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Friday Links: Dog Days Inspiration

Nephele Tempest

August heat calls for some dog days inspiration to get anything accomplished. When the temperatures climb, it’s hard to self-motivate. It can feel like your brain is melting out your ears. So I hope today’s links provide some distraction from the weather, whether you’re roasting along with me, or freezing with my friends in the southern hemisphere.

Dog Days Inspiration: dogs walking on a sunny beach

It’s nose to the grindstone in my neck of the woods, with fingers crossed that my AC keeps working, too. Today through the weekend I’m in reading mode, with two client projects on my desk and a stack of submissions queued up. I’ll have some status updates next week, along with a couple of exciting announcements. Meanwhile, I offer up some great links for you to check out. I hope they help you put your writing caps on and get down to work. Have a great weekend, and happy writing!

Dog Days Inspiration:

How to Keep Plot Twists Fresh. – Author David Bell offers tips on how to keep your thriller surprising. Helpful even if thrillers aren’t your thing.

Dear Suzanne Brockmann. – Last week I linked to Suzanne Brockmann’s RWA speech; this letter from author Nicki Saledo offers a heartfelt response and an important personal take on diversity and inclusion in publishing.

Building a SciFi Future that Matters: Five Authors Share their Worldbuilding Strategies. – Really interesting look at different approaches to building a futurescape.

Radical Writing: Was Angela Carter Ahead of Her Time? – Discussion of the late author and the upcoming documentary on her life and innovative work.

“Write a Sentence as Clean as Bone” and Other Advice from James Baldwin. – Writing tips from the late author, who would have been 94 this week.

John Green Wants You to Read Tiny Books. – An explanation of the small book format (Flipbacks) popular abroad that is finally coming to the U.S., in part thanks to author Green. I’m curious to see if these catch on. Think how many more books will fit on your shelves!

Foreshadow, issue zero. – The launch of the new online anthology featuring YA short fiction by both new and established authors. Great reads by a diverse collection of writers.

Friday Links Return: Jump Start Your Vacation Brain

Nephele Tempest

Friday Links Return feels like an appropriate title for my first blog post in a while. These links should help get your writer’s brain working, whether you’re stuck in summer vacation mode or the winter doldrums. Stir things up, jostle some new ideas around, or tackle that project you set aside months ago.

Likewise, I plan to use this post as a segue back to some regular blogging. Both work and life remain busy, but writing always serves as an excellent distraction from larger concerns. Time for me to remember that and get back on schedule. Friday Links Return is by no means a one-shot deal.

Despite the radio silence, I continued to collect interesting tidbits as if I were blogging the past few months. Today you benefit from my hoarding. I discarded things I considered time sensitive, but plenty of the slightly older links remain. I bring you writing advice and publishing culture. Also, I apologize now for what I’m about to do to your TBR piles. So many book recs. I hope you feel inspired on so many levels. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, and happy writing!

Friday Links Return:

10 Fairy Tale Retellings that Are Deeper, Darker, and Sexier than the Originals. – I love a good fairy tale for grownups just as much as the versions from my childhood. Some great ones on this list.

Read It Forward’s Favorite Reads of July 2018. – A wonderful list of great titles released this month.

Most Anticipated: The Great Second-Half 2018 Book Preview. – One of my absolute favorite lists of upcoming releases, this biannual collection from The Millions always leaves me excited about so many new titles on the schedule.

That RWA LTA Speech (News from Suz). – Romance author Suzanne Brockmann received the Nora Roberts Lifetime Achievement Award at this year’s national RWA conference in Denver, and her speech caused quite a stir. It’s an excellent, inspiring read.

How Finland Rebranded Itself as a Literary Country. – Interesting for the literary angle, but also as a lesson in changing up your image.

Our Fiction Addiction: Why Humans Need Stories. – A look into the whys behind our obsession with books, movies, TV series, etc.

On Becoming an American Writer. – Alexander Chee takes an honest and often-difficult look at the realities of being a writer in the U.S., and offers up some advice.

Geniuses Need Not Apply: On Creative Writing Courses. – A brief look at some different approaches to learning how to write, and their potential worth.

