Top Ten Articles – March 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to collect links to my ten favourite articles about writing, making art, making webcomics, reading etc.. that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll include a few honourable mentions too.

All in all, this month was a reasonably good one in terms of articles – even though, like with the previous few months, there were fewer “ordinary” articles due to the fact that I’m posting reviews every 2-4 days. Likewise, I also tried (and failed – I finished it, but the quality was terrible) to write a 1980s-style horror novella at the time I was writing this month’s articles (and also started another novella project which I decided to write at a slower pace).

Talking of reviews, I ended up reviewing 13 novels and 2 “Doom II” WADs this month 🙂 The best novels that I reviewed this month are probably: “Box Nine” & “Word Made Flesh” by Jack O’Connell, “Zombie Apocalypse! Acapulcalypse Now” by Alison Littlewood, “Something Wicked This Way Comes” by Ray Bradbury, “A Second Chance” by Jodi Taylor, “Working For The Devil” by Lilith Saintcrow and “Heartstone” by C. J. Sansom.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – March 2019:

– “When Does Cover Art Really Matter?”
– “Two Terrifying Tips For Writing Extreme Horror Fiction”
– “Four Thoughts About When (And How) To Abandon A Book You’re Reading”
– “Three Random (But Realistic) Tips For Writing 1990s-Style Fiction”
– “Three Random Tips For Creating Satirical Comics”
– “Two Ways To Save Time Whilst Making Art”
– “Two Basic Differences Between Modern And Older Novels”
– “Two Basic Things To Do When A Creative Project Fails”
– “Two Ways To Make Greyscale Drawings/Paintings Based On Your Colour Photos”
– “Three Basic Tips For Writing Book Reviews”

Honourable Mentions:

– “The Joy Of….”Middle Brow” Fiction”
– “One Quick Way To Rekindle Enthusiasm For Your Story”
– “Two Practical Reasons Why English Lit Lessons/Lectures Are Important”

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Top Ten Articles – February 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month. So, I thought that I’d do my usual thing of collecting links to my ten favourite articles about writing, making art, making comics etc… that I’ve posted here during the past month. Plus, a couple of honourable mentions too.

Although, due to the shortness of the month, being busy writing some of the short stories that appeared here last March (amongst other things) and the fact that reviews (11 book reviews and 2 “Doom II” WAD reviews) appeared here every other day, there weren’t quite as many traditional articles posted here this month. But, I quite like how many of them turned out 🙂

In terms of the book reviews – the best books I reviewed this month are probably: “Snow Crash” By Neal Stephenson,”Turtle Moon” by Alice Hoffman , “Empire Of Salt” by Weston Ochse, “Just One Damned Thing After Another” by Jodi Taylor and “Devil’s Coach-Horse” by Richard Lewis.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – February 2019:

– “Three Sneaky Tricks For Making Rushed Webcomic Updates Look Good”
– “Two Quick Tips For Adding Symbolism To Realistic Photo-Based Art”
– “Narrative Styles And Emotional Tone – A Ramble”
– “Using Connections To Beat Writer’s Block- A Ramble”
– “Three Tips For Finding Topics For Short Stories”
– “Three Things To Do When You Can’t Write In Your Favourite Genres”
– “Two Basic Tips For Making Drawings And/Or Paintings Based On Your Photos”
– “Three Tips For Writing 1980s-Style Horror Fiction”
– “Three Tips For Choosing Good Photos (That You’ve Taken) To Make Paintings Of”
– “Three Random Tips For Writing Comedy Horror”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Four Reasons Why 1970s/80s Horror Fiction Is So Cool”
– “Three Reasons Why Books Are Better Than Film And TV“

Top Ten Articles – January 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month and I thought that I’d do my usual thing of collecting links to my ten favourite articles about writing fiction, making art etc.. that I’ve posted here this month. As usual, I’ll include a couple of honourable mentions too.

All in all, this month’s articles turned out reasonably well. Although I’m still trying to post a book review every 2-4 days, so there are less instructional articles as a result (I don’t know when the next book review will be though, since the book I’m reading at the time of writing [“Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson] isn’t exactly a quick read, plus it’s been a while since my last “Doom II” level review too), quite a few of my articles turned out reasonably well.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – January 2019:

– “Four Tips For Writing Daily Short Stories”
– “Why Traditional Art Skills Still Matter – A Ramble”
– “Two Basic Tips For Adding Some Nostalgia To Your Stories”
– “Three Tips For Building A “Buffer” Of Stories, Comics, Articles etc.. To Post Online (If You’ve Already Started Posting Stuff)”
– “Two Sneaky Ways To Be An Inspired Artist Again”
– “Two Better Alternatives To Writing Fan Fiction”
– “Four Random Tips For Writing Stories Set In 1990s America”
– “Three Clever Hidden Tricks That Writers Use”
– “Four Better Alternatives To Rotating First-Person Narration”
– “Three Basic Tips For Writing Vampire Stories”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Five Things I’ve Learnt From Getting Back Into Reading Regularly”
– “Three More Tips For Reading More This Year“

Top Ten Articles – December 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month (and the year). So, I thought that I’d do my usual thing of collecting a list of links to the ten best articles about writing fiction, making art etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a couple of honourable mentions too.

