Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, April 9-15, 2017

April 18, 2017April 16, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

And it’s been another lovely week for the writerly goodness 🙂

K.M. Weiland shows us how storytelling benefits everyone. Helping Writers Become Authors

Later in the week, Kate points out three ways to choose the right protagonist.

Roz Morris appreciates The Story of Your Life, on which Arrival was based. Nail Your Novel

Then Roz strolls over to Writers Helping Writers: planning the perfect love triangle.

David Corbett: is your character’s face the window to her soul? [Love the URL title: a face to launch a thousand words, or less. Hopefully less.] Writer Unboxed

Sarah Callender zooms in on third person narration. Writer Unboxed

Liz Michalski says, let your subconscious be your guide. Writer Unboxed

Susan Spann advises you how to request a reversion of publishing rights. Writers in the Storm

Jenna Moreci debunks writer’s block:

Bess Cozby shares the tale of how embracing minimalism made her a better (and happier) writer. DIY MFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Kathleen Audet: finding your authentic image. They even talk semiotics (!) DIY MFA

Kristen Lamb schools us in deep POV: what it is and why readers love it. Later in the week Kristen takes us deeper into deep POV: how to immerse the reader in story.

Janice Hardy: six ways Netflix can make you a better writer. Fiction University

Later in the week Janice posts about how the wrong tone can change your whole novel.

Jami Gold tells you how to analyze your writing habits so you can improve on the bad ones.

Christine Frazier compares the hero with the secret good guy (and explains why every story needs a secret good guy). The Better Novel Project

Alex Segura explores the moments that keep you going as a writer. Terribleminds

Chris Winkle considers the big problem with uncertain endings. Mythcreants

Everyone (well, Chuck Wendig, Jim C. Hines, and Mary Robinette Kowal, anyway) has been writing about this debacle. I’ll just leave K. Tempest Bradford’s take on it here: OdysseyCon and why serial harassers are safe in out community.

Oh, and this: Bianna Wu offers her perspective on sexism and second chances. Jim C. Hines

Lessons from the Screenplay – Creating the ultimate antagonist in The Dark Knight.

The new World Fantasy Award design is revealed.

Helen Pluckrose explains postmodernism and its impact: how French “intellectuals” ruined the west. I have to say I hate postmodernism myself, and it’s probably because I never truly “got” it. Bleargh … AREO Magazine

Kristian Wilson: old books smell like chocolate and coffee according to science. Hey, who am I to argue with science? Bustle

Anna Pitoniak shares the writing lessons she learned as an editor for Random House. Literary Hub

Psyche Z. Ready offers a transgender reading of an ancient folktale. Tiny Donkey

James Whitbrook takes a look at the first Thor: Ragnarok trailer. i09

Brian Raftery shares The Last Jedi official trailer. Wired

Sense8 will be back May 5th!

And Orphan Black’s final season begins in June! Andy Swift for TV Line.

That was your informal writerly learnings for the week.

Come on back on Thursday for some thoughty.

In the meantime, be well.

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Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 26-April 1, 2017

April 4, 2017April 2, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

Holy cow, lookit all the informal writerly learnings 🙂

K.M. Weiland covers seven stages of being a writer. Helping Writers Become Authors

Later in the week, Kate helps you notch up your scene conflict.

Fred Johnson guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog: how to get violence right in your fiction.

Grace Wynter joins Writer Unboxed as a contributor: Look! Up in the sky! It’s a … writer?

Catherine McKenzie: are you tired of writing? Writer Unboxed

Tracy Hahn-Burkett helps you have patience over the long, long haul. Writer Unboxed

Jo Eberhardt unpacks the relationship between envy, perfectionism, and the work of writing. Writer Unboxed

Susan Spann: how to avoid pay to play publishing contracts. Writer Unboxed

Jenna Moreci: Show vs. Tell, part 2. When to tell.

Kimberly Brock has the blank page blues. Writers in the Storm

Kathryn Craft says we can do it all—but should we? Writers in the Storm

Ruth Harris shares some stress busters and burnout beaters. Anne R. Allen’s blog

Leanne Sowul: how one skeptic became a meditation convert. DIY MFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Jessica Strawser for DIY MFA radio.

