Mindfulness can help us all be less concerned with what happens to this me. Worries about my health, wealth, beauty, and self-esteem fall into perspective. Having a cold, the car breaking down, a bad hair day, and being afraid I just sounded like an idiot all become easier to bear. Becoming less preoccupied with me is a great relief—especially given what we know will inevitably happen to each of us.
~RONALD D. SIEGEL, author of The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems
WRITING & SCREENWRITING
- Critique session: Characters, Terrible Minds | Tweet
Do you have a character in your WIP (work in progress) that’s just not working? Or a character that you love but others are having problems connecting to? Whatever the reason, here’s a good place to dissect some characters.
→Characters: Creating Heroes, Villains, Mentors, Sidekicks, and Other Characters for Your Story
- 7 Mistakes to avoid when writing about the military, Live Write Thrive | Tweet
We’re a pair of US Navy veterans with a combined thirty-five years of service who blog and write under the moniker The Two Navy Guys. We’re here to dish out the truth about 7 common mistakes we see from authors writing about the military.
→SOLDIERS AND MARINES: Military Fiction
These, days, writers have to be clever. There are so many guidelines we need to observe in order to make our plots, characters, and narratives as vibrant and powerful as possible.
- Emotional wounds thesaurus: A house fire, 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.
→The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression
- What advice for someone wanting to give writing a full-time shot?, Go into the story | Tweet
First and foremost, you have to want it. I mean really want it. The competition is fierce. Think of it this way: If you aren’t working at the craft, someone else is. A lot of someones. So your desire has to be such that writing is your number one priority.
- Go into the story script reading & analysis: The imitation game, Go into the story | Tweet
This week, we have been reading, analyzing, and discussing the script and movie The Imitation Game, written by Graham Moore.
SELF-PUBLISHING
- Audio books for indie authors, Insecure Writer’s Support Group | Tweet
There are a few things to consider before we get started. First of all, are we qualified to narrate our books ourselves (do we have the necessary equipment and expertise…and time…to take it on)?
→Audiobooks for Indies: The One-Stop Guide for Authors Looking to Make More Money Selling Audiobooks
- 6 Twitter secrets for writers you need to know, Positive Writer | Tweet
Writers use Twitter to engage with their readers, to promote their content and to talk to other writers. In this post I present to you six time-saving secrets that will help you get started on Twitter today!
→Twitter for Authors (Busy Writer’s Guides Book 6)
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SELF-IMPROVEMENT
- How to conquer fear, backed by research, Barking up the wrong tree | Tweet
Fear is… really scary, actually.
→The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems
LEARNING
Learning agility, by contrast, has until recently been hard to measure and hard to define. It depends on related qualities such as emotional intelligence that are only just beginning to really be valued.
→How To Use Creative Visualization Techniques: Learn to Visualize, Affirm and Achieve Any Goal
MOTIVATION
- Holding the umbrella, Seth’s Blog | Tweet
Harry Truman talked about where the buck stops. For every project, for every organization that lasts, someone is holding the umbrella.
→What to Do When its Your Turn (and its Always Your Turn)
EXERCISE
Completing a marathon can be exhilarating but also agonizing. Thighs cramp. Backs ache. Toes bleed. Stomachs churn.
PSYCHOLOGY
Travel is supposed to make us feel more alive so why is the hotel room a place of such loneliness and despair?
PHILOSOPHY
How Julian Jaynes’ famous 1970s theory is faring in the neuroscience age.
→The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind
WINE
A band of upstart winemakers is trying to redefine what California wine should taste like–and enraging America’s most famous oenophile in the process.
→The Wrath of Grapes: The Coming Wine Industry Shakeout And How To Take Advantage Of It