: Where do you write, my lovely? They just featured my friend Kim Fahner and her wonderful writing space 🙂

Buzzfeed offers their list of 51 books for animal lovers.

Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my favourite classic SF novels. So, of course I was attracted to this post on MentalFloss on 15 things you might not know about the Heinlein classic.

Buzzfeed shares 29 pictures that only booklovers will relate to. Regarding #20: I can do this just fine, thankyouverymuch.

If you’re of the techie persuasion, Bustle presents seven gadgets for booklovers.

Isaac Asimov predicted social media and knowledge bases. Fusion.

Here’s a fun interview with Sam Heughan: My acting teacher once told me I couldn’t act. My Fox LA.

TV After Dark shares their chat with the Outlander cast and crew about season two from San Diego Comic Con.

Just for fun, here’s Kirby Krackle’s “Villain Song.”

See you Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 21-27, 2015

June 30, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

W00t! You wanted moar writerly goodness? Well, here it is!

In local publishing news, Latitude 46 moves into the void left by Your Scrivener Press. The Northern Life.

Listen to K.M. Weiland’s weekly podcast (and subscribe) or read her companion post. Last week’s offering: What every writer ought to know about omniscient point of view (POV).

How to make your secondary characters truly memorable. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Will readers find you protagonist worthy? Angela Ackerman on Writers Helping Writers.

The bigger the dream, the greater the resistance. When resistance pays you a compliment. Steven Pressfield.

The four dangers of writing and critique groups. The title says ‘hidden dangers,’ but they’re not really hidden. First-timers and eternal optimists might be blind to them, though. Jennie Nash on Jane Friedman’s blog.

How to write about guns without sounding like a doorknob. Benjamin Sobieck (who was much more polite about it that I was) guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog.

The Listen Inside podcast from Readers in the Know features chapter 2 from Veronica Sicoe’s The Deep Link.

The ten best literary love songs brought to you by Quirk Books.

BuzzFeed compiles their list of the 53 best opening lines in literature.

Not to be outdone, Penguin Random House offered its list of captivating first lines.

In case you weren’t already crushed by the weight of your unread book stack, BuzzFeed compiles this list of ALL 339 books referenced in Gilmour Girls.

i09 lists its essential cyberpunk reads.

ZDNet shares their list of 26 essential science fiction novels that will help you prepare for the future.

Where Japanese science fiction has been and where it’s going. Japanese Times.

The 2015 Sunburst Awards finalists announced on the CBC.

And here’s Quill & Quire’s piece on the awards.

The brilliant ideas that didn’t make it into Pixar’s Inside Out. i09.

I must say that Phil and I are enjoying Sense8 quite a bit. Then again, we love well-developed character and story. The slow burn is just fine with us. Here’s Bram E. Geiben’s take on season 1 for i09.

Moar season 2 fodder for your Droughtlander jonesing. Carter Matt.

See you on Thoughty Thursday!

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

March 24, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

K.M. Weiland introduces the Story Structure Database, and excellent new resource for writers. You can contribute to it, too!

Roz Morris shares how writer’s block became an opportunity.

Anne R. Allen shares ten social marketing no-no’s.

Jamie Raintree shares her experience in finding her agent on Thinking through our fingers.

Shawn Coyne explains his second draft that is not a draft theory on Steven Pressfield’s blog.

Janice Hardy’s month-long revision workshop continues with day 15: clean up description and stage direction.

Christine Frazier offers lessons for writers from her analysis of The Dark Knight. The Better Novel Project.

Porter Anderson offers Amish Tripathi’s Shiva series for our consideration on Writer Unboxed.

The series of representation on SFF guest posts on Jim C. Hines’s blog continues with Sarah Chorn’s discussion of disability in SFF.

Need some visual inspiration? Here’s the Fantastical Women site featuring lots of fantasy art by women artists. Gorgeous!

Canva shares this list of 40 books on creativity. When I die, I suspect it will be because I was crushed by my pile of unread books (!)

18 perfect short stories. i09.

Fast Company presents an infographic on banned books and some of the reasons they were banned.

SF Signal interviews Tanya Huff.

Lightspeed interviews Patrick Rothfuss.

What happens when a fundamentalist Christian marries an atheist author? Sally McBride guest posts on WarpWorld.

Now there are some consumable readables! Nom-a-nom-a-nom . . .

See you Thursday!

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

March 10, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

I’m beginning to think that the universe is trying to tell me something 😉 Between Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday this week, you’ll see a definite theme developing. Or not . . .

K.M. Weiland continues her common writing mistakes series with part 39: referencing characters by title rather than by name.

In Katie’s Wednesday vlog, she discusses the reasons why avalanches, wolves, and lightning storms may not be the best way to begin your novel.

Roz Morris posts about resilience. I love the image she found—a bear on a trampoline 🙂

In her series on debut author lessons, Mary Robinette Kowal tackles the topic of writing full time. Important to know: as a self-employed professional, if you’re not writing, you are unemployed.

Poet Mary Oliver inspired Anna Elliott to write a post for Writer Unboxed with this line: “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

Steven Pressfield writes about self-doubt and what the soul knows about keeping you on the true path.

Janice Hardy has started a month-long revision workshop on Fiction University. Start here with her March 1st post and follow along. Great step-by-step analysis of every aspect of your novel.

Here’s a post outlining the principles of ergonomics for writers from the World’s Greatest Book blog.

And because it’s related, here’s the TED-ed video that explains why sitting too much is bad for us:

What Alice in Wonderland reveals about the brain. This could go either on Tipsday or Thoughty Thursday, but because the book is the basis for the article, I’m placing it here. BBC.

When George R. R. Martin was asked how he could write female characters so well, his answer was, “Well, they’re human beings, aren’t they?” When I saw the title of Kate Elliott’s post for Tor.com, I knew it was going to be interesting: writing women characters as human beings.

Women artists re-envision images of their favourite SFF characters. i09.

39 misused words and how to use them correctly. Time.

How Catriona Balfe nailed her audition with one line. TV Line.

Pets who’d rather you pet them than read. The Dodo.

That’s a wrap!

See you Thursday 🙂

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Dec 21-27, 2014

December 30, 2014 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

K.M. Weiland offers beta readers a guide.

Sarah Lovett of DIY MFA shares the reasons why you need to start a writers’ group or critique circle.

What traditional publishing learned in 2014. Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

Town hall debate: what every literary writer needs to know about the digital disruption. Hosted by Porter Anderson and featuring (among others) Jane Friedman. The focus may be on literary writers, but this is informative for all writers. Vimeo.

Steven Pinker, author of Sense of Style: The thinking person’s guide to writing in the 21st century, interviewed by the CBC’s Anna Maria Tremonti.

Steven Pressfield on his “overnight” success.

Giving yourself the gift of writing, by Barbara O’Neal.

Madeline L’Engle on creativity, hope, getting unstuck, and how studying science enriches art. Brainpickings.

This kid’s theory about The Princess Bride is AWESOME!

The ancient origins of modern science fiction tropes. Blastr.

Words that used to be considered poor English that are now accepted. Gives you a little perspective on your current grammar bug-a-boos, doesn’t it? Mental Floss.

Hope you have fun tomorrow night!