A few interesting stories I came across this week:

On the Create Write Now site, writer Joy Held encourages writer wellness and challenges with five things for your writing.

At IngramSpark, writer Scott La Counte explains how to promote a book on social media.

Derek Hanes at Just Publishing Advice discusses using a free starter series to sell more books.

BBC News has a life-imitates-myth story where an eight-year-old girl pulls a 1,500-year-old sword from a lake in Sweden.

Continuing with the “children leading us” theme, Good News Network has what we hope will be good news indeed: 14-year-old girl wins $25k for a scientific breakthrough that could lead to a Covid-19 cure.

Here’s some fun stuff I came across this week:

Over at Scriptmag, writer Ray Morton delves into the best exposition scene ever written.

Writer Katie Buller provides a fabulous resource roundup for authors. (I hope to be added to her “Amazing Author Blogs” one day!)

At Ingramspark, writer Penny C. Sansevieri outlines 11 things you need to plan for holiday sales.

Writer Derek Haines at Just Publishing Advice gives us some news we can all use: 20 practical ways you can make money blogging.

For those of you who followed Bitter Script Reader (I did for years!), he’s been revealed. Scott Myers interviews him over at Go Into the Story.

Check out these cool stories I came across this week:

Get social! At Freelance Writing Gigs, writer Kimberly Black shares info on the Benefits of Networking with Other Freelance Writers.

Speaking of social – be sure you do it right. Jeanne Veillette Bowerman at Script Magazine has some advice on social media etiquette.

For the DIY crowd, Derek Haines at Just Publishing Advice shows us all how to format an ebook in Microsoft Word.

Writer Katie Buller outlines self-care for authors – advice we would all do well to heed.

File this under “Love the Environment”: Good News Network shares a story by Andy Corbley about a super enzyme that eats plastic bottles.

Check out these interesting and helpful tidbits I came across this week:

• Matt Ott, one of my colleagues, penned this timely and thought-provoking piece on personal resilience.

• Every writer has questions from time to time. Writer’s Digest has some publishing FAQs with answers.

• Why have your characters walk into a room when they can amble, shuffle, stagger, and so on? One of the readers of Go Into The Story provides a PDF of 115 words for “walk” and a bonus PDF of 90 words for “look.”

• Writer Clarissa Gosling has a series of blog posts about the process of self-publishing that are well worth your time.

• If you’re planning to do National Novel Writing Month (held in November) this year, be sure to check out The Ultimate Guide to Planning for NaNoWriMo by writer Savannah Gilbo. This comprehensive guide is chock full of good info on novel-planning for any month.

• Just for fun: The Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest winners and “dishonorable mentions” of really bad writing. Hilarous!

A few interesting and helpful things I found this week:

• Bluecat makes a solid case that there are no screenwriting rules, and it’s quite liberating.

• Over at Writer’s Digest, there’s sage advice in this article: Secrets of the self-employed: Tips for freelance writers.

• Speaking of advice, Just Publishing Advice has a nice piece on how to use a landing page to promote your book.

• Running short of ideas? Check out this list of 300 story ideas from Go Into the Story. The blog is written by Scott Myers, who is the most generous man on the planet.

• Writer Tony Woodlief has penned an exquisite essay on healing our societal wounds.

A few interesting things I found this week:

• If you’re into history and want to dig into some intriguing details, I suggest a visit to History the Interesting Bits.

• Over on his website, Steven Pressfield discusses the need for historical fiction and its ability to portray notions such as honor and integrity in a way that contemporary literature cannot.

• While you’re on Pressfield’s site, take advantage of all the expertise he imparts. I recommend starting here.

• Writer Melanie Roussel has an informative and entertaining post on technobabble. This is a must read for those who write science fiction or speculative fiction.

• Just Publishing Advice explains how to copy and paste a link or book URL correctly. Honestly, I didn’t think about this topic much before stumbling onto this post. Good info.

• Eager to visit the Sistine Chapel but too busy to travel? Not to worry, you can take a virtual tour through the Musei Vaticani site. Be sure to visit its other museums and other virtual tours.

A few interesting things I found this week:

• Go Into The Story illustrates in a 10-part series how to generate and critique story ideas.

• Over at ScriptMag: the lies screenwriters tell themselves.

• Mockingbird has an amusing essay on shame in the time of choosing your Zoom background precisely.

• Just Publishing Advice lays out its defense of the split infinitive (and I agree).

One of my New Year’s resolutions is to revise the I’m a Fan post on Wednesdays to link to several helpful or entertaining items instead of highlighting one per week. Like so:

• From Freelance Writing Gigs: a list of suggested movies for writers.

• Over at Just Publishing Advice: info on self-publishing audiobooks.

• Go Into the Story outlines the importance of telling people your deadline.

• At Scriptmag: a valuable primer on subtext.

• Good News Networks shares the story of a kid (and possible future historian) who finds an ancient sword the first time he uses a metal detector.