Small Stakes vs. Large Stakes
The High Stakes Fallacy, whereby big, impersonal stakes are thought to be enough for a story, is an easy trap to fall into.
Sci-Fi Writing
Stories Are About Struggle
Stories are about struggle. This concept is easy to understand yet can be hard to implement. I take a look at why.
Storytelling: A Study in Opposites Part II
In my second post in this “Opposites” series, I look at more examples of the opposing dynamics in the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet.
Storytelling: A Study in Opposites
Good story structure boils down to a series of opposites, or dichotomies. One of the most important of these is the opening image and final image in a story.
Neil Gaiman on Reading, Writing, and Science Fiction
Neil Gaiman’s beautiful words on books, stories, and speculative fiction are worth reading.
Ursula K. Le Guin on Writing Science Fiction
Last week I dove into Ray Bradbury’s thoughts on the art of writing science fiction. This week, I take a look at the thoughts of Ursula K. Le Guin.
Ray Bradbury on Writing Science Fiction
In The Paris Review, sci-fi author Ray Bradbury discusses the art of writing science fiction.
Clarity vs. Confusion
The Golden Age of magazine science fiction offered us some great stories, but also some very confusing ones, which got me thinking about our different styles of writing.
Aristotle’s Poetics
Thinking about science fiction got me thinking about storytelling in general. So I went back to the original guide on storytelling, Aristotle’s Poetics.
No Woman Born: A Study in Character
The novella “No Woman Born” shows us that a science fiction story can have an incredibly low amount of action while still being incredibly compelling.