How to Write Great Dialogue. – Some quick and dirty tips from editor Kat Brzozowski.

The Novel within the Novel. – A look at some books that have secondary stories nested inside of them. I love this device when it’s done well. Anthony Horowitz’s Magpie Murders is another great example. Intriguing reads, whether or not you intend to give the structure a try in your own project.

Friday Links: Some Writing Journeys

Nephele Tempest

This week’s Friday Links include some writing journeys, because there is no single way to become a writer. Every writer follows their own path, and only through writing will you discover what works for you. So I’ve gathered a few essays and interviews with authors who share their particular journeys. I hope they inspire you and encourage you to keep writing, keep experimenting, to find your own road to success.

In addition, I’ve got the usual collection of interesting tidbits I’ve found this week. I hope you find them entertaining and/or intriguing. Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget to squeeze in some time for writing journeys of your own. Enjoy!

This Week’s Links:

Podcast with Jasmine Guillory. – Sarah Enni speaks to debut author Jasmine Guillory about her road to writing, and how she ended up writing a romance.

The Bodies of the Girls Who Made Me: Fanfic and the Modern World. – Author Seanan McGuire talks about getting her start through writing fanfic and the role fanfic plays in storytelling, writing, and representation.

Catherine M. Valente: Five Things I Learned Writing Space Opera. – The multi-published author discusses the things she learned writing her latest book.

In the Gap Between Writer and Reader, the Novel Come to Life. – An interesting look at how the reader’s perceptions color their experience of a book.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Remains Rediscovered in Wine Cellar. – The poet’s remains, which had been moved at some point, have been relocated.

An Interview with Jamie Ford, Author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. – The author talks about writing his debut title, and  how it reads a decade later in light of the current political climate.

Your Pocket Guide to 10 Literary Movements. – A fun little reference for anyone looking to fill holes in their literary knowledge or acquire a bit of ammo for trivia night.

Friday Links: A Reading Avalanche

Nephele Tempest

My reading list seems to have morphed into a reading avalanche of late. I’d make a Hydra reference — read one thing and two more spring up in its place — but it actually feels more like the way the gold at Gringott’s multiplies and tries to crush Harry Potter when he breaks into the vault in the final book. I’ve got submissions, client projects, ARCs that have hit my desk, and of course, regular old books. It’s a fabulous wealth of riches, but I just can’t seem to get ahead of the flow.

So I’m sharing the wealth. I’ve been dutifully collecting links for weeks, many of which offer up lists of amazing sounding books to read. Time to get them out into the world (and close some of these endless tabs). It’s a holiday weekend here, so whether you’re celebrating Easter or Passover or something else or nothing at all, I wish you a bit of excellent reading time. Here are some suggestions for your TBR stacks, as well as the regular writing tips and so on. Happy holidays and here’s to wonderfully word-filled  days. Enjoy!

This Week’s Links:

7 Books about Different Writing Lives. – An assortment of books revealing varied facets of the writing life.

The Best Classic Novels for Beginners. – A panel shares their thoughts about the most accessible classics for anyone looking to give them a try or maybe get back to reading them.

21 Amazing New Books You Need to Read This Spring. – New releases either already on shelves or on the horizon.

25 Classic Crime Books You Can Read in an Afternoon. – Some shorter classics to curl up with when you have (or need) a few hours to yourself.

Hilary Mantel: “We Still Work to a Man’s Timetable and a Man’s Agenda.” – An interesting look at the author’s experiences coming up as a writer, and the treatment she received as a woman in the field.

How to Hide Exposition through Action. – When you can’t get away from the need to “tell” instead of “show.”

In Naomi Alderman’s Podcast, Listeners Walk into the Story. – NPR interviews the author about her podcast’s unusual, immersive story structure.

Visit London’s Radical Bookstores. – A guide to some great, diverse bookstores in London, whether you’re local or planning your next trip.

On Writing the Comics – and Queer Characters – We Need. – A fabulous conversation between Neil Gaiman and N.K. Jemisin.

21 of the Biggest Debut Books by Women, Winter of 2018. – Some terrific titles on here I’ve already enjoyed, with many more to add to the TBR stack.

