Columns

On "The Witch," Great Cinematic Writing and The Tenets of Horror

March 4th, 2016

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD

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14 Things That Prove Tyra Banks' 'Modelland' Is The Craziest Book Ever

March 3rd, 2016

Where to begin? That’s the real challenge here. Let’s re-state, just in case: Tyra Banks’ Modelland is the most batshit crazy thing I’ve ever read in my life.

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LitReactor Community Spotlight: March 2016

March 3rd, 2016

Hello darlings. Per my New Year's resolution, I've been writing much more this year than usual. It's exciting. I think words, I move my fingers, and they end up on a page. It doesn't work with anything else, though. Moving my fingers has never produced a kitten, for instance. But words are okay too.

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‘The Manchurian Candidate’ and the 2016 Presidential Election

March 3rd, 2016

Richard Condon’s Cold War thriller, The Manchurian Candidate, is a great read. No, I take that back. It’s a superb read. It’s got everything I want in a political novel: a dirtbag politician, his manipulative bitch of a wife, a sinister threat to Our Way of Life (which Condon paints as rotten to the core), brainwashing, and, as a kind of running gag, a fairly unsympathetic protagonist who eventually fucks his mother.

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6 Ways To Spring Clean Your Writing

March 2nd, 2016

We're on the threshold of spring, and it's time for some cleaning. March is a good time to sit down with all the clutter that accumulated over winter and sort out garbage from what's worth keeping. That can include physical mess in a work space or a series of .doc files that haven't been opened since 2004.

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Read the Instructions & Other Things You Don’t Know About Getting Published

March 1st, 2016

This is the sixteenth post in Joe Biel’s Business of Publishing blog tour series. Each article attempts to spread information about best practices within the the publishing industry and clarify common confusions.

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Finding Story Inspiration in Strip Clubs

March 1st, 2016

If you want to get the feel for a town, the strip clubs are a good place to start. Whether it’s the aggressive upselling in New York, the down-home friendliness in Nashville, or the head-spinning possibilities in Prague—mix men, naked women, and local ordinances, and you’re going to understand the spirit of a place pretty quick. Of all the places I’ve traveled, my favorite strip clubs are in Portland. I like them so much I decided to set my second book there, in a fictional vegan strip club.

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UPDATED WITH WINNERS - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: Leap Year Edition

February 29th, 2016

Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. How It Works We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or prompt. You write a flash fiction piece using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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5 Unconventional Gifts for Writers (to Sharpen Craft and Productivity)

February 29th, 2016

Looking to buy a gift for the writer in your life? I’m going for something a little different here—you won’t find a book or many of the conventional gifts that ordinarily adorn these lists. I’m focussing on tools that have helped sharpen my craft and productivity, often indirectly. Remember you don’t need an excuse or a special day to inundate writers with presents—you can buy a gift at any time! And yes you can even buy a gift for yourself. Let’s get started.

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10 Tips on How To Find or Form the Critique Group of Your Dreams

February 29th, 2016

Writers everywhere know that there’s comfort in the solitude that is the typical writing process, but it is often when we come out from behind the screen and connect with each other that we are able to make our stories great. There comes a point in every writer’s process where it becomes imperative that they receive some sort of outside feedback on a draft. For unagented writers, there is no better way to get that kind of in-depth feedback than through a critique group.

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