by N. R. M. Roshak Editor’s note: This piece is part of an occasional series titled “Writing by Other Means,” in which authors share personal experiences and industry intel around different production contexts and writing tools. Contributions will be published as often as distinct perspectives emerge. My laptop is my mainstay. Between online-only submissions and […]
by Marie Croke Editor’s note: This piece is part of an occasional series titled “Writing by Other Means,” in which authors share personal experiences and industry intel around different production contexts and writing tools. Contributions will be published as often as distinct perspectives emerge. From phones and tablets to computers, we all tend to fall […]
by Austin Conrad How do you move forward when stuck on telling a story? Sometimes the best way is to play your story at the gaming table. A roleplaying game’s collaborative creativity is a fun and effective method of discovery “writing” your way through writer’s block. Better yet, this can be used whether you’re writing […]
by Georgina Kamsika Have you ever read something that you knew was incorrect? Sometimes, research has fallen short of convincing people who know better, even though other readers might not notice anything wrong. For those who know, it can be jarring and pull them out of the story. How would you feel if that error […]
By Jason P. Burnham Did you know that the human body has fewer human cells than it does microorganisms? Fortuitously, Dr. Scientist knew that—and they will be your teacher on this journey to incorporate microbiomes into your fiction. How can you portray Dr. Scientist’s very important microbiome research in your next story? Is our scientist […]
By Shawn Proctor Whether you enroll in a writing workshop or writer’s group, there is a premium placed on critique as the main path to improving your craft. Peer writers working on the same elements of character, plot, voice, and pacing are excellent partners for highlighting a story’s foibles and fumbles and offering suggestions to […]
by Jeremy Zentner Spaceships have been iconic in science fiction ever since Jules Verne wrote From the Earth to the Moon. There are many features for writers to consider when designing their craft, including microgravity, faster-than-light (FTL) capabilities, journey time, habitation and resources, whether there’s a menacing AI on board, and so much more. In […]
By Austin Conrad Writing in the genre of tabletop games has a lot of similarities to fiction writing when it comes to character, plot, and setting. However, the needs of interactive fiction require the adventure game writer to adapt how they approach narrative structure and typographical presentation. To understand how these two creative endeavors differ, […]
By Holly Henderson As much as science fiction and fantasy writers love wandering the vast worlds that exist in our imaginations, the journey there can be difficult when we have the weight of daily life to carry with us. Forge a shortcut by creating a writing ambience that’s custom-made for your story. Getting all your […]
By Ursula Whitcher My first fictional love was tabletop role-playing games, from Dungeons & Dragons and ’90s classics like Vampire: The Masquerade to indie hits such as Visigoths vs. Mall Goths. After all that gaming, I thought I knew how to tell stories. But when I began trying to write and sell short fiction, I […]
Twelve new magical mysteries explore why the tooth fairies have grown impatient, why the flavour is gone, who raided the squirrels’ nut bank, a competition whose prize is death, a psychic serial killer, and the brutal murder of a heroic woodsman.
R. Gary Raham writes science fact and science fiction. Raham’s writing has been known to make a reader laugh and think simultaneously with no known deleterious effects.