G. Myrthil explains why kid lit matters. DIY MFA

Linda Bernadette Burgess shares five ways to manage multiple creative passions. DIY MFA

Emily Temple says that if any literature is going to change the world, it’s going to be young adult. Literary Hub

Fantasy Faction explores sieges and siegecraft. Part one: attackers.

Jeff Lyons returns to Jami Gold’s blog: what is high concept and how can I create it?

Lilith Saint Crow stops by Terribleminds: when a short story won’t stay short for long.

Nina Munteanu: the power of myth in storytelling.

Bonnie Randall wonders, do sensitivity readers hurt or help our novels? Fiction University

Nathan Bransford says that the key to a great query letter is summarizing through specificity.

Barbara Kyle shares ten query letter tips.

Pamela Hodges explains how to edit your novel like a New York publisher. The Write Practice

John Koenig makes another entry in the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: morii.

S.B. Divya reveals the seed of her novel Runtime. Tor.com

Malka Older’s not predicting the future, she’s just observing the present. Tor.com

Sunny Moraine: resistance through speculative fiction. Tor.com

Leah Schnelbach revisits Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds, twenty years on. Tor.com

Am I pathetic because I still love Buffy? I guess I’m not alone: Katharine Trendacosta shares pics from the Entertainment Weekly Buffy reunion photo shoot. i09

Three translators respond to Arrival. Susannah Greenblatt for Words without Borders.

Adam Frank explains how great science fiction shows like The Expanse prepare us for the future. NPR

Evan Narcisse shows us the Valerian trailer. i09

Hope you enjoyed the writerly goodness.

See you Thursday for some thoughty 🙂

Be well until then.

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Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 5-11, 2017

March 14, 2017March 12, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

The writerly goodness just keeps on coming 🙂

K.M. Weiland offers the next in her most common writing mistakes series: dead end relationships. Helping Writers Become Authors

John J. Kelley: the care and feeding of relationships. Writer Unboxed

Bryn Greenwood explains hot bunking for writers. Writer Unboxed

Kathryn Craft explores the power of unexpected elements. Writer Unboxed

Emily Cavanaugh helps you take yourself seriously as a writer—before anyone else does. Writers in the Storm

Orly Konig-Lopez explores living with writerly self-doubt. Writers in the Storm

James Scott Bell is in the Writers Helping Writers coaching corner: conflict and suspense belong in every kind of novel.

Dan Blank guest posts on Writers Helping Writers: the daily practice of growing your audience.

Jamie Raintree examines authenticity and the discomfort of vulnerability.

Robin Lovett extols the merits of happily ever after. DIYMFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Clare Mackintosh for DIYMFA radio.

Jami Gold: right brain vs. left brain vs. creativity.

What’s the purpose of story structure for readers? Jami Gold

E.R. Ramzipoor guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction Univerity: token or broken? Writing LGBT.

How to outline your novel, part 2. Jenna Moreci

Susan Spann lists ten questions you should ask before you accept a publishing deal. Writers in the Storm

Nevertheless, she persisted: a Tor.com flash fiction project. Awesome stories by awesome writers.

Margaret Atwood: what The Handmaid’s Tale means in the age of Trump. The New York Times

Molly McArdle takes a look at the rise of Roxane Gay. Brooklyn Magazine

Mary Walsh is coming out with her first novel! CBC Books

Kathleen O’Grady reports on the discovery of a true language universal. Ars Technica

David Schultz: some fairy tales may be 6,000 years old. Science Magazine

Robert MacFarlane considers Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising the eeriest novel he knows. 1843 Magazine

Twenty questions with Ursula K. Le Guin: The Times Literary Supplement

Simon Tolkien writes about his grandfather and how WWI inspired The Lord of the Rings. BBC

Here’s a literary cold case for you: Jane Austen may have died of arsenic poisoning. Christopher D. Shea and Jennifer Schuessler share the evidence, and the theory, so far. The New York Times

And that was your informal writerly learnings of the week.

See you Thursday!

