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UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: January Edition

January 30th, 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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5 Non-Writerly Apps For Writers

January 30th, 2015

At this stage in human evolution, we've become a society dependent on handheld computers and smartphones to keep us on task, on time, and informed. And while it's generally a good idea to disconnect from net-based distractions while in the act of writing, these technological advancements are just as beneficial to writers as anyone else. I've covered numerous iOS and Android applications geared specifically toward writers of various ilk, from prose fiction authors to screenwriters, playwrights, and journalists.

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Screenwriting: Nail The Subtext

January 29th, 2015

Oh, subtext, you’re a fickle wretch.  By definition, you must not be written or spoken. You’re invisible on the page.  As soon as you start to become too obvious, you cease to exist. Nonetheless, your absence is keenly felt.  A screenplay without subtext is all surface, no depth.  There’s little substance to the story, less resonance.

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Off The Grid Reads: 'The Weird' Edited By Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

January 29th, 2015

So you've finally had it. You're sick of the grind: the job, email, Facebook, Twitter, text messages, television constantly trying to sell you shit you don't need. When you were first starting out, you never pictured your life turning out the way it has. You always thought you'd live close to the land, maybe farm and hunt your food, build your house with your own hands, fall in love with a woman who had the same ideals. But nope, nothing of the sort has happened.

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The Lost Boys of YA: Are Young Men Reading Less?

January 27th, 2015

A friend of mine who recently finished six years of military service used to read on the bus between training exercises. It seems like a pretty innocuous thing to do. The ride from one base to another was four hours long, so he brought a book to entertain himself. At least, that was his original intent when he started out as a 19-year-old private. He quickly found that his peers viewed reading as a strictly feminine activity, and a laughable one at that. Tired of the constant harassment that it provoked, he eventually stopped bringing books on the bus.

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10 Books I Will Finally Read This Year

January 27th, 2015

How long is your to-read list?  Mine grows by the minute, and with so many new books being added daily, I've left some titles hanging there for years. Well, 2015 is the year I save ten of these cast-off classics. What follows is the list of books I will finally read this year. 

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Culling the Poetry Classics: Robert Frost

January 26th, 2015

Hello, happy New Year, and welcome to 2015's all-new, all-poetry edition of "Culling The Classics." In the past, CTC has focused primarily on the supposed Great Works of Old White Guy Literature (with a few notable exceptions), helping to keep you the reader from wasting time on a boring/outdated/just plain bad so-called

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Slashing Childhood: An Erotic Fanfiction Adventure

January 23rd, 2015

Let me be clear, I want to see what happens when significant characters from my childhood have sex with each other.

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13 Resolutions for the Reading Life

January 22nd, 2015

It’s January once again, and that means it’s time for looking over the past year and setting intentions for the New Year. People everywhere are making resolutions for living a better life, and today I’m looking specifically at my reading life. I'm sharing thirteen resolutions to shape my 2015 reading experience, in hopes of making this year bigger and better than the last. They include resolutions to read more diversely, stop feeling ashamed of what I love to read, and to re-visit the classics I left behind after graduating from college. 

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Comic Book vs. Television: Hellblazer vs. Constantine

January 22nd, 2015

The sometimes sorcerer and full-time hustler John Constantine is one of my favorite comic book characters. But even in this golden age of comic book adaptation, I never dared hope the character would get another turn after his abysmal screen debut embodied by Keanu Reeves. Marvel may rule at the movies, but DC Comics has a long tradition of dominating on TV, from the colorful universe of the Bruce Timm cartoons to the hugely successful primetime drama Smallville, which created the template that Arrow and The Flash continue to improve upon.

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