Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, August 2-8, 2015

August 11, 2015 / Melanie Marttila

This was the big controversy this week: Homme de Plume (now in convenient hashtag #hommedeplume). One woman author queries using a male name and gets more requests for partials and fulls than when using her name.

Canadian author, Marie Bilodeau responds.

Kameron Hurley offers a reality check on the necessity and nature of writing with a day job.

Then Chuck Wendig posted this: Starving is a terrible condition for making art.

Most common writing mistakes, part 43: Too many exclamation points! K.M. Weiland, Helping writers become authors.

Show, don’t tell, matters in foreshadowing, too. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Christine Frazier looks at five kinds of societies for your novel on The Better Novel Project.

Donald Maass discusses how to write about unnameable emotions on Writer Unboxed.

Elizabeth Stephens introduces us to the #weneeddiversebooks hashtag on Writer Unboxed.

Veronica Sicoe writes about how perfectionism is murdering your muse.

Stephen King shares 22 lessons on how to be a great writer on The Business Insider.

John Scalzi shares his creative process on lifehacker.

Catherine Ryan Howard answers the question, how many drafts did you do?

Chris Winkle discusses the process of troubleshooting when you’re stuck. Mythcreants.

Can a virtuous character be interesting? The New York Times.

22 authors, including K.M. Weiland and Roz Morris, share their greatest writing challenges. Become a Writer Today.

A genre takes flight: Science Fiction. The Library Journal. The good news: epic fantasy still sells. The bad news: the dark stuff, not so much . . .

Tor.com shares 20 time travel classics.

Ten Old English insults that could be band names. Anglophenia.

Geekster Ink Shares twenty images of women in practical armour.

The Red Band Deadpool trailer is def NSFW.

Tipsday will be beck next Tuesday with more Writerly Goodness.

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, July 12-18, 2015

July 21, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Wow. Kind of short of writerly goodness this week. I blame it on work 😛 I do that a lot, don’t I?

K.M. Weiland shares the secret to a satisfying character arc. Read the post, listen to the podcast, or both 🙂

Katie’s Wednesday vlog covers why even positive story events should have negative consequences.

What are the five dimensions of character personality? MJ Bush knows. Writingeekery.

The novelist’s dilemma is not really a dilemma at all. Kathryn Magendie.

Porter Anderson revisits the trolling furor on the interwebz and offers a suggestion for a way forward on Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley writes about her struggles as a writer with anxiety. Self care is so important.

The flipside of diversity: What’s wrong with cultural appropriation? Every Day Feminism.

Here are fourteen science fiction short movies from Adobe Inspire.

Outlander news from Comic Con. Hypable.

Well that’s all I gots for you until next week.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, July 5-11, 2015

July 14, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 4 Comments

Okay. Several instances of trolling and cyberbullying against writers have come to the fore in recent weeks. Here are a few posts that seek to address the issue.

Anne R. Allen outlines the issues and offers some strategies you can use to avoid or address them without becoming a target.

Chuck Wendig posted Online is IRL (in response to the #AskELJames fiasco), and then, after a narsty Twitter attack, posted In which I learn to talk less and listen more.

This made Porter Anderson’s radar and he posted this analysis of the fallout.

In other, related news, there were discussions across Facebook and Google+ regarding the above (Delilah S. Dawson was caught in the fracas), and about a libellous review posted for Roz Morris. If it had merely been a poor review, meh. This review, however, accused Roz of plagiarism. How do you respond to these kinds of accusations without chumming the waters? We really have to learn to be kinder to one another online.

Agent Sarah Negovetich offered these thoughts on safely navigating social media.

Unit sales (of print books) inched up in the first half of 2015. Publishers Weekly.

Elending won’t put a big dent in books sales. The Guardian.

Court denies class action in Author Solutions case. Publishers Weekly.

Jane Friedman explains the profit and loss statement and how publishers use it to make purchasing decisions.

What happens if your story stakes aren’t high enough? K.M. Weiland answers in part 42 of her Most Common Writing Mistakes series.

Katie looked at Jurassic Park as an example of how to compound your conflict in your story. Think perfect storm 🙂

E.C. Ambrose offered these nine ways to use point of view to strengthen your characters. Helping Writers Become Authors.

Chris Winkle writes another great post for Mythcreants: Why social justice is intrinsic to storytelling.

Roz Morris writes about the importance of names. I love names, too.

Agent Carly Watters lists seven things that writers should stop wasting their time on.

Sarah Callender explores the practice of success for Writer Unboxed.

