Browsing Tag

sci-fi

Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Pizzanomics and the Economy of Words

In The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde writes that people know the price of everything and the value…
March 10, 2023
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Strike the Earth

Any gamers in the house? I’m a huge fan of games: the creativity, the challenges, and the competition, of…
January 17, 2023
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Flash Fiction FUNdamentals

Flash fiction may sound new and alien, but it’s been around longer than you think. The query that inspired…
December 10, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
This Little Light

Sharing your fantastical words and worlds can be terrifying. You feel everyone’s eyes on you, weighing the thoughts you…
November 15, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Wonder

I wonder… What made you fall in love with science fiction and fantasy? As a child, I loved fairy…
October 10, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Valued

Born female and Korean in Japanese-occupied China, Hyun Sook started at a deficit. Then polio left her with a…
September 10, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Baby Stepping

The proverbial journey of a thousand miles begins with the one step. But it doesn’t end there. Writing an…
May 7, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Write Ugly

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight,…
April 11, 2022
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Technology and Magic in your Science-fiction and Fantasy novels

An important part of what makes your story fit into the Science Fiction and/or Fantasy genres is an element…
December 15, 2021
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
the eight types of time travel

Time travel is a stable in science fiction. Countless books, comics, movies, and TV shows have used it as…
September 7, 2021
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Writing bigger speculative fiction stories

In his 2017 best seller, You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Story, Houston Howard admonishes writers to create larger stories…
November 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
How to Make Readers Feel At Home From Page 1

Have you ever walked into someone’s house as a first-time dinner guest and felt out of place? Ten other…
July 7, 2020
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Three Ways to Use History to Build Your Fantasy

Margaret Atwood is well-known for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, a dystopian first published in 1985. Her novel covers…
March 7, 2020
The Afterword
From STEM to Story

How can students and other readers learn about the cutting-edge of popular science through the art of stories? To…
April 10, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Fantasy Heroes? This Is How You Make Them Relatable.

One of my friends recently gifted me a book. She’d loved it so much she literally went out and…
April 7, 2019
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Science Fiction Behind Science Fiction

Since the release of Star Trek and Star Wars, viewers of space-based science fiction have had certain expectations of…
August 7, 2018
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Realistic World-Building

The trend within the fantasy and sci-fi genres is to push for more detailed world-building within our stories. While…
May 7, 2018
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Highs and Lows of Fantasy Sub-Genres

“Oh, you’re a fantasy writer? I love ‘The Lord of the Rings.’” “I don’t write that kind of fantasy.”…
November 7, 2017
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Trouble with Portals-Laura Zimmerman

Do portals that move your character to another time and place work within modern storytelling? This is the question…
September 7, 2017
Fantasy-Sci-Fi, Storyworld
Entertainment in your Storyworld

We’ve spoken before about how little details can help color your storyworld. Societal habits, mating customs, dinner choices, and…
August 10, 2017
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
Fantasy Flash Fiction 101- Laura Zimmerman

Fantasy Flash Fiction 101 Could you write a story in 500 words? What about 100? Flash fiction is a…
July 7, 2017
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Secret to a Good Sidekick

The beloved “sidekick.” Han had Chewy. Frodo had Samwise. Harry had Ron and Hermione. Captain Kirk had Spock.…
June 6, 2017
Storyworld
The End of Civilization

Recently, a friend of mine asked me if western civilization was at the end of its life cycle. It’s…
May 11, 2017
Fantasy-Sci-Fi
The Many Worlds of Sci-fi and Fantasy

In what world does your story live? Sounds like a strange question, doesn’t it? After all, most bookstores…
March 6, 2017
Storyworld
Anatomy of Grays: Alien Digest

The autopsy window allowed Jim a clear view of the good doctor’s grim work. The gray-skinned corpse had been…
January 16, 2017