Note: Videos may auto start with sound so be prepared.
Memoir (Poverty)
A personal narrative about living with poverty that demonstrates the lack of awareness shown in most financial advice targeting those at the edge of the economy.
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41848-if-you-ve-never-lived-in-poverty-stop-telling-poor-people-what-they-should-do
Social media (Promotion)
It’s a rant, but within the article are many good tips on how to interact on social media in an appropriate fashion. Even if the behavior isn’t your issue, it’s worth reading for aspects of marketing on social media you might not have heard of.
https://ask.aliannedonnelly.com/2017/09/13/social-media-etiquette-101-the-business-side/
Research (Medicine)
Innovative research into exercises-resistant conditions such as chronic fatigue and ME has produced some interesting results about how these diseases produce the symptom patterns they do.
https://www.healthrising.org/blog/2017/08/16/invasive-exercise-tests-chronic-fatigue-fibromyalgia-autoimmunity/
Romance (Criticism)
A reasoned response to the New York Times piece on modern romance novels that takes apart the assumptions and the ignorance behind the original article and cuts to the heart of what the genre is and is doing quite effectively. The last six paragraphs are particular gems.
https://jezebel.com/heres-how-not-to-critique-romance-novels-1819188174/amp
NaNo (Writing)
Three simple (or not so simple) tips to help you finish your NaNo this month. I don’t necessarily do everything she suggested, but I can see how they might help folks get through the month.
http://barelyharebooks.com/3-tips-to-help-you-slam-dunk-nanowrimo-2017/
RSS - Posts
Interesting article about social media. The section about GoFundMe needs an update. Patreon is the legitimate way to get people to fund your art. I suspect it works because it’s set up specifically for that purpose, unlike GoFundMe, which really seems to be about getting over an unexpected crisis.
I’d read the article about the NYT critic writing about romance before. I’ve never seen an article, though, that touches on the aspect of the romance genre that I find most troubling. The critic talks about the spy genre as the male equivalent. And both have the same problem-the patriarchal toxic masclinity is often celebrated. All those “alpha males”. The kiss to shut her up. Guys overprotecting women. And so on. It’s hard for me to find a romance I want to read these days because I want to read stories where equals love each other and are actual friends and partners. They’re rare, but unless our stories start reflecting a society that doesn’t foster fake rape, etc. our cultural attitudes won’t change.
I thought the NaNo advice was particularly good because the focus was on the broader picture, not just getting the specific word count. It was about writing a good book. The word count was almost superfluous to the writer. Almost. 😉
The last is why the NaNo article jumped the queue. Its advice is useful generally, but especially for NaNo where all too often people are encouraged to put in junk when they start slowing down that just makes the editing process a nightmare.
Sweet romance and Inspy romance are less likely to find those themes, and I’m seeing it just as often mocked as used, but there’s definitely a portion of the romance audience that finds peace in those toxic traditions over the confusion of today. My favorite stories are ones where the male and female characters are equally thrown, but a runner up is a well-written one where the male attempts to dominate and is put in his place but then both learn neither should be in control but rather it’s a joint effort. That said, I recently explored the erotica side of romance on a whim, and what I found there, though usually good about consent, is rather scarily focused on power issues and has some, to me, disturbing trends, so there’s clearly an audience driven by the alpha male archetype. I like how the Kate Daniels books (urban fantasy by Ilona Andrews) handle that question because the leader of a were pack has to be alpha, but his mate is just as much an alpha to the pack.
Good point on Patreon. The options are changing so rapidly, it’s hard to keep up. Best to read and research widely.
On NaNo-A lot of people, including those who think they can write a saleable book, forget that there’s more to a book than word coun when they’re in the frenzy to hit that 50k goal. When I completed NaNo, I wasn’t trying to write a book I intended to sell. I wanted a coherent story that came in at 50K or more. I accomplished that. But there’s no way it could ever sell because it’s lacking some crucial story elements. I don’t love it enough to put in the work to add them and edit that novel. So, I agree wholeheartedly with your important point about editing. 🙂
:). Whereas I write just like I always do, the only difference being significant world building I put in the text marked by square brackets because those words should count. Then I get frustrated at having done so when I edit, but… I’ve also given up on completing a novel during November. Back when I was capable of writing 100k-120k in a month, I did a full book. Now, I only finish the story if it’s one of my 50k-65k series, and then I’m often adding a little more afterwards.