Anna Lovind writes about finding true support on your writing journey. Scoutiegirl.

Are we pandering to, or presuming, short attention spans? Publishers Weekly.

Grammarly presents eleven untranslatable words from other cultures and eleven words for the self-proclaimed smarty-pants.

Jane Ann McLachlan wrote this article on ethics and science fiction for SF Signal.

You should know about the Fermi Paradox before you read The Dark Forest. Chris Lough for Tor.com.

Ten things you may not know about Pride and Prejudice. Mental Floss.

BuzzFeed lists 35 Canadian bookstores you need to visit.

Check out the Con Man trailer. Entertainment Weekly.

A first look at the new MTV series, The Shannara Chronicles:

Here’s some news from the Doctor Who panel at Comic Con. i09.

Also at Comic Con, Joss Whedon expounds on the meaning of life and more. i09.

True Detective teaches how NOT to write dialogue. Electric Lit.

Y’all come back on Thoughty Thursday, now, ya hear?

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 28-July 4, 2015

July 7, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Another bumper crop of Writerly Goodness. I guess you can tell where my head is these days, eh?

Will a newly consolidated Penguin Random House weaken or save Canadian publishing? The Globe and Mail.

Chapters Indigo to carry more lifestyle products. Is this a good thing for our national bookseller? The Province.

Russell Smith writes about how to publish a book in Canada. The Globe and Mail.

Apple loses its appeal and ebook decision is confirmed. Publishers Weekly.

K.M. Weiland shares three ways you can make writing your novel easier.

Level up your fiction with dramatic irony. Katie’s Wedneday post (what, no vlog? Nope, but the post is just as good).

Nina Munteanu writes on the topic of exposition.

How Veronica Sicoe brainstorms her story ideas into working concepts.

What are three signs that your novel has too many characters and what can you do about it? Roz Morris helps you Nail Your Novel.

Donald Maass contributed this piece on openings to Writer Unboxed. Intrigue vs. engagement? As usual, Don argues for a healthy balance of both 🙂

I may have posted this before, but it’s good advice, so here you go: How to know when to stop editing and move on. The Write Practice.

Chris Winkle posts about the differences between writing a short story and writing a novel. Mythcreants.

Steven Pressfield discusses the writer’s skill.

Ruth Harris writes about the care and feeding of your muse on Anne R. Allen’s blog.

Enough is a wretched concept. Delilah S. Dawson.

Are perfectly micromanaged worlds utopian or dystopian? Veronica Sicoe considers the question on her blog.

An interview with Douglas Smith. Fantasy Fiction Focus.

Charlie Gilkey interviews Ali Luke on The Creative Giant podcast.

Which books didn’t change your life? The Guardian.

What Zack Handlen learned from rereading The Stand. i09.

50 years on, how Dune changed the world. The Guardian.

Reading Canada with SFF legends, eh? Beauty in Ruins.

The Wizard of Oz and Age of Ultron mash up you didn’t know you needed. i09.

Advantageous is an insanely good movie that everyone should watch. Katherine Trendacosta for i09.

Check out theses fifteen TV series that reinvented science fiction in the past decade. i09.

Diana Gabaldon shared this two part interview from a few years back on Writer Unboxed. Good stuff 🙂 Here’s part 1 and part 2.

A first look at Outlander season two: Jamie and Claire in Paris. Entertainment Weekly.

Hang in there until Thoughty Thursday, peeps. I’ll be back with more curation for you then.

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 14-20, 2015

June 23, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 3 Comments

Another wonderful week for Writerly Goodness!

What’s the key event and how is it different from the inciting incident and the first plot point? I know I still forget the distinctions. K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors.

And here’s Katie’s Wednesday vlog: How to write a riveting characteristic moment.

Roz Morris shares her experience with repetitive stress injury (RSI).

Kassandra Lamb guests on Jami Gold’s blog: Nine psychology myths you need to avoid.

Tips on picking up the pace from Rebecca LuElla Miller.

Learn about the magic systems of Brandon Sanderson. Tor.com.

Five ways first contact could turn into an epic fail. Veronica Sicoe.

Neil Gaiman offers his thoughts on why stories last. (w/ Podcast) BrainPickings.

Liz Bourke ponders how we speak of strong female characters. This post refers to others I’ve shared in past weeks and takes it in a slightly different direction. Very interesting. Tor.com.

How can you keep readers from hating your characters? Jody Hedlund.

Beth Revis posts on Janice Hardy’s Fiction University: How do you know you’re ready to publish? Agent Carly Watters of P.S. Literary wrote on the same topic last week 🙂

Dave King explores our motivations for writing. Writer Unboxed.

