Our master list of best resources for writers of fantasy, horror and sci-fi.
Writing advice sites
Writer’s Knowledge Base: Huge database of more than 40,000 articles about writing. Always my favorite place to start to research any writing problem (other than Google, of course). These are the best articles, from the top writing blogs. I also subscribe to Elizabeth Spann Craig’s weekly list of the best new writing-related articles, called Twitterific Writing Links, which then all get added to this database.
Save The Cat!: Lots of good examples of how the STC framework works for a variety of popular movies and books.
Mythcreants: My all-time favorite writing advice site, since it’s about speculative fiction, and also because the editors here seem to care about a lot of the same issues that I do. Latest favorite post: Five common reasons tension is missing.
Fiction University: Lots of great advice articles here, including 5 questions to ask for stronger scenes — 1. Can the protagonist be in any danger? 2. Can the protagonist learn or reveal a secret? 3. Can the protagonist be in conflict with someone, something, or themselves? 4. Can the protagonist make a choice? 5. Can the protagonist fail at something?
Reedsy: Clear accessible writing advice on all the basic topics, like How to write a series and 150+ Useful Character Quirks. They’ve also got a cute plot generator and a really good character name generator.
Submission trackers
The Grinder: The best free resources out there for tracking where you’ve submitted your short stories. Plus, has the best database of paying markets, sortable by genre, rates, and how fast they tell you if your story has been accepted.
The article “Resources for writers” originally appeared on MetaStellar, the magazine of speculative fiction.
