Science Fiction Notes

As we continue our exploration (no pun intended, or maybe it is…) of genre specific topics, our focus this week is science fiction. SF usually deals with topics and ideas set the future, such as science, technology, space travel, time travel, extraterrestrials, and the like. The ability of the writer to create a world which … Read more

Fantasy Novel Notes

I was chatting with fantasy author Carol Berg earlier today. I asked her about issues that new fantasy writers have. The thing I see new fantasy writers do a lot is spend so much thought on world building that they ignore adding any depth or logic to their characters. When I am critiquing for writers … Read more

Speculative Fiction

Speculative Fiction is a marketing category that includes the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternative history, dystopian, apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic, and superhero fiction. Speculative fiction asks what if reality were different? This is the common story question that runs through the genres, though the focus of each genre is different. Note there is some debate … Read more

Genre and Trope and Stuff – Crime Fiction

This week I’d thought we’d focus on crime fiction. In case you are not familiar, crime fiction is that genre category that fictionalises crime on some level. If you are thinking about writing crime fiction here are some stats to help with your decision. We will discuss techniques on a later post. Miscellaneous goodies: In … Read more

Genre and Trope and Stuff – Romance

e We’ve been talking about the romance genre over the last couple of weeks. Romance is the hottest selling genre of any the mass market fiction category, which means that if you are an established writer of romance, chances are you are doing very well for yourself. But how do you break into becoming a … Read more

Genre and Trope and Stuff – Romance

As we saw last week, the romance genre is big business. If you want to break into the romance genre then it is a good idea to know the general tropes. You goal is to write a novel that will meet your readers’ expectations. Remember that romance readers are very knowledgeable. They are also a … Read more