Top Ten Articles – December 2019

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 best ten articles about writing etc… that I’ve post here over the past month (plus a couple of honourable mentions too).

Although some this month’s articles didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped (and, looking over them again, there’s even a bit of repetition – in the sense that I wrote two articles about adding humour to fiction), some of them turned out reasonably well though. I don’t know, I guess I was going through a bit of an uninspired phase when preparing some of the articles that appeared in the later parts of this month.

In terms of reviews, I was still getting back into writing occasional computer game reviews 🙂 And I ended up reviewing about twice as many games as I’d expected, namely: “Remothered: Tormented Fathers“, “Skylar And Plux: Adventure On Clover Island“, “Dex: Enhanced Version“, the 2013 remake of “Shadow Warrior” and the “Wanton Destruction” expansion for the original 1997 “Shadow Warrior” in addition to the usual “Doom II” WAD reviews.

On the other hand, this meant that I only had the time and space to review nine novels this month. My favourites of these were probably: “The Haunting Of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, “Idoru” by William Gibson, “Star Trek: The Next Generation – Sins Of Commission” by Susan Wright, “Kill All Angels” by Robert Brockway and “A Wanted Man” by Lee Child.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – December 2019:

– “Old Fiction Vs Historical Fiction”
– “Shock Value And Storytelling Mediums – A Ramble”
– “Three Reasons Why Authors Write Book Series”
– “One Strange Reason Why Your Novel Might Feel Lifeless”
– “Why Good Horror Novels Include Comedy”
– “Using Contrast To Improve Your Story”
– “Why Are Thriller Novels So Long?”
– “How Scale Progression Makes Thriller Stories Gripping”
– “Why Humour Is Important In Every Genre Of Story”
– “Three Game Design Techniques That Writers Can Use”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Why Movie Novelisations Exist”
– “Artistic Inspiration And Focus – A Ramble”

Top Ten Articles – November 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month, so I thought that I’d do my usual thing of collecting a list of links to the ten best articles (with maybe an honourable mention or two) about writing, reading etc… that I’ve posted here this month.

All in all, this month has been a bit of a strange one and although I quite like most of the articles I wrote, some of them also ended up going in very slightly more of a game-based direction since I got a modern refurbished computer at the time of writing many of them. On the plus side, this also led to non-“Doom II” related game reviews (eg: this one and this one) returning to this site for the first time in about six months or so.

Talking of reviews, I also managed to review twelve novels this month – with my favourites being “Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?” By Phillip K. Dick, “Virtual Light” by William Gibson, “N or M?” by Agatha Christie, “Blade Runner 2: The Edge Of Human” by K.W.Jeter, “Seventh Heaven” by Alice Hoffman and “Breeding Ground” by Shaun Hutson.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – November 2019:

– “Does Writing Style Matter More Than Plot?”
– “Three Things To Do When You Can’t Use Your Favourite Writing Style”
– “Imperfect Technology Is An Important Part Of The Cyberpunk Genre – A Ramble”
– “Two Very Basic Tips For Reading A ‘Difficult’ Book”
– “Four Reasons Why Spin-Off Novels Are So Awesome”
– “When To Use Alternating Chapters In Your Story”
– “Two Tips For Writing Stories That Can Compete With The Internet, Games, Phones etc…”
– “Why Writers Need To Read Multiple Genres Of Fiction”
– “Three Ways To Make Your Story More Readable”
– “What Can A Computer Game Teach Us About Writing Horror Fiction That Focuses On One Type Of Horror?”

