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Quote of the day
The only way to ease our fear and be truly happy is to acknowledge our fear and look deeply at its source. Instead of trying to escape from our fear, we can invite it up to our awareness and look at it clearly and deeply.
~Thích Nhất Hạnh, author of Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
WRITING
- Creating your protagonist: Inner demons, Jennifer Blanchard | Tweet
In this Periscope I talk about character inner demons: What they are, Why you need them in your story, and Examples of common inner demons.
Creating Strong Protagonists (Screenwriting Blue Books Book 7)
Effective Techniques for Generating Writing Ideas by Janice Kersh, Romance University | Tweet
All writers come up empty now and then when they need to generate ideas. It comes with the territory. Sometimes you feel like you’ve simply used up all your creativity and there’s nothing left for you to write. If you’re a professional writer and you have deadlines approaching, you know that this isn’t a possibility. You’ll have to come up with something. But what? And how?
iDeas for Writing – How to Beat Writer’s Block
How to Know Your Characters More Intimately, The Author’s Nook | Tweet
Despite your personal opinion on structuring a novel vs. going with the flow, we can all agree on one thing: if you don’t intimately know your characters, you’re screwed. Then the million dollar question is, how do I get to know my characters better?
How To Create A Character (For Your Novel): The Best Book On Characterization You’ve Ever Read
How to Plan Your Story in Six Weeks, Storyfix 2.0 | Tweet
The idea of planning a story before you write it is total genius (ignore this advice at your own risk), and the principles of storytelling are a true guidance system for any serious writer.
90 Days to Your Novel: A Day-by-Day Plan for Outlining & Writing Your Book
SCREENWRITING
- Zero Draft Thirty: Write a Script in a Month Challenge, Go Into The Story | Tweet
You may be aware of NANOWRIMO. Each November, people commit to write a first draft of a novel. Start November 1st. End November 30th. Fantastic motivator to get people off their asses, onto their keyboards, then work their way from “Once upon a time” to “And they live happily ever after.”
The 90-Day Screenplay: from concept to polish
- STORYTELLING STRATEGIES: Sicario’s Vanishing Main Character, Script Mag | Tweet
Sicario is a powerful cinematic experience from a visual and aural viewpoint, but some curious storytelling choices about the main character ultimately diminish its impact.
SELF-PUBLISHING
- 14 Authors Share Their Advice on the Rocky Road of Publication, Writers in the Storm | Tweet
Looking back, what’s one thing you wish you had known about the industry before you were published?
Self-Publishing on a Shoestring: Insanely Helpful Links For Indie Authors
- 12 Ways Indie Authors Can Boost Their Holiday Sales, Indie Reader | Tweet
The holidays are almost here. Yes, if you’re in the book business, when Summer turns to Fall, you start thinking “holiday sales.”
MOTIVATION
The power of fear, Seth’s Blog | Tweet
Fear will push you to avert your eyes.
Fear: Essential Wisdom for Getting Through the Storm
SCIENCE
Scientists call it the ‘other-race-effect’, a cognitive phenomenon that makes it harder for people of one race to readily recognize or identify individuals of another.
THE BRAIN
- If the going gets tough, when should the tough give up?, Science Blog | Tweet
If there’s a “secret sauce” for success, it just might be grit. As defined by psychologist Angela Duckworth, it refers to a kind of persistence that only gets stronger in the face of adversity. It’s a hallmark of overachievers, whether in the office or the classroom, and drives them forward even when they’re staring down failure.
Grit to Great: How Perseverance, Passion, and Pluck Take You from Ordinary to Extraordinary
RESTAURANTS
Dining out is about to get turned on its head. Union Square Hospitality Group, the force behind some of New York’s most important restaurants, will announce today that starting in November, it will roll out an across-the-board elimination of tips at every one of its thirteen full-service venues, hand in hand with an across-the-board increase in prices.
Tips: Getting More: A Restaurant Insider’s Guide to Making More Money
COPYRIGHT
- Copyrights and wrongs, Tim Harford | Tweet
‘Why don’t we see a more sensible system of copyright? Two words: Mickey Mouse’
The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide
