• Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Store
    • E-books
  • Up Close
    • About me
    • Testimonials
    • Contact
  • Creativisocial
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • TikTok
    • Twitter
  •  

Merce Cardus

Sign up to get the last articles delivered to your email box.

WEEKEND LINKS ~ Reads on Writing, Self-Publishing and Better Living: Autopilot

in Reads on Writing & Self-Publishing on 26/06/15

3709623921_b2a6a5a860_b

Photo Credit: Mike Miley via Compfight cc

Quote of the day

What neuroscience has revealed is that there is no such control center in the brain. There are hubs in our brain networks whose activity is more influential than others; however, there is no one single hub that dictates action. Our brains are much more like an ant colony: billions of neurons collaborating to give rise to our selves without any external or internal agent. In other words you are an emergent self-organizing phenomenon.

~ANDREW SMART, author of Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing

WRITING & SCREENWRITING

  • Using backstory effectively, Kristen Lamb’s Blog | Tweet

All righty. So we have been discussing “flashbacks” and I have been working hard to pull this blanket term apart because not everything that shifts back in time is the dreaded “training wheel flashback” that make us editors break out in hives. New writers love to shift back and forth in time because they are weak at plotting and characterization and “flashbacks” often serve to prop up these weak spots.

→Practical Emotional Structure Part 2: An easy to understand, plain-English guide to pertinent backstory, motivation and conflict (Plain-English Writing Guides)

  • 5 Grammar hacks for writers who hate grammar, The Write Practice | Tweet

For those of you who have decided you are a writer too, you don’t need a degree in English or be an expert in grammar. There are a few grammar hacks I’ve learned that have helped me. Here are five hacks to help you look like you know what you’re doing when it comes to grammar.

→The Only Grammar Book You’ll Ever Need: A One-Stop Source for Every Writing Assignment

  • How to take a break from writer’s block, Men with pens | Tweet

If you’re a writer, you’ve certainly sat down at some point and realized you’re unable to create the right words. I could go into the mental anguish and agonies that ensue, but you already know them well.

→The 7 Secrets of the Prolific: The Definitive Guide to Overcoming Procrastination, Perfectionism, and Writer’s Block

  • Stranger than fiction? Probably not: Why you might want to rethink your memoir, Reedsy | Tweet

Memoir is everywhere. The genre is pervasive, clogging slush piles and hard drives and bookshelves. Part of its ubiquity might have something to do with the pop-psych notion fed to so many Millenials for so long, that we are all special and unique, our perspectives and experience critical. Another contributing factor is a literal interpretation of the author’s adage, “Write what you know,” which is in fact a call to use your experience as a launching point for story, not a script.

→Writing the Memoir: From Truth to Art, Second Edit

  • Stack of needles and giving your characters too much of a good think, John August | Tweet

Writers often create challenges for heroes by taking away something they desperately need or want. Billionaires go bankrupt. Children become orphans. Diamonds get dropped in the snow.

→Savvy Characters Sell Screenplays!: A comprehensive guide to crafting winning characters with film analyses and screenwriting exercises

  • Breaking In: Congrats! You won a screenwriting contest–now what?, Script mag | Tweet

From time to time, my clients report back to me that a script I evaluated in their previous draft has now won (or been a finalist in) a major screenwriting contest. I’m always happy to hear that their hard work has paid off, and that my comments apparently helped them during revisions.  But after congratulating my client, I always provide additional advice: get going and take full advantage of your accomplishment. 

→Write It to Win It!: 39 Secrets from a Screenwriting Contest Judge


SELF-PUBLISHING

  • Selling on Facebook with Ian Cleary, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet

Do you know about Heyocart, a fun new tool for selling on Facebook? 

→The Book on Facebook Marketing: To Help You Set Your Business & Life On Fire

  • 5 On interview, editor Jim Thomsen discusses freelance editing, story craft, Jane Friedman | Tweet

Editor Jim Thomsen discusses freelance editing, story craft, favorite authors, and his own authorial aspirations.

→The Editor’s Companion: An Indispensable Guide to Editing Books, Magazines, Online Publications, and More

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WELL-BEING

  • 5 Simple ways to live an abundant life through self-simplicity, Becoming Minimalist | Tweet

We often think of minimalism as shedding away our external possessions and living with only the essentials. Certainly, this is very much part of it. But I am learning the journey is not just external, it is also internal. To experience true abundance from minimalism, it must start within.

→Simplicity: How To Live With Less, Downsize, And Get More Fulfillment From Life


PSYCHOLOGY

  • The art of idleness, Psychology Today | Tweet

To be idle is to not be doing anything. Idleness is often romanticized, as epitomized by the Italian expression dolce far niente (‘it is sweet to do nothing’). Many people tell themselves that they work hard from a desire for idleness. But although our natural instinct is for idleness, most of us find prolonged idleness difficult to bear.

→Autopilot: The Art and Science of Doing Nothing


TIME MANAGEMENT

  • The best time of day to do everything at work, FastCo | Tweet

Timing really is everything.  Expert advice on when is the best time to send an email, schedule a meeting, make a decision, and more.

→Organize Your Day in 24 Hours!: 50 Best Strategies to Successfully Manage Your To-Do Lists, Practice Prioritizing Skills, and Self-Organize Effectively … Way You Want (Self Organizing Books Book 3)


INNOVATION

  • Here’s how empathy makes real breakthroughs. Really!, The Creativity Post | Tweet

Designing with empathy doesn’t make a product that is a mere technological breakthrough, but one that people will love and that makes the difference.

→Change by Design: How Design Thinking Transforms Organizations and Inspires Innovation


ENTREPRENEURSHIP

  • Josephine Cochrane, inventor of the dishwasher, Don Surber | Tweet

She hated washing dishes. She hated the way her servants did dishes. She hated the way dishes often chipped during washing. She longed for the day when a machine washed dishes. She waited. And waited. Then waited some more. In 1886, Josephine Garis Cochrane finally said, “If nobody else is going to invent a dishwashing machine, I’ll do it myself.”

→An Uncommon History of Common Things

 

 

Get the Best Reads on Writing, Screenwriting, Self-Publishing & Better Living

« The Stoic Art Of Confronting The Worst-Case Scenario
A Darwinian Theory Of Beauty »

Hi, I’m Merce!

Merce Cardus

Welcome to my site, the place where you can find useful information, insights, resources & inspiration for writing, self-publishing & living a better life. I'm an entrepreneur, ... View Post

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • TikTok
  • Twitter
Self-improvement & Personal Growth
Time Management & Productivity
Entrepreneurship, Marketing & Business

Copyright © 2023 · Merce Cardus

  • Category Index
  • Newsletter
  • Privacy Policy