Trust and integrity are precious resources, easily squandered, hard to regain. They can thrive only on a foundation of respect for veracity.
~SISSELA BOK, author of Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life
WRITING & SCREENWRITING
- 5 Writing rules that work no matter what you’re writing, The Write Practice | Tweet
Short stories. Marketing copy. News reporting. Poetry. Business proposals. Literary fiction. Technical writing. Blogs. Advertising. There are a ton of different kinds of writing out there, each strikingly different from others. Worse, each different kind follows different writing rules.
This week’s video talks about why a certain plot twist in Age of Ultron made me really, really, really mad—and how you can do better in your own stories.
- Third level emotions, Writer Unboxed | Tweet
In drafting your novel, would you leave out dialogue? Would you fail to include action or events? Would you ensure that nothing is described? Would you forego theme, forget mood, ignore time, eschew era, not bother with relationships, or erase any traces of voice?
- WRITER’S EDGE: Brainstorming Technique – Amateur Blank, Script mag | Tweet
The Amateur Blank is another brainstorming technique to help create instant movie ideas. This one involves the writer substituting a noun in the blank that movie audiences haven’t seen before. It usually involves someone pretending to be someone else or impersonating a professional in a different occupation other than his own.
→Ultimate Brainstorming Workbook: Workbook
- The good Dinosaur and the power of ‘what if’ thinking, Go into the story | Tweet
We may have missed out on a Pixar movie in 2014, but we are fortunate to have two of them being released this year: Inside Out which opens Friday, June 19 and The Good Dinosaur which rolls out November 25. This week, Pixar released a teaser trailer for The Good Dinosaur.
SELF-PUBLISHING
- Email newsletters for authors: Get Started Guide, Jane Friedman | Tweet
Regular email contact with your readers creates a long string of impressions, so that your name stays at the forefront of their mind.
→Starting an Email Newsletter: (Email Newsletters for Authors) (DIY Writing Guides)
- 10 Things you didn’t know about the bestseller lists, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet
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SELF-IMPROVEMENT
- What happens when you don’t care?, James Altucher | Tweet
“Are you going to kill yourself?” I bumped into one of my neighbors a few years ago. He had just started reading my posts. “Because your writing sounds like you are about to kill yourself.”
- 9-ever present distractions that keep us from fully living, Becoming Minimalist | Tweet
Our world is becoming increasingly filled with distraction. Information moves faster, louder, and brighter than ever before. Entertainment, social media, and marketing have never been so prevalent. They beg for our attention and our focus. In so doing, our minds are diverted from more important work.
→Becoming Minimalist: Decluttering Life for Stress Free Living
LOVE
My parents had an arranged marriage. This always fascinated me. I am perpetually indecisive about even the most mundane things, and I couldn’t imagine navigating such a huge life decision so quickly.
THE BRAIN
- Is lying rational?, Scientific American | Tweet
Everybody lies. But for the most part, we still see ourselves as good, honest people. So, why do we do it—and are we all just kidding ourselves?
→Lying: Moral Choice in Public and Private Life
LIFESTYLE
What do we call me? I’m a 26-year-old writer who lives in a gentrifying neighborhood in Brooklyn. I’m a straight white man with a single-speed bike and a mustache. I studied liberal arts in college, and I have ideas about stuff, you guys. Millennial? Hipster? Yuppie? All of these, or none?
