13/ Daily Writing

I've started playing with a new project on my website: a daily blog. For the most part, it is hidden, but I'm not great with coding, so with enough looking, you'll stumble across it.

A lot of this idea comes from Cory Doctorow said on the Writing Excuses podcast (thank you, Trey, for the recommendation):

The thing that blogging for me does is a way to be reflective instead of reflexive about all the fragmentary ideas that cross my transom.

Although he says he'd do it whether people read it or not, he says that there's a "powerfully pneumonic element to gathering these things and explaining them for notional strangers."

By blogging in the open, I am aware that some of you may read it, which means I have to make a little bit of sense and be open to criticism—which can be a terrifying thing.

The benefit is that my ideas and links have been pre-vetted, and so I can share five of my favourite things a little more quickly at the end of the week.

1

OneLook Dictionary has recently become my go-to website to search for words (even replacing Related Words). Special thanks to my student, K, for the recommendation.

2

It's always important to remember the differences between aah, ah, ahh, aw, and awe.

Bonus: it's also important to remember your rules for writing numbers.

3

After posting his five things for the newsletter, Trey shared with me Voracious Readers Only, which matches readers and authors together so that they can generate word-of-mouth for your book.

4

I've been cleaning up my photos lately and was remind of the periodic table of storytelling. Enjoy!

5

Look at the recently opened bookstore Dujiangyan Zhongshuge, located in Chengdu.