Susan Spann

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 5-11, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

June already? OMG! Where has the year gone? Oh well, console yourselves with some writerly goodness.

C.S. Lakin explains how writers can bring setting to life through personification. Live, write, thrive.

K.M. Weiland: how to write the perfect plot (in two easy steps). Helping writers become authors.

Chris Ebock teaches us how to develop a great story in three (or four) steps. Fiction University.

Chris Winkle shares seven rules of effective prose. Mythcreants.

All the world’s a book: acting for writers. Allie Larkin on Writer Unboxed.

Write about inner demons without boring your reader into a coma. I love Kristen Lamb’s sense of humour 😀

Chuck Wendig’s inimitable writing advice: what exactly makes a damn good story? Terribleminds. Now when this was shared on the listserv of one of my writing associations, the following was quoted: “A man catches a fish isn’t much of a story, because his problem isn’t a problem.” And responded to: erm, Old Man and the Sea? Moby Dick? Yeah, well. Read it in context.

With Pooh’s demise last year, I’ve been missing the distinct feline voice in writing craft. Welcome Harper Hodges to The Write Practice: Seven steps to write more.

Emily Wenstrom shares some marketing magic with the seven points of contact for authors. DIYMFA.

Janet Reid offers her thoughts on this question: so, how do you know if you’re a good writer?

Susan Spann offers a warning about non-disclosure clauses on Writers in the Storm.

A.J. Hartley: writing people of colour as a white author. Tor.com

Stephen Burt reviews Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland series for The New Yorker.

Kim Fahner shares some of the things she learned at the Alice Munroe Festival of the Short Story.

Kameron Hurley shares an excerpt from The Geek Feminist Revolution on the Tor blog: what are you fighting for?

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie at the Girls Write Now awards ceremony: fuck being likeable. Jezebel.

Dear broke reader: your sense of entitlement is killing me. Sarah Madison.

The British Fantasy Awards shortlists are revealed. The Guardian.

The Sunburst Society releases its 2016 longlist.

Ken MacLeod for Orbit Books: Is science fiction past its sell-by date?

Molly Mcardle interviews Daniel José Older for Brooklyn.

X-rays reveal 1,300 year-old writings inside later book bindings. The Guardian.

The 1,000 year-old manuscript of Beowulf has been digitized and is now available online. Open Culture.

Shakespeare and the supernatural.

 

Benjamin Dreyer annotates Shirley Jackson’s sublime first paragraph in Hill House. Signature Reads.

Lisa Rosman asks, can a movie about editing be Genius? Signature Reads.

Jamie prepares for the battle of Prestonpans on Outlander. Vanity Fair.

Until next week, cheers!

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 8-14, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

All kinds of writerly goodness for you this week!

K.M. Weiland has made no secret of her disappointment in the Star Wars prequel trilogy. In classic Kate fashion, she gleans writerly goodness from the experience. Planning your story: what George Lucas can teach you (not) to do. Helping writers become authors.

Later in the week, she offered eight tips for writing child characters.

Jessi Rita Hoffman explains how to write a thrilling action scene for Writer Unboxed.

Sophie Masson shares the building blocks of great young adult fiction. Writer Unboxed.

Lisa Cron advises: don’t accidentally give your characters a time out. Writer Unboxed.

Margaret Dilloway explores overcoming impostor syndrome for Writer Unboxed.

Christine Frazier shows you why your hero should eavesdrop and make a bad assumption (in four steps). The Better Novel Project.

Janice Hardy looks at writing a character with a gender not your own. Fiction University.

Dan Koboldt offers some tips for creating fundamentalist religions in fantasy.

Chris Winkle offers strategies for defeating the contrivance boogeyman. Mythcreants.

Jami Gold wonders if your plot obstacles are too easy, too difficult, or just right?

Jennie Nash studies great opening lines. The Book Designer.

Chuck Wendig advises us to defy reality and become artists. Terribleminds.

Jami Gold explores how to reach your potential through writing feedback.

Angela Ackerman offers six rules that will keep your critique partnerships golden. Writers helping writers.

Gabriela Pereira interviews Charlaine Harris for the DIYMFA podcast.

Annie Neugebauer says, don’t hate the query—master it! Writer Unboxed.

Janet Reid shares a checklist of things you need to be thinking about between offer and acceptance.

Susan Spann offered some advice on royalty clauses in publishing deals and how authors get paid. Writers in the Storm.

Karina Sumner-Smith guest posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: is a quick release schedule right for you and your books?

My friend, Kim, is back on the road. This time, she spends an afternoon with Margaret Atwood.

Micah Solomon offers three books that will help you to radically improve your writing. BookBaby

Cory Doctorow shares his vision of how publishers, libraries, and writers could work together. BoingBoing.

Delilah S. Dawson wrote this beautiful post on writing and grieving: someday this pain will be useful to you.

Natalie Zutter shares Nnedi Okorafor and N.K. Jemesin in conversation: masquerade, initiation, and science fiction and fantasy. Tor.com

Bustle wants you to diversify your reading list with these 23 LGBTQ books with a person of colour as a protagonist.

What Bustle says your to-be-read list says about your personality.

Ferris Jabr revisits the lost gardens of Emily Dickinson. The New York Times.

Kathryn Hughes looks at the dystopian world of Beatrix Potter. The Guardian.

