Instagram | My Books | ShopMy Recommendations
Everything I Saved for You
Dear Readers,
You might know that I am a writer. I know that many of you are now thinking “uh yes I signed up for this newsletter at a book event” but people come to this Substack in all sorts of different ways. So, yes, I am a writer. I am also a freelance editor and writing teacher, which means I don’t just spend a lot of time writing, I spend a lot of time talking about writing, thinking about writing, and teaching writing.
Some concepts are tricky to explain; some grammatical rules are just, simply, easier to show via examples from a reference article. So as I go through the world, I save things to share with people when the need arises. I save things that are relevant to my own work, or even that might be someday. I save things that inspire me!
Since I’ve been talking with a lot of folks recently about writing, its fundamentals, and things that have helped me over the years, it felt like a great time to just put this all out there. If it helps you, FANTASTIC. If not, scroll down for some recommendations and a cats photo (and a Cats video), of course.
xoxoAmy
Grammar, Language, Punctuation, That Sort of Stuff
Avoiding Filter Words — fixing this makes everyone’s prose better!
On Starting a Sentence with an -ing Word — in general, DO NOT!
Getting Started
POV & Interiority
Point of View Issues and Solutions by Rebecca Makkai
57 Senses or Things Your Character May Be Aware Of
Extreme Emotion without Melodrama
Characterization, etc.
15 Character Development Exercises
A Guide to Finding a Character’s Voice
How to Create a Character Mood Board
8 Character Development Exercises
Character Motivation Worksheet
Plot
Everything I Ever Thought About Plot is Wrong Part 2 from
Tension & Conflict
Making Things Tense (also about openings)
Scenes
On Scene-Writing by Edan Lepucki
Dialogue
Using Cue Words to Write Better Dialogue from
How I Write Dialogue by Emily St. James
Improving Dialogue without Anything Else Going On
Just Stuff I Liked a Lot OK!
“Do I Have To Disclose I Used AI In My Query Letter?” from
Spoiler: Yes, He’s in Love with Her from
“How to Write a Novel with the Kitchen Sink Thrown In” by Amber Sparks
You’re Writing a Book. So Stop Writing a Movie. by
On Feedback, Summary, and Teaching from
How I Research a Novel by Matt Bell
Write Better Fiction by Reading Like a Book Reviewer
A Guide to Interiority In the Personal Essay and Memoir by Alexander Chee
On Feeling Free and Writing a Novel
Weirdly Specific Writing Prompts
What Happened When I Posted Weirdly Specific Writing Prompts
“Plotless Novels” & What Romance Can Teach Us about Good Writing from
In addition to a cat photo, you should watch Skimbleshanks on The Tonight Show!
Consumption
Cooking
This is a side dish but I made them again this week so they are fresh on my mind. I am obsessed with these roasted sweet potatoes with miso honey butter and furikake (this is my favorite furikake). I threw these in a slop bowl with some veggies, couscous, hummus, etc., and they were perfect.
Listening
It took me a minute to get to it but I am ABSOLUTELY OBSESSED with Olivia Rodrigo’s latest record! So original and of the moment and yet still so in-tune with influences and inspirations. She’s like half my age and yet we clearly love so many of the same things.
Unsweating
OK this is a caveated recommendation. I got Carpe’s Sweat Absorbing Face Lotion, and it does seem to help. I am extremely oily and greasy and I also sweat a lot so summer is dumb for me. I’ve been wearing this and do feel like I’m either sweating less OR somehow I am still sweating but like my face looks less greasy despite? THAT SAID I had two tiny breakouts since I got it. It could just be because it’s hot out or it could be hormones or yeah perhaps this is the cause. I DON’T KNOW. I keep using it because the breakouts have been under my bangs and no one knows and also they aren’t as bad as sweating more IMO. OK!
Defining
I am always reading advice from makeup artists (that’s how I found out about the face lotion!), and another tip I read recently was for women of a certain age (GEN X let’s just say!!!) maximizing some definition made a difference, and recommended a light touch with brown eyeliner as part of your casual no-makeup look. I started doing this almost immediately, and luckily the very inexpensive Colorstay by Revlon was recommended a ton when I googled, and I do think it adds a subtle improvement without doing much more at all. Anyway, Millennials and youngers, you can probably ignore this one FOR NOW. Age comes for us all, if you’re lucky. Even you!
Books
It’s the last week of Pride — consider supporting a member of the LGBTQ+ community by getting one of her books!
Look how nice they look as a whole set!!!
More Info about Out in Hollywood
Thanks for reading Notes from Amy Spalding! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
All I want to do is do nothing and drink Diet Coke but alas I must do “things”
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.