If you peruse the SF section of a modern library, you might be surprised by what you’ll find, especially if you are not accustomed to a personal search through the haystack, but rely mostly on digital inquisition. I admit it shook me ...

As far back as I can remember, my mind has always thought and learned by association. My brain fancifully connects things like computer terminals and bus terminals, Indian reservations with plane ticket confirmations, and carpetbaggers with rug stealers. Don’t ask me why, but I think I get bored with ...

Yes, we've all heard it in our most depressed moments - "I can't seem to do anything original." Those moments where it seems everything has been done before.

Or perhaps, we get a really neat idea to use something we've seen before. It's not exactly stealing, is it? However part of you feels bad for using it. Maybe you aren't looking for originality at this time, but still . .

Well, these two crises of conscience (or a bad day at the keyboard) ...

Five ways to find your style of writing best for you

The blunt voice
The articulate voice
The first person
The third person
The dreadful author interruption
There are no authors out there who are completely the same, each one has his or her own style, which no one can match. If you don’t have a style of writing, or have lost your voice or just haven’t found one, then the following is for you.

THE BLUNT VOICE

You may be wondering to yourself what in the world do I mean by ‘blunt voice’, and in a way I’m thinking the same thing. But blunt voice, along with articulate voice, are styles that you may find interesting. ...

I have a hobby.

I make generators - programs that generate characters, plots, items, etc. for writing, role-playing, and just general fun. It's fascinating to do something like analyze magic items in standard fantasy, abstract the words and ideas, and produce a program that slaps them together to produce something new. Anyone who's ever played Diablo or Demon's Winter knows what I'm talking about.

Recently I was designing a Technobabble generator - to make science-fictiony weapons, armor, and Random Important Gizmos That Break. This got me ...