Many of us have read stories or books that we have thought are quite dull. They fail to capture our fancy or our imagination. Often, the writers fail because they never truly make us believe their stories are real. We believe things are real when we see them, or touch them, or taste them, or smell them. In stories, the way to do that is detail. Believable details can convince a reader to abandon reality or even better capture a reader up into a new reality.
However, the right kind of …

We begin a new series this week focused on helping out writers. For about twelve years I have been writing, teaching, and editing and over the course of those years I have picked up a few things that I know will be beneficial. What follows is not the book on writing short stories, but I do believe there are some pretty good points in here that will help out any writer who hasn’t mastered his or her craft yet.
One of the most important aspects of any short story is …

By Kelly Huddleston
Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with a few members on the Amazon Kindle Forum regarding the list price of my book.
It started when I wrote a post inviting Amazon Kindle readers to check out my book. I included the synopsis, the list price, and a link to my book’s page. At best I thought I’d receive a few replies, and MAYBE (but probably not) a few sales. What I wasn’t expecting was a member to write back to tell me that while my book looked interesting, she …

by Sharon M. White
Ever wonder what defining event twists a person just enough to make them want to be a horror writer? News flash: There is no one single defining event. Usually, there is no cluster of defining events, either. There are just those of us who like scaring the hell out of people and as a result seek out a career in horror fiction (or filmmaking, script writing, game designing, painting, etc–you get the idea). Some of us are just cut from a different, darker ilk than most. …

By Bobby Owsinski
After 6 books (including 3 second editions) and a few hundred magazine articles, I’ve been asked over and over again by friends, business acquaintances, and neophyte writers if I have a formula.
After stumbling around without a consistent technique early on like most novice writers, I eventually developed a method of writing that has never failed me. It’s made my creative life easier, less stressful, and kept writer’s block completely at bay. Of course, every writer has a different creative approach, but once I developed this particular process, my …

Three years ago we started this little venture called the Opinion Guy. Our ambitions were modest, our expectations meager. We wanted to provide readers with something good to read, a place they could keep coming back because they knew they would find something interesting and something evocative on a regular basis. We wanted to provide opportunities for writers to get their work in print and get paid for it too. We also had grander hopes: growing the field of speculative fiction, changing lives by sharing our thoughtful opinions, and perhaps …

Recently, I was shopping for the holiday season and passed a book store. I cannot help but stop when I pass a bookstore. I suppose it is like a liquor store to a drunkard or a lingerie store to a man or a cake shop to a woman. Full of enticement. I shuffled through all the people reading back covers near the bargain bin and stopped in front of the rack of current bestsellers. I was surprised to see that three of the top four books were by the same …

Ahmed A. Khan’s incredible range is apparent in this collection of fifteen stories.

Sometimes a different perspective does wonders.
I run everyday, in part because I love to run. But I also run because that is when the stories start flowing in my mind. Great dialogues and interesting plot twists, characters that jump off the page and into my heart. I forget most by the time I get a pen in my hand; that seems to be the nature of my creative process. Sometimes though, I hit upon something that will not leave me alone. And that is why I run. For moments like …

By Melinda Thomas
Doorknob. A red doorknob. What? What in the world are you talking about? So, what about a red doorknob? If you read those words and you had not clue and you went on to a different article then you simply have no imagination or you are not awake yet.
A red doorknob can be the beginning to the most adventurous science fiction book ever written. A red doorknob can be the opening to the most tear-jerking memoir that man has ever read. And that same red doorknob can be …