Science Fiction/Fantasy

Whether your work-in-progress features a witch's familiar, a talking animal sidekick, or a companion pet, WD editor Moriah Richard gives you the basics on how to create an animal character.

Science-fiction authors Ehsan and Shakil Ahmad explain how they came to write their debut novel Wild Sun: Unbound and how to become comfortable with rejection.

Author Genevieve Gornichec shares her top tips for outlining a myth retelling with examples from her debut novel The Witch's Heart.

Debut author Genevieve Gornichec dives into how her novel The Witch's Heart reinvents Norse mythology and how NaNoWriMo helped her meet her publication goals.

In the last of this article mini-series, WD editor Moriah Richard explains the key components to a hard magic system and gives you some tips on building your own.

Worldbuilding is more than just drawing up a map and traveling from one place to another. In this post, Greta Kelly shows three ways to create tension in worldbuilding, especially as it relates to the various cultures of the world in your novel.

Award-winning author Olga Grushin discusses what it meant to wade into a new genre and how she put her spin on the fairy tale retelling.

Debut author Greta K. Kelly reveals how the idea for her novel sparked and the biggest surprise of her publication journey.

Science fiction author Gerald Brandt explains how this new series explores the genre boundary and how he came to find his newest book's focus.

Author Olga Grushin explains how her views on fairy tales have changed over the years, and what it takes to write a princess from a modern lens.

In this article, author and trained fighter Carla Hoch explains the basics of various types of knives and the implications a knife fight may have on your characters and plot.

In the first of a two-part series, WD editor Moriah Richard explains how magic systems exist on a spectrum and gives you some tips on selecting a system that works for you.

Writer and WD editor Moriah Richard shares her top advice to help you fight world-building overwhelm and organize your story.

Former eBay CFO Gary F. Bengier shares his journey to self-publish his debut speculative fiction novel based on his nonfiction philosophy book.

Award-winning crime author Stephanie Kane explains how she builds characters unlike herself and navigates their worlds to create vivid and realistic stories.

WD editor and fantasy writer Moriah Richard shares five unique ways in which writers can use World of Warcraft to better build their worlds—without playing the game.

The author discusses what inspired her novel about supervillan henches and how video games influence her writing.

Dustin Grinnell explains how to—and how not to—write more scientific fiction by analyzing Carl Sagan's “Contact” and the ways it incorporates believable elements that are understandable to laypeople.