MONDAY LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-Publishing & Better Living: Forgetting

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Quote of the day

Many writers, poets and philosophers have attempted to express our impotence with regard to memory, but never more touchingly than Kant did with that command. To tell yourself to stop thinking about something is one thing, to remind yourself in writing of what you need to forget is one powerless step further.
~DOUWE DRAAISMA, author of Forgetting: Myths, Perils and Compensations

WRITING

Writing the Cozy Mystery–Whodunit?, Elizabeth Spann Craig | Tweet

One of the most important aspects of the cozy mystery is the puzzle itself. Aside from character development, the puzzle is the most important part of the mystery. Mystery readers tend to be avid readers who are practiced at looking for clues to the killer.

Writing the Cozy Mystery

How To Write Diverse Characters: A Simple Test by Sonali Dev, Romance University | Tweet

I usually respond with an eye roll, but where does that ever get us? And astoundingly enough, the question gets asked so much that maybe the answer isn’t as obvious as it might seem after all. So, naturally I’ve been obsessing about it and I found that the answer lies (as so many answers do) in a John Grisham movie.

The Art of Character: Creating Memorable Characters for Fiction, Film, and TV

Nothing is Really Wasted: Tips on Researching Your Memoir, Writer’s Digest | Tweet

If you’re at an early stage, each piece of research in that fat file calls out to you: “I’m so interesting. I just have to get into your book.” You’re overwhelmed. You despair of ever sorting it all out — of ever getting it all in. And meanwhile, like the little shop of horrors, the file keeps growing. Know this: It IS all so interesting.

Researching And Writing Your Family History And Memoirs

4 Things to Avoid When Finishing Your Novel, Writer’s Digest | Tweet

When you’re halfway through a draft or a major revision, it’s easy to recognize and delight in your novel’s strengths. It’s easy to imagine that you will—someday soon, tomorrow probably—correct every single flaw. But as you near the end of a draft, and your book remains imperfect, you might start to panic. You might make some bad choices. Here are four things to avoid.

How to Write a KILLER NOVEL ENDING: How to Finish A Novel, End Your Story with a Bang!, Satisfy Your Readers: Keys to a Great Ending (Guru Writing Sessions Book 1)

SCREENWRITING

WRITER’S EDGE: Creating a Hook For Your Story, Script Mag | Tweet

A hook is the element you add to your script to make what would otherwise be a routine story fresh and original. The hook must be known to the writer and included in the structure before the script is ever written. It is nearly impossible to make it an add-on after the screenplay is done.

Hook ‘Em In Ten! (Screenwriting Blue Books Book 6)

Why comedy matters, Filmmaker IQ | Tweet

We’re used to thinking that the purpose of comedy is just to help us relax and ‘have a good laugh’. But in fact, the mission of comedy is far grander and more world-changing. We should wake up to the full potential of comedy in our societies.

Writing the Romantic Comedy

SELF-PUBLISHING

Getting Your Book into the Library Market, Indie Reader | Tweet

While e-books have helped level the playing field between traditionally pubbed and indie authors, trad pubbed books still have indies beat when it comes to getting into libraries. It’s not that librarians and patrons aren’t being willing to buy and read self-pubbed titles.

Branding and the Brain—What We Post On-Line Matters, Kristen Lamb’s Blog | Tweet

The thing is, humans have always had a “brand.” Brand in its simplest form is what adjectives we attach to another person. Before the digital age and social media this idea of “branding” simply extended into our social realms in places like school or church or clubs. Why? Humans dig labels.

Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team, 4th Edition

HAPPINESS

Effectiveness of tallk therapy is overstated, a study says, NYT | Tweet

Medical literature has overstated the benefits of talk therapy for depression, in part because studies with poor results have rarely made it into journals, researchers reported Wednesday.

The Happiness Trap: How to Stop Struggling and Start Living: A Guide to ACT

PSYCHOLOGY

Why we need to forget, Scientific American | Tweet

Much has been written on the wonders of human memory: its astounding feats of recall, the way memories shape our identities and are shaped by them, memory as a literary theme and a historical one. But what of forgetting?

Forgetting: Myths, Perils and Compensations