Can I just suggest that THIS is not the way to deal with adverse reviews?

And seriously, if you thought fandom was the land of unrestrained egos and drama, the m/m genre will make you think again. Fandom has a deadly rival there. I am not going to get into the brouhahas about claims of catfishing every time a supposedly gay male author gets outed as a woman (I think this is the fourth I’ve endured in my relatively short time in the genre and, frankly, they bore me), but I disapprove heartily of the person then being doxxed, no matter what their perceived sins. Be angry and hurt all you like, but potentially risking someone’s safety or livelihood takes revenge too far.

And while you’re pondering those life lessons, here’s a few collected links to keep you occupied. A rather curtailed list this month, as I’m moving house.

 

Words of the month:

Brouhaha: an uproar; a hubbub.

Catfishing : to lure (someone) into a relationship by adopting a fictional online persona.

Doxxing: to search for and publish private or identifying information about a particular individual on the Internet, typically with malicious intent.

 

Writing

How To Become A Writer – The Easy Way – Neil Gaiman. I loved, loved, loved this post. Gaiman is one of my writing heroes. This is one reason why.

Coming up Blank: The Science of Writer’s Block – Maya Sapiurka at Aerogramme Writers’ Studio. It has cross-sections of brains and uses words like ‘yellow anterior cingulate cortex’, so it can only comfort you to know this is science shit, people.

 

The Chuck Wendig section

NaNoWriMo Survival Guide: How I Write 50k(-Ish) Every Month – Chuck at his best. Pick and mix your way through his 40-odd tips for keeping writing productivity high, and use the ones that speak your name.

Writing Advice Is Bullshit – “…don’t treat what I say — or what anybody says — as gospel truth. Consider it. Taste it. Smell it. Lift it in your hand. And then use or or lose it. You do you. I mean, shit, even if the writing advice gets you pissed at me — good. Then it’s making you think about this thing that we do. It challenges you. That’s a good thing. Maybe it clarifies why you do what you do even if it’s not how I do it. Good. Great. Rock the fuck on. So, yes. Writing advice is bullshit. But maybe, just maybe, you can use it to fertilize your own work”

Welcome To The Midpoint Of Your Novel: Now What?! – on the twist, the climax, the event that propels you towards resolution. “When in doubt? Improvise, escalate, and ‘asplode stuff.”

Further Thoughts On Your Story’s Midpoint, Starring Darth Vader – “What happens? Why is it momentous? What is the shift?”

 

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Writing Tips and Skills

The Evolution of Your Hero – Larry Brooks at The Kill Zone with a thoughtful post on character growth and change.

The Untrue Truth Of “Write What You Know – interesting post from Emma Newman, guesting at Chuck’s blog. Good article, particularly on how world views change depending on what you know. Thought provoking.

Story Alchemy: Lessons from Breaking Bad – Therese Walsh at Writers Unboxed. Good pointers here. Really, an excellent post.

How to Be a Prolific Writer – James Scott Bell at The Kill Zone. A sort of pared down version of Chuck’s tips for writing NaNo every month.

Passive Voice explained – Writers Write infographic. But seriously, if you can add ‘by zombies’ after the verb, it’s passive. Don’t feed the zombies.

The Pros And Cons Of Writing In First Person – Mia Botha at Writers Write

The 5 Essential Elements Of A Perfect Ending – Amanda Patterson at Writers Write. ‘Nobody reads a book to get to the middle.’ ~Mickey Spillane

13 Things I Learned About Writing Faster – Veronica Siccoe’s version of how to be prolific/writing more. She’s damn right about perfectionism killing creativity. It’s slowing me down more than walking thigh deep in treacle.

Eddy Rivas: Bad Writing Habits I Learned From Video Games (Plus A Few Good Ones, Too)

Lessons From the Bad Writing of The Mortal Instruments – The Mythcreants blog is a favourite of mine, but they do not pull punches. Cassandra Clare’s book is dissected here by Chris Winkle. Clare was a Big Name Fan in Harry Potter and the focus of some controversy over ‘borrowing’. Mythcreants dissection of her book is summed up in the header, which includes a quote from Stephanie Meyer (of Twilight fame) who loved the book. ‘Nuff said.

Five Dualities That Can Replace Good and Evil – More from Winkle at Mythcreants with some interesting ideas.

How to Make Your Villain Threatening – and the final article from Winkle. Excellent advice.

 

 

 

Technical ‘Stuff’

Best WordPress Portfolio Themes for Authors & Creatives – Henry Baum at Self Publishing Review.

 

 

Marketing for Writers

3 Basics of Author Online Presence by Sierra Godfrey at Writers In The Storm. Simple, but you should make sure you have these basics down pat.

Publishing a Sequel: 8 Book Marketing Tips You Need to Know – Diana Urban at the BookBub blog.

5 Ideas for Promoting Your Ebook Price Promo on Social Media – Urban again at BookBub.

6 Ideas for Getting Your Book More International Exposure – Urban with more advice.

10 Top Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Book Publicist – and Urban yet again. I’m beginning to think that she deserves her own section.

Stash, Trash or Refresh: The Ultimate Guide to Dealing with Boring In-Between Story Parts – Alex Limberg at Write It Sideways.

 

Publishing

Amazon lowers Kindle Unlimited Payouts – Smashwords blog article on how the expansion into India, has lowered payouts to authors. Also see discussion at The Passive Voice..

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There will be no link round up in December. If everything goes well, we’ll be moving house tomorrow, and I just won’t have time. Normal service will be resumed in January.

 

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