How to Write with Aphantasia
Aphantasia Network“If you can’t visualize mentally, how can you write?” As a writer with aphantasia, Dustin Grinnell is faced with this question often. It’s not an easy one to answer.
Putting the Heart in Science Fiction
Writer's Digest A movie that blends high technology with heart is "Her," written and directed by Spike Jonze, director of Being John Malkovich. The romantic science fiction drama won an Oscar for best original screenplay.
Using Literary Techniques in Narrative Journalism
Writer's Digest A deep dive into two-time Pulitzer-winner Jon Franklin’s advice for perfecting the storytelling techniques that made his narrative journalism so exciting to read.
7 Ways Kurt Vonnegut Poisoned Readers’ Minds with Humanity
Writer's Digest Kurt Vonnegut once said he wanted his novels to “catch people before they become generals and Senators and Presidents,” to “poison their minds with humanity. Encourage them to make a better world.”
How to Write Scientific Fiction: Analyzing Carl Sagan’s ‘Contact’
Writer's Digest This article explores how to write more scientific fiction by analyzing Carl Sagan’s ‘Contact’ and the ways it incorporates believable elements that are understandable to laypeople
Blending the Real and Unreal in Horror Fiction
Writer's Digest Using examples from the iconic horror novel "The Exorcist," this article explains how to craft frightening horror fiction by blending the believable and the unsettlingly extraordinary.
How to Write Scientific Fiction: Analyzing Michael Crichton’s ‘Sphere’
Writer's Digest This article explores the tactics author Michael Crichton used to craft realistic science fiction within one of his most popular novels, 'Sphere'.
Evoking Emotion in Fiction
Writer's Digest Using the classic novel "Where the Red Fern Grows," this article explains how to write tear-jerking tales that will make readers empathize with characters.
Inside the Mind of a Villain
Writer's DigestA deep dive into how and why evil develops in story and real life and how writers can apply these concepts.
3 Characteristics of Extraordinary Heroes
Writer's Digest According to literary agent Donald Maass, a protagonist is defined as the subject of a story, whereas a hero is someone with extraordinary qualities.
The Banality of Reality Television
Thought Catalog Fiction writers invent. Journalists report. Editors of reality TV shows do both, mostly the former, selecting without thinking, just following orders.
Secrets of the Self-Employed
Writer's Digest A veteran contractor gives freelance writers a self-employment playbook.
The Secret Life of a Con Man
Narratively One of Narratively's top stories in 2014. It was also featured in The Week, Longread's Art of the Con, and syndicated with YourTango.