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The Dell Award and Alphans
The Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing just announced its winner, runners-up, and honorable mentions. Like last year, Alphans have made a very...
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What Do I Do Now?
You wrote the story. You edited the story. You scrapped it. You rewrote it. You edited the story again. You asked friends for input, then ignored them. You continued editing. You cut, you cut, you cut....
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There’s a torpedo joke in here, but it’s up to you to make it.
It’s (usually) easy to tell if a story is Genre, which is within-our-genre-speak for Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Sometimes Horror. Does it have dragons? Does it have ray guns? Which animals talk, and...
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The Single Most Common Problem with Application Stories
…is manuscript format. Every year. Why manuscript format? Because it makes things easier. You can write in whatever format you want. Write in pencil at the end of your Algebra notebook, scribble in pen...
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Then stop.
One of the tough parts about writing short stories, especially if you’re used to reading novels or series instead, is that short stories stop. How does one accomplish this feat? You need an ending....
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The 2012 Dell Awards
The 2012 Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing has been announced. Of the eight awards given, four went to Alphans. Rick Wilber, the award...
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Dell Award winners announced
Every year, Alphans gather together to submit to the Dell Magazines Award for Undergraduate Excellence in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing, then to wonder just when the news will come out. This...
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The 2013 Worry Thread
The deadline’s approaching fast, you might have your story in, you might not, you suddenly have to wait to find out. Use this thread to talk to each other. You can talk about your application stories...
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What Do I Do Now?
So you didn’t get into Alpha this year. What do you do now? First off: recover. It can be a really tense wait and all the ignoring it in the world doesn’t help if back-of-brain decides to fixate on it....
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Recent Alphan Publication: “Sunk” by Yumi Shiroma
One of my favorite parts of keeping up with Alphans is seeing their work published, especially when it’s a surprise. Goblin Fruit is a wonderful publication and I’m pleased to see Yumi Shiroma’s poem...
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2014 Dell Award announcement
The 2014 Dell Magazines Award has been announced! This award is for undergraduate speculative fiction writers. The award is given at the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in March,...
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A Week of Prompts
The Alpha application deadline is fast approaching, and that means at least a few people are panicking. Is the story good enough? I should write another– but I don’t have any ideas! Everything is...
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Writing Prompt 1: They Fight Crime!
This is not the original They Fight Crime!, but it’s still amazing. Spend a little while clicking through until you find a pair– or a solo hero, or a trio– that makes you want to write that story. You...
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Writing Prompt 2: Tell me this story.
A comet burned in the sky and snakes fell from the heavens the night of my birth. Problem is, there were another couple hundred thousand people born that night, too, and I think maybe the comet was for...
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Writing Prompt 3: Immortality
What happens when humans figure out immortality, but you can’t get younger and you can’t have kids afterward? No, really. A lot of immortality schemes involve eternal youth, but as Tithonus discovered,...
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Writing Prompt 4: The Lost City
Pick a lost or abandoned city. Set the story there, but maybe not in its last days. Atlantis, Port Royal, Pompeii, Machu Picchu, Helike, Camelot, El Dorado, Troy, Songo Mnara, Angkor, Great Zimbabwe,...
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Writing Prompt 6: Chuck Wendig
Chuck Wendig has flash prompts each week. Find one you like in the archives, or use this one. The story includes a botanical garden, fatherhood, and something talking that doesn’t normally talk. Online...
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Writing Prompt 7: The End Times
Here endeth the week of writing prompts. I hope you’ve gotten at least one idea from them. Leave a comment if you have a favorite exercise or prompt to inspire your next story. The last prompt: “No one...
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The 2014 Worry Thread
Step 1) Send in a complete application to Alpha, including a story. Step 2) Freak out. Step 3) End the freakout by posting here! This is a thread for your worries. The application committee will not...
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