This week on the bookish internet

• Robert McKee meditates on an intimidating list of ten things he believes writers need to create characters. (LitHub)
• Lyndsie Manusos offers a guide to slipstream fiction. (Book Riot)
• Alison Flood reports on efforts to keep a trove of handwritten documents by nineteenth century British literary luminaries in librarian and museum curator hands, rather than going into a private collection. (The Guardian)
• Matthew Norman cannot stop embarrassing himself when he encounters authors whose work he loves. This round up of moments is hilarious and adorable. (LitHub)
• Emma Leff argues that science fiction and fantasy offer a place to imagine LGBT+ characters in places without homophobia. (Tor)
• Alison Doherty scoured Twitter for examples of a delightful meme: people deleting their dating apps to meet people the old-fashioned—and highly literary—way. (Book Riot)
• Claire Cock-Starkey reveals that the asterisk goes back a lot further than any of us realized. (Lapham’s Quarterly)