Columns

The 21st Century Crucible: Why 'The Crucible' is Still Relevant

May 7th, 2015

Published in 1953, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible has become a cornerstone of American theatre. The play portrays (with historical changes) the Salem witch trials of 1692 and 1693, and was a response to the House Un-American Activities Committee. The committee questioned Miller in 1956 about his political activities and later convicted him for refusing to give up the names of those who attended political meetings with him.

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4 Great Literary Moms

May 7th, 2015

Today is my mother’s birthday. She would have been 97. I didn’t pitch this column based on this personal landmark, though, but rather on the national holiday called Mother’s Day. I’ve always been ambivalent about Mother’s Day. Who isn’t, except perhaps for the nation’s 86 million mothers? It’s likely far fewer.

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Dear George R.R. Martin

May 6th, 2015

Hey readers. I avoided any explicit spoilers for the books, but there may be some unwanted hints. Bear that in mind when deciding whether or not to read this.

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Reach a Wider Audience: 11 Foreign Literary Markets

May 6th, 2015

The number of markets that pay for reprints (or even accept them) is pretty low. Typically, once you’ve sold the First English Rights to a story, you’re looking at much lower pay and a much harder sell for any further publication. There is, however, an alternative: Non-English speaking venues. Not all of them are paying markets, but even if you're just getting contributor's copies for your story, they will translate your work for free and you will get a wider audience and more exposure. You're leaving money on the table by ignoring these.

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So You Want To Edit A Book Part 2: The Dreadful First Rewrite

May 4th, 2015

Hi and welcome back, friends! It's so good to see you again. It feels like it was barely a week ago when we were talking about the Dramatic First Read Through of our books in our inaugural So You Want To Edit A Book series. (Okay, maybe it was two weeks, but who's counting?) Suddenly it's today, and we're ready to dive into the deep end of our Dreadful First Rewrite. Are you with me? Yes? Good! On we go. So. What the hell is the Dreadful First Rewrite?  Well, here's what it means to me: 

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How Daredevil Does Dark and Gritty Right

May 1st, 2015

Let’s talk about two of the most abused buzzwords in recent memory. If you’ve consumed any media at all over the last decade you have no doubt heard them so much, tacked on to the front of so many pitches and titles, that they have become white noise. You would think they’ve been overused enough to lose their potency, and yet we still get excited every time we’re promised “dark and gritty” versions of everything from Batman to the Lone Ranger, only to be endlessly underwhelmed.

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UPDATED WITH WINNER - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: April Fool's Edition

May 1st, 2015

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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Five Captivating YA Fantasies

April 30th, 2015

When it comes to transporting readers to a whole new world, no genre is quite as creative and captivating as fantasy, and in young adult literature, there is a wealth of stories just waiting to take you away. Although every fantasy novel is bound to be rich with imagined worlds and tried and true tropes, no two stories are quite the same.

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The Element of Surprise: An Anti-Spoiler Manifesto

April 30th, 2015

Pictured above: River Song, a character from Doctor Who. She WILL shoot you if you talk about spoilers. Science has already (somewhat) proven that spoilers don't inherently ruin any chance of enjoying a narrative. In a 2011 study conducted by researchers at the University of California San Diego, participants were given twelve short stories, some of which contained spoilerific paragraphs imbedded in the text, some without. Across the board, the readers tended to favor the stories whose plots were revealed ahead of time.

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Five Ways Scrivener Can Help Your Work In Progress

April 29th, 2015

Writing is like weaving. First, you plan your design, calculating the type and amount of yarn required.  Then, you load up your equipment with the necessary colors and lengths of threads.  You pull a series of threads together and stretch them taut to define your work’s form and shape.  This is the warp.  Then you shuttle back and forth in a perpendicular direction with more threads over your warp. This is the weft, the repeating colors and designs that make your work unique and substantial. 

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