Be well until then.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Feb 5-11, 2017

February 14, 2017February 12, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

And here, for your edumacation, is Tipsday!

K.M. Weiland presents most common writing mistakes, part 56: unfulfilled foreshadowing. Helping Writers Become Writers

Later in the week, Kate explains why you should write a story with a plot.

Jael McHenry wonders, how do you cook your books? Writer Unboxed

June Stevens Westerfield: why you need a media kit, even if you aren’t published yet. Writers in the Storm

Michael Hauge joins the Writers Helping Writers coaching crew: does your character description create a powerful image? Then, Angela Ackerman advises how to accurately describe your character’s pain. Writers Helping Writers

Janice Hardy offers a simple trick to create a stronger first person narrative. Fiction University

Naomi Hughes returns to Jami Gold’s blog with her top three writing craft issues: how to spot ‘em, and how to fix ‘em. Later in the week, Christina Delay offers her five steps to avoid overwriting.

Constance Renfrow lists the eight most common reasons she sends a rejection. DIYMFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Sebastian Barry on DIYMFA radio.

Jamie Raintree: writers, we are the lucky ones.

Kameron Hurley: yes, you can say no to your editor(s).

Katy Waldman looks at how sensitivity readers are changing the publishing ecosystem: is my novel offensive? Slate

Chris Saylor talks about capitalization on Marcy Kennedy’s blog.

Susan Spann wants pirates to beware: how to prepare and use a DMCA takedown notice. Writers in the Storm

Chris Winkle shares some lessons from the sloppy writing of The Tommyknockers. Mythcreants

Let’s go back to a future where science fiction does good time travel. Wired

David Mitchell offers his perspective on writing: “ignore everything else.” Joe Fassler for The Atlantic.

Publishers Weekly shares the full text of “Bad Feminist” author Roxane Gay’s Winter Institute 12 keynote speech.

Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura: Mr. Darcy, you’re no Colin Firth. The New York Times

Eeee! The Avengers: Infinity Wars teaser. i09

And that was your informal writerly learnings for the week.

See you Thursday *waves*

Be well until then.

tipsday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 29-Feb 4, 2017

February 7, 2017February 5, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

It was another fantabulous week of writerly goodness 🙂

K.M. Weiland helps you find the exact right story hook. Helping Writers Become Authors

Nina Munteanu helps you make your opening count.

Over on Writers Helping Writers, Angela Ackerman writes about describing your character: making every detail count.

Jessica Stawser is acting out of character. Writers in the Storm

Cathy Yardley: writer, know thyself. Writer Unboxed

Donald Maass bid us add a touch of romance to our stories. Writer Unboxed

Susan Spann explains how to evaluate a publishing contest. Writer Unboxed

Porter Anderson: “… when authors hunker together to kvetch about “writing is so hard,” they’re romancing the career in a profoundly counter-productive way.” Writer Unboxed

Jo Eberhardt: be the encouragement you want to see in the world. Writer Unboxed

Janice Hardy: how to write a teen voice. Fiction University

Fae Rowan invites us to use the energies of 2017 to jumpstart our writing careers. Writers in the Storm

Naomi Hughes returns to Jami Gold’s blog with her top three scene issues.

Becca Puglisi delves into overcoming mental illness for the character motivation thesaurus. Writers Helping Writers

Gabriela Pereira interviews Shanthi Sekaran about capturing diverse experiences on the page. DIYMFA

Bess Cozby: three questions you should ask before committing to a revise and resubmit. DIYMFA

Michelle Chalkey lists five benefits of the writer-editor relationship. DIYMFA

Brandon Taylor helps you escape the slush pile. Electric Lit

Blake Atwood launches his new column, editorially speaking, with this post: how to find a book editor you can trust. The Write Life

David Robson introduces us to the untranslatable emotions we never knew we had. BBC

Chris Saylor reminds us how to use apostrophes properly. Marcy Kennedy’s blog

Meet the 2017 Canada Reads contenders. CBC

Ursula K. Le Guin writes a letter to the editor, responding to a comparison between “alternative facts” and fiction. Oregon Live

Andrew Postman’s father, Neil, in his book Amusing Ourselves to Death, posited Brave New World as our probable dystopic future as opposed to Nineteen Eighty-Four. It turns out, he was right. The Guardian

David Tennant, the eleventh Doctor himself, tells us everything will be all right.

