Allow Me to Re-Introduce Myself
Welcome to the 100th issue of Inneresting! To celebrate this milestone, we’re showcasing some of our favorite evergreen links from our previous issues.
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Now, on to the links!
What We Link About When We Link About Writing
Paul Harrill shares Twyla Tharp’s habit of starting a new project by filling a physical box with ideas.
Chuck Wendig explains how Motivation, Action, and Consequences give characters agency.
Writes With Tools gathers advice about using contradictions to create useful internal conflicts in characters.
Michael Arndt breaks down the beginnings of Pixar films to show how they establish character and the conflict to come.
John screencasts a lesson on writing better scene description.
Blair Hurley asks writers to look to the margins of expected scenes for more interesting places to focus their story.
Let Me Give You An Example
Emily Temple highlights examples of syllabi from when famous writers taught classes on writing and literature.
Now You See It examines what makes dinner scenes a compelling storytelling device.
Gissane Sophia takes a deep dive into a scene from the Ted Lasso episode “All Apologies.”
Suzanne Grove breaks down short story openings to see how Raymond Carver crafts a narrative hook.
Think Story asks what makes a Meet Cute memorable.
Jeff Smith compiles a supercut of the dialogue cliché “You Just Don’t Get It, Do You?”
Writers Are People, Too
Rebecca Toh asks what could happen if you stop believing your negative thoughts.
From her 2010 book I Remember Nothing, Nora Ephron’s lists of what she will and won’t miss about being alive.
Shana Loga shares the science behind how she built her daily writing habit.
Farnham Street collects advice and techniques on how to practice deliberately to build your skills.
The Blog Make Your Own Rabbit Hole looks at the brain’s negativity bias and how it can hurt creative work.
Kelly Cordes asks you to consider that how fun an activity is depends on when (or if) you think of it as fun.
About This Newsletter
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from the entire Quote-Unquote team.
Come across something you think other readers might find inneresting? Reach out to Chris on Twitter @ccsont or email us at inneresting@johnaugust.com.
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