Kameron Hurley asks, why are we self-publishing? Locus.

Porter Anderson takes a look at Hugh Howey’s promotion of self-publishing and what it really means in the context of the continually evolving publishing industry. Thought Catalog.

Amazon changes its terms for KDP select. The Digital Reader.

Why I teach diverse literature. The Toast.

What librarians wish we knew about how to use a library. i09.

Authors share the places that inspire them. FlavorWire.

Ten books you should read before you see the movie. The Huffington Post.

Mark Twain’s advice to little girls. BrainPickings.

This is fun 🙂 Classic novels with clickbait titles. BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed shares 22 book-themed gifts for readers.

Watch the Scooby Doo crew’s fashion evolve through the last century. i09.

The first set photos of the new all-female Ghostbusters! i09.

Mike Hale states that Game of Thrones the series is going the way of Lost . . . What do you think? The New York Times.

Here are Charlie Jane Anders’s suggestions about how to fix Game of Thrones. Is it even possible? i09.

How Terry Dresbach’s costumes bring history to life on Outlander. Variety.

Orphan Black’s season finale: history yet to be written. It was awesome (IMO). The Wall Street Journal.

See you Thursday 🙂

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, June 7-13, 2015

June 16, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 2 Comments

Yeehaw! It’s another great week for Writerly Goodness 🙂

So this was a thing: Irene Gallo, a Tor employee made a personal statement in the comments of her personal Facebook account about the Sad Puppies (if you don’t know who they are, Google it) and was given a public scolding by her employer.

Here are some reactions:

Kameron Hurley.

Chuck Wendig.

Maureen Johnson and Holly Black defend their writerly friends.

A little local literary news about Wordstock. The Sudbury Star. It’s happening this weekend 🙂

Anna Lovind wrote this absolutely amazing post: A letter from the psych ward. The Blog.

Allison M. Dickson blogs about generalized anxiety, or, when your brain makes you think you’re dying. Because writing.

K.M. Weiland posted another in her most common writing mistakes series. Part 41: Inferring non-POV characters’ thoughts.

The only thing you need to know about writing strong, female characters. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Bruce Holsinger wrote this great post for Writer Unboxed on how to find you mythic theme.

Jefferson Smith, the creativity hacker, explains why readers bail on books (so we won’t make the same mistakes).

Though Extra Credits is a gaming channel on YouTube, the “awesome-per-second” rule is definitely Writerly Goodness!

Here’s part two of Mary Robinette Kowal’s interview on Adventures in SF Publishing. Told you I’d share 🙂

Sword and Laser interviews Beth Cato.

Check out these summer reads by award-winning SF women from Glamour (who knew?).

Stephen L. Carter responds to Ursula K. LeGuin’s anti-Amazon article (you may remember, I shared it last week). Bloomberg Review.

Anne Roiphe: A life 50 years in the writing. Publishers Weekly.

How Canadian writers changed The New Yorker. The National Post.

Wayson Choy talks about life, death, and the hallucinations that saved him. CBC.

You may have to turn up the volume a bit for this one, but it’s well worth it. Sheila from Dala (she’s the la) performs an intimate arrangement of W.B. Yeats’s “When you are old.”

Caitlin McDonald shared this cool thing of the day: The Last Bookstore.

You know you’re a serious book collector when . . . The Antiquarian.

Look at these 29 book-inspired tattoos. Buzzfeed. Breathtaking? I dunno.

Ok. I know this just marks me as a HUGE geek, but Reboot is coming back and it makes me #furiouslyhappy! The Huffington Post.

An Outlander wrap post, courtesy of Access Hollywood.

What do you think of the season two casting? Access Hollywood.

Whew! Gotta love the linkage 🙂

See you Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 31-June 6, 2015

June 9, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 6 Comments

My god, it’s full of links 🙂

Well, this is distressing. The Writers Union of Canada has released the results of their writing income survey and it seems we’re doing worse than we did in 1998 (!). And we’re working harder for the privilege of earning less.

Some good news for Canadian creatives: The Canada Council for the Arts is revamping its programs.

Locally, a group has been working behind the scenes on their proposal for an arts centre that “transforms.” The Northern Life. We won’t be able to keep our tax freeze if this goes ahead, but it would be an efficient and multi-purpose space. I like the idea, but I don’t know if the municipality can afford it.

And what the hairy fuck is this? The Guardian reports that books about women are less likely to garner awards and critical favour?

