Ramp Up the Suspense
© 2022 Loretta Eidson Her nightlight reflected the edge of a serrated knife. The intruder twisted it in circles with his fingers while the pungent odor of gasoline assaulted her…
There, I Said It!
© 2022 Patti Shene Gonzales I’ve heard it said that the word said is invisible on the printed page. Perhaps this is true for most readers, but for this one…
Shining a Light on Dystopian Fiction
© 2022 Sharon René What are speculative and dystopian fiction? You may not be familiar with the genres, but you’ve probably read a dystopian book and didn’t know it.George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal…
Building Your Tribe
© 2021 Toni Shiloh When we get the call to write, the thrill of putting words to paper can seem all consuming. Then when publication becomes a reality, writers discover…
The Little Things
© 2020 Kay DiBianca I thought novel-writing would be easy. After all, my grades in English class had always been good, and I was a voracious reader. How hard could…
Fictionalizing “Life”
© 2019 Leanna Sain Write what you know. Show of hands—how many have heard that statement before? If you’ve been writing for any length of time at all, you’ve probably dreamt…
World Building for Amateurs
© 2019 Matt Starr Imagine that tomorrow you woke up in an infinite, white space, except for the ground, which looks like a blueprint for the room you were sleeping…
Some DOs and DON’Ts of Writing for Young Children
© 2019 Jean Matthew Hall I’ve been writing for publication for…uh, a LOT of years. My goal is to produce beautiful, encouraging stories for young children to enjoy and share…
What Is Flash Fiction and Why Should You Care?
© 2019 Sharon Rene Flash fiction is a short story under 1,000 words. Sounds simple right? I’ve had six stories published in Splickety/Spark Magazine and writing flash fiction is fun, challenging, and…
Mastering Story Description
© 2018 DiAnn Mills By mastering the art of description, the writer uses various techniques to show fresh and unusual details through the point-of-view character. The result immerses the writer…