Surprisingly, due to all of the book reviews I posted here this month (it seems to be becoming a regular feature), there weren’t as many “ordinary” articles as I’d expected. Even so, some of them turned out reasonably well and I also ended up writing more writing-based articles than usual too 🙂

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – December 2018:

– “What Can Novel Cover Art Teach Us About Making Art?”
– “Don’t Show Your Audience Everything – A Ramble”
– “Three Tips For Basing Lots Of Stories Around A Single Theme”
– “What Books Can Do That Other Entertainment Mediums Can’t – A Ramble”
– “One Quick Tip For Writing Ultra-Gripping Action Scenes In Thriller Stories”
– “Three Shocking Tips For Writing 1980s-Style Splatterpunk Horror Fiction”
– “Three Tips For Making Webcomics When You’ve Got Less Time”
– “Three Differences Between Thriller Fiction And Horror Fiction”
– “How Straightforward Should Your Narration Be?”
– “Two Basic Tips For Using Digital Lighting Effects In “GIMP” (GNU Image Manipulation Program)”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Three Silly Tips For Writing ‘Creature Feature’ Horror Stories”
– “Three Tips For Writing 1990s-Style Cyberpunk Fiction“

Top Ten Articles – November 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to compile my usual list of links to my ten favourite articles about making art, making comics, writing fiction etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll include a couple of honourable mentions too.

All in all, this was a bit of a variable month in terms of articles. Not only were there more reviews than I had expected, but I had both highly-inspired days and uninspired days when writing the non-review articles. So, the quality of this month’s articles varied quite a bit. Hopefully, next month’s articles will be better 🙂

Anyway, here are the lists. Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – November 2018:

– “Want More Originality? Try Some Emotional Variation – A Ramble”
– “What Can Games Teach Writers About Challenging Their Audience? – A Ramble”
– “What An Old Novel Taught Me About Writing Thrilling Dialogue”
– “What Tribute Bands Can Teach Us About Fan Art- A Ramble”
– “Is There An Artistic Equivalent Of A “Live Version” Of A Song? – A Ramble”
– “Three Tips For Remaking Your Old Webcomic Updates”
– “Three Tips For Bringing Old Genres Up To Date”
– “Three Random Tips For Modern 1970s-Style Storytelling”
– “Four Tips For Getting Back Into Reading Regularly”
– “The Library Of The Imagination – A Ramble”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Why You Should Create Your Own Fictional Universe When Making Comics – A Ramble”
– “How Subtle Should Dark Comedy Be? – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – October 2018

First of all, Happy Halloween everyone 🙂 Anyway, since it’s the end of the month, it’s time for my usual list of links to what I consider to be the ten best articles about making art, making webcomics, writing fiction etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a few honourable mentions too.

All in all, this month probably wasn’t the best one in terms of articles. Partly, this was due to being busy with a couple of other projects at the time of preparing this month’s articles in addition to problems caused by tiredness and/or writer’s block. Still, there were some good articles posted here this month.

So, without any further ado, here are the lists. Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – October 2018

– “Three Stress- Reduction Tips For Making Comics And/Or Webcomics”
– “Why “Less Is More” Applies To Blood In Horror Comics – A Ramble”
– “Time Travel And Art Mediums- A Ramble”
– “Are Games Art? – A Ramble”
– “The Joy Of … The ‘Hedonism’ Genre”
– “Three Things An Old Computer Game Can Teach Us About How To Add Some Heavy Metal To The Fantasy Genre”
– “Three Unusual Things To Do If You Write Yourself Into A Corner”
– “Single-Location Comedy – A Ramble”
– “Three Ways To Deal With Comparing Your Own Creative Works To ‘Great Works’”
– “Making Art – Do The ‘Graphics’ Matter? – A Ramble”

Honourable mentions:

– “Using Fake Anachronisms In Historical Art And Fiction – A Ramble”
– “Creativity, Subcultures And Fandoms – A Ramble”
– “Four Reasons Why Creating Stuff With Older And/Or Low-Tech Tools Is Awesome“

Top Ten Articles – September 2018

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to do my usual thing of collecting a list of links to what I feel are the ten best articles about making art, writing fiction, making webcomics etc… that I’ve posted here during the past month. As usual, I’ll include a couple of honourable mentions too.

All in all, this month’s articles turned out reasonably well. Surprisingly, I actually ended up writing a few critic-style articles about “Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines“, mostly since I was re-playing this game at the time, which also explains why my planned review of “Under A Killing Moon” never appeared.

Still, since I was preparing last year’s Christmas stories at the time I was writing these articles, there’s a few articles about the film noir genre here.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – September 2018:

– “Three Tips For How To Look For Inspiration”
– “How Much Do You Have To Explain About Your Fictional ‘World’ If You Want A Re-Readable Story?”
– “Three Quick Tips For How To Fake “Film Noir”-Style Narration”
– “Three Reasons Why Fan Works Can Sometimes Be Better Than Their “Official” Counterparts”
– “Four Rambling Thoughts About Making ‘Film Noir’-Style Art”
– “Two Very Basic Tips For Writing ‘Film Noir’ Comedy”
– “When To Wait For Inspiration (And When Not To) – A Ramble”
– “Two Tips For Binge Creativity (eg: Binge Writing, Comic Binges etc..)”
– “Three Cool Benefits Of Reading More In The Past Than You Do Now”
– “Four Tips For Finding Creative Inspirations On A Low Budget”

Honourable mentions:

– “Four Reasons Why Things From The 1990s Can Seem More Creative”
– “Three Technical Tips For Painting From Memory“