Do you know the difference between a reactive protagonist and a passive one? K.M. Weiland uses examples to illustrate that vital difference and explains why a passive protagonist is the kiss of death (!)

Why authors can’t afford to dupe their readers. Kind of goes without saying, but Katie makes her point by expressing some extreme displeasure with Avengers: Age of Ulton for its use of misdirection.

Neal Abbott guest posts on Helping Writers Become Authors with this great post about how Doctor Who can help you become a fantastic writer. (I’m a timelord! I knew it!)

Donald Maass posted this lovely piece on working with third level emotions on Writer Unboxed.

Therese Walsh continues her series on multitasking with part five: Know your nature, nurture your focus. Writer Unboxed.

Jami Gold guides us in the process of formatting a manuscript for printing using MS Word.

Moshin Hamid and James Parker share their thoughts on whether the size of a book suggests significance or not. The New York Times.

David Mitchell says YA SF&F books are like gateway drugs, but in a good way. Bustle.

For the query-weary: 15 SF&F classics that were rejected. i09.

Kind of related: Found this link on an agent’s #MSWL. Kick-ass women in history: Khutulun on Smart Bitches/Trashy Books. She wants a book based on the life of a Mongol Queen!

The Huffington Post Books column shares their list of seven new badass YA heroines you should check out.

CBC Books shares their list of five books they can’t wait to read.

20 words that, when confused, can make you look dumb. LinkedIn.

Lauren Carter shows off her writing space with The New Quarterly.

Cheryl Strayed says, “Write like a motherfucker.” Is she channelling Wendig? BrainPickings. Favourite quote:

“Writing is hard for every last one of us… Coal mining is harder. Do you think miners stand around all day talking about how hard it is to mine for coal? They do not. They simply dig.”

Ursula K. LeGuin explains why she doesn’t want us buying books from Amazon. Electric Lit.

Mary Robinette Kowal is interviewed on the Adventures in Sci Fi Publishing podcast. Part one. I’ll post part two when it pops up 🙂

Check out the BBC’s Hardtalk podcast, too. I shared the June 1 interview with Colm Toibin.

Show runner Ron Moore shares his thoughts on the pivotal climax of Outlander and why nothing will ever be the same. E! online.

Sam Heughan explains why acting in those harrowing final episodes was a gift. Zap2It.

So that’s your helping of writerly goodness for the week.

See you Thursday!

Tipsday: Writerly Goodness found on the interwebz, May 24-30, 2015

June 2, 2015 / Melanie Marttila / 5 Comments

It’s writer-palooza, er, um. Tipsday. Yeah.

Make sure you include these five factors in your story if you want it to make an impact on your readers. K. M. Weiland.

What’s the trick to creating vivid descriptions? Focus on the obscure details. Katie’s Wednesday vlog.

Harrison Demchick guest posts on Katie’s blog about what to do with your very long manuscript.

Scars and shame: the secrets of female characters. Barbara O’Neal nails this post for Writer Unboxed.

John Vorhaus gets into something deeper on Writer Unboxed.

Heather Webb asks, As writers, what are we worth? Writer Unboxed.

Jane Friedman writes about the age-old cynicism surrounding the book writing dream.

Kazuo Ishiguro and Neil Gaiman debate “genre fiction” on BBC Radio 4.

Phoenix Sullivan digs deeper into the latest Author Earnings report for David Gaughran.

The Authors Guild dumps Author Solutions (yay!). David Gaughran.

Use these five steps to write a killer elevator pitch for your book. Jennie Nash for BookBub.

Bryan Collins posts the ultimate how-to guide to blogging with Scrivener.

Terrorism in Elizabethan England, a post by Barbara Kyle for English Historical Fiction Authors.

Lauren Carter, whom I’ve featured here on the blog for a workshop she delivered in Sudbury, won the 2014 Room Poetry Contest. Here’s their interview with her.

Ten books that will change the way you think about fairytales. i09.

The horrifying origins of your favourite Disney films. Diply.

Mental Floss presents ten Old English words you should be using.

What do you think of this list of 24 brilliant portmanteaus? Ima start using some of them 🙂 Earthporm.

This little bit of awesome is courtesy of Addicting Info: J.K. Rowling slams Westboro Baptist Church’s hate-tweet.

John Doyle writes about Outlander and the triumph of the true female superhero. The Globe and Mail.

Caitriona Balfe’s serves up an insider’s view of Outlander. LA Times.

How Outlander broke the mold with their two-part finale. MTV.

Cute writing comic from The New Yorker.

Have a good week until Thoughty Thursday!