Alisdair Stuart believes it’s time for Doctor Who to change television history for the better. Tor.com

And that was your informal writerly learnings for the week!

Stay strong until Thursday!

tipsday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Jan 8-14, 2017

January 17, 2017January 15, 2017 / Melanie Marttila

I even have a video in the informal writerly learnings mix this week. W00t!

K.M. Weiland offers her top ten ways to rivet readers with plot reveals. Helping Writers Become Authors

Later in the week Dave Chesson guest posts on Kate’s blog with Boba Fett’s guide to writing cool characters.

Jordan Rosenfeld guest posts on Writer Unboxed: perception and how to identify POV leaps.

Bess Cozby offers five tips for mastering multiple points of view. DIYMFA

Oren Ashkenazi explains how to craft a character-driven story. Mythcreants

Becca Puglisi guest posts on Writers in the Storm: crafting a powerful set up.

Sophie Masson helps you craft the perfect back cover blurb. Writer Unboxed

David Corbett explores the topic of reading while writing. Writer Unboxed

Roz Morris joins the awesome line up of writing coaches on Writers Helping Writers: read more fiction.

Jami Gold explains how writing goals are really about finding out what works for you. Later in the week, she offers some insight into how to make your story meaningful.

Janice Hardy shares some outlining tips. Fiction University

Chuck Wendig tell you how to finish revising, you filthy animal. Terribleminds

Should you submit your work to agents or editors? Jane Friedman

New contributor Kathryn Magendie writes about giving up and giving in. Writer Unboxed

Susan Spann educates us on negotiating options in publishing deals. Writer in the Storm

Gabriela Pereira and Manjula Martin talk money on DIYMFA radio.

Joanna Penn and CJ Lyons talk about the dream of quitting the day job to write full time. The Creative Penn

Indigenous readers recommend books. 49th Shelf

Danielle Dutton lists her top ten books about wild women. The Guardian

Terri Windling: old stories made new. Myth & Moor

John Yorke: all stories are the same. The Atlantic

Liz Bourke reviews Certain Dark Things and Sparrow Falling. Tor.com

Man Booker prize winner, Marlon James, is writing an epic fantasy trilogy drawn from African mythology. Natalie Zutter for Tor.com.

Foz Meadows muses on Westworld: (de)humanizing the other. shattersnipe

Heather Wolfe, the “Sherlock of the library” cracked the case of Shakespeare’s identity. Robert McCrum for The Guardian.

A Writer’s Life. Two men have words.

Leah Schnelbach looks back at Princess Mononoke after 20 years. Tor.com

I hope you found something to enrich your skill set.

Come on back on Thursday for some inspiration 🙂

Be well until then.

tipsday2016

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Oct 9-15, 2016

October 18, 2016October 16, 2016 / Melanie Marttila / 1 Comment

Another harvest of informal writerly learnings for you 🙂

Moar Wordstock Sudbury 2016 news from Kim Fahner, Sudbury’s Poet Laureate. CBC

Emily Franceschini interviews Danielle Daniel for Our Crater.

This week’s #NaNoWriMo round up:

K.M. Weiland suggests you start your outline by asking these four questions. Helping writers become authors
Five types of #NaNoWriMo participants and the tools they need. The Write Practice

Eleana Sbokou guest posts on Kate’s blog: seven things you need to know about writing and editing.

Roz Morris provides a blueprint for keeping the reader gripped. Nail Your Novel

Juliette Wade guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: backgrounding your world through point of view.

Veronica Sicoe continues her series on storyworld design with this instalment on communication technologies.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Amor Towles for DIYMFA radio: worldbuilding from the inside out.

The book monster, or, when writing gets hard. Kate Moretti on Writer Unboxed.

