According to Wikipedia, “Speculative fiction is a broad category of fiction with elements that do not exist in reality, recorded history, nature, or the present universe.” This brings me the heart of my article: How can authors get their readers to believe in a chimerical world that does not (and likely cannot) exist in reality?…
Author: Ann Gordon
Tips for completing my novel this year
I’m a writer who can’t seem to stay with a project long enough to complete a whole novel. I’ve determined to finish at least one of my languishing projects before 2022; to that end, I composed a list of 20 tips for getting it done. Develop a writing routine—even a loose and flexible writing routine…
The Long and the Short of It
The Short Story: I write short stories because that’s how stories come to me: vivid, brimming with life, but short. I’ll be frying an egg or replanting a philodendron or washing a window and voila—a scene or story pops full-blown into my head, complete with backdrop, character, dialog, bit players, and a bit of arc….
Character Growth
After listening to a speaker tout the merits of character growth, I pondered its importance in a short story. I published quite a few stories before realizing I hadn’t considered whether any of my characters actually “grew” or not. I puzzled over my working cadre of short stories and asked myself if any of those…
The Five-Year Song
While trolling through Twitter one day I ran across a post by an Australian songwriter. The songwriter called himself SpaceMarch and he had 252,000 Twitter followers (nice). I didn’t know what I might have in common with someone who writes lyrics, but I began to read his posts. The Brainstorm… and then Nothing I particularly…