Faith Hunter discusses the vital importance of opening a story well.
The Importance Of The Responsible Use Of History In Fiction
June 27, 2012 by 9 Comments
It saddened me recently to see one of my favorite genre writers, Lavie Tidhar, posting about the backlash he’s gotten for comments made about some historical issues with steampunk. Steampunk, after all, is quite popular and heavily influenced by history, with stories often set in the time periods of the Victorian age when steam tech was new […]
Is Critical Thinking a Dying Art?
May 26, 2012 by 11 Comments
This is how we descend into a new techo-dark age, that is paradoxically driven by an over infusion of information that’s not be processed by people because they have lost that ability to make value judgments. This is a world in which a richness of technology and knowledge gets lost in the shuffle of our inability to access and apply it.
The Importance Of Keeping An Open Mind To The Fiction Of Ideas
March 26, 2012 by 14 Comments
They say “speculative fiction” is the fiction of ideas. Ever heard that? . . . But the more I read and get to know the speculative fiction community, the more I’ve discovered a closed mindedness that seems to be the antithesis of the cliché.
The Importance Of Faith As An Element In Realistic SFF Worldbuilding
February 28, 2012 by 22 Comments
It’s a topic that comes around time and again: Religion and Science Fiction. While some argue the two are antithetical, others, even Atheists, strongly disagree. SFSignal had such a case in their Mind Meld on the subject in which such known Agnostics and Atheists as Mike Resnick, Ben Bova, Michael A. Burstein and L.E. Modessit, Jr. argue that the two are not antithetical.
The Importance Of Risk Taking In Fiction Writing
January 27, 2012 by 6 Comments
How many times have you read something and thought: ‘I’ve seen this before’ or ‘how cliche?’ We’ve all been there, right? I think this occurs most often because writers play it safe. They’re afraid to take risks.
