Top Ten Articles – March 2020

Well, it’s the end of the month and this means that it’s time for me to compile a list of links to the ten best articles about writing, reading, making art etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month (plus a couple of honourable mentions too).

All in all, this month’s articles turned out fairly well although, like with a couple of previous months, I’ve had to rely on my pre-made article buffer more than usual (due to a number of time-based reasons) and this month’s daily articles probably took about a month and a half to actually write. Seriously, if you’re running a blog, then try to make as large of a pre-written “buffer” as you can during the times when you have more time – it really does come in handy sometimes 🙂

In terms of reviews – apart from the usual “Doom II” WAD review, I didn’t review any computer games this month (I’d planned to finish and review either “Braid” and/or “Cosmo’s Cosmic Adventure”, but got distracted by playing “Devil Daggers” again).

On the plus side, I ended up reviewing fourteen novels this month 🙂 My favourites were probably: “Cold Warriors” by Rebecca Levene, “A Closed And Common Orbit” by Becky Chambers, “Tangled Up In Blue” by Joan D. Vinge, “Area 7” by Matthew Reilly and “Pandora” by Anne Rice.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – March 2020:

– “Four More Reasons To Read Older Novels”
– “Four Sneaky Tricks That Thriller Authors Use To Make Their Stories More Gripping”
– “Three Reasons Why Gruesome Horror Fiction Isn’t Scary”
– “Three Tips For Blending The Horror And Thriller Genres”
– “Three Cool Things That Only Novels Can Do”
– “Do Thriller Novels Have To Be Fast-Paced? – A Ramble”
– “Three Random Tips For Getting Into Reading Novels”
– “Three Thoughts About Writing Sequels”
– “Why Making ‘Tech Demo’ Paintings Can Make You Feel Inspired Again – A Ramble”
– “Three Thoughts About ‘Life Story’-Style First-Person Narration”

Honourable mentions:

– “Three Quick Thoughts About How Long A Novel Takes To Read”
– “Why Sanitised Violence Ruins The Thriller Genre – A Ramble”

Top Ten Articles – February 2020

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 about writing etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month (with a couple of honourable mentions too).

All in all, this month’s articles/reviews were a bit slower to write than I’d expected due to being busy with other stuff (eg: although they appeared daily, I had to rely on my “buffer” of pre-written articles quite a bit – so they took longer than a month to prepare) but they turned out better than I’d expected 🙂

In terms of reviews, I surprisingly ended up reviewing three modern computer games (“Neverending Nightmares“, “Hard Reset Redux” and “Devil Daggers“) but, due to both this and the shorter length of this month, I only ended up reviewing ten novels this month.

Anyway, my favourite novels that I reviewed this month were probably “The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers, “The End Of The Day” by Claire North, “The Rosewater Insurrection” by Tade Thompson, “Accursed” by Guy N. Smith and “World’s End” by Joan D. Vinge.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – Feburary 2020:

– “Three More Reasons Why Reading Regularly Is Important For Writers”
– “Three Sneaky Hacks For Writing A Novel If You’re A Short Story Writer”
– “Three Tips For Writing Victorian-Style Narration”
– “Why Knowing Your Chosen Genre Results In Better Stories – A Ramble”
– “How To Mix First And Third Person Perspective Narration”
– “When Should You Reference Your Previous Stories?”
– “Three Reasons To Use A Formal Writing Style In Your Story”
– “Three Reasons Why Horror Stories Are Set In The Past”
– “Four Reasons Why Horror Novels Are Similar To Heavy Metal Music”
– “Good Action Sequences In Thriller Novels Are Like Puzzles – A Ramble”

Honourable mentions:

– “Why Difficult Computer Games Are Good For Your Creativity”
– “Three Rambling And Rose-Tinted Tips For Adding Early-Mid 2000s Nostalgia To Your Art Or Story”

Top Ten Articles – January 2020

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 about writing, reading etc… that I’ve posted here over the past month (plus a couple of honourable mentions too).

All in all, this month’s articles went reasonably well – even if, behind the scenes, creating them was a little bit slower and more erratic (due to being busy with other stuff) than usual. Still, thanks to a large enough buffer of pre-written articles (seriously, if you’re starting a blog, you need one of these!), it didn’t affect the posting schedule 🙂

In terms of reviews, there were less game reviews than I’d expected this month (“Doom II” WADs aside, the only game I reviewed was the excellent “Dreamfall: Chapters”) but this meant that I could review twelve novels this month 🙂 My favourites were probably: “Deathday” By Shaun Hutson, “Sunburn” by Laura Lippman, “Rosewater” by Tade Thompson, “Lair” by James Herbert and “The Damnation Game” by Clive Barker.

Anyway, here are the lists 🙂 Enjoy 🙂

Top Ten Articles – January 2020:

– “Three Things To Do If Your Story Gets Stuck On A Mini-Cliffhanger”
– “Four Things Writers Can Learn From 1980s Shaun Hutson Novels”
– “Three Things That Writers Can Learn From 1980s Clive Barker Novels”
– “Four Reasons To Read Older Novels”
– “Three Tips For Choosing A Book To Read Next”
– “Four Tips For Adding Pop Culture References To Your Story”
– “Four Thoughts About Writing Modern Noir Fiction”
– “How To Use Signposting To Make Your Story Less Confusing”
– “Why Dismissing The Past Is Bad For Creativity- A Ramble”
– “Four More Tips For Making Your Thriller Story More Gripping”

Honourable Mentions:

– “Using Themes And Focus To Innovate In Genre Fiction – A Ramble”
– “Should Writers Take Influence From Films?“

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“