writing tips Archives - Reetta Raitanen's Blog

*points above* This post is really about how to write a fascinating character with a unique way to look at a world and a unique voice. So the it’s applicable to any genre, not just memoirs

5 Ways to Use Theme to Create Character Arc (And Vice Versa) by K.M. Weiland

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/use-theme-to-create-character-arc/

What Is the Relationship Between Plot and Theme by K.M. Weiland

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/what-is-the-relationship-between-plot-and-theme/

How to Use Your Outline When Writing Your First Draft by K.M. Weiland

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/how-to-use-your-outline-when-writing-your-first-draft/

Smell Your Story by James Scott Bell

https://killzoneblog.com/2019/04/smell-your-story.html

The Bi-Cultural Writer by Rheea Mukherjee

https://writerunboxed.com/2019/04/08/the-bi-cultural-writer/

World Building: Why Writers Need to Be Sneaky When Building Worlds by William L. Hahn

https://annerallen.com/2019/03/world-building-sneaky/

Worldbuilding: Your Story World’s 101 History by Jami Gold

https://jamigold.com/2019/04/worldbuilding-your-worlds-101/

Worldbuilding a Series: Writing Without a Plan by Jami Gold

https://jamigold.com/2019/04/worldbuilding-a-series-writing-without-a-plan/

What Are Your Readers Thinking by Dawn Field

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/03/what-are-your-readers-thinking/

First Page Critique: The Secret of Thieves by Elaine Viets

https://killzoneblog.com/2019/04/first-page-critique-the-secret-of-thieves.html

First Page Critique: Unearthed by Clare Langley-Hawthorne

https://killzoneblog.com/2019/04/first-page-critique-unearthed.html

Take Five: Susan Spann and Claws of the Cat: a Hiro Hattori Mystery

https://writerunboxed.com/2019/04/07/take-five-susan-spann-and-claws-of-the-cat-a-hiro-hattori-mystery/

A 16th century Japanese Ninja and a Portugese Jesuit as historical Sherlock and Holmes. Sold! A fascinating story about a fascinating story

Book Marketing

How to Build an Author Platform by Daniel Gaughran

https://davidgaughran.com/2019/04/08/how-to-build-an-author-platform%EF%BB%BF-website-email-facebook/

Saying No to Twitter by Daniel Berkowitz

https://www.janefriedman.com/saying-no-to-twitter/

Juggling Two Author Platforms, Is It Worth It? by Charity Bradford

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/04/juggling-two-author-platforms-is-it.html

Why Don’t Publishers Believe in Author Websites by Jane Friedman

https://www.janefriedman.com/publishers-author-websites/

This is an old blog post (from 2013) but it highlights the potential problems of an author website. The question asked is: is it better to have no author website at all than a bad author website?

Of course the best thing is to have a GOOD author website that is regularly updated. But not all authors are tech people and can’t maintain their own sites, or pay for someone else to do it. What should they do then? That question the article doesn’t answer but it’s something to ponder about your own website (or if you don’t have one, whether to have one). For example my website needs a new WordPress theme and I need to figure out how to switch to it.

Why Authors Should Believe in Their Websites by Darcy Pattison

http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/why-authors-should-believe-in-their-websites/

Author Website Content: First Blog Posts by Darcy Pattison

http://www.darcypattison.com/marketing/author-website-content-first-posts/

20 Ways to Generate Article Ideas in 20 Minutes or Less by Mridu Krullar Relph

https://www.writersdigest.com/writing-articles/by-writing-genre/articles-freelance/20-ways-to-generate-article-ideas-in-20-minutes-or-less

(Totally applicable to blog posts)

Deep Stuff

I trained myself to be less busy – and it dramatically improved my life by David Sbarra

https://www.vox.com/first-person/2017/1/25/14362156/busy-overwhelmed-values

Who Wins in the Name Game by Cody C. Delistraty

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/who-wins-in-the-name-game

The Sea Was Never Blue by Maria Michela Sassi (how the Ancient Greek saw the colours of the world)

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-sea-was-never-blue

The Moral Peril of Meritocracy by David Brooks (He talks about how people can find a higher cause and become committed to it and serving others)

This Is How Human Extinction Could Play Out by Bill McKibben

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/bill-mckibben-falter-climate-change-817310/

Fun Stuff

Shazam! Review: Shameless mining of Spielberg, Big pays off for DC comics by Sam Machkovech (I saw the movie and it was really fun. I highly recommend it if you like superhero movies that don’t take themselves too seriously)

