In Support of the Exclamation Mark

Editors typically frown on the excessive use of the exclamation mark. Some go as far as to argue it shouldn’t be used at all. So, what’s the deal? How did we start using it in the first place? The English Project has some interesting things to say on the...

Start Writing your Bestseller!

I came across this inspirational infograph by Essaymama on Shannon A. Thompson’s blog. We get to see where our favorite writers started, and how long it took them before they found success in the form of a bestseller. Some authors started out as young as 13 and...

My Two Top Tips to an Aspiring Writer

I was talking recently to Joe of The Ladders, a comprehensive career resource for professionals that takes pride in helping people in diverse demographics with their career no matter what the field. Joe had an unusual question for me: what would I advise someone...

Highly (un)Original Short Story Titles

Editor Neil Clarke is editing a number of magazines that accept short stories, including Clarkesworld Magazine, a Hugo Award-winning and World Fantasy Award nominated science fiction and fantasy magazine, and Forever Magazine. He recently reported they had just...