Friday Links: Still Breathing Edition

Nephele Tempest

For those of you wondering, I’m still breathing. I know things have been a bit quiet here lately. Apologies for the radio silence, but I’ve been snowed under — by paperwork and reading, not actual snow. I hope to have some wonderful things to share with you soon. In the meantime, I’ve a collection of links that are past due posting. My browser will be so happy when I close out these tabs.

These links are a bit all over the place, mostly because I’ve been gathering them for weeks. A couple are February-centric, but they certainly won’t expire, so I hope you’ll excuse them sneaking in here at month’s end. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend, filled with books and good writing time. Enjoy!

This Week’s Links:

2017 Locus Recommended Reading List. – A roundup of the best SFF from 2017, according to Locus magazine.

Should You Write What You Know? 31 Authors Weigh In. – Writers discuss the age-old advice and how true it is.

#ReadingBlackout: 28 Days of Books By and About African Americans for Black History Month. – A terrific selection, and certainly worth reading all year long.

I’m National Book Foundation Executive Director Lisa Lucas, and This Is How I Work. – LifeHacker focuses on Lisa Lucas in their “How I Work” series.

Applications Now Open for the $35,000 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting 2018. – Details posted for how to submit for the fellowships run by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Let’s Talk about the Fantasy of the Writer’s Lifestyle. – A look at the glamorous ideal of the writer’s life in comparison to reality.

15 Banned Books and Their Reasons for Censorship. – A look at how and why various books have been banned and the route from challenge to actual censorship of a title.

Nick Harkaway Tells Strange, Chilling Tales — and Has Devoted Fans. – An interview with the author discussing the secretive nature of his stories and how that limits the conversation about his work.

On Imitation. – An intriguing look at one writer’s experiences growing up and learning about influence and imitation and where the line gets drawn to make something your own.

Friday Links: A New-Year Writer’s Jump Start

Nephele Tempest

Welcome to 2018, and a writer’s jump start to kick things off right. Whatever your goals for the new year, I hope you’ve included plans to stretch your writing. Maybe you want to submit more stories, search for an agent, or finish a work-in-progress. Or perhaps you’re a published writer intent on taking your work to the next level. Whatever your goals, I aim to help, with Friday Links to inspire and entertain, future posts looking at craft and the publishing world, and some surprises I have in the works.

The first week of the year always feels a bit slow, as everyone gets back into the swing following the holidays. Next week, I’ll have some announcements regarding submissions and more, so be sure to check back. But first, I bring you some links to get your creativity flowing and maybe help move forward with your goals. There’s a little something for everyone, so enjoy, and happy writing!

This Week’s Links:

A Few Things to Consider before Submitting Your Work to a Literary Magazine. – Great tips to help you put your best foot forward.

How to Take Great Bookish Selfies. – For anyone whose new year’s goals include becoming more active on social media.

Making British Characters Realistic as an American Writer… and Vice Versa. – Advice for how to make your characters ring true.

A Guide to Short Story Contests in 2018. – Places to submit your short fiction in the coming year. Mark your calendars!

Words to Add to Your Vocabulary, Especially if You’re a Book Lover. – Some terrific words for the bookworms among us.

15 Books You Should Read This January. – A rundown of some of the month’s hot new titles, several of which have gone directly onto my TBR list.

Literary Hub’s Favorite Books of 2017. – In case you might have missed anything…

 

A Daily Writing Habit: Do You Need to Write Every Day?

Nephele Tempest

The idea of a daily writing habit prompts frequent discussion in writerly circles. Do you need to write every day to become a good writer? The short answer is no, of course not. Many successful writers do not write every day, for whatever reason. Their day jobs make it impossible, they prefer to write for long blocks of time on the weekend, etc. If writing daily rubs you the wrong way, or simply is not feasible, do not panic. But if you can manage a daily writing habit, I encourage you to try, because writing daily has its advantages.

daily-writing-habit

What Can Writing Daily Do for You?