Allie Larkin writes about finding confidence. Writing Unboxed

David Corbett shares what he learned at the beach this summer. And I have another book for the TBR pile 🙂 Writer Unboxed

Lisa Cron explains where drama really comes from. Writer Unboxed

Orly Konig Lopez gives three reasons quitting is an option, and the one reason you won’t. Bonus: guinea pig pictures! Writers in the Storm

Steven Pressfield reminisces about writing “as if.”

Ok. I just can’t resist Harper Lee Hodges. The four steps cats use to explain how to do something. The Write Practice

Julie Phillips: the fantastic Ursula K. Le Guin. The New Yorker

Jamie Raintree shares her story: from agent to publisher, part 1.

Why is it so difficult to get an agent? Liza Dawson Associates

Kristen Lamb explains why we need a synopsis before we write the book.

Catherine Ryan Howard explores her hate/love relationship with writers’ workshops.

Susan Spann helps us understand advances in publishing deals. Writers in the Storm

Adrienne Raphel: a history of punctuation for the internet age. The New Yorker

Four writers share their stories about the search for happiness. The Telegraph

Claire Kirch reports on We Need Diverse Books new curated reading app. Publishers Weekly

The publishing industry risks becoming irrelevant. Tom Welson of Penguin Random House UK. The Guardian

Here’s a lovely bit of storytelling for you. Dia de los muertos from Film School Shorts.

And another video on the role of geometry in visual storytelling. Now you see it

The indigenous science fiction film, Northlander, will be screened across Canada. CBC

Kameron Hurley digs into the first couple of episodes of Westworld.

Alex Cranz reviews the season premiere of Supergirl. i09

James Whitbrook says that DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is trying to be Doctor Who with superheroes, and that’s just fine by him. i09

Clara and Eleven were a couple. What we’ve all known, finally confirmed. Caitlin Busch for Inverse.

Katharine Trendacosta reviews the first Iron Fist footage from NYCC. i09

And The Nerdist shares the Iron Fist trailer.

Katharine Trendacosta shares what she learned about The Dark Tower trailer (leaked). i09

The Outlander, season two, gag reel 😀

I hope that you find some news you can use to help improve your craft.

All the best.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, Aug 7-13, 2016

August 16, 2016August 14, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Bumper week here at Writerly Goodness 🙂

The week previous, K.M. Weiland shared the reasons she believes writing is important, last week, she collected her readers’ thoughts on the issue. Helping writers become authors

On a related note: what do we write when the world feels insane? Sarah Selecky’s Story is a state of mind.

K.M. Weiland returns with more writing lessons from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the single best way to write powerful themes.

Roz Morris offers ten eye-opening tips to add impact to your storytelling. Nail your novel

Chuck Wendig lists 25 reasons he stops reading books. Terribleminds

Then Chuck shares ten things he learned about storytelling from Stranger Things.

Related: Janice Hardy shares lessons learned about handling flashbacks from Stranger Things. Fiction University. Nick Wisseman then guests posts on Janice’s blog, explaining how to plot your pants (wait . . . that sounds bad).

Janice then hopes over to Writers in the Storm to post: using internal conflict to create plot.

Finally, Janice guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog: if you’re stuck on plot, start at the end.

Lisa Cron writes about getting out of your process comfort zone: there is no safe place. Not plotter or pantser, but seeker. Writer Unboxed

Allie Larkin shows us how to organize a second draft with note cards and Tom Petty. Writer Unboxed

Christine Frazier shows us how to write a fight scene in which the hero fends off an attack to save a friend. The better novel project

Chris Winkle shares what she knows about creating realistic cultures. Mythcreants

Sarah Callender writes about enduring the long road to publication for Writer Unboxed.

The author as busy, busy bee and other bee-filled nightmares. Kameron Hurley.

Phil Stamper-Halpin shares what the editors of Penguin Random House look for in the first page of a novel.

Jennifer Johnson Blalock offers six ways to make comp titles work for you on Carly Watters’ blog.

Susan Spann helps you understand ebook rights. Writers in the Storm.

Robin Lovett shares what she learned from a negative experience: when your book doesn’t sell. DIYMFA

Gabriela Pereira interviews Andrew Piper (not the Canadian author) on her DIYMFA Radio podcast. Will an MFA influence your chances of success as an author?

