Another round of links from the last week.

That’s two weeks in a row, possibly a record. Some of these links are older, but still doing the social media rounds.

Popular Posts and Pins from this week

• 6 Steps to Write Life Blend (and infographic)
• How to Break out of a Creative Rut (infographic)

• Two Pins on Pinterest:

Will Smith motivation

Honest Disney Movie Posters by TheFW

Writing Craft

• Emotions that escalate: how to build tension successfully http://wp.me/p2HVni-kn via @KoboWritingLife
• “Writing Advice: Things To Consider When Planning Your Protagonist’s Death” http://feedly.com/k/12by9QE
• RT @jcx27: Writing For Success: Plot Pace http://bit.ly/GEMVB6
• “Story Improvement” http://feedly.com/k/12i7qls Lynn Viehl builds character palettes using paint chip colours
• Writer @Ava_Jae uses Excel to create a word progress chart while first drafting. Have you tried this trick? http://bit.ly/13zaBlk
• “Pinterest: The Ultimate Writing Resource” http://feedly.com/k/12GfkGU

Creativity

• “The Joy of Creative Ignorance: Embracing Uncertainty In Your Day-to-Day – 99U” http://99u.com/articles/15339/the-joy-of-creative-ignorance-embracing-uncertainty-in-your-day-to-day
• Stop Writing Your Book! (in long stretches, that is) http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/06/stop-writing-your-book-in-long-stretches-that-is/ – really interesting – 40 minutes optimum time.
• It’s not as much of an insult as it sounds – “Creativity Linked with Deficit in Mental Flexibility” http://fb.me/15FLVhA0M

Publishing and Promotion

• A couple of interesting viewpoints over indie or self publishing success:

1. “I would like to see more of an acceptance of the hybrid model in the #UK.” @TheCreativePenn to @LouisDressner http://ow.ly/lQD5j via @Porter_Anderson : this link points to June’s edition of the Contemporary Publishing Magazine on Issuzu – a UK based online mag.
2. Versus this in-depth opinion piece by Porter Anderson comparing our two recent huge book fairs – BEA and London, where London wins over with it’s large Authorsure Lounge for authors, and the BEA’s most successful author stall was purchased by a group of successful self-publishers.) Ether for Authors: How London Beat BEA’s Pants Off

• RT @cateartios: Better Blogging and Better Business http://goo.gl/wGHy2 via @janeanedavis
• Plant book seeds long in advance if you want to harvest the publicity crop later http://feedly.com/k/11xZ8Ro

Strictly Indie

• “How to make your eBook text file into a print-on-demand edition” Roz Morris at Writers and Artists http://www.writersandartists.co.uk/writers/advice/390/self-publishing/considering-self-publishing/
• “Top 5 Book Design Layout Errors Illustrated” http://feedly.com/k/11C4s9v
• “The Book Promotion Checklist for Indie Authors” http://feedly.com/k/13jUkzf
• “The Business Rusch: The Stages of An Indie Writer « Kristine Kathryn Rusch” http://feedly.com/k/12I8a4W
• 21 Things You Need to Know About Self-Publishing 2.0 | Copyblogger http://buff.ly/11d8b9r
• Self-published ebook sales reach 20% of genre market http://buff.ly/171QBhK via @guardian

Writing Life

• “Writer Unboxed » Funny Oxymorons for Writers” http://writerunboxed.com/2013/04/29/funny-oxymorons-for-writers/
• The Power of OFF CJ Lyons http://buff.ly/14reJ9I
• “11 Rules of Good Writing That Iain M. Banks Left as His Legacy” http://io9.com/11-rules-of-good-writing-that-iain-m-banks-left-as-his-512191076
• “Marketing is Destroying the Science Fiction Genre – Amazing Stories” http://feedly.com/k/12bmQma

The Big Issue: Bullying, Racism and Misogyny in Writing

• Chuck Wendig links to several examples on this in “25 Things To Know About Sexism & Misogyny In Writing & Publishing”http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2013/06/10/25-things-to-know-about-sexism-misogyny-in-writing-publishing/
• while this light-hearted look at book covers visualises the problem. “Coverflip: Maureen Johnson Calls For An End To Gendered Book Covers With An Amazing Challenge (IMAGES)” http://feedly.com/k/11mPfvN.
• And unfortunately, the issues are still having to be discussed even as of today, with Jamie Todd Rubin blogging about it in On Bullying, Racism, Sexism and Intolerance in the Science Fiction/Fantasy community.

Note – this is an issue for all writing genres, although currently highlighted in the Science Fiction community. However, it’s not confined to writers – as a woman, and somebody of some ethnic origins, I’ve found similar everywhere I go. Australia has, over the past two weeks, also had to take another look at it’s own ideology, with racist comments within the AFL, and this week misogyny becoming a platform for political battles in two different instances. We all need to consider these issues as they remain real within our societies.