How To Write For Sci-Fi Shorts: A Primer
Image Copyright 2023 - SFS Publishing LLC Writing for periodicals is not a get-rich-quick scheme. It’s also not for the faint of heart,...
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Jim Dutton
- Nov 15
- 3 min
November Prompt: Feasts with the Beasts
Theme: This month we’re looking ahead and behind at the same time. Did you ever hear how aliens gave the ancient Egyptians the blueprints...
1100
Jim Dutton
- Oct 15
- 3 min
October Prompt: Machine in the Ghost
Theme: We challenge you to write a piece of flash sci-fi in which mechanical or AI contrivances imitate, replace, or become someone who...
2560
Jim Dutton
- Jul 10
- 3 min
Mathematical Sci-Fi
Despite having an abiding interest (and a degree) in mathematics, I’ve never tried to write a science fiction story in which math plays a...
1192
Jim Dutton
- Apr 25
- 3 min
Historical Sci-Fi
“It’s terribly hard to see, and think clearly, about the long future, when the immediate present seems so violently pressing.” American...
1070
Jim Dutton
- Feb 16
- 2 min
First-Contact Sci-Fi
In the two weeks prior to this writing, the US has shot down four high-altitude flying objects, three of which are still unidentified....
1091
Jim Dutton
- Jan 20
- 2 min
Post-Apocalyptic Sci-Fi
In the early 1950s, humanity realized that we could destroy all human life on the planet. This realization spurred the emergence of a new...
1178
J.A. Taylor
- Jan 13
- 2 min
Living on Another Planet
Let’s get real: As far as we know, Earth is all we’ve got. I mean, if we screw this place up, it’s a big deal, cause you know, until the...
1123
Jim Dutton
- Sep 30, 2022
- 3 min
Theological Sci-Fi
Science Fiction has a long history of dealing with, well, long histories. Therefore, it frequently addresses big questions like, How did...
471
Jim Dutton
- Sep 1, 2022
- 2 min
Virtual Sci-Fi
Everyone here knows this, I hope: Mark Zuckerberg did not invent the Metaverse. He invented a neat way for Harvard nerds to meet co-eds...
210
Jim Dutton
- Jul 31, 2022
- 1 min
Feminine Sci-Fi
Let’s be honest about something. The golden age of sci-fi produced many fine writers and many, many futuristic stories that seem to stick...
381
Jim Dutton
- Jun 30, 2022
- 2 min
Ethical Sci-Fi
Stories about robots and aliens have long been vessels for science fiction writers to examine the nature of “otherness.” How do we treat...
201
Jim Dutton
- Jun 1, 2022
- 2 min
Spooky Sci-Fi
In 1959, nearly at the peak of the golden age of sci-fi, Rod Serling began producing a weekly science fiction television series called...
261
Jim Dutton
- Apr 26, 2022
- 1 min
Exemplars from the Masters
The zeitgeist of the golden age of sci-fi was anchored in the early 20th century, peaked in the 1950s, and continued through the...
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