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In which geographical areas will the story take place? How much ground will the story cover? What are the most striking features of landscape, climate, animals, etc. in thisarea? How will these features affect travel time, communication, etc.?
If you are writing fiction that’s set at any point in the real world’s history, the subject of research can take up countless hours of time. The nitty details can tie up you up while writing anything from alternate history to urban fantasy. Sometimes though, you just need to know a quick date to set the background of your story.
Check out the Google News Timeline, as a quick place to start your search.
One of the things that bothers me sometimes when looking at world-building is the way people don’t think about where objects come from. What is the industry that fuels the region? Where does all that paper come from in Battlestar Galactica? So this essay on the origins of a pencil tickles me no end, and […]
by Justin Stanchfield Is writing science fiction or fantasy for younger markets really different? Well … Yes and No. It’s true that children’s lit, especially for early readers, can follow a simpler format than mainstream fiction. But … Everything you know about writing, all the rules, guidelines and advice you’ve been given before still applies. […]
by Terry McGarry Originally appeared in the Bulletin of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Spring 1995. Copyright © 1995 Terry McGarry. Reprinted with permission. Many copyeditors prefer to spell the word “copyeditor.” I laughed when I got page proofs of a short story I had written about a copyeditor: the anthology’s copyeditor […]
It’s the nature of writers to fall in love with words, particularly their own. Clever turns of phrase excite us; we beam like proud parents when our protagonists take on lives of their own; a shapely plot twist can turn our heads. There is nothing wrong with indulging in the occasional fling-as long as it stops in draft. When time comes to make that final revision, however, you must harden your heart, sharpen the ax and murder your darlings.
by Alexandra Elizabeth Honigsberg It’s often said that nothing learned goes to waste. Certainly we as writers find this is true. Everything is grist for the story mill. I’ve also noticed that, as I read the bios of my fellow authors, we have chequered pasts and still tend to wear several hats. I am no […]
by Dr. Debra Doyle The temptation, in arguments involving genre fiction and literary taste, is to give up and say, “Okay, I’m a philistine, not to mention an unlettered slob. I like the books anyway” — but dammit, I’m not an unlettered slob, I’m a professional writer with an earned doctorate in English literature, and […]
by B.W. Clough Copyright © 1995 B. W. Clough. First published in the Fall 1995 issue of the Bulletin. A writer needs many gifts to succeed. One that I fatally lack is the gift of titling. I can write a good book or story, but choosing an appropriate, zingy, marketable title for it is often […]
James Van Pelt writes on perseverance as a writer.
This powerful debut explores the liminal spaces between the magical and the mundane, horror and humor, fairy tales and fabulism. Dead Girl, Driving and Other Devastations erases expectations, forging new trails on the map of contemporary fiction.
Ruthanna Emrys is the author of A Half-Built Garden, Winter Tide, and Deep Roots, as well as co-writer of Tor.com’s Reading the Weird column. She also writes radically hopeful short stories about religion and aliens and psycholinguistics.
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