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Merce Cardus

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MONDAY LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-publishing & Better Living: How We Got To Now

in Reads on Writing & Self-Publishing on 07/09/15

How we got to now

Photo Credit: W!nG 7 via Compfight cc

Quote of the day

The march of technology expands the space of possibility around us, but how we explore that space is up to us.

~STEVEN JOHNSON, author of How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World

WRITING

  • Your Plot and Theme: Are They a Team?, HWBA | Tweet

We all know writing a book is no easy task. The reason it’s ultimately so tricky is that a novel must bring together about a gazillion little working pieces, which the author then has to somehow fit together, so they all start ticking together as a seamless whole.

Plot Perfect: How to Build Unforgettable Stories Scene by Scene

 

  • From Setting to Inciting Incident, Go Teen Writers | Tweet

You may or may not have heard the phrase “inciting incident.” But whether or not you know what it means, you have certainly read plenty of inciting incidents in the fiction you’ve read and odds are fairly good you’ve written one. So, what the heck is it? 

Writing Active Setting: The Complete How-to Guide with Bonus Section on Hooks (Volume 4)

 

  • Emotional Thesaurus Entry: Growing up in the Shadow of a Successful Sibling, 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

 

  • Five Things Painting Taught Me About Writing, Writer Unboxed | Tweet

I don’t know that I’ve learned much from the laundry-doing or donut-eating, but there are a few things I learned from making visual art that have served me well as a writer. Here are five things of those things.

The Lively Art of Writing (Mentor Series)


SCREENWRITING

  • WRITER’S EDGE: Handling Criticism of Your Script, Script Mag | Tweet

You will often spend a year or more writing and rewriting your scripts. You’ve edited your own work and have given it several polishes. You then submit it either to a writing consultant or if you’re lucky, to a studio reader for notes. When you get the notes back, you are devastated. The comments you get are scathing. They inform you that your plot is weak, your characters aren’t developed fully enough, and your structure is lacking.

Essentials of Screenwriting: The Art, Craft, and Business of Film and Television Writing

 

  • Andrew Stanton, Part 5: “The Clues to a Great Story” (TED Talk), Go Into The Story  | Tweet

The subject of the TED Talk: “The Clues to a Great Story.” Given the success of Pixar and Stanton’s participation in it, I decided to produce a transcription of the entire 19-minute presentation. I will be posting it segment by segment for the next week or so because Stanton packed a lot of big ideas into his short talk.


SELF-PUBLISHING

  • Sell More Books on Amazon! Tip #9: Get More Power to Your Amazon Page, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet

Get a URL that best describes your niche and have it point to your Amazon books or your Amazon Author Central Page.

  • The Two Biggest Book Sales Killers, Just Publishing | Tweet

In fact there are three book sales killers, which will either drive potential book buyers away, or worse, fail to gain their attention.
A Detailed Guide to Self-Publishing with Amazon and Other Online Booksellers: How to Print-on-Demand with CreateSpace & Make eBooks for Kindle & Other eReaders


PSYCHOLOGY

  • Can we ever really know another person?, Nautilus | Tweet

As a behavioral scientist, Nicholas Epley is a bold explorer. For years he has plumbed the murky river of misunderstanding that runs between people. “There’s more blackness in the mind of another person than we think there is,” Epley says.

Mindwise: Why We Misunderstand What Others Think, Believe, Feel, and Want


SCIENCE

  • The Science Behind Spicy Food Boosting Longevity, Lifehack | Tweet

Next time you suggest Indian food for dinner and your friends vote for burgers, you can tell them that science says spicy food will save their lives. Well, at least it’ll help them live longer and healthier.

Fiery Cuisines: A Hot and Spicy Food Lover’s Cookbook


PRODUCTIVITY

  • What’s Your Personal Productivity Style? Find Out Here, Big Think | Tweet

When it comes to managing distractions at work, I want you not simply to survive those distractions, but thrive through them because you’re working from your personal Productivity Style. 
Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style


BOOKS

  • The most popular books in U.S. public libraries, mapped by city, Quartz | Tweet

Across the US people are flocking to public libraries to get their hands on Harper Lee’s Go Set a Watchman and Paula Hawkins’ novel The Girl on the Train.

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee: Summary & Analysis


SUCCESS

  • Secrets To Success: 6 Tips From The Most Successful People, Barking Up the Wrong Tree | Tweet

What are the secrets to success? Well, successful people work hard. But you work hard too, right? And if you keep working harder and harder you’re just going to be miserable. So what’s the answer?

How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World

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