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- Horror Authors: How to Scare the Heck Out of Your Readers A guest post at The Write Life with practical tips for scaring the crap out of your readers.
- The Fanitarium Podcast: Interviews Philip Athans
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- Monsters in D&D, Books, Movies… Dicegeeks Podcast interview with Phil!
- How to Create a Magic System: M.S. Farzan and Storyteller’s Handbook features The Guide to Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction
- How To Write Monsters With Philip Athans The Creative Penn Podcasts me!
- Classic Monsters, Modern Love: How a New Generation of Fans is Keeping the Universal Monsters Alive
Past Posts
Tag Archives: writing dialog
THE OCEAN LEECH: EXPLORING WEIRD TALES Vol. 5, No. 1—PART 16
Back to my ongoing series of posts where I’ve been reading a single issue of Weird Tales from 1925. You can read along in order by going back to the beginning and starting here. This week’s short story is “The … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, freelance editing, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, intellectual property development, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, SF and Fantasy Authors, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog
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BASIC MANUSCRIPT FORMAT
It’s been a while since I’ve updated my own standard manuscript file, so I took some time this morning to do that. Most of this week’s post, then, will be found as downloads from Athans & Associates Creative Consulting. But … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, freelance editing, freelance writing, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, Publishing Business, SF and Fantasy Authors, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best fantasy novels, Books, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises, writing process
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WINGS OF POWER: EXPLORING WEIRD TALES Vol. 5, No. 1—PART 13
This week we’ll hop back into my series of posts looking in detail at a single issue of Weird Tales, a classic pulp fiction magazine from 1925 that can be read online. If you haven’t been following along, feel free … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, help for writers, helping writers become authors, horror novels, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, intellectual property development, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, science fiction technology, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged authors, best fantasy novels, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog
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RED AND BLACK: EXPLORING WEIRD TALES Vol. 5, No. 1—PART 11
If you haven’t been following along with this series of posts looking in detail at a single issue of Weird Tales, a classic pulp fiction magazine from 1925 that’s available for all of us to read online, go back to … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, Dungeons & Dragons, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, Game of Thrones, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, intellectual property development, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, SF and Fantasy Authors, Story Structure, transmedia, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best fantasy novels, Books, creative process, Dungeons & Dragons, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, Forgotten Realms, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, R.A. Salvatore, Science Fiction, Weird Tales, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog
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THE FIREPLACE: EXPLORING WEIRD TALES Vol. 5, No. 1—PART 7
Time to jump back into my series of posts looking back at a ninety-three year old issue of Weird Tales, which is available for all of us to read online. We’re making some headway here, moving from “The Rajah’s Gift” … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, intellectual property development, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, SF and Fantasy Authors, Story Structure, transmedia, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Weird Tales, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises
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HONORING HONORIFICS
Let’s take this week to go after a certain copy editing bugaboo that I have found extremely common in both fantasy and science fiction. It’s another of those seemingly impenetrable rules governing the proper use of an initial cap. An … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, characters, Dungeons & Dragons, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, freelance editing, freelance writing, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, intellectual property development, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises
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CAN I PAY ATTENTION MORE? SHOULD I?
Before we go any farther, please click on over to the TED Talk site and watch Amishi Jha’s talk “How to Tame Your Wandering Mind.” Got it? Okay. I have no idea how this video came to my attention, but … Continue reading
Posted in authors helping authors, authors to writers, best fantasy blogs, best genre fiction blogs, best horror blogs, best science fiction blogs, best websites for authors, best websites for writers, Books, fiction writing blog, fiction writing websites, freelance editing, freelance writing, freelancing, help for writers, helping writers become authors, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, monsters, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, websites for authors, websites for writers, writers to authors, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises, writing process
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BEGIN WITH MOVEMENT
Starting, once again, with the basic caveat that there is no one way to always do anything in creative fiction, and the advice I’m about to give is not meant to be blindly applied to every single sentence you ever … Continue reading
Posted in characters, freelance editing, freelance writing, horror novels, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, monsters, Publishing Business, Pulp Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, science fiction movies, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best fantasy novels, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Mel Odom, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises
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DO YOU WANT ME TO LEAVE YOU ALONE WHILE YOU CRY?
“God damn it, just get the fuck off me,” Jane said, her voice deeper, more growly than normal. She pushed with both hands and a chill of panic raced through her when Bret didn’t move. But then he relaxed and … Continue reading
Posted in Books, characters, freelance writing, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, indie publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction & Fantasy Novels, Science Fiction Story, SF and Fantasy Authors, Story Structure, transmedia, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, best fantasy novels, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, resolutions, Science Fiction, worldbuilding, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing exercises
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THE SINGULAR THEY HURTS MY BRAIN BUT I’LL TRY TO GET OVER IT
I’m honestly really not some kind of Grammar Nazi or elitist, but I’m an editor, and I was trained by other editors, and I have some clients who have strict style rules and anyway as a professional I like to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, characters, freelance editing, freelance writing, horror novels, how to write fantasy, how to write fiction, how to write horror, how to write science fiction, Publishing Business, SF and Fantasy Authors, transmedia, Writing, writing advice, writing fantasy, writing horror, writing science fiction, Writing Science Fiction & Fantasy
Tagged author, authors, Books, creative process, editor, Fantasy, Fiction, genre fiction, Philip Athans, Publishing, Publishing Business, Science Fiction, Writing, writing advice, writing dialog, writing process
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