Gene Wolfe, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss and thirty more of the most imaginative writers, artists and editors from around the world have contributed to Shared Worlds’ “Hand in Hand” a webpage of advice written and photographed on the author’s hand, designed to inspire and motivate new writers.

Cheryl Morgan talks about possible changes and futures to one of tthe leading SF conventions.

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 […]

Around the world people are celebrating February 14, 2010 as a special day. What, exactly, that special day is depends on who you are and what tradition you grew up in. It provides an excellent example of ways to use different calendars in world building.

Recent developments in the use of technology to produce creative works have driven both insightful commentary and strong feelings in the science fiction and fantasy community. These artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools and applications are being used to generate artwork, audio narration, nonfiction articles, and fictional narratives with increasing frequency. There are important […]

By Maria Haskins Writing flash fiction—commonly defined as a story of no more than 1,000 or 1,500 words—can seem daunting at first try. Or addictive if you’ve already caught the flash-writing bug. These tips are based on my love for flash as a reader and writer, and I want to emphasize that they are tips, […]

by Jeffe Kennedy

Putting together a list of recommended reads in Fantasy Romance posed some interesting challenges. First off, the subgenre straddles two very large genres, both with long traditions and much-loved tropes. It’s also a fairly new subgenre. Scattered examples that are arguably Fantasy Romance can be identified from decades ago, but they were often shelved in other subgenres.

I think game developers, both in tabletop and in videogames, don’t necessarily need to be good writers, but they do have to be good storytellers. At the very least, an emphasis on storytelling creates a common language. Developers need to understand how a story comes together, and how to work in partnership with the writer, to craft something cohesive and meaningful.

For those interested in breaking into genre television writing, an agent is paramount. They are the gatekeepers into a very exclusive world with a limited number of buyers. Here are some useful tips to garner representation.

by Deborah Walker

I’ve written a fair few aliens since reading it, always thinking about that advice, but with an added aspect: stealing blatantly from Mother Nature.