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2019/04/shazam-review-solid-teen-actors-funny-script-fill-some-pretty-big-shoes/

How the Dragon Prince Replaced Game of Thrones as My Favourite Fantasy Show by Ilana C. Myer

https://www.tor.com/2019/04/10/how-the-dragon-prince-replaced-game-of-thrones-as-my-favorite-fantasy-show/

‘Game of Thrones’ Returned – and Returned to Its Roots by Alison Herman

https://www.theringer.com/game-of-thrones/2019/4/14/18310986/game-of-thrones-season-8-premiere-recap

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Season 8 Premiere Exit Survey by The Ringer Staff (7 people share their squee moments and feelings)

https://www.theringer.com/game-of-thrones/2019/4/15/18311230/game-of-thrones-season-8-premiere-exit-survey-winterfell

Game of Thrones Season 8, Episode 2 Trailer by Krystie Lee Yandoli

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/krystieyandoli/game-of-thrones-season-8-episode-2-trailer

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Apr 16, 2019 in Link Feast | 0 comments

The Link Feast, vol. 57

Welcome to the Link Feast. I hope today’s smorgasbord is to your liking. Next Link Feast will be served on Sunday 14th of April.

If you have a topic or issue you’d like me to cover next time, please share it in the comments. Your wish is my command.

Now, onto the links.

If You Have Time For Only Thing

No, Really, Why Do You Write? By Heather Webb

No, Really, Why Do You Write?

On Writing

Where Do You Get Your Ideas? By Neil Gaiman

http://www.neilgaiman.com/p/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_By_Neil/Where_do_you_get_your_ideas%3F

All Books Have Genders by Neil Gaiman (he tells the story of how the idea of the book American Gods came clearer to him)

http://www.neilgaiman.com/Cool_Stuff/Essays/Essays_By_Neil/All_Books_Have_Genders

Whence Cometh Ideas? 10 Fun Idea-Generating Activities and Story Starters by Erika Hoffman

Whence Cometh Ideas? 10 Fun Idea-Generating Activities and Story Starters

10 Ways to Conquer the Inner Critic by Mike Lucas

http://storyrunner.houseoflucas.com/2019/01/10-ways-to-conquer-inner-critic.html

One Free Trick: How to Use the Writing Skills You Have to Learn the Ones You Don’t by Arkady Martine

https://www.tor.com/2019/03/25/one-free-trick-how-to-use-the-writing-skills-you-have-to-learn-the-ones-you-dont/

How to Get Inspiration When Writing Erotica by Rachel Kramer Bussel

https://frolic.media/how-to-get-inspiration-when-writing-erotica/

Love the Grind by Ilona Andrews

http://www.ilona-andrews.com/love-the-grind/

Whose Character Is It Anyway? By John J. Kelley

Whose Character Is It Anyway?

How to Create a Compelling Character by Shirley Jump

How to Create A Compelling Character

Creating Characters Who Clash by Angela Ackerman

https://jamigold.com/2019/03/creating-characters-who-clash-guest-angela-ackerman/

Nasty, Menacing, Murderous Protagonists We Love… And Why by Donald Maass

Nasty, Menacing, Murderous: Protagonists We Love…and Why

Six Common Villain Mistakes and How to Avoid Them by Oren Ashkenazi

Six Common Villain Mistakes, and How to Avoid Them

Representation in Fiction: How to Write Characters Whose Experiences Are Outside of Your Own by Diana M. Pho

Representation in Fiction: How to Write Characters Whose Experiences Are Outside of Your Own

Planning Super Light Stories by Chris Winkle

Planning Super Light Stories

How J.K. Rowling Outlines Her Books (The Paperblanks Blog)

Writing Wednesday: How J.K. Rowling Outlines Her Books

Writing to the Beat: Translating Story Beats to Any Genre by Jami Gold

https://writershelpingwriters.net/2017/09/writing-to-the-beat-translating-story-beats-to-any-genre/

Storyteller’s Rulebook: Have At Least 6 Difficult Decisions by Matt Bird

http://www.secretsofstory.com/2015/03/storytellers-rulebook-have-at-least-six.html

Genre Structures: Charting the Big Dilemmas by Matt Bird

http://www.secretsofstory.com/2015/03/genre-structures-addendum-charting-big.html