Honourable mentions:

– “Three Reasons Why 1980s British Horror Fiction Was So Shocking”
– “Is Simplification A Good Thing In Storytelling? – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – October 2019

Happy Halloween everyone 🙂 As usual, here’s a list of links to the ten best articles about writing, reading etc.. I’ve posted here over the past month (plus a few honourable mentions too). Plus, in keeping with the occasion, most of the articles linked here are about the horror genre 🙂

As regular readers of this site probably know, this month’s book reviews have also had a bit of a horror theme too 🙂 Although, thanks to reading some longer books, I only reviewed twelve books this month. Still, the best ones were probably: “The Mall” by S. L. Grey, “The Ritual” by Adam Nevill, “The Rats” by James Herbert, “The Vampire Armand” by Anne Rice, “Resident Evil: City Of The Dead” by S. D. Perry and “The First Days” by Rhiannon Frater.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – October 2019:

– “Why Your Horror Story Needs To Include Moments Of Wonder”
– “Four Advantages That Horror Film/Game Novelisations Have Over The Source Material”
– “Three Basic Tips For Adding Horror Elements To Other Genres Of Fiction”
– “Is Horror Fiction About Perspective?”
– “Three Reasons Why Horror Writers Shouldn’t Just Read Horror Fiction”
– “Three Thoughts About Re-Reading Novels”
– “Three Ways To Survive A Horror Publishing Drought”
– “Three Tips For Making Your Horror Stories Re-Readable”
– “Three Innovative Scares To Use In Your Horror Story”
– “Why First Novels Aren’t Publishable – A Ramble”

Honourable Mentions:

– “How Formal Should The Narration In Your Horror Story Be?”
– “Horror Movies Vs. Horror Novels – A Ramble”
– “Three Reasons Why The Zombie Genre Is So Appealing“

Top Ten Articles – September 2019

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

Unfortunately, due to being very busy at the time of writing many of this month’s articles (in addition to suffering from a fairly heavy cold for a few days), the quality varied somewhat. But, on the bright side, there are more articles about the horror genre than usual, mostly thanks to the fact that I was reading a few horror novels and was also preparing last year’s Halloween stories at the time too.

In terms of book reviews, I ended up reviewing fourteen novels this month and my favourites were probably: “The Skin Palace” by Jack O’Connell, “Day Four” by Sarah Lotz, “The Deep” by Nick Cutter, “Universal Harvester” by John Darnielle and “And The Rest Is History” by Jodi Taylor.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – September 2019:

– “Three Possible Reasons Why ‘Shock Value’ Was A Major Part Of British Horror Fiction During The 1980s”
– “Three Basic Ways To Make Your Horror Story More Or Less Scary”
– “Three Reasons Why Modern Creative Works Use Nostalgic Elements”
– “Three Reasons Why Horror And Comedy Go Well Together”
– “Three Reasons Why Paperback Books Are Awesome”
– “Three Differences Between 2010s and 1980s Horror Fiction”
– “Should You Use First Or Third Person Perspective Narration In Your Story?”
– “Three Possible Reasons Why Paperback Cover Art Was Better In The 1980s”
– “Three Basic Tips For Including Character Backstories In Your Story”
– “Three Basic Tips For Writing Epic Large-Scale Battle Scenes”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Three More Reasons Why Reading Is Better Than Gaming”
– “Three Quick Tips For Adding Dark Comedy To Horror Stories“

Top Ten Articles – August 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to collect a list of the ten best articles about writing, making comics, reading books etc.. that I’ve posted here over the past month (As usual, I’ll also include a few honourable mentions too).

Despite being busy with various things, this month’s articles turned out better than I expected. Not only that, I also managed to review thirteen novels this month too – my favourites were probably: “Cabal” by Clive Barker, “Kill The Dead” by Tanith Lee, “Anno Mortis” by Rebecca Levene, “Meddling Kids” by Edgar Cantero and “Lies, Damned Lies, And History” by Jodi Taylor.

