Whoa! My little corner has been busy the last 24 hours, with lots of terrific stuff posted. Heavy stuff, light stuff, funny stuff, serious stuff; it’s all there. So, how to organize it all? Oh, let’s see…let’s start with business stuff.
- What to do with those old paper and electronic files we’ve all been storing for years and years and years and… is something we tell ourselves we’ll get around to “one day.” Yeah, right. Well, Nancy J. Cohen (@nancyjcohen) offers 6 Tips for File Management on The Kill Zone that will not only help you tame the monster, but also give you the reason you need to finally get started.
- Gabriella Pereira (@DIYMFA) discusses Branding for Authors. Not only does she define what “branding” means for writers, even unpublished ones (hint: it does NOT have to do with being poked in the side with a hot piece of iron, nor does it have to feel that way), she even offers a radical-to-some suggestion regarding social media: you don’t have to be everywhere all the time.
- Rachelle Gardner (@RachelleGardner) answers the question many of her clients ask: What’s Happening With My Publisher Contract? She then goes on to explain what she’s thinking about as she’s reviewing and negotiating a contract, and why. Good stuff to know.
- Matt Setter (@maltblue) discusses on @ProBlogger How Privacy Breach Notification Laws Affect Your Blog. If you have a blog or web site and do e-commerce on it, this is information you should know. This topic might seem scary–and it does deal with something that might be a problem–so all the more reason to get smart about it.
Now for a couple pieces on craft:
- Rebecca L Boschee’s (@becca_leone) What Writing Fiction Taught Me About Human Nature on WordServe Water Cooler at first didn’t seem to offer anything new on heroes and villain, but then she got to the “backstory wound,” that personal failure that keeps both heroes and villains from achieving their goals, at least until they change and overcome/heal the wound. That’s a useful take on that deep character flaw.
- On a less serious note, Kim Weiland (@KMWeiland) describes Why Your Hero Needs a Yappy Sidekick on her WORDplay blog. “Yappy” doesn’t need to be annoying-little-dog yappy, but the sidekick, Kim says, gives us both an opportunity to gather insights into the hero we might not otherwise have and at the same time introduce a new source of tension and conflict. Clever! And I’m glad to see that I did this in my WIP. Yay!
Finally, a couple pieces on literature and culture:
- Kevin Kelly’s (@kevin2kelly) Robot, Child of God on The Technium ponders the future and our expanding definitions of intelligence and what that might mean…and puts all that into his new graphic novel The Silver Cord, which is available as a free download here for just another day or two.
- And then, on a much lighter note, there’s Robert Bruce’s (@robertbruce76) Random Thoughts from the First 45 Books on 101 Books. If Kelly gets you down, Bruce will pick you back up.
Wow! A banner day, eh?
cochisewriters 