Columns

"The Long Walk": Stephen King's Best Novel

February 22nd, 2017

Stephen King has 54 novels under his belt. I'm here to tell you which one is the hands down, no doubt, absolute best. The Long Walk is a novel King released under his pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979. It was the first novel he wrote (Carrie was the first one to be published), which is impressive, considering how good it is. He was still in college at the time. I'm not suggesting that King was never able to match his first effort; he wrote other masterpieces after this one. It's just that this one inches over the finish line first. 

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Storyville: How to Survive a Creative Writing Workshop

February 22nd, 2017

So, you want to be in a creative writing workshop, huh? Are you ready? Maybe you are, and maybe you’re not. But whether you’re just getting together a few friends and peers or studying at a college or university (including getting your MFA), here are a few tips, some things I’ve learned from my own time in a variety of workshops.

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Writing the Crime Scene: Poison

February 21st, 2017

Give me a decent bottle of poison and I’ll construct the perfect crime. — Agatha Christie The victim in your latest crime manuscript slips under the bedsheets after drinking a nightcap of cognac, hot water and honey. Unbeknownst to her, the cocktail has been laced with cyanide by her jilted lover. How long before the poison takes effect? How much cyanide would be required for a fatal dose? Does she slip quietly into the afterlife, or convulse violently in agony for hours? Will the poison be detectable in an autopsy?

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How to Write When the Going Gets Tough

February 21st, 2017

Every writer loves to write when they’re feeling inspired and healthy. We all have those times in our lives when things are rolling along at a nice pace, and we are able to create and push forward with relatively little strife. But what do we as creatives do when life throws us a curveball and things aren’t so easy anymore?

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Soft Apocalypse: The Worlds Of Warren Ellis

February 20th, 2017

I love Futurism. I love sitting and toying with the ideas of where humanity is going. My mind typically takes me to dark places. I worry and think about climate change obsessively. I think about what the weather in Arizona will be like ten or twenty years from now.

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Tech and Product Round-up: February Edition

February 20th, 2017

artwork by Mark Weaver via Serial Box Publishing Welcome to the February edition of LitReactor's Tech and Product Round-Up, where I highlight news and announcements from the technology world and talk about how said news and announcements impact writers.

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Why We Love To Hate Grammarians

February 16th, 2017

Hold on. Hold that phone. Before you grammarians get all defensive, let me tell you that I’m on your side. Sort of. What I mean is, I know it’s not easy to care deeply about something that almost nobody else cares about. Believe me, I’ve been on dates and seen someone’s eyes glaze over while I’m talking about how Marvel’s Heroes Reborn storyline really wasn’t the disaster everyone thinks.

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AWP 2017: Tiny Fish, Giant Ocean

February 15th, 2017

The Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) is a multinational organization dedicated to (you guessed it) providing writers with the support they need to become successful. Every year, they host a conference, bringing together writers from around the world to attend panels, parties, and to wander the aisles of a giant book fair.  LitReactor has been attending the AWP conference for about five years now, and this past weekend we made our presence known, like we do, as AWP took Washington, D.C., by storm!

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Lucas and Star Wars: Why Properties Shouldn't Continue Beyond Their Creators

February 14th, 2017

Does a creation take on a life of its own? When does the artist end and the art begin? That’s the question that has plagued Star Wars since Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012 and immediately started work on continuing the franchise. The result has been 2015’s The Force Awakens, proclaiming itself Episode VII in the opening scroll, and spinoff Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, with many more planned. But are they valid?

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7 Reasons Authors Need to be More Like Rappers

February 13th, 2017

I once wrote a piece about how most of the readings I've been to have bored me to tears. You can probably guess what happened next: half of the people who read it vociferously agreed and the other half felt like I was messing with them and the monotone voice they developed while learning to read in public. The idea of better performances and larger personalities in the literary community is one that has been in my head for a while.

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