Rulebook Casefile: Big Decisions and the Midpoint Disaster by Matt Bird

http://www.secretsofstory.com/2015/04/rulebook-casefile-big-decisions-and.html

4 Pacing Tricks to Keep Reader’s Attention by K.M Weiland (Captain Marvel examples. Squee!)

4 Pacing Tricks to Keep Readers’ Attention

Deepening Our Story: Theme It Like You Mean It by Jami Gold

https://writershelpingwriters.net/2018/03/deepening-our-story-theme-it-like-you-mean-it/

Learning to Write to Theme with Last Jedi by Bryan Young

Learning to Write to Theme with The Last Jedi

Best Scenes From the Wheel of Time, Part 10: Nynaeve and Lan in the Borderlands by Elanda Tonil / Suze from Tarvalon.net

https://blog.tarvalon.net/?p=31

(The post features a few scenes from high fantasy epic series the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. The characters in the scenes are a married couple and they have a difficult decision to make. Then we see the aftermath. Spoiler warning if you haven’t read the series yet but intend to. If that’s not an issue, I highly recommend checking the scenes out for learning purposes.

In case you are totally confused by the strange names and who these people are, Tarmon Gai’don means the Last Battle against the Shadow, an event foretold in a prophecy. Lan is an uncrowned king like Aragorn, except that his whole country was annexed by the Blight (a tainted area) and the monsters living there when he was a baby. He has dedicated his whole life to fighting them. Borderlands like Shienar are the countries at the edge of the Blight and defend their people from the monsters. Nynaeve, his wife, is a sorceress and an Aes Sedai, a Servant of All, who are respected but who most people are wary of. Lan is her Warder, a warrior dedicated to protecting her. He is a man with two causes and that is causing the dilemma.)

Story Revisions: Keeping Track of Changes by Jami Gold

Story Revisions: Keeping Track of Changes

When Your Query Reveals a Story-Level Problem by Susan DeFreitas

https://www.janefriedman.com/novel-query-problems/

How to Get an Extra Novel Written In a Year by Janice Hardy

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/how-to-get-extra-novel-written-in-year.html

Exploring Three Ways to Structure Your Book Series by Kristen Kieffer

https://www.well-storied.com/blog/structure-book-series

Four Ways to Plot a Trilogy by Kristen Kieffer

https://www.well-storied.com/blog/4-ways-to-plot-a-trilogy

How to Write a Trilogy: Q&A Session by Kristen Kieffer

https://www.well-storied.com/blog/how-to-write-a-trilogy-qa-session

7 Tips for Collaborating on a Novel by Dan Brotzel, Martin Jenkins, & Alex Woolf

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/7-tips-for-collaborating-on-novel.html

App Happy: 11 Free (or Mostly Free) Mobile Apps for Writers by Jess Zafarris

App Happy: 11 Free (or Mostly Free) Mobile Apps for Writers

Book Marketing, Blogging and Social Media

Schmoozing For Introverts: How to Network Like a Pro by Lisa Cooper Ellison

https://www.janefriedman.com/schmoozing-for-introverts/

What’s More Important: Author Websites or Social Media? By Jane Friedman (she says author website)

What’s More Important: Author Websites or Social Media?

The Ultimate Guide to Social Media For Writers 2019 by Dave Chesson

https://kindlepreneur.com/social-media-for-writers/

(Now take a deep breath. Yes, many different social media are mentioned but that doesn’t mean you need to be on all of them. Choose one that sounds right for you – maybe one you’re already using. Great, stick to that one. But if your audience is on another platform than the one you’re using, consider at least checking that place out. For example if you write YA, younger people are not on Facebook much but many frequent Instagram instead)

Aaand then I go against my advice. Goodreads is a place where you should set up your author page even if you wouldn’t use it at all after that. Because a social media specifically created for readers? It would be silly to not have a minimum presence there. Hence the next link.

The Ultimate Guide to Goodreads For Authors by Dave Chesson

https://kindlepreneur.com/how-to-use-goodreads-for-authors/

Book Marketing: 5 Ways to Stand Out As an Author on Social Media by Eevi Jones

Book Marketing: 5 Ways To Stand Out As An Author On Social Media

13 Copywriting Tips to Help You Write a Better Novel by Robert Lee Brewer (frankly, these work better for a blog post. But perhaps something to consider in the editing phase of your novel)

https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/13-copywriting-tips-help-write-better-novel

Penny Sansevieri’s Top Book Marketing Complaints by Penny Sansevieri

Penny Sansevieri’s Top Book Marketing Complaints

Changes to Amazon Advertising: What Authors Need to Know by Dave Chesson

Changes to Amazon Advertising: What Authors Need to Know

Deep Stuff

How Inuit Parents Teach Kids to Control Their Anger by Michaeleen Doucleff (stories are powerful)

