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Novelty is one of the four critical elements that make stories popular, and in speculative fiction, settings are a great place to harvest a novelty crop. I’ve got nothing against castles, forests, and space battleships, but mixing things up creates opportunities for new kinds of … read more »
Most authors listen to music while they write. But, as anyone who’s assembled a playlist knows, picking the right pieces can be tricky. There’s a whole world of songs to choose from, but when writing a particular scene, a composition with a particular mood or … read more »
Writer’s block is an unpleasant experience, to say the least. You’ve set aside time to write, gotten plenty of sleep, and had a decent meal, but you still can’t put words on paper. The blinking cursor just sits there, taunting you. On the bright side, … read more »
In many horror movies, the black woman is a mere friend – cannon fodder, to put it bluntly. She’s there to throw in a splash of diversity before killing her off. Luckily, people in the real world are beginning to acknowledge black women and their … read more »
Grasping victory from the jaws of defeat makes a delicious ending. But after you establish your heroes can’t survive the millions of zombies swarming their cabin or overpower the villain who explodes cities with their mind, how can you create a satisfying victory? Well, you … read more »
Stories about good and evil are classic, but black and white morality can rob a story of complexity and nuance. That’s why a couple of years ago, I provided some alternatives. Since one article can’t cover every source of gray conflict, I’m back at it. Look over these dualities the … read more »
We scifi authors love to write stories about abandoning Earth and colonizing space. We also love to write scientifically plausible stories. This is a problem, because most stories about evacuating our home planet are wildly implausible. Most planetary evacuation scenarios don’t work for two main reasons. The … read more »
Every story revolves around some type of conflict, but speculative fiction usually prefers physical fights. Yes, the sword is the queen, and hand-to-hand is king, but why not be a little creative? Let’s dive into the process of choosing the best weapon for your protagonist. Read more »
Speculative fiction has a wide variety of settings, genres, and subgenres, and some get more attention than others. Space opera and European high fantasy have been the top dogs for decades, with up-and-comers like urban fantasy and steampunk taking most of what’s left. But there … read more »
Today’s popular stories pick most of their heroes from the same narrow group of people, reinforcing destructive stereotypes and stripping characters of interesting variation. But storytellers get a silver lining: we have an easy opportunity to make our heroes stand apart by subverting convention. To get started, take some worthy people who … read more »