Category Archives: Weekly Hodge-Podge

Fiction, Poetry and Nonfiction Selected by The New York Times Book Review – NYTimes.com.

100 notable books of 2012.

Films Dispense With Storytelling Conventions – NYTimes.com.

“We live in interesting narrative times…”

The Art of Being Still – NYTimes.com.

The Obstacles, Perks, Terrains, and Ultimate Cataclysms of: Writing a Book..

Blog post on the writing process, and its trials and tribulations.

3 Ways to Get Your Story Unstuck | WritersDigest.com.

Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips – Once Upon A Sketch.

Dr. Mary Ellen Miller « I Breathe Words.

Seanna presents Dr. Miller in the latest writing profile.

Here it is a whole day early. Hope everyone is having a good break.

When to use i.e. in a sentence – The Oatmeal.

Pretty self explanatory.

I got duped by Glenn Beck! – Salon.com.

Glenn Beck bought the rights to somebody’s dystopian novel, then used it as right-wing propoganda.

Guillermo del Toro explains the biggest mistake people make in telling stories for children.

Interview on children’s stories with Guillermo del Toro

Tim Ferriss and Amazon Try to Reinvent Publishing – NYTimes.com.

On publishing’s open future.

A geek with a hat » Cool thing Thursday: Leanpub.

A great way to begin publishing ebooks. Publish your work over time and readers “follow” your progress. This works in similar ways to things like Twitter where you follow a post. In this way, you are continually getting feedback on your story.

The Up-Goer Five Text Editor.

Can you describe something really complicated using the thousand most common english words?

Dr. Jeff Rice « I Breathe Words.

Check out Seanna’s IBW for Dr. Rice’s writing profile.

The Way We Talk | Ploughshares.

Writer Thomas Lee gives tips on what works and what doesn’t work for writing dialogue.

Why Stories Should Never Begin At The Beginning.

Why hooking the audience matters more than telling a chronological series of events.

How (& Where) to Get a Short Story Published | WritersDigest.com.

Publishing short stories for beginners.

Universal Discoveries Made By All High School Writers | Thought Catalog.

Have you ever re-read your high school pieces? This author shares her nostalgic experience.

I Might Owe ‘Twilight’ a Small, Begrudging Apology – Ashley Fetters – The Atlantic.

ITS FINALLY OVER! THANK THE GOD OF GOOD LITERATURE EVERYWHERE!!!

25 Things You (Probably) Didn’t Know About The Hobbit – IGN.

Still anticipating this. Who else is going to see it on opening night?

literary jukebox.

Interesting project somebody created that merges classic literary quotes with song. Would this be something we could achieve here on the EMW?

Paul Ryan And His Anti-Comic Book Gaffe | Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors.

Editorial on Paul Ryan’s derogatory stance on comics/Obama

14 tips for writing a book in 29 days… and then doing it again the next month.

How do your characters handle confrontation? | Pubmission: The Blog.

4 Ways to Revise as You Write Your Novel | WritersDigest.com

3 links for novel writers. Probably aren’t many of you considering how close we are to the end of the semester, but it may be worth revisiting these during Christmas break.

8 Strange Rituals of Productive Writers | Copyblogger.

The 13 Worst Reviews of Classic Books.

Even classic literature suffered from a few negative nancies.

Lee Martin « I Breathe Words.

Another writer profile from Seanna, this time on Lee Martin.

Dr. Jane Olmsted « I Breathe Words.

Eric Goodman « I Breathe Words.

A couple of excellent profiles from Seanna’s blog.

“New” Tolkien Epic Hitting the Shelves – IGN.

You read that right. Christopher (Tolkien’s son) is publishing his father’s as yet unfinished epic poem “The Fall of Arthur”, chronicling King Arthur’s tales.

Why you shouldn’t mock aspiring writers « The Wise Sloth.

Got the writer’s blues? Need something to cheer you up? This editorial praises writers and their efforts.

This is How You Win Her: Junot Diaz Speaks at BookCourt Brooklyn « Frontier Psychiatrist.

Interview of acclaimed author Junot Diaz.

Is Your Manuscript Ready? 10 Tips to Help Figure it Out | Word (en)Count(ers).

When is your manuscript ready to query? It’s the question every writer asks at least once.

8 Unstoppable Rules For Writing Killer Short Stories.

Good advice for short story writers.

Book Character Costumes for Halloween | WritersDigest.com.

Still havent found a costume for Halloween? Try dressing up like your favorite literary characters. The article above can help.

Geoff Nunberg On The Significance Of Language Wars : NPR.

Interesting read on the history of “the proper use of language.”

13 Little-Known Punctuation Marks We Should Be Using – Mental Floss.

I doubt these would be acceptable in most college papers but you could argue for them if that is something you’re passionate about.

Philip Hensher: Why handwriting matters | Books | The Observer.

For those like myself who miss the old days of pen and paper.

Margaret Atwood’s 10 Rules of Writing | Brain Pickings.

Atwood gives us some guidelines to consider.

Write Fiction that Grabs Readers from Page One | WritersDigest.com.

Strategies for En Medias Res.

Why I Write: Timothy Ferris on Writing to Learn – National Writing Project.

Timothy Ferris, who has been called “the best science writer of his generation,” discusses why he writes—and the importance of writing about science.

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This is an early screenshot from a fiction writing software being developed that I grabbed from Reddit. Looks like it could turn out be be pretty useful.

Writer Profiles « I Breathe Words.

This last one I want to particularly emphasize. Seanna has developed this blog for writers as a tool to enhance their craft. Particularly, the writers she has profiled on her site are none other than our very own Dr. Bell, McCaffrey, and Hunley. If you would like to learn more about your professors and what their motivations are in terms of their writings, you should check out her interviews at the link provided.

Welcome, readers, to the first ‘podge of the semester. Normally these went up every Friday last semester, but due to my erratic schedule i’ll be posting them promptly on Sundays.

First things first though: Dr. Rice would like to invite students within the department to participate with us in BATMAN FRIDAYS. For those who have not had Dr. Rice in class, this simply means that you should wear any Batman related shirt or apparel on Friday from now on. Come on. You know you want to. Seriously guys were trying to make this a thing and we would really like to see it catch on. So, each Friday from now till the end of the semester you should wear your Batman related swag or risk ridicule from myself and the rest of your peers. All the cool kids are doing it.

Without further ado, here is the weekly ‘podge:

9 Unfinished Novels by Great Writers « PWxyz.

The link above will take you to nine novels that were left unfinished by their original authors. Have you read any of these?

The Selfish Meme – Frank Rose – The Atlantic.

An interesting study that proves just how self absorbed we all are.

How To Sell and Market Literary Fiction With Terri Giuliano Long – YouTube.

For those interested in self publishing, author Terri Giuliano Long shares her experiences. Their accents are also adorable.

100 Character Development Questions for Writers | Gather.

Next time you are in your character development process ask yourself these questions. I found this a very useful tool for some of my more recent stories.

Anne gives writing advice 09.18.12 – YouTube.

Writing advice from a seasoned author. Not to mention she is dressed to impress.

The Daily Illini :: English majors receive advice on real-world jobs.

Advice to majors on the next chapter after graduation.

The Ideas that Inspired The Hobbit, Animal Farm & 8 Other Famous Books | WritersDigest.com.

The inspiration behind some classic literature. Maybe this will give you some inspiration of your own.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Official Trailer 2 [HD] – YouTube.

Last, but certainly not least. Are we all stoked for this?