When Is a Haiku Like a Potato?

The Blogosphere's big.
New posts pass by so quickly,
I can not catch them

My haiku's lame, but the sentiment's real; I can't keep up with the blogs I want to follow and know I miss good posts.

We have little time
To read. Attention splinters.
Thank God for mash-ups.

In the blogosphere, a mash-up offers links to posts the mash-up's writer considers important in some way: funny, heartfelt, thought-provoking, or irritatingly true. This one links to posts I've caught myself thinking about hours and days after reading them. If you missed these essays the first time around, give them a look now.

At Savor the Storm, August McLaughlin is doing a series of articles labeled Lifesaving Resolutions. The most recent is about trusting one's instincts. It features a gripping, real-life incident that will make you pause and look behind you before you board the next elevator. The other posts in McLaughlin's series are must-reads, too, as is her essay about battling anorexia.

Ginger Calem, I Am Blogger—Hear Me Tweet, continues her Writer's Butt exercise and healthy-living tips. Oh, mama! Calem's a tough but funny taskmaster. Her latest post offers the possibility of sleep--but we have to earn it.

At Occasional Epiphanies, Emma Burcart sets a ground rule for friends who insist on fixing her up with eligible men: she doesn’t do dumb and boring. All the single ladies should read and heed Burcart's advice.

Gene Lempp's blog, Unearthing the Future, offers at least two gem-like posts per week. One of them, "Designing from Bones," uses archeology as a springboard for story ideas. Are you muttering that archeology has nothing to do with your contemporary romance? Think again. Find Lempp's latest DFB post here.

Smart comic relief hangs out at Coleen Patrick's blog, Read. Write. Repeat. Could you write your life's story in six words? She did: Making it up as I go. Now write your own super-short memoir.

I missed superb posts
That you, I hope, caught and read.
Do a mash-up, please.

Links for Writers

Got linky-links? Why, yes, I do.

This set is targeted toward writers, and the links point to essays or sites that mostly interest or entertain, but one of them nudge us into dropping a bad habit or two. (All right, already! I'll drink more water.)

First up, romantic comedy/mystery writer Anne R. Allen points out the flaws in nine frequently repeated pieces of writing advice. Here's how she counters the chestnut that all protagonists must be admirable: "Saints are boring in fiction, unless they liberate France and get burned at the stake, and that’s been done." Read her full post here.

Chuck Wendig, whose debut novel, DOUBLE DEAD, comes out this month, shares the twenty-five qualities a book must have to keep him (and the rest of us) reading. The following is from trait #16: "A story that becomes something other than it seems — that pivots hard and shows you a whole new face — is a powerful thing, and compelling enough to drag me into its turbulent waters." Wendig's full post is here.

Jenny Hansen, the writer behind the More Cowbell blog, offers three rules for success in writing and in life.

Social-media expert Kristen Lamb reminds writers that health comes before wealth and is essential to maintaining page counts. Here, she offers tips for getting and staying in tip-top shape.

Blogger Coleen Patrick takes a look at some novels' memorable first lines. What's your favorite?

Having trouble maintaining your NaNo word count? This site is all kibble, no stick.

Finally, Kristan Hoffman offers writers two quizzes to test our understanding of what really matters to readers. Hint: it's not the number of our Twitter followers. Test yourself here.