Timothy Beck Werth looks at Djuna Barnes’ 1936 novel Nightwood and what may be the first trans woman in western literature. The Awl

Lorraine Berry: the horror of female adolescence and how to write about it. The Guardian

Michael Newton leads a celebration of Alan Garner. The Guardian

Ursula K. Le Guin writes about the golden age for The New Yorker. “I . . . think it ungrateful in a writer to write science fiction and deny that it’s science fiction.”

BrainPickings looks at Le Guin’s thoughts on aging and the meaning of beauty.

“What the market wants” is code for white stories in science fiction where black writers face universal racism. Amy McNeill for The National Post.

Michael Swanick lists five fantasy novels you won’t find in the fantasy section. Tor.com

Sarah Gailey writes in defence of villainesses for Tor.com.

Writing begins with forgiveness: why one of the most common pieces of writing advice is wrong. Daniel José Older on Seven Scribes.

Every writer’s worst nightmare: Helen Gladwell died before learning that her first book had been accepted for publication. Worse, her body remained undiscovered for months. The Telegraph

I saw this article in many forms over the last week. This one, by Jenn Savedge for Mother Nature Network, was the first. Reading a minimum of 30 minutes a day can extend your lifespan.

Jacob Mikanowski examines the Oneirocritica, an ancient encyclopaedia of dreams and dream interpretation. The Awl

Anthony Jones lists 25 words for other words. Mental Floss

Abraham Riesman interviews Margaret Atwood at San Diego ComiCon. The Vulture

Katharine Trendacosta reports that The Silver Chair, the next film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s Narnia series, is in production. Whee! i09

Germaine Lussier presents a first look at the Arrival trailer. i09

Phil and I are looking forward to September 30 for this reason: Luke Cage. i09

Laura Prudom breaks George R.R. Martin news for Variety: Wild Cards series in development.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story trailer.

Thems was some juicy informal writerly learnings, eh?

I’m off to WorldCon tomorrow. Poor Phil’s holding down the fort. Not to worry, my mom’s going to feed him 😀 Thursday’s curation has already been scheduled, but the blog will be silent from the 19th to the 26th. For the sake of sanity, I’m not going to catch up on the curation.

Be well. Be kind.

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 3-9, 2016

July 12, 2016July 12, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

Some very interesting posts and articles this week 🙂

K.M. Weiland continues her most common writing mistakes series with part 52: stagnant story conflict. Helping writers become authors. Becca Puglisi guest posts later in the week with four ways to choose the right story setting. Kate returns with more lessons from Marvel: how to transform your story with a moment of truth.

Must you have conflict in every scene, disaster in every act? Roz Morris says, yes, and no. Nail your novel.

Kathryn Craft shares ten ways to add a spark of fire to your fiction. Writer Unboxed.

Donald Maass explores how to stay ahead of yourself . . . and your reader. Writer Unboxed.

Heather Bouwman writes (in the) happy middles. Writer Unboxed.

Annie Neugebauer begins a new series for Writer Unboxed. The query letter, part one: the pitch.

Sara Letourneau looks at the protagonist-antagonist relationship in DIYMFA’s developing themes in your stories series.

Data mining reveals the six basic emotional arcs of storytelling. MIT Technology Review.

“The six basic emotional arcs are these:

A steady, ongoing rise in emotional valence, as in a rags-to-riches story such as Alice’s Adventures Underground by Lewis Carroll. A steady ongoing fall in emotional valence, as in a tragedy such as Romeo and Juliet. A fall then a rise, such as the man-in-a-hole story, discussed by Vonnegut. A rise then a fall, such as the Greek myth of Icarus. Rise-fall-rise, such as Cinderella. Fall-rise-fall, such as Oedipus.”

Susan Spann busts some popular copyright myths. Writers in the storm.

Hugh Howey writes about an idea, broken. The Wayfarer.

Shakespeare and music.

Underwritten female character: the movie. (Bwahahahaha!)

What Mallory Ortberg learned about heterosexual female desire from decades of reading. The Toast.

Ted Ed: What makes something Kafkaesque?

Airship Ambassador interviews Colleen Anderson in four parts: part one, part two, part three, and part four.