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/13/685533353/a-playful-way-to-teach-kids-to-control-their-anger

Can Inuit Moms Help Me Tame My 3-Year Old’s Anger by Michaeleen Doucleff (some repeat of the previous article but also personal stories. A really interesting read)

https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2019/03/21/702209976/can-inuit-moms-help-me-tame-my-3-year-olds-anger

Life, Well Lived, Will Weep (poem) by Holly Lisle

Life, Well Lived, Will Weep

Marvel bids farewell to the original Avengers by introducing new, vaguely similar ones by Todd VanDerWerff

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/18/18266003/marvel-avengers-captain-marvel-phase-4

Fun Stuff

13 Series to Read If You Love J.D. Robb’s ‘In Death’ Series by T.A. McIagan

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/books-if-you-love-j-d-robb

(And if you don’t know what series I am talking about, go and buy the first book Naked Death. It’s futuristic police procedural with kick ass murder cop Eve Dallas who has a haunted past and who falls for Roarke, a suspect, a billionaire and mostly reformed street thief. You’re in for 40+ books of this awesomeness. J.D. Robb is an alias of Nora Roberts.)

13 Romances to Read If You Love Roarke From the ‘In Death’ Series by Chanel Cleeton

https://www.bookbub.com/blog/romances-to-read-if-you-love-roarke-from-in-death-series

Spring 2019 Books We Cannot Wait to Read by Stubby the Rocket

https://www.tor.com/2019/03/20/spring-2019-books-we-cannot-wait-to-read/

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Apr 1, 2019 in Link Feast | 0 comments

Link Feast, vol. 56

Welcome to the Link Feast. I hope you’ve had productive two weeks. The next Link Feast is coming out on Sunday 31st of March.

After you’ve checked out some links, could you please write a comment and tell me which links and topics you found most useful or interesting. What particular challenges or issues you are facing right now? Do comment.

But now, please enjoy today’s offering.

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

How to Write Emotions: An Experimental Study by Matt Gianni

How to Write Emotion: An Experimental Study

On Writing

Self-Rejection: What It Is, Why You Do It and How to Eject It’s Ass Out of the Airlock by Chuck Wendig

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2019/03/06/self-rejection-what-it-is-why-you-do-it-and-how-to-eject-its-ass-out-the-airlock/

Writing the “Perfect” Book by Fae Rowan

Writing the Perfect Book

Should You Write to the Market? by Kathy Edens

https://writingcooperative.com/should-you-write-to-market-de2f29daeeec

3 Surefire Ways to Write More Consistently by Nick Maccarone

https://writingcooperative.com/3-surefire-ways-to-write-more-consistently-154c1856c961

How Do We Set Goals When Trying Something New by Jami Gold

How Do We Set Goals When Trying Something New?

A Glimpse at a Best-Selling Pantser’s Process. (Author Diana Gabaldon shares how she writes her stories + some chapter titles for her newest book)

http://www.dianagabaldon.com/2019/03/bees-update-with-chapter-titles/

How to Write a Book in 3 Days by Tim Dedopoulos (NaNoWrikend – How Michael Moorcock and pulp masters of yore pulled off writing 50K words in 3 days)

http://www.ghostwoods.com/2010/05/how-to-write-a-book-in-three-days-1210/

Three Ways to Use Dungeons & Dragons to Improve Your Writing by Zulie Rane https://writingcooperative.com/three-ways-to-use-dungeons-and-dragons-to-improve-your-writing-afaf62083453

(There are many other roleplaying games of various genres out there than just Dungeons & Dragons, which is a fantasy RPG. But D&D is one of the most common game, and easiest to find playing groups for if none of your friends are playing and aren’t interested in trying)

The Differences Between a Crime Novel, Mystery Novel and Thriller Novel by David Corbett

The Differences Between a Crime Novel, Mystery Novel and Thriller Novel

How Long Will Your Book Be? By David Farland

http://davidfarland.com/2019/01/how-long-will-your-book-be/

Plot, Character and Theme: The Greatest Love Triangle in Fiction by K.M. Weiland

Plot, Character, and Theme: The Greatest Love Triangle in Fiction

Create Characters In 60 Seconds by Laurence McNaughton

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/create-characters-in-60-seconds.html

The Practical Guide to Using Character Archetypes in Your Novel by Janice Hardy

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/the-practical-guide-to-using-character.html

Bonding Character and Reader by James Scott Bell

Bonding Character and Reader

Working With the Shadow: A Writer’s Guide by Joslyn Robinson

https://the-artifice.com/shadow-writing-guide/

Can You Really Fall in Love With a Fictional Character by Noah Spud

Can You Really Fall In Love With a Fictional Character?

