Port of Call

The Daily Port of Call: May 22, 2014

Photo by Alexander Lvov/bigstockphoto.com

Photo by Alexander Lvov/bigstockphoto.com

In today’s Daily Port of Call, you’ll find author platforms, life lessons, and the creator’s role in creating.

Explore the process of building your author platform and what all the fuss is about.

Here are seven reasons not to name a character in your story.

Discover these five life lessons from women writers.

Your characters need dilemmas: find out what giving your characters tough choices does for your story.

Five lessons learned from writing I Kill the Mockingbird.

Steven Pressfield explains the creator’s role: “The artist’s job is to midwife her creation, which is at bottom not hers at all but a force of its own and on its own. Our role is to let it come forth, like a mother bearing new life.”

Here are five ways a subplot improves your book.

The Daily Port of Call: May 21, 2014

Photo by Alexander Lvov/bigstockphoto.com

Photo by Alexander Lvov/bigstockphoto.com

In today’s Daily Port of Call, you’ll find Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf, a tip to fix a sprawling plot, and an initiative to encourage diversity in children’s books.

JRR Tolkien’s translation of Beowulf will hit the shelves tomorrow after an almost ninety-year wait.

Find out what people are really saying when they say, “You can’t do it.”

Discover this tip to help writers fix an incoherent and sprawling plot.

Here are suggestions for making your title competitive.

A new initiative encourages diversity in books for children

Would you try reading cell phone novels?

Read this interview with Colum McCann, One Story’s 2014 Mentor of the Year.