Jen Doll explains how A Wrinkle in Time changed science fiction forever. One of my formative reads. Who’d a thunk it? Mental Floss.

Shawn Taylor wonders why Hollywood is ignoring Octavia Butler. Fusion.

The New York Times called this guy daring for “daring” to tackle slavery through science fiction. (Includes the author’s response.) J. Hotham for Slate.

Jonathan Barkan celebrates 30 years of Big Trouble in Little China. Bloody Disgusting.

Emily Asher-Perrin: Jupiter Ascending is a chilling look at our future, in more ways than one. Tor.com

Phil and I are looking forward to checking this one out. Netflix’s 1980’s science fiction throwback Stranger Things is must (binge) watch TV. i09

Until thoughty Thursday!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 19-25, 2016

June 28, 2016June 28, 2016 / Melanie Marttila

I have no idea where all this came from. It was a bountiful week for Writerly Goodness.

Julie Glover guest posts on Jami Gold’s blog: four steps to break grammar rules with style.

Anne Janzer guest posts on Jane Friedman’s blog: how to create an internal mindset conducive to writing.

Barbara O’Neal conducts an experiment in fostering creative flow. Writer Unboxed.

When you don’t want to write: Heather Webb on Writer Unboxed.

Joanna Penn discusses how to banish writer’s block with K.M. Weiland. The creative Penn.

How to plot a book: start with the antagonist. K.M. Weiland’s Helping writers become authors. Later in the week: how (not) to write satisfying action scenes. More lessons from the Marvel Universe movies.

Jami Gold wonders why “unlikable” can be a deal breaker for readers.

MJ Bush offers her keen insight into writing the perfect flaw. Writingeekery.

Dave King explores the work of a master for Writer Unboxed: Jaime Lannister and sympathetic monsters.

Kayla Dean explains how to use story archetypes to subvert expectations. DIYMFA.

DIYMFA radio, episode 100: Unleash your storytelling superpower with Gabriela Pereira.

C.S. Lakin takes a look at the first turning point in your novel. Live, write, thrive.

Chris Winkle offers three painless ways to patch plot holes. Mythcreants.

Jamie Raintree delves into the process of overcoming the emotional obstacles to a writing career. Writers in the Storm.

Five good ideas science fiction teaches us to fear. Oren Ashkenazi for Mythcreants.

Katherine Langrish shares some thoughts on writing meaningful fantasy. Tor.com

Women at WorldCon

Dan Blank: celebrate the arts where you live. Writer Unboxed.

Janet Reid lists the reasons she rejected 25 queries so you can avoid them. She later confesses: so I didn’t get it right the first time . . .

Sarah Negovetich: it’s not you, it’s really not.

Jonny Gellar’s Ted Talk: What makes a bestseller?

This is a weird story from the MFA world. Steven Galloway, chair of UBC’s creative writing program, was fired after an investigation, but under mysterious circumstances. Nobody’s willing to say exactly why. I think anyone reading the articles can infer, but . . . I’ll let y’all judge for yourselves.

Susan Spann explores the legal side of writing for anthologies. Writer Unboxed.

The Active Voice shares the story of Pauline Creeden, who lost her Amazon publishing account through no fault of her own.

Sadness. Lois Duncan died on June 15th at the age of 82. I loved her books. Publishers Weekly.

Jim C. Hines writes about racism and the backlash against black Hermione.

Cory Doctorow revisits Writing the Other, intensely practical advice for representing other cultures in fiction. BoingBoing

The Witch explores America’s essential fear of female power. Dianca Potts for Lenny.

Brainpickings presents Virginia Woolf’s thoughts on the connection between loneliness and creativity.

She-Ra and the fight against the token girl. Maria Teresa Hart for The Atlantic.

Publishers Weekly: Fall 2016 adult announcements in SF, fantasy, and horror.

Indie presses are starting bookstores. Jon Sealy for Literary Hub.

Chemistry explains why old books smell so good. Robin Burkes for Tech Times.

The short film, The Birch, may be creepy, but I think it’s rather heart rending warming 🙂 Rebekah McKendry for BlumHouse.com