Photo Credit: PPJC via Compfight cc
Quote of the day
Human beings remember “firsts”- the first time something happens, or the begining of an experience- and we tend to remember “lasts” as well. So when you are about to make a critical/negative delivery, start your criticism with a positive begining, it will affect the rest of the experience. Start by giving them solid ground to stand by expressing the fact that you value them and they matter. Once they are reassured of their own worth, people will accept your comments far more easily and they’ll get less defensive.
~OLIVIA FOX CABANE, author of The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism
WRITING
Oops! Your Exposition is Showing, Storyfix 2.0. | Tweet
Does your dialog writing sound natural or off-kilter? Does it read like real people talk, or like grade school children stumbling over their parts in a play? If you have patches of dialog in your novel that just don’t ring true, it may be because your exposition is showing.
Writing Exposition (Writing Strands Ser)
The Art of Writing is in the Rewriting, Writer’s Digest | Tweet
Writing is Zen. Writing isn’t about inspiration or waiting for your muse to arrive and undress. Writing is about getting down to it, about finding your way into the moment and sustaining the energy for as long as you can effectively and in the rhythm of your narrative.
Rewriting: How To Do Things With Texts
- Planning a Novel: Character Arc In A Nutshell, Writers Helping Writers | Tweet
It doesn’t matter how well drawn your hero is or what cool and trippy things he does in a story…if readers don’t understand the WHY behind his actions, they won’t connect to him. We’re talking about Motivation, something that wields a lot of power in any story.
Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
You want to write fiction that your readers will fall in love with, but what is good writing, exactly? These are seven elements of fiction that readers love.
On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction
SCREENWRITING
- BREAKING & ENTERING: Finding The Flow, Script Mag | Tweet
Ahhh, being in “The Flow”… That sweet spot writers of all mediums love to experience, yearn to get into, or even crave. You might call it “the zone,” “creative juice,” or “the voice of the Muse,” but to me the sensation is best described as The Flow.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)
- Part 4: If you are a beginning screenwriter…, Go Into The Story | Tweet
Outside of yourself, the single most important person in the life of your spec script is more than likely the reader assigned to cover it.
Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting
SELF-PUBLISHING
How to Market Yourself as an Author Before You Have a Book to Sell, The Write Life | Tweet
Some people may have further things to promote, like classes or workshops or consultation services or an eBay profile full of knickknacks. It doesn’t matter.
How to Use Periscope to Build Your Writing Brand, The Write Life | Tweet
Can writers benefit from live video streaming?
Using Periscope to Write Your Next Bestseller (Periscope Your Book Book 1)
SELF-IMPROVEMENT
Here’s 9 proven strategies to boost your personal charisma.
The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism
HEALTH
By some estimates, Americans sleep two to three hours fewer today than they did before the industrial revolution. But now a new study is challenging that notion.
The 8-Hour Sleep Paradox: How We Are Sleeping Our Way to Fatigue, Disease and Unhappiness
CREATIVITY
The Inner Skills of Creative People, Davidjrogersftw | Tweet
My interest—the territory I have staked out for myself—are The Inner Skills of Creative People, for there, I think, inside, in your spirit, will be found the magical difference between adequate creators and great ones.
The Career Guide for Creative and Unconventional People
TECHNOLOGY
Tourist-deleting photo technology could make your next vacation a lot less frustrating.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Who drives transformation in our society and how do they do it? Roger Martin and Sally Osberg argue in their new book, Getting Beyond Better, that the answer is social entrepreneurs, who target unjust and unsustainable systems — or “equilibria” — and transform them into entirely new, superior, and sustainable equilibria. In this excerpt, they tell a story illustrating how vision is the key to successful transformation.
Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works