Posted inArnzen News Instigation

New Website Launched for MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT

One of my big nonfiction projects this past year was co-editing a huge, 130,000 word collection of instructional articles for writers, called MANY GENRES, ONE CRAFT: Lessons in Writing Popular Fiction, with writer Heidi Ruby Miller. It's early, but the website for the book has launched, and many insightful features are planned for it in the months leading up to the book's release this coming Spring: http://manygenres.blogspot.com If you write or teach writing, no matter what genre, this book is for you. Horror readers will likely be familiar with some of the names in the book. Gary Braunbeck launches the…
December 24, 2010Posted inArnzen News, Instigation
Posted inInstigation

Twisted Prompts for Sicko Writers (29)

+ Write a paragraph for each tick of the clock during a countdown to an execution or bomb blast. + Steal the title of a computer game at random ("Angry Birds", "Fallout", "Civilization V") and use it for the title of a horror/crime/science fiction story that has nothing whatsoever to do with the game's premise. + Begin a story in the chapel of a hospital. *** Review the entire "Instigation" department for more prompts. You can share your writing here on The Goreletter by clicking on the 'comment' link.
October 3, 2010Posted inInstigation
Posted inArnzen News Instigation

RDSP Retrospective Event: Book Deal, Chat, and Writing Contest!

[UPDATE: The writing contest has now ended. I was asked to judge the finalists, and have submitted my selections to Raw Dog Screaming Press, who have now announced the winners and published the winning entry. Thanks to all who participated!] For the month of August, Raw Dog Screaming Press (publisher of my novel, Play Dead) is offering a sweet "Retrospective" book bundle of their bestselling short-story collections, which packages together my book, 100 JOLTS, with Jeremy C. Shipp's Sheep and Wolves and Adam Golaski's Worse Than Myself, for a VERY low price ($30 for paperbacks, $12 for Ebooks). Orders get…
August 1, 2010Posted inArnzen News, Instigation4 Comments
Posted inInstigation

MORE Twisted Prompts for NaNoWriMo Writers

Last week I posted a batch of creative writing sparks just for novelists to inspire some craziness during the launch of NaNoWriMo ("National Novel Writing Month") Now it's a week later. Many writers have quit. Still others are beginning to lose steam. So I'm offering another batch of Instigation to possibly keep the fires burning weirdly. Remember: finishing is not enough. You have to GO CRAZY! The glee of the twisted is a communicable disease that many readers love to catch. Good luck. ~~~~~~~~~ + Your character is desperate. Literally have them make a sacrifice. To a named deity. Even…
November 8, 2009Posted inInstigation
Posted inInstigation Weblog Exclusive

Twisted Prompts for NaNoWriMo Writers

NaNoWriMo -- aka National Novel Writing Month -- launched today (and I have a suspicion that Starbucks' stock will, too)! Since I know that a lot of writers follow this blog, I thought it might be cool if I shared some "Instigation" prompts just for novelists who are speeding through a caffeinated session of binge writing but hitting roadblocks along the way. These prompts are intended to help you get over those hurdles more than just help you get started -- but whatever they do, I hope they instigate you to take your book in a weirder direction than you…
November 1, 2009Posted inInstigation, Weblog Exclusive