Wednesday links: Dos and Don’ts, and word origins

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few.

Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most over the past week.

1. 15 Things a Writer Should Never Do, from Writer’s Digest: Little bits of advice from the many authors the writer of this piece has spoken to over the years. It covers everything from basic writing skills to responding to reviews. Excerpt: “People often bemoan the surplus of contradictory advice in the writing world—but it’s there because there really is no yellow-brick road, and a diversity of perspectives allows you to cherry-pick what uniquely suits you and your abilities.”

And a bonus: 12 Words and Phrases That Origninated in the Funny Pages, from Mental Floss: I like learning the origins of words. And while I haven’t heard people say every one of the words/phrases in this list, I have heard a few of them. Excerpt: “Once upon a time, newspaper comic strips were as influential in molding American  pop culture (and the way we spoke) as television and social media are today.  Odds are we’ll still be using many of these terms long after we’ve stopped  describing people as ‘sponge-worthy’ and dismissing them by saying ‘talk to the  hand.’ “