Exploring the Hero’s Journey: The Writer’s Guide by Joslyn Robinson

https://the-artifice.com/writers-guide-hero-journey/

Creating Three Dimensional Villains: Lessons From Buffy and Firefly by Scott McCormick

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/02/three-dimensional-villains-lessons-from-buffy-and-firefly/

A Guide to Changing Someone Else’s Beliefs by Kate Morgan (handy information for a manipulative villain, or a character who persuades for his/her job)

https://medium.com/s/reasonable-doubt/a-guide-to-changing-someone-elses-beliefs-c08fc1cb956b

The 10 Rules of Writing a Large Cast of Characters by K.M. Weiland

The 10 Rules of Writing Large Casts of Characters

Plot Twists in Fiction: Making a Story Standout by Fransesca Turauskis

https://the-artifice.com/plot-twists-in-fiction/

Watch Out! Avoiding Sneaky Plot Holes by Jami Gold

Watch Out! Avoiding Sneaky Plot Holes

You Get One Page to Hook the Reader. Yes, Really by Janice Hardy

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/you-get-one-page-to-hook-reader-yes.html

Writing About Controversial Topics by Michael Gallant

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/02/tips-for-writing-about-controversial-topics/

The Last Fifty Pages Make Or Break Your Novel by James Scott Bell

https://killzoneblog.com/2019/02/the-last-fifty-pages-make-or-break-your-novel.html

More Than a Happy Ending: What Makes a Story Uplifting by Jami Gold

More Than a Happy Ending: What Makes a Story Uplifting?

Writing Lessons From TV: Slang Can Help Create Your World by Scott McCormick

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/02/writing-lessons-from-tv-slang-can-help-create-your-world/

Story Threads: Fixing Rips In Our Story by Jami Gold

Story Threads: Fixing Rips in Our Story

Editing For Authors: 7 Ways to Tighten Your Story and Cut Costs by Kristen Lamb

https://authorkristenlamb.com/2019/03/editing-authors-professional-edits/

Taming the Synopsis: 4 Steps for Perfecting One-Page and Long-Form Synopses by Ammi-Joan Paquette

https://www.writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-agents/queries-and-synopses-and-proposals/taming-the-synopsis-4-steps-for-perfecting-one-page-and-long-form-synopses

How Saleable Are Short Stories? The Benefits of Writing Shorter by Sarah Dahl

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2019/03/how-saleable-are-short-stories-benefits.html

Publishing Industry & Self-Publishing

The State of Racial Diversity in Romance Publishing in 2018 by Bea & Leah Coch (The Ripped Bodice Bookstore)

https://www.therippedbodicela.com/sites/therippedbodicela.d7.indiebound.com/files/2018%20diversity%20study.pdf

Pitching: Writing Excuses Podcast Transcript

https://wetranscripts.livejournal.com/50356.html

Why books are the length they are by Charlie Stross (he is talking about hardcover books)

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2010/03/cmap-5-why-books-are-the-lengt.htm

Why I don’t self-publish by Charlie Stross (what all background work traditional publishing house is doing for authors)

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/03/why-i-dont-self-publish.html

Why I do self-publish by Linda Nagata (response to the above post)

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/04/why-i-do-self-publish.html

Interview with R.K. Thorne, author of Mage Slave by A.J. Blakemont (Thorne is a self-published author and she shares her path there)

http://blakemont.com/interview-r-k-thorne/

Book Marketing, Blogging & Social Media

Opinion: What Makes Readers Buy Books by Maggie Lynch (survey results)

https://selfpublishingadvice.org/opinion-what-makes-readers-buy-books/

Dungeons and Dragons and Reader Psychology by Chris Fox

Dungeons & Dragons and Reader Psychology

The #1 Goal For Your Book Marketing by Tim Grahl

The #1 Goal for Your Book Marketing

Business Musings: Shifting Attitudes (Planning for 2019, part 7) by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Being profilic is a good thing and micro influencers are better than one for all curation)

Business Musings: Shifting Attitudes (Planning For 2019 Part 7)

How to Build Your Author Brand by CJ Lyons

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2011/12/how-to-build-your-author-brand/

