Are you feeding your characters?

If so, please stop!

How Shrinking perpetuates Hollywood’s most sexist cliché – BBC Culture

Why we need new words for life in the #Anthropocene – BBC Future

Something writers of clifi should be well aware of, but also, writers have been in the business of making up new words for a very long time!

How to tell a great story to motivate others

Something to think about – at work if you’re still in the office world, in your creative work if you’re an author or artist.

If you’re a writer, how does this apply to your characters when they find themselves in situations where they think they know what to do?

Interesting discussions about world-building, from a diverse collection of writers – Alastair Reynolds, Nnedi Okorafor, M. John Harrison, etc.

The 16 facial expressions most common to emotional situations worldwide — ScienceDaily

“May the words in your mind crystallize into magic on the page.” – Brian Rathbone.

Things to keep in mind when worldbuilding.

I approve this message!

If you wonder why I tagged it with “markets”, our local bookstores are markets for our books, too. Especially if you’re self-publishing!

Tell the story that needs to be told, in the way it needs to be told, to the length it needs to be told.

Don’t poison a story by insisting it must be an apple when it’s really an orange.

Don’t stunt a story by forcing it beyond its natural growth nor by forcing it to grow in a box too small.

“Genres” and “standard story lenghs” are publisher’s artefacts, not part of storytelling.

Breakthroughs don’t come through abiding by conventions and working in boxes.