retreats

Friday Links: Writing Is Rewriting

Nephele Tempest

This has been a week of distractions, with a million shiny (and not-so-shiny) things popping up at every turn to demand my attention. Not only can that make it difficult to finish whatever tasks were originally on your to-do list, but it’s exhausting. So my current plan for the weekend involves getting this post up, sending out a few emails, and then unplugging for the most part until Monday morning. At least from the internet and its constant bombardment from social media and the like. I think I have a date with the beach, a book, and a big floppy hat. And possibly print outs of a few dozen submissions.

Maybe you plan to unplug as well, but if not, here are this week’s Friday Links to keep you entertained and possibly inspire some creative time. Several of these are particularly useful if you’re in or approaching the rewrite/editing stage. Enjoy, and happy writing!

The Five Bes to Being a Better Beta Buddy – Some great tips for giving feedback to your writing critique partners.

When You’re Ready to Move from Summer Reading to Summer Writing – Some short-term writing retreats to check out on your summer vacation, or to inspire you to check out what else might be out there.

Joseph Kanon: There Is No Better Place to Write than the Library – The author shares his love for writing in the New York Public Library, and why he finds it makes the perfect office.

California Soul: A Literary Guide to SoCal Beach Towns – A list of beachy locales with a bit of an edge, straight from the pages of fiction.

The Legend of an Editor – A look inside the work practices of Robert Silver of The New York Review of Books, and the legend he left behind.

Roxane Gay Is the Hardest Working Woman in Letters – An interview with the author on the release of her new memoir, Hunger.

10 Tips for Becoming a Better Editor – Pretty much what it says on the package.

Friday Links: Write What You Want to Know

Nephele Tempest

Happy Friday, all! I hope everyone’s had a wonderful week and is ready to kick off a creative weekend, because I’m here to talk to you about research and inspiration. The old adage “Write what you know” has long been criticized as being too limiting, and in a sense it is. If writers only took on topics familiar to them, we would soon find ourselves with a rather narrow field of stories. So I propose a small tweak: Write What You Want to Know.

Writing is about inspiration, imagination, and research. Whether you need to fill in a few facts or thoroughly immerse yourself in an entirely new industry or location, you’re going to need to put in some time to make sure your story is accurate and believable. Even fantasy writers, who may seem to have permission to invent entire worlds purely out of their heads, are subject to the rigors of research, because those fantasy worlds come across much more believable if they have their roots in at least a small measure of reality.

So today’s links offer up a wealth of inspiration and topics that I hope will spark your interest, whether with a topic to research or some writerly advice that sends you off in a fresh direction. Open your eyes wide and let yourself absorb some amazing new things this weekend. Check out the links, but then go to the library and explore a section you haven’t read from or hit a local museum or art exhibit. Find a cultural celebration within driving distance and go try some interesting new-to-you foods and listen to music. And no, this isn’t an invitation to appropriate someone else’s culture; but open yourself up to all the different facets of our world and see what ideas you cultivate. At the very least, the people you write about will feel more real.

Photographs Document Early Chinese Immigration – An interesting collection from the Library of Congress.

Why I Founded an Interdisciplinary Retreat for Artists and Writers – A great argument for cross-pollination of creative ideas.

Discovering Literature: Shakespeare and the Renaissance Writers – A useful resource for historical projects.

Jeff VanderMeer & Cory Doctorow Discuss the Future of Sci-Fi & the World – A great conversation between two smart, interesting writers who contribute greatly to the current sff landscape.

Stephanie Powell Watts on Writing Hard Times in Small Towns – This perspective might be especially interesting for anyone from a densely populated area.

The Masks We Wear: The Millions Interviews Edan Lepucki – A discussion of Lepucki’s new book and character identity.

Women Were Pirates, Too – While the men got most of the press (for good or ill), there were a number of female pirates sailing the seas as well.

25 of Your Favorite Nonfiction Books about Women’s History – An intriguing list. No descriptions included, but many of the titles will draw you in even so.

Maurice Sendak on Art and Art-Making – Five years after his death, the author/illustrator’s words of wisdom still offer up some great advice.

Why I Read: Ursula K. LeGuin – HarperCollins pulled together a collection of authors’ responses to the simple question of why they read, and LeGuin’s answer feels like it works very well with the theme of today’s links.

Friday Links, Absent a Clever Subtitle, Because My Writer’s Brain Is on Strike

Nephele Tempest

In case it hasn’t been obvious from the unusual level of quiet around here, I’ve been having a bit of a nose-to-grindstone month. My apologies for the shortage of posts but there’s only so much brain power to go around and it’s being funneled into a few other things right now. I hope October will give me time to be a bit chattier.

However it is Friday, which means Friday Links, and I definitely have some of those to share. I think there’s a decidedly autumnal flavor this week, unsurprising given tomorrow is the first day of October. Think of it as the literary equivalent of pumpkins everywhere. Or maybe it’s just that ongoing back-to-school vibe. I’m still feeling the need to go buy new notebooks and pens. Maybe over the weekend.

So without further ado I’m going to get right to the links. Fair number of titles to plump up that TBR, among other things. Enjoy, and don’t forget to work a little writing time into your schedule. Happy weekend!

The Haunting of Shirley Jackson – On ghosts and literary traps.

Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Gramercy Park – A brief profile with some gorgeous photos of the author’s NYC apartment. His office will give you bookcase envy. Also, his debut novel, Rules of Civility, which came out a few years back, is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in years. I’m twitching to find time to read his latest.

Shakespeare Lives 2016 – The Globe in London streamed a live performance of their recent production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream a few weeks ago, and you can still view the video on the site.

Win a Writer’s Retreat in Iceland – Details on how to enter to win a free spot at the Iceland Writers Retreat.

The Time I Wrote a 150,000-Word Pulp Novel in a Month to Win a Bet – A fun tale with some interesting details about the pulp genre. Perhaps inspiration for anyone gearing up for NaNoWriMo in November.

Tana French’s Intimate Crime Fiction – A profile that looks at what French has brought to the genre with her popular Dublin Murder Squad series.

Hollywood’s 25 Most Powerful Authors 2016 – Mostly who you’d expect, though there are a few nice surprises. Still, an uncomfortably white selection of writers, though a fair number of women have managed to make the list.