No More Platform Anxiety, Please by James Scott Bell

No More Platform Anxiety, Please

Creating Your Author Brand as a Self-Published Author by Carla King

Creating Your Brand As A Self-Published Author

How to Find Writing Success by Leaving Your Niche by Pat Aitcheson (mainly applies to blogging but also contains some general writing advice)

https://writingcooperative.com/how-to-find-writing-success-by-leaving-your-niche-bfaaa38e56b8

Five Things You Need as Your Begin Your Career as a Self-Published Author by Steven Spatz

Five Things You Need As You Begin A Career As A Self-Published Author

A Writer’s Opinion on 5 Social Media Platforms by Sam H. Arnold

https://writingcooperative.com/a-writers-opinion-on-5-social-media-platforms-151550c26a76

Deep Stuff

There’s an optimal way to organize your day – and it’s not the 8-hour workday by Dr. Travis Bradberry

https://qz.com/work/1561830/why-the-eight-hour-workday-doesnt-work/

Why Willpower Is Overrated by Brian Resnick

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/why-willpower-is-overrated

After the 30-Day Social Media Ban: What Surprised Me & What I’m Changing by Roni Loren

https://roniloren.com/blog/2019/3/9/after-the-30-day-social-media-ban-what-surprised-me-amp-what-im-changing

An Oxford researcher says there are seven moral rules that unite humanity by Jenny Anderson

https://qz.com/1562585/the-seven-moral-rules-that-supposedly-unite-humanity/?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

See Through Words by Michael Erard (how to create metaphors consciously)

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/see-through-words

Fun Stuff

Best Harry Potter Escape Rooms by Katisha Smith (in the US and UK mainly)

https://bookriot.com/2019/03/05/best-harry-potter-escape-rooms/

11 Mythical Creatures Lurking in Finland’s Lakes and Forests by Jessica Wood

https://theculturetrip.com/europe/finland/articles/11-mythical-creatures-lurking-in-finlands-lakes-and-forests/

Mansa Musa: The richest man who ever lived by Naima Mohamud (he was king of the African Mali empire)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47379458

Read Harder 2019: A Book of Mythology or Folklore by Cassie Gutman

https://bookriot.com/2019/02/19/read-harder-2019-a-book-of-mythology-or-folklore/

Spring’s Big Sci-fi and Fantasy Books by Hayley at Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1518

Spring’s Most Epic YA books by Marie at Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1503

The Sweetest (and Sexiest) Romance Books of Spring by Hayley at Goodreads

https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/1521

Hot Off the Press: 31 New Paranormal and Speculative Titles Releasing in March by Kristina at All Things UF

http://allthingsuf.com/2019/02/hot-off-the-press-31-new-paranormal-and-speculative-titles-releasing-in-march.html

All the New Genre-Bending Books Coming Out in March (Tor)

All the New Genre-Bending Books Coming Out in March!

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Mar 17, 2019 in Link Feast | 0 comments

Link Feast vol. 55

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

Creating Your Own Personal Commandments (Plus, I’m Sharing Mine!) by Roni Loren

https://roniloren.com/blog/2019/2/5/making-your-own-personal-commandments

And a bonus, since this is creating the commandments for your writing life

A Writer’s Manifesto by Julie Duffy

https://writerunboxed.com/2019/02/04/a-writers-manifesto/

On Writing

Business Musings: Priorities by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (seriously, read this post. Majorly important topic. And relates to the 2 above must read posts….)

https://kriswrites.com/2019/02/27/business-musings-priorities/

Creativity: 3 Ways to Cultivate Discipline in Your Writing Life by Nathan Wade

https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/03/01/creativity-3-ways-to-cultivate-discipline-in-your-writing-life/

Creativity, Symbolism and Writing With the Tarot With Caroline Donahue by Joanna Penn

Creativity, Symbolism And Writing With The Tarot With Caroline Donahue

Staying Interested In Your Work by Chris Winkle

https://mythcreants.com/blog/staying-interested-in-your-work/

Getting Unstuck and Avoiding Writer’s Block by Tiffany Yates-Martin

Getting Unstuck and Avoiding Writer’s Block

Mining Reader Reviews For Story Gold by Nancy Johnson (every 1 star review is a failed reader expectation)

Mining Reader Reviews for Story Gold

Do You Have a Story Concept, or Just a Cool Idea? by Cathy Yardley

Do You Have a Story Concept, or Just a Cool Idea?