  • Creativity is like a muscle; the more you work it, the stronger it becomes. A daily writing habit helps you train your brain. When you sit down at your computer or pick up your notebook on a very regular basis, your brain understands it’s time to create. If you write every day, even just for a little while, you will see a change in how ideas flow. Everyone knows that feeling of being “rusty” from not writing for a while. The opposite is true, as well. Writing daily helps prime the pump and keeps your creative mind nimble.
  • A daily writing habit helps you fight a tendency to procrastinate. If you plan to write three days per week, it is easier to put off that day’s writing. Whereas, if you write every day, you don’t have to decide whether to fit a writing session into your schedule. There is no questioning “Is this a writing day?” because the answer is always yes.
  • Writing daily can also help lessen the pressure of deadlines. It’s no guarantee that you won’t need an all-nighter or two to finish a manuscript, but it certainly makes it less likely than if you’ve been procrastinating for weeks.

No rule of writing says that you must write every day. Even writers who do write daily will take time off here and there. Writers are human beings, and all human beings need to take breaks from their work, no matter how much they love it. Nor is writing daily a cure-all for every writing issue. Everyone faces a block now and then. But if you’re serious about writing, or trying to improve, or looking to build up new habits for the new year, give writing daily a try. Join my December Writing Challenge, or just promise yourself to write every day. You might find that writing daily works for you.

 

December Writing Challenge Kickoff

Nephele Tempest

It’s the December Writing Challenge Kickoff!

Writers, start your engines!

Writing-Challenge-Fireworks

The truth is, this is a low-key challenge. No huge word counts or goals for the month. Just write every day. For full rules, you can check yesterday’s post. Today I’m here for the official writing challenge kickoff, and to provide you with a few more tips to keep you writing through December.

Life goes a little crazy in December. Writers who crave quiet can find it difficult to carve out time to work on their current projects. Thoughts turn to lists of gifts to buy and plans to make. Everyone wants your attention, your time, your participation. Your boss needs something done before the holiday break. Your kids want you to take them to see Santa. Hanukkah starts on the early side. Your in-laws plan to visit. Suddenly your sister’s turned vegetarian, throwing a spanner in your holiday dinner menu. And you love it all, because the holidays are a wonderful time of year. But… you also love to write.

Tips for Getting to Your Desk

Make yourself a priority. The key to writing regularly is telling yourself, and everyone else, that writing is just as important as any other vital thing on your to-do list. Commit to your writing, and to yourself.

  • Schedule your writing time on your calendar. Write it in like a doctor’s appointment. Set an alert to remind yourself when your writing window begins.
  • Make writing dates with your local writer friends. Agree to meet and do a writing sprint or two at your local coffee shop. No treats or talk until you’ve put in your half hour minimum for the day.
  • Tell your family what you’re doing. Explain that yes, you still plan to do all the normal holiday activities, but writing can’t take a holiday this year and you need to write every day.
  • Set up a signal to let family know it’s your writing time. Whether that’s a sign on your door, a place you sit that’s “writing only,” or a writing sweater you put on, make it clear. When you’re writing, they need to leave you alone unless there’s a blood-or-fire emergency.
  • Don’t limit yourself to your desk/computer. Grab a pen and a notebook and find somewhere to hide. Dust off a corner of your attic, pick a favorite spot in your local library, go to the café that has no wifi and write your heart out for a while.

Writing should not be something you steal time to do. You do not write at the expense of other things. If it matters to you, it’s earned its own space. Assign it time, and honor that commitment. And remember, all the words count, and it all adds up.

Happy writing! Don’t forget to check out the #DecWritingChallenge tag on Twitter to see who else has joined the challenge and for ongoing cheerleading. Plus, spread the word about today’s writing challenge kickoff! I’ll be back here later today with this week’s Friday Links.

2017 December Writing Challenge

Nephele Tempest

2017-December-Writing-Challenge

The 2017 December Writing Challenge kicks off tomorrow. Every year I issue this challenge to help writers get some words down during what’s arguably the busiest month of the year. Between holidays, family obligations, a slew of events, travel, and year-end expectations at work, many writers find their days completely packed. For those writers finishing a month of intense creativity for NaNoWriMo, taking December off from writing can seem particularly appealing. Hence this challenge.

