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Stories

  1. Writing open questions into your fictionSpeculative fiction has always thrived on mystery, and the most haunting tales leave readers holding onto a question long after the final page. Australian…
  2. The Stories We Leave Behind in Fantasy and Speculative FictionExploring the theme of legacy in fantasy and speculative fiction means looking beyond inheritance, family names, and ancient crowns. Legacy can be a spell…
  3. Shadows under the sun: writing a noir story set in daylightMost readers picture a noir story the moment a private dick steps into a lamplit alley, rain tapping the brim of his hat. Strip that away and force the action…
  4. How Word Count Constraints Ignite Bolder StorytellingFor years, Australian short story writers have wrestled with the dreaded ceiling: write under 1500 words, squeeze an entire world into 500, somehow fit a…
  5. When the protagonist becomes the antagonist: a writer's challengeSpeculative fiction thrives on moral ambiguity. From brooding Tartan Noir antiheroes to conflicted fantasy sorcerers, readers are drawn to characters who…
  6. Portraying the Aftermath of a Magical Disaster in Short FictionA city street that smoulders for weeks. A schoolyard where every clock stopped at the same minute. A coastal town whose tides now answer to a stranger's name.…
  7. Scotland's brutal landscape as fuel for noir fictionTartan Noir has always treated the ground beneath a character's feet as something closer to a co-conspirator than a backdrop. The genre, named for the dark…
  8. Leaving the door open: writing stories without closureShort fiction has always been a space for experimentation, and a story with no clear resolution sits at the experimental edge of the form. Many Australian…
  9. The role of luck in shaping fantasy narrativesFew forces in storytelling feel as elusive as chance. A coin flips through the air, a stranger appears at a crossroads, and suddenly the course of a kingdom…
  10. Making Deus Ex Machina Feel Earned Through ForeshadowingA deus ex machina occurs when an apparently impossible problem is solved by a sudden outside force, unknown power or convenient discovery. The device has a…
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