Hi, and welcome to the first of the fortnightly Write Thing Blog-Splosions!
Every day, I scour the Internet, looking for cool and entertaining things. Some of them you’ll have seen before, others might be new.
Once a fortnight, I’m going to post a summary of the interesting things I’ve stumbled across. If you see something you like, then shoot me an email – pip@piphunn.com – and I’ll consider it for inclusion in the Blog-Splosion.
Onto the goodies!
Poetry
Hatikva Pascal’s Volcanic Poetry
Hatikva normally writes in Romanian, but got inspired by Eyjafjallajökull. The result is pretty cool. There’s a phoenetic guide to pronouncing the volcano’s name here.
Robert Terrell at Existential Haiku lays out some savage syllabic beats for us.
English language
The Learn English articles blog has a post up on common English prefixes. The list quickly covers some common prefixes and their meanings.
Writing rants
Mia Taylor at Online University Reviews has an article on 10 writers who were jailed for their work. I’m not advocating trying to emulate them, but it’s an interesting collection of literary figures. Says the blog;
“These 10 listed in the article endure an atrocious and unwarranted fate for the supposed “crime” of expressing themselves. Please take some time to explore these other stories as well – doing so will open eyes to the disgusting acts intended to squelch justice that tragically characterize everyday life for millions of men, women, and children across the globe.”
The Reading Ape has posted a thought-provoking rant on hoping for the end of fate Mindless application of fate has been a long-standing bug-bear of mine, and I’m glad to see the Ape demolishing it in such a comprehensive fashion.
Kelli Petersen at Boho in the ‘Burbs outlines the drawbacks of ghost-writing, as dramatically compared to putting your kids up for adoption
Inspiration / Materials
Slightly incongruously, Isabella Smith at the Radiation Technology Schools blog has a groovy article on the 50 filthiest jobs on the planet. These messy jobs and the hardworking men and women tasked with them on a daily basis require exposure to hazardous chemicals or gases, disease-carrying microbes, dirt, and numerous other dirty, disgusting dangers. Great for inspiration!
The Uncanny Valley is an interesting phenomenon. After reading the Wikipedia page, head over to Erik Sofge’s analysis of the idea and see where technology’s at now. Asimov, eat your heart out!
The Business
Over Missy Frye‘s way, she’s posted an article titled ’6 Simple Secrets for Writing a Query Letter that Gets Results’. The inestimable Lady Frye says ‘Your query has one job: to get the industry pro to ask for more. In order for that all-important “tell me more” to happen, your query letter must say 6 critical things about you and your project.’ Check it out!
Erin Deedy at the World of Peachtree Publishers has some hints and tips for your submissions in So you want to submit a manuscript…
Community
Natalie Thomas at Online Degree has given us the 50 best places to meet other book lovers online. Rumor has it that book lovers would rather be alone at home on a Saturday night snuggled to a book than anything else. No matter how true or false this is for you, there is something that makes reading more enjoyable when you have someone to share it with.
That’s all for this fortnight! I’ll be back to posting regular blog updates come tomorrow, May 5th. In the meantime, if you spot anything interesting around the net, shoot me an email and let me know.
Cheers;
Pip
