First off, my apologies for not updating this blog last week. I was going to make up for it by posting something serious and profound today, but instead of boring you with that, I’ll teach you something I learned at MIT’s Campus Preview Weekend this week that’s highly useful and directly applicable to everyday life. [...]
Archive for the ‘Exercises and Prompts’ Category
Make Your Own Chainmail
Posted in Creatures, Themes, and Places, Exercises and Prompts, Uncategorized, tagged nerd pride, real life science fiction on April 12, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Pandemic
Posted in Creatures, Themes, and Places, Exercises and Prompts on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
People all over the world were unnerved this week at the spread of “swine flu”, those of us who read science fiction probably more than most. Pandemics often set the stage in post-apocalyptic fiction, throwing the heroes into an anarchic wilderness where they are chased by coughs, internal hemorrhaging, and the occasional zombie. Beside these [...]
Editing Gone Wild
Posted in Exercises and Prompts, Writing Tools on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
For writers who live for the wild ride of typing out a first draft – complete with thrilling plot twists, unexpected character development, and spontaneous dialogue – the editing process can seem tedious at best. Thankfully, I have stumbled upon a method to infuse creative energy into the monotony of revisions. Below are some of [...]
Talking Heads
Posted in Exercises and Prompts, Writing Tools on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Let’s talk about dialogue (all right, that was a bad pun). Does it ever seem easier to describe an alien landscape than to relay a conversation between two people? Or do you love to listen to your characters speak – at the expense of setting and even plot? You’re not alone. Dialogue is one of [...]
Fall Challenges
Posted in Exercises and Prompts on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Halloween, the sci-fi/fantasy junkie’s most beloved holiday, is only five days away. To me, Halloween is a time to take risks and let your unconventional side roam free. In today’s post, therefore, I am not only going to challenge you to explore your own writing through a prompt, but also to get involved in the [...]
The Perfect Storm
Posted in Creatures, Themes, and Places, Exercises and Prompts, Writing Tools on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
In an age when global warming and terrorist threats are so common as to become mundane, it is not surprising that we are increasingly obsessed with disasters. They permeate our science-fiction writing and films: from 2004’s “The Day After Tomorrow” (global warming triggers a massive ice age – how’s that for irony?) to this year’s [...]
Six Questions
Posted in Exercises and Prompts on September 28, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
This week, I present you with six essential questions and six writing exercises. So sharpen your pencils… What: The economy is struggling, and you are desperate to find a job. Finally, a marketing firm agrees to hire you if you can sell their latest product: an ordinary cardboard box, priced at $1,000. Obviously, this will [...]
The World Through (a Different) Looking Glass
Posted in Exercises and Prompts on September 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
One of the most fundamental skills for any writer is the ability to see the world from an unfamiliar prospective: that of your characters. This is an even more important capability for writers of science fiction and fantasy, who may have to accurately portray the perspective of an alien from another galaxy or a member [...]