Story Tropes: How Do We Twist the Cliche by Jami Gold

Story Tropes: How Do We Twist a Cliché?

The Dual Plot Structure That Makes Stories a Success by Chris Winkle

https://mythcreants.com/blog/the-dual-plot-structure-that-makes-stories-a-success/

Six Stories That Covered Up Major Plot Holes by Oren Ashkenazi

https://mythcreants.com/blog/six-stories-that-covered-up-major-plot-holes/

The Ordinary World: How Much and How Ordinary? by Donald Maass

https://writerunboxed.com/2019/02/06/the-ordinary-world-how-much-and-how-ordinary/

How to Make Dominant Female Characters Like-Able by Lisa Hall-Wilson

How To Make Dominant Female Characters Like-Able

Jaime Lannister and Sympathetic Monsters: A Look At a Master by Dave King

https://writerunboxed.com/2016/06/21/jaime-lannister-and-sympathetic-monsters-a-look-at-a-master/

Writing What You Don’t Believe by David Corbett

Writing What You Don’t Believe

What’s the Matter With Superheroes: The Villain Problem by Matt Bird

http://www.secretsofstory.com/2015/05/whats-matter-with-superheroes-part-3.html

How to Realistically Depict Evil by Oren Ashkenazi

How to Realistically Depict Evil

Making Sympathetic Antagonists and Why Thanos Wasn’t One by Mira Singer

https://mythcreants.com/blog/making-sympathetic-antagonists-and-why-thanos-wasnt-one/

How to Raise the Stakes in a Novel by Nathan Bransford

How to raise the stakes in a novel

7 Ways to Bring Characters Together by Chris Winkle

Seven Ways to Bring Characters Together

Constructing a Compelling Romance by Chris Winkle

Constructing a Compelling Romance

Five Characters Who Got Too Powerful by Oren Ashkenazi (how to deal with the power creep, especially relevant for book series)

https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-characters-that-are-too-powerful/

Making a Case For Poetry (And For Pillows, Lampposts and Subway Seats That Speak) by Sarah Callender

Making the Case for Poetry (and for Pillows, Lampposts, and Subways Seats that Speak)

Five Tips For Telling Stories of Resistance by Oren Ashkenazi

https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-tips-for-telling-stories-of-resistance/

Five Reasons to Not Write a Persecution Flip Story by Dave Lerner

https://mythcreants.com/blog/five-reasons-not-to-write-a-persecution-flip-story/

A Quiet Hero’s Journey: Processing Trauma in Fantasy by Leah Schnelbach

A Quiet Hero’s Journey: Processing Trauma in Fantasy

5 Sci-fi, Fantasy and Dystopian Tests That Aren’t What They Seem by Stubby the Rocket

https://www.tor.com/2019/02/05/book-list-tests-sci-fi-fantasy-speculative-fiction/

Holidays in Hell and Other Delights: A Worldbuilding Workshop by Holly Lisle (how to create unique holidays for your stories)

https://hollylisle.com/my-articles/writing-workshops/holidays-in-hell-and-other-delights-a-worldbuilding-workshop/

Fudging History: Is It Ever OK? By Juliet Marillier

Fudging History: Is It Ever OK?

Blind Spots and Obsessions in Historical Fiction: What Were They Thinking? By Dave King

Blind Spots and Obsessions in Historical Fiction: What Were They Thinking?

The Editor’s Clinic: Brave New World by Dave King

The Editor’s Clinic: Brave New World

How Writing Short Stories Can Help You Hone Your Novel-Writing Skills by Julie Duffy

Short Training for Your Long Game: How Writing Short Stories Can Help You Hone Your Novel-Writing Skills

Outline a Short Story in Seven Steps by Chris Winkle

https://mythcreants.com/blog/outline-a-short-story-in-seven-steps/

Publishing Gossip & Having a Long Term Writing Career

Business Musings: Ghostwriting, Plagiarism and the Latest Scandal by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

https://kriswrites.com/2019/02/20/business-musings-ghostwriting-plagiarism-and-the-latest-scandal/

Business Musings: Getting to the Stories You Love by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

https://kriswrites.com/2018/11/07/business-musings-getting-to-the-stories-you-love/

And if you haven’t yet read the 3 first articles linked to in this post, I highly recommend that you do so when you have a free moment. They cover topics crucial to sustaining a long term writing career.