Anyway, here are the lists, enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – August 2019:

– “Three Ways To Make Familiar Horror Monsters Scarier”
– “One Essential, But Overlooked, Element Of Fantasy Fiction – A Ramble”
– “Four Reasons To Read Books By Lots Of Different Authors”
– “The One Time You Should Avoid Writing Advice – A Ramble”
– “Three Random Tips For Making Your Zombie Story Stand Out From The Crowd”
– “Three Thoughts About Writing Short Fantasy Fiction”
– “Three Benefits And Downsides Of Reading A Lot”
– “One Way To Improve The Filler Comics In Your Webcomic”
– “Three More Thoughts About How To Make Zombie Stories Scary”
– “Three Lessons Writers Can Learn From 1980s Horror Fiction”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Three Awesome Reasons Why Books Are Rebellious”
– “When Is It Ok To ‘Break The Rules’ In Your Writing?”
– “Small Recaps Are Useful For Your Readers! Use Them! – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – July 2019

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 the ten best articles about writing, art, books etc.. that I’ve posted here over the past month. As usual, I’ll also include a couple of honourable mentions too.

This month’s articles turned out fairly well, although there were more articles about writing than about making art (this seems to be something of a trend over the past few months). Plus, this month also saw a comic-format article (linked at the top of the list later in this article) too – seriously, it has been years since I last made one of these 🙂

Likewise, I also ended up reviewing fourteen books this month and, to my delight, also read more sci-fi novels than usual too 🙂

My favourite books from this month’s reviews are probably: “Nova Swing” by M. John Harrison, “The Accidental Time Machine” by Joe Haldeman, “Ghost Dance” by Rebecca Levine, “Blood Music” by Greg Bear, “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” By Jodi Taylor and “The Ice Queen” by Alice Hoffman.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – July 2019:

– ” ‘Books – A Comic’ By C. A. Brown” (Comic)
– “Three Reasons Why Authors Write Books That Are ‘Difficult To Read’ ”
– “Three Things To Do When You Worry That Your Short Story Is ‘Badly Written’ ”
– “Good Stories Always Have ‘Deleted Scenes’ – A Ramble”
– “Three Basic Tips For Making Your Thriller Story More Gripping”
– “Three Thoughts About How To Use Multiple Story Threads”
– “How To Use Misdirection In The Horror Genre – A Ramble”
– “Three More Tips About When To Abandon A Short Story Project”
– “One Clever Way To Make Minimalist Art Interesting (With An Example)”
– “Three Tips For Writing Bleak Fiction (That People Will Actually Want To Read)”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Three Beginners’ Tips For Writing Heavy Metal-Themed Stories”
– “Awesome Art Can Lurk In Unlikely Places – A Ramble“

Top Ten Articles – June 2019

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to collect a list of 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.

All in all, this month’s articles turned out surprisingly well given the hot weather at the time of writing them. Likewise, with my daily art, I finally started making a mixture of realistic landscapes and my more traditional sci-fi/retro art (rather than just landscapes) again 🙂

However, the hot weather affected this month’s reading quite a bit. Although I was able to review 14 books this month, the weather meant that I had to focus more on shorter books, TV show spin-off novels and/or fast-paced novels.

Needless to say, I really enjoyed some of the books I read and my favourite ones from this month are probably: “Martin Misunderstood” by Karin Slaughter, “No Time Like The Past” by Jodi Taylor, “The Eye Of The Beholder” by Marc Behm, “Plague Town” by Dana Fredsti and “The Ectoplasmic Man” by Daniel Stashower.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – June 2019:

– “Three Basic Tips For Writing Gruesome Horror Fiction”
– “Three Things Artists Can Learn From Old Survival Horror Videogames”
– “Three Reasons Why You Should Abandon A Novel You Don’t Enjoy Reading”
– “One Basic Tip For Taking Dramatic Reference Photos In Bright Weather”
– “Three Basic Tips For Making ‘Silly’ Stories Compelling”
– “Two Basic Tips For When A Genre Won’t Work In Your Chosen Medium”
– “Three Reasons Why Reading Regularly Is Important If You’re A Writer”
– “Four Wild Tips For Writing Hedonistic Stories”
– “Three Tips For Keeping Up Your Reading During Hot Weather”
– “Three Things That Novels Can Learn From Computer Games”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Three Thoughts About Film Theory And Writing Fiction”
– “Finding The Right Writing Style For Your Story – A Ramble“