If January is the month for resolutions, December is the month for distractions. But if you plan to set yourself some writing goals for 2018, you don’t want to lose your writing momentum now. No writing in December makes it hard to ramp up again once the new year starts. So I challenge you to write this coming month. Make yourself, and your writing, a priority.

2017 December Writing Challenge: The Rules

Because December can be crazy, this writing challenge is simple. I challenge you to write every day during the month of December. Unlike with NaNo, you aren’t aiming for a specific word count. Write as much or as little as you wish. But every day over the course of the month, sit down with your notebook or in front of your computer and do the work.

Write whatever you want. Work on your current novel. Get some editing done — including new words, not just deleting them. Try your hand at a new format, such as flash fiction or a personal essay. Focus on one project or have several going. Keep your eyes on an upcoming deadline. This challenge is for you, so you decide what to write.

As a nod to the true insanity of some people’s Decembers, I allow you up to two days off. Aim to write every day, but if you need to skip it once or twice, you have those two free days to use. Maybe you want to take a break for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Perhaps your New Year’s Eve plans require a nap instead of a writing session earlier in the day. Or you need a full day to clean in prep for your relatives coming to visit. Again, your choice.

A Few Tips

  • Even on your busiest days, try to squeeze in a bit of writing. Even 15 minutes will do, though I encourage you to aim for at least 30 minutes.
  • If you’re having a hard time finding sufficient time to write, try breaking it up into two smaller chunks over the day.
  • Do have a backup project or two at hand, so if your writing stalls on one thing, you can still work on something else.
  • Do commit to yourself and to the challenge, but don’t beat yourself up if you end up missing a few days more than planned. The point is to write enough that you don’t lose your momentum. Aim for every day, but regardless, just do your best.

I’ll be back tomorrow and periodically throughout the month with more tips and pep talks for inspiration. Also, keep an eye out on Twitter (@NepheleTempest) for additional cheering throughout the month under the #DecWritingChallenge tag. The 2017 December Writing Challenge starts tomorrow, so I hope you’ll be joining in. Happy writing!

The Return to Slow, Steady Writing: A NaNo Wrap Up

Nephele Tempest

After NaNoWriMo, it can be difficult to remember that slow, steady writing should be the norm. NaNo provides participants with a fun month of frantic output, a crazy goal that might seem less crazy by month’s end. But most people cannot sustain that writing pace. Even a full-time writer, with an output goal of 2,000 words per day, won’t generally keep that up every day, month after month. Writers need to take days off. If they maintain a daily writing habit, they still build in a “day of rest” or breaks between projects. Everyone finds themselves working overtime to hit a deadline on occasion, but it’s important to limit those situations.

If you’ve been participating in NaNoWriMo, you might be nearing the finish line: 50,000 words. Or, you may not. Plenty of writers fail to hit that goal, but still find they’ve achieved a lot of words in a month. Other writers never intended to hit 50k, but used NaNo to motivate their work. However you approached the challenge, the key takeaway now that the end is near should be that words add up. Whether you write for an hour a day or five, the words you craft in that time build, day in, day out. There will be days you only write a little bit, days you rewrite and end up with fewer words than when you began. But over time, words add up. Writers write, words add up, and yes, you can do this.

slow-steady-writing

Many of you already know how this works. A good number of you even follow the idea up with action. Plenty of people refuse to join NaNoWriMo each year because they have no wish to push themselves to write fast. They prefer to show up every day and put their words on paper or pixel, until they get where they’re going. But whatever your feelings about NaNo, there is a great deal to be said for the momentum it helps develop. While the challenge emphasizes output, it encourages work ethic.

In a few days, I’ll kick off my annual December Writing Challenge here on the blog. I’ll post the complete details later in the week, but the basic thrust of the challenge is to write every day in December. Keep going with that NaNo novel. Start a short story. Work on your next contracted project. Play around with a few different things. You don’t have to write for a set time, although at least 30 minutes a day makes a great goal. There’s no minimum word count involved, just slow, steady writing. So as you wind up your NaNo projects, or just continue your typical writing routine, mark your calendars for Friday. You’re going to write your way steadily into the new year.