Finding Your Perfect Niche in Fiction by Edwin McRae (suitable especially for self-publishing authors but useful for anyone who ponders which genre story to tackle first, or considers a genre change)

Finding Your Perfect Niche In Fiction

Book Marketing, Blogging & Social Media

How Do You Find New Readers by Tim Grahl

https://booklaunch.com/how-do-you-find-new-readers/

The Author’s Guide to Tribes by Tim Grahl

The Author’s Guide to Tribes

How to Write a Blog: 10 Tips For Writing Strong Web Content by Anne R. Allen

https://annerallen.com/2019/03/how-to-write-web-content/

Should You Have a Webpage by Ilona Andrews (if you intend to blog and share your writing journey before getting published, the answer is yes)

http://www.ilona-andrews.com/should-you-have-a-webpage/

10 Reasons to Start an Author Blog: And Why It Is Easier Than You Think by Anne R. Allen

https://annerallen.com/2017/08/10-reasons-author-blog/

How to Use Your Book Cover to Sell More Books by A.D. Starrling

How To Use Your Book Cover To Sell More Books

Everything You Need to Know About Pinterest SEO by Cathrin Manning

http://thecontentbug.com/2017/07/25/pinterest-seo/

How to Crush Tailwind (App) for Pinterest: Ultimate Guide by Louise Myers

https://louisem.com/264209/tailwind-pinterest

(Tailwind is an analytics & Pin scheduling tool, kind of like Hootsuite for Twitter. I started using this one and am really loving it. You can schedule 100 Pins for free, after that it costs 15$/month)

Deep Stuff

What Marie Kondo Says About Our New Ear of Self-Help by Claire Turrell (each decade has it’s own guru who catches the zeitgeist of that era, and Marie Kondo is it for 2010s)

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20190222-what-marie-kondo-says-about-our-new-era-of-self-help

Introverted? Here Are the Jobs For You by Nick Clayton (really fascinating stories)

http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20160919-hate-people-here-are-the-jobs-for-you

The Secrets of the World’s Greatest Art Thief by Michael Finkel

https://www.gq.com/story/secrets-of-the-worlds-greatest-art-thief

21 Women Get Brutally Real About What Men Need to Know About Raising Daughters by Mike Spohr

https://www.buzzfeed.com/mikespohr/21-women-get-brutally-real-about-what-men-need-to-know

Teenagers and Sex in Books by Ilona Andrews

Teenagers and Sex in Books

Fun Stuff

What’s the Best April Fool’s Prank You’ve Ever Pulled Off by Krista Torres (there’s some gold in the comments)

https://www.buzzfeed.com/kristatorres/whats-the-best-april-fools-prank-youve-ever-pulled-off

39 Amazing New Scifi and Fantasy Books to Check Out in March by Cheryl Eddy

https://io9.gizmodo.com/39-amazing-new-sci-fi-and-fantasy-books-to-check-out-in-1832819961

Five Genre Bending Young Adult Books by Astrid Scholte

https://www.tor.com/2019/02/27/five-genre-bending-young-adult-books/

Thirty Erotic Novels That Are Actually Erotic by Suleikha Snyder

https://frolic.media/thirty-erotic-novels-that-are-actually-erotic/

Posted by Reetta Raitanen on Mar 3, 2019 in Link Feast | 0 comments

Link Feast For Writers, vol 52

Hello dear readers, this Link Feast’s alive. It’s alive!

I’m sorry for neglecting you. Work has been crazy since I shifted departments. Excuses, schmexcuses but I will get bi-weekly steady again.

I’ve been sitting on these links for a while so it’s time to push this baby out into the world. Luckily the best writing advice and good blog posts in general don’t have an expiration date.

But if you want the freshest writing tips, I recommend you to check out the other link mash-ups in the Collected Wisdom section.

Next Link Feast coming up in two weeks on Sunday. Wrote that down to my calendar even. Or I will when I find it under all the crap 😛 House work hasn’t exactly been steady either.

Anyway, enjoy the links. And please leave a comment 🙂

If You Have Time For Only One Thing

How to Create a Three-Phase Writing Ritual by Debra Eve

On Writing

Learning From the Masters by Gabriela Pereira (the 4 types of books writers should read)

168 Hours: Time and Productivity #1 by Gene Lempp

Time Managament Tip: “Yes Makes Less” by Jenny Hansen

What’s on Your “Why To Do It” List? by Carleen Brice

Dreaming Big by Sharon Bially

10 Steps to Finding Your Writing Voice by Jeff Goins

When Nothing Goes Right, Go Left by Robin LaFevers

Fear: The Uninvited Guest by Robin LaFevers