Quote of the day
Brain myths are being used to justify gender stereotypes. Women h
ave to deal with enough gender stereotype BS as it is, without bad neuroscience adding to the misery. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened last year whenresearchers got in a tangle over a wonky brain wiring study– they said it supported the idea that men are good at map-reading and women at multi-tasking. The study didn’t even look at these activities.
~CHRISTIAN JARRETT, author of Great Myths of the Brain (Great Myths of Psychology)
WRITING
Feedback and Help for Creative Success, Davidjrogersftw | Tweet
Without doubt, performance feedback and creative success go hand in hand. Useful feedback can help you evolve and reach high levels of satisfaction and achievement. But where are you to find the quality of feedback and help you need?
Writing And Editing: Five Problems to Avoid in Your First Novel, The Creative Penn | Tweet
The experience of writing your first draft can be a roller coaster.
The Everything Guide to Writing Your First Novel: All the tools you need to write and sell your first novel
2 Stammer Verbs to Avoid in Your Fiction, Jane Friedman | Tweet
As a writer, you’ve probably heard the advice about avoiding passive voice and colorless verbs, such as is, was, went, and so on. But you may not be aware of what I call the “stammer verbs” that mar the novels of many budding authors.
Strong Verbs Strong Voice: A quick reference to improve your writing and impress readers
- The Fundamentals of Writing a Scene, Jane Friedman | Tweet
When writing fiction (or even narrative nonfiction), scenes are microcosms of your larger plot. Each scene takes us into a crucial moment of your characters’ story and should engage both our emotions and our minds by creating real-time momentum or action.
Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, and Theme
SCREENWRITING
- Resistance and “Hooks”, Steven Pressfield | Tweet
“Hook,” as I define it in this post, is probably not a legitimate psychological term. It’s more like hippie psychology. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.) But it’s such a vivid term and so accurate in its depiction of how this phenomenon works that I’m gonna stick with it, even if it might not pass the DSM test.
The Hook: Keeping Readers Captivated (Wisdom in Writing Series)
- Q&A: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman – Screenwriters of ‘Transformers’, Script Mag | Tweet
When the fourth of July arrives, the box-office warriors won’t be able to tell whether kiddie nostalgia or superhero robots are responsible for the Transformers’ receipts. One thing is for certain—the project’s screenwriters are ready at the gates for what may be the surprise showing of the summer. Referencing classic philosophers and pop culture, the two scribes tell Script about their major influences and the success of their writing partnership.
SELF-PUBLISHING
- Are You Pricing Your Book Too High?, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet
If you’re like most authors, you probably toiled for a long time to get your book “just right” and now it’s on Amazon and not selling. That’s pretty discouraging. Marketing folks may tell you to ramp up your promotion or beef up your social media presence and while all of that is great advice, there’s one thing that you may not be considering: your book’s price point.
Self Publishing Success Needs Content Marketing, Just Publishing | Tweet
If you are a self publisher of ebooks and print on demand books, and want to sell your books, you need to become a content marketer to succeed.
Everybody Writes: Your Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content
RELATIONSHIPS
Venus v. Serena Williams: Reflecting on Sibling Relationship, Psychology Today | Tweet
A complex connection with some potentially lasting effects.
The Sibling Bond: Fifteenth Anniversary Edition
NEUROSCIENCE
- Does Reading Literature Really Beef Up Your Brain?, Science of us | Tweet
When you hide your cell phone, log off your computer, and find a few rare moments of calm to read some poetry or a weighty novel, it certainly feels as though it ought to be good for you. Just as filling your lungs with fresh air leaves you feeling physically rejuvenated, the words and plot twists of smart literature seem to exercise and cleanse your mind.
Great Myths of the Brain (Great Myths of Psychology)
SCIENCE
- Winning Really Does Taste Sweet, Because Emotions Change Taste Perception, Smithsonian | Tweet
A study of hockey fans sampling ice cream may offer clues to the origins of emotional eating disorders.
MATHEMATICS
If you think computers have gotten really good at solving problems—like voice recognition, or self-driving cars—then your mind would be blown by what they could do if P = NP.
Quantum Computing since Democritus
MARKETING
Three changes in marketing, Seth’s Blog | Tweet
Just about every big organization ignores all three.
All Marketers Are Liars: The Underground Classic That Explains How Marketing Really Works–and Why Authen ticity Is the Best Marketing of All