Tag: Vintage Links

Every Friday I go through my well over-stocked folder of blog posts, articles, and other online produce that’s been marked “To Read” and clear out a handful. The best of them–aka those that still seem interesting or useful here in 2019–get posted here (and you can see the previous instalments using the Vintage Links tag). At some point I should find a version of that intro that I like and repeat it for every future instalment, but today is not that day. THE SECRET STRUCTURE OF GREAT TALKS (Nancy Duerte, 2011) Watch it here I spend a lot of time talking to people about writing–both now, and back in my dayjob at the writers centre–and about 50% of the gig is trying to get people excited about their own work and trying new ideas out (Heck, it’s 50% of the gig in regular blogging as well). This talk may have originated in 2011, but it floated through my feed in

It’s Friday, September 30, and so I launch into the fifth instalment of my Vintage Links series. It’s been an interesting week clearing the To-Read folder, as i’ve had my first run of posts/articles that were either a) no longer online, or b) now taken over by godawful spam sites that have camped on the former name. The Bizarre, Complicated Formula for Literary Fame (Joshua Rothman for the New Yorker, 2015) Read it at the New Yorker’s Website When you work in a writers centre, you tend to accumulate articles about how various writers get famous or made a giant splash. They’re almost always talking about outliers, because the kinds of folks who get the big coverage are exceptions to the rule, but they’re also the source of information for how publishing works for many new writers. They assume every successful writer’s career trajectory mirrors Stephen Kings, or Dan Browns, or JK Rowlings, or…well, you get the idea. This…isn’t one

The Vintage Links series is an attempt to clear 600+ bookmarked links I compiled over a period of six years, mostly coinciding with the period in which I worked for Queensland Writers Centre. It involves a lot of stuff I flagged because it would be useful at work, in my own process, or just plain useful. Every week I gather together four of the best links I came across while clearing out the bookmarks folder on my browser, presenting a grab-bag of interesting stuff. I’m going full Marie Kondo on those fuckers: everything is checked, thanked, and either deleted or properly filed so I don’t have to deal with it again. If you want to see more, you can see the prior instalments using the Vintage Links tag An Oral Hisotry of the Mortal Combat Movie (Aaron Couch for Hollywood Reporter, 2015) Read it at Hollywood Reporter I have a soft spot for video game adaptations. They’re very rarely great works of cenema,

Back in March, before my dad passed away, I’d started the Vintage Links project in order to put some structure around clearing my overstocked “To Read” folder. At time of writing, there are about 600 of them remaining, and I’m going full Marie Kondo on those fuckers: everything is checked, thanks, and either deleted or filed away so I don’t have to deal with it again. I got through two instalments before life went all kinds of chaotic, and I think it’s time to resume now that the year is settling down. This week I’m clearing a grab bag of useful links for writers and one particularly pretty short film that’s well worth giving ten minutes of your time (and if you want to see more, you can see the prior instalments using the Vintage Links tag). 9 Lessons from Phish and The Insane Clown Posse For Deep Fan Engagement (Fast Company, 2013) Read the post over at Fast Company