“I’ve got it,” the Professor said, stroking his voluminous, white beard. “We’ll use salt. We can harvest it from the ocean, and sell it as bricks.” “That’s just another fossil fuel,” the Scientist said, straightening his spectacles. “The whole point was to get away from all that. The people don’t like the coal smoke from … More FFM16-6 The Inventive Exploits of Skycaptain Resourceful
Ferrets can’t fly; but this one was determined to give it a try. Prickles watched as the fuzzy creature scampered up a tree and out onto a branch. There it poised, poofy tail held high, before launching itself into space. For one moment, the ferret seemed to hover midair. Then it plummeted. Prickles gasped as … More FFM16-5 The Aspiration Quotient
“You said small explosion,” Jacques called from under the desk. “This is not small!” Georges waved frantically at the smoky cloud that filled the laboratory. He didn’t dare touch his eyebrows. He was almost certain they were gone. Again. “That’s the whole point,” Georges said, coughing out the taste of the blast. “Acetylene is explosive … More FFM16-4 Light The Way
The fallen leaves screamed beneath the heavy soles. Oak tried to shuffle out of the path of destruction, but could not move fast enough. The boot came down on his midriff, and he felt his brittle skeleton crack and crumble. He cringed to stifle the pain, trying to block out the screeches of the other … More FFM16-3 Winter is Coming
Prickles passed the last ingredient — pickled newt eyes — to Mistress Moonshine. She plucked it off his spiny arm and dropped it into the bubbling cauldron. Both watched intently as the green solution frothed and turned pink. A smoky, pink heart puffed from the top of the cauldron. “It worked,” Mistress Moonshine cheered, throwing … More FFM16-2 In the Name of a Hug
This week we are focusing on the topic of diversity and how it applies to your writing. For this article, your panelists from the week 1 Live Characterization Discussion Panel are back to share our views with you. What are diverse characters, and what does it mean to have diversity in your stories? DamonWakes It’s hard … More Character Diversity
Don’t much remember the warm these days. Warm went way-away, with the birds, the cars, and the man who sold papers on the corner. Used to buy papers. Now I sleep in ‘em. Mags sleeps in ‘em too. She’s a good girl. Went looking for food again today. Walked the big road, ash-snow falling down. … More The Winter Queen
We’ve all heard about characters being strong, or competent, or flawed, or multi dimensional, but there’s another important character trait to remember: proactivity. A proactive character is someone who moves the plot. Who makes decisions and then acts on them. For the sake of this article we’re going to define this process as “protagging,” a … More Character Proactivity
1. Create something every day. If there’s one secret to productivity, this is it. It’s not sexy or exciting, but the bottom line is that creative masterpieces aren’t built overnight. They take time and dedication, and you will only make real progress if you work every day. If you haven’t formed a daily habit of … More 20 Ways to Boost Your Creativity
One of the most interesting, and also time consuming, parts of speculative fiction writing is the world building. There are numerous tools online to help you figure out what you need to think about, and also give you inspiration, but even then, the art of world building can take weeks, even years. Many writers are … More World Building – The Core Elements of Cultures
C. A. Harland 