Quote of the day
Iconoclast.- A person who does something that others say can’t be done.
The brain has three natural roadblocks that stand in the way of truly innovative thinking: flawed perception, fear of failure, and the inability to persuade others. But like, an iconoclast, you can break through those barriers.
~GREGORY BERNS, author of Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently
WRITING & SCREENWRITING
- You can master classic story structure, Storyfix 2.0. | Tweet
Whether they’re wannabes, newbies, or veterans, whether they’re outliners or pantsers (writing by the seat of their pants—putting interesting people in difficult situations and writing to find out what happens, as Stephen King puts it), most tend to ask the same question wherever I speak on fiction writing: Is there a formula, a structure, for fiction writing?
→Into the Woods: A Five-Act Journey Into Story
- Craft dynamic antagonists your readers will love–in just 3 steps!, Helping Writers Become Authors | Tweet
Recently, I stumbled across a discovery: there’s nothing like dynamic antagonists to get readers hooked to a story.
→The Fiction Writer: Create the Perfect Villain
- Emotional Wounds Thesaurus Entry: A parent’s abandonment, Writers Helping Writers | Tweet
When you’re writing a character, it’s important to know why she is the way she is. Knowing her backstory is important to achieving this end, and one of the most impactful pieces of a character’s backstory is her emotional wound. This negative experience from the past is so intense that a character will go to great lengths to avoid experiencing that kind of pain and negative emotion again. As a result, certain behaviors, beliefs, and character traits will emerge.
→The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression
- 6 Writing Techniques I learned at storymasters, Writer Unboxed | Tweet
Using complementary teaching and story-building techniques, the three “masters” each shared an entire day with us. Here’s a sampling of what I learned.
→WRITING: INTERNALIZE THE SEVEN TECHNIQUES FOR ASSURING QUALITY (The Power of Writing Well)
- The drama of inaction, Script Mag | Tweet
I’m an action movie guy – I not only like action movies and write action movies, I preach the use of actions to tell your story: “If you don’t show it the audience can’t know it.” Action *is* character. Having a character slap another character is more dramatic than having them say, “I hate you.” You want your characters to show us what they’re feeling – that way the actors can actually do some acting.
- Can characters ‘flip’ archetype functions in a story?, Go into a story | Tweet
Yes, indeed! I like to think of this subjects as masks as in ancient Greek theater.
→Storytelling Archetypes: Time-Tested Models for Writing Remarkable Novels and Short Stories
SELF-PUBLISHING
In his no-nonsense style, he reveals his approach and why a “Build It and They Will Come” mentality is bad for business as well as books.
- Determining the best time to publish, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet
The plotting and planning of your book will include a good many things. Often, the launch date is just determined by one simple factor: the book is finally done. But the launch of a book is perhaps the most important aspect to the life of your tome. Giving your book a solid start date and start plan is important.
→How I Sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months!
- Do authors really need a Facebook Page?, Social Media Just for Writers | Tweet
Facebook marketing is time-intensive, and if we spend money on advertising, we want to see a good conversion rate that won’t cost us more than $2/Like. As writers, we may prefer a more touchy-feely approach to our readers.
→Social Media Just for Writers: The Best Online Marketing Tips for Selling Your Books
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MOTIVATION
- When you do work that matters, the crowd will call you a fool, Seth’s Blog | Tweet
If you do something remarkable, something new and something important, not everyone will understand it (at first). Your work is for someone, not everyone.
→What to Do When its Your Turn (and its Always Your Turn)
CREATIVITY
- Building signals for thinking differently, Creative Something | Tweet
How easy is it to go through a day without realizing it? If you’re not setting explicit cues in your life for getting outside of your current perspective, you’re likely missing opportunities and inspirations.
→Iconoclast: A Neuroscientist Reveals How to Think Differently
- Inside the mind that built Google Brain: On Life, Creativity, and Failure, Huffington Post | Tweet
Ng exudes a cheerful but profound calm. He happily discusses the various mistakes and failures of his career, the papers he read but didn’t understand. He wears identical blue oxford shirts each and every day. He is blushing but proud when a colleague mentions his adorable robot-themed engagement photo shoot with his now-wife, a surgical roboticist named Carol Reiley.
BRANDING
I don’t know why, but for whatever reason I get bugged by campaigns that reek of inauthenticity. This is somewhat irrational because all campaigns, whether they be advertising, political, or fundraising, are built upon at least some sort of contrivance and artificiality.
→Digital Branding: A Complete Step-by-Step Guide to Strategy, Tactics and Measurement
SUCCESS
- 9 Signs you’re going to be extraordinarily successful, Business Insider | Tweet
It’s not that hard to be successful. But it is hard to be extraordinarily successful. Yet we all hope to achieve exceptional success (something we all define differently — and should define differently). Unfortunately, there is no magic bullet. There is no one-size-fits-all prescription. But there are certain qualities that incredibly successful people share … especially those who also make a significant impact on the lives of other people.
→How Successful People Think: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life
ENTERTAINMENT
Spoilers for the series finale of ‘Mad Men’ follow.