Shakespeare and death:

 

Women swept the Nebulas! i09.

Jo Walton reviews Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning for Tor.com.

A Ken Liu short story will be made into a movie. i09.

John Marcotte reports that Marvel is committing to a Black Widow movie (at some unknown point in the future). Heroic Girls.

And, speaking of Marvel, the next X-Men movie is due out May 27th: X-Men Apocalypse.

Here’s the teaser:

 

And the official trailer:

 

Buzzfeed shared what was a sneak peek of Outlander’s next episode (I saw it Sunday) but I thought I’d post it anyway. “Ovaries explode!” – funnee.

See you Thursday for some thoughty stuff 🙂

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 20-26, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Holy shemoley! Lookit all the Writerly Goodness!

Ok. This is big news around here. Sudbury has a new poet laureate, and its first woman in the role, my awesome soul sister, Kim Fahner! The Northern Life. And here’s the interview she did with Markus Schwabe of the CBC’s Morning North. She had a cold, but it’s still a fabulous interview 🙂 She’s on her way to Banff right now to work with the wonderful Mr. Lawrence Hill!

Jane Friedman points out the pros and cons of maintaining a personal profile versus a professional page on Facebook.

Susan Spann advises us when a book is considered out of print. Writer Unboxed.

Jed Herne guest posts on The Better Novel Project with The Half-Blood Prince guide to question arcs.

Michelle Hoover writes an excellent guest post for Writer Unboxed on the duplicity of a character’s desire.

John J. Kelley explores the art of the plausible for Writer Unboxed.

Barbara O’Neal discusses the matter of talent. Writer Unboxed.

C.S. Lakin offers three ways to keep readers reading past page one. Live, write, thrive.

Tiffany Lawson Inman explains how to build dramatic momentum in fiction. Writers in the Storm.

Janice Hardy explores the ebb and flow of plotting a novel. Fiction University.

K.M. Weiland’s back with five more ways to trim your novel’s word count. Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she helps us choose the right protagonist.

Kate Elliott gives us the tools to write women characters into epic fantasy without quotas. Tor.com

Awesome: How do we write about diversity when the word has lost its meaning? With Daniel José Older, Ashley Cassandra Ford, and Tanwi Nandini Islam. Elle. (Really? Yuh-huh.)

Steve Kettmann: On knowing what to leave out. Medium.

Victoria Mixon shares her super-easy formula for creating a blurb.

Ruthanne Reid points out the two most important words for writers: don’t quit. The Write Practice.

Kerry Lonsdale writes an open letter to writers at every stage of publishing. Books by Women.

Kameron Hurley ponders her sales.

J.K. Rowling shares rejection letters on Twitter to help beginning authors. The Guardian.

Jamie Raintree explores how to decompartmentalize your art.

Anna Lovind bares herself in this post on the process of creative transformation.

Dan Blank shares what he’s learned from 30 days of vlogging.

 

Thinking about a writers’ retreat? Sarah Selecky gives you a place to start looking.

Madeleine Dore offers 50 ways to take care of yourself in the arts. Performing Arts Hub.

Robert J. Sawyer shares his creative process with Inverse’s Lauren Sarner.

Where five Canadian authors read. The Globe and Mail.

Buzzfeed lists 21 German words we should be using in English.

Victorian doctors thought reading novels made women incurably insane. History Buff.

On the other hand, art is proven to have mental health benefits. The Butler Collegian.

National Geographic lists its top ten book stores in the world.

Daniel José Older: Notes on love and revolution. Guernica Magazine.

Brainpickings shares Charlotte Brontë’s love letters.

The Telegraph lists ten novels with titles from Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s skull stolen from grave. BBC.

15 Welsh myths and legends. Wales Online.

Michael Boyle and Daniel A. Kaufman wish Babylon 5 a happy birthday. This is one of my all time favourite series. The Electric Agora.

I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted!

See you Thursday 🙂

Tipsday

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, March 13-19, 2016

/ Melanie Marttila

A little craft, a little business, and a lot of writerly randomness 🙂

K.M. Weiland shares five ways to trim your novel’s word count (part 1). Helping writers become authors. Later in the week, she helps us learn how to write deep and rich story conflict.

C.S. Lakin explains how novelists can benefit from using cinematic scene structure. Live, write, thrive.

Carly Watters interviews Susan Spann for her things I wish I knew series: navigating publishing contracts.

Mike Shatzkin posits that as the industry changes, publishing houses must make changes, too.

Selena Kitt exposes Kindle Unlimited scammers.

How to write an award winning, bestselling novel. Nathan Filer’s TED Talk:

 

Neil Gaiman discusses how stories last. BrainPickings.

Yann Martel invites us into his writer’s room. The New York Times Style Magazine.

Books about white, middle-class men send our students the wrong message. Olivia Eaton for The Guardian.

Bustle presents six reasons reading is amazing for your health.

This is just darling: The Chronicle Books Blog shares images of dogs mesmerized by the magic of reading.

Mental Floss lists 40 highfalutin H-words to heighten your vocabulary.

On the other end of the scale . . . cunty, cuntish, cunted, and cunting are added to the Oxford English Dictionary. Jezebel.

Things men say when a woman author confesses her profession. Lenny.

Oooh! Ima see this! Ms. Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

 

And that’s Tipsday for this week! Come back on Thursday for your weekly dose of thoughty!

Tipsday