Aliens, monsters, and ghosts. The big three. But is there a fourth? [more inside]
posted on Jun 26, 2008 - 42 answers

Can you help me set the writing soundtrack to my novels? [more inside]
posted on Jun 26, 2008 - 23 answers

Looking for sites or reviewers who review books other than literary fiction [more inside]
posted on Jun 10, 2008 - 4 answers

A few years ago there was a short story in the New Yorker set in the near future. The characters were children raised in a world where they seemed to be market research test subjects... I really can't recall any more details than that... Does this ring any bells?
posted on Jun 5, 2008 - 3 answers

What are your favorite short stories or short story collections, anthologies etc. [more inside]
posted on May 28, 2008 - 54 answers

How do you make up stories ? My kids love me making up stories (and then repeating them ad-infinitum !) but doing so has set me thinking about the process of creating fiction. [more inside]
posted on Mar 8, 2008 - 9 answers

Recommendations/sources for good erotic writing? [more inside]
posted on Mar 1, 2008 - 16 answers

How can I write better short stories (science fiction) [more inside]
posted on Jan 25, 2008 - 20 answers

I'm looking for a series of hardback science fiction anthologies I dimly remember from childhood (sometime in the mid 80s). I think it had a one word title with a number, and the series went up to at least number five. I remember two stories in particular... [more inside]
posted on Jan 13, 2008 - 11 answers

Who's written fiction within the last 5-10 years, that deals realistically with the experience of American people under 40? [more inside]
posted on Dec 14, 2007 - 26 answers

What would you recommend to someone who wants to increase their confidence in their writing abilities? (books/websites/other resources) [more inside]
posted on Nov 5, 2007 - 32 answers

I've written some fiction. Now I want to see if it's any good. [more inside]
posted on Oct 14, 2007 - 7 answers

Help me get bronchitis! (yes, you read that right.) [more inside]
posted on Aug 17, 2007 - 34 answers

Do you know of any fiction writers who don't read fiction, or does such a beast even exist? [more inside]
posted on Jun 8, 2007 - 29 answers

fiction writers: how do you move a story without being in it? [more inside]
posted on Apr 3, 2007 - 28 answers

Charles Dickens claimed he never dreamt about his characters. Is this par for the course for fictionists? [more inside]
posted on Feb 14, 2007 - 10 answers

How can I revive a dead novel? [more inside]
posted on Jan 22, 2007 - 19 answers

I am looking for well regarded books/scholarly papers about writing. Most specifically in the areas of Nonfiction (the essay style of article writing) and Children's Fiction (for a young adult audience). Any tips? Go as far and broad as you can. I'll be off to the British library tomorrow, so the sky is the limit. [more inside]
posted on Jan 9, 2007 - 6 answers

What are some great depressing, or I should say melancholic, 21st century novels/short story collections? The latest that I have ordered is E. Annie Proulx 'Close Range: Wyoming Stories,' but that is from the late 90s. I just cannot take the material that is being churned out in the 21st century. Most of it is pretty much the same. If it isn't formulaic mainstream work it turns out to be obscure and pointless POMO drivel. I've scoured the 20th century and found a ton of titles, but almost nothing from the last 7 years. The one recent gem I found is Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road'. Thanks in advance.
posted on Jan 6, 2007 - 34 answers

How can a writer find an artist for a comic book collaboration? [more inside]
posted on Dec 7, 2006 - 7 answers

PublishingBizFilter: I want to know a little about the slushpile. Who looks at it? When? Why? [more inside]
posted on Oct 10, 2006 - 14 answers

Enrique Vila-Matas is an author known by using other author's quotations into his own fiction books. Bartleby & Co. and El mal de Montano quote dozens of works by other authors. How can he do this, legally? [more inside]
posted on Sep 25, 2006 - 2 answers

I'm looking for a tough writing teacher/workshop in New York City. [more inside]
posted on Sep 15, 2006 - 10 answers

Has anyone vastly improved -- or just changed -- someone else's already published writing by editing? [more inside]
posted on Aug 30, 2006 - 25 answers

What's that site with web-fomat short stories, usually at least somewhat autobiographical, and accompanied by illustrations--in the vein of the old word.com Work content? [more inside]
posted on Aug 25, 2006 - 4 answers

How to (tactfully and successfully) get some major names to look at some of my writing? Of course there is [more inside]
posted on Jul 18, 2006 - 18 answers

Show me the way to other writing critique web sites, where there are red-lined drafts of writing samples, or even better, rewrites of less-than-stellar writing. [more inside]
posted on Jun 5, 2006 - 10 answers

How can I make my symbolic/abstract writing style more accessible to readers, so that they won't turn away from my stories in boredom? [more inside]
posted on Jun 2, 2006 - 58 answers

a short story by a continental european writer that directly addresses or suggests conflicts within human nature-- the desire to perform "good" acts vs. our tendency (the temptation) to commit "evil" ones? [more inside]
posted on Mar 8, 2006 - 10 answers

What's the best way (non-spam) way to market a flash/micro fiction publication and community? (no, there are no gratuitous self-links inside) [more inside]
posted on Jan 26, 2006 - 1 answers

How can I be more creative and original? [more inside]
posted on Nov 6, 2005 - 34 answers

On behalf of a friend, though it actually sounds like an interesting question and I think I'd like to know too: Could you put up something asking about whether there's a real-world source/derivation for the words "hron" and "hronir" used in Borges' "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"?
posted on Nov 5, 2005 - 3 answers

What is the legal state of using the names of local businesses, locations, politicians, and "people of import" in a work of fiction? [more inside]
posted on Aug 8, 2005 - 9 answers

What are the legal ramifications of using a real person in a fictional story? Do you have to have their permission? [more inside]
posted on May 20, 2005 - 22 answers

I have to write something fictional about science that involves REAL science (as opposed to fake science, i.e. "Star Wars"). Since I'm a non-science person, what are some areas of science that are full of good story possibilities? [Note: many people are already doing DNA and cloning.] Thanks!
posted on Dec 19, 2004 - 20 answers

What are some great novels and/or myths that feature two heroes?
posted on Apr 13, 2004 - 33 answers

Fiction that centers on online interaction? [mo' inside makes it mo' inside]
posted on Feb 6, 2004 - 16 answers

I've long enjoyed writing fiction, but I seem to have somehow drifted from the enjoyment of actual writing to the enjoyment of planning -- I love to develop characters, plotlines, locations, etc., but when it comes down the the actual writing, I seem to lose interest. That being the case, I have two questions: (a) What can a fella do to get back in the swing of writing, and/or (b) if I don't write fiction based on them, are there any other useful things I could do with the characters, plots, locations, etc., that I come up with?
posted on Dec 23, 2003 - 19 answers

I've got a friend wondering if there's an underlying logic to how Tolkien came up with his character names. Specifically, he's wondering about any meanings or allusions to the name "Boromir." Any leads on this kind of scholarship?
posted on Dec 19, 2003 - 11 answers