Brandon Cornett's Blog, page 2

The Dark Fantasy Fiction Genre Explained

Dark fantasy delivers eerie and sometimes horrific stories that blend genres. They often use magic and other fantasy-based elements combined with an undercurrent of horror.

If you like speculative fiction in general but haven’t tried dark fantasy in particular, you might want to give it a try. You could start with an anthology of stories to get the feel for it, such as The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror.

Or you could jump straight into a novel-length work, such as Glen Cook’s The Blac...

How to Start Writing a Horror Short Story: A Beginner’s Guide

Elsewhere on this site, you’ll find some great advice for writing horror fiction in general, including everything from books to screenplays. Today, we will zero in on the short story format.

This guide explains how to start writing a horror story based on a general idea. It offers practical tips to help you go from a blank page to a finished work.

Benefits of Writing Short Stories Versus Novels

I won’t lie to you. Writing a good horror story is harder than it looks.

Long-time, prof...

How to Write a Horror Story With a Shocking Twist

Horror stories and twist endings go together like peanut butter and jelly.

They both achieve results by surprising the reader in some way. They catch us off guard, creating an emotional afterburn that lingers on.

But how do you accomplish this, as a writer?

The Key to Twist Endings

The key to twist endings (or twist middles, in some cases) can be summed up in a single sentence:

You have to lead the reader or viewer down one path, and then alter course abruptly with some new elemen...

How to Write a Horror Story With a Surprising, Shocking Twist

Horror stories and twist endings go together like peanut butter and jelly.

They both achieve results by surprising the reader in some way. They both catch us off guard, creating an emotional afterburn that lingers on.

Adding a strategic twist to a horror story can take it to the next level and help it break out from a crowded genre.

But how do you go about it?

This guide offers seven ways to write a horror story with a surprising or shocking twist, followed by a treasure trove of ins...

Five Important Elements of a Post-Apocalyptic Story or Novel

If you’re thinking about writing a post-apocalyptic short story or novel but don’t know where to begin, you’ve come to the right place. Welcome, doomsday scribe.

In this guide, we’ll explore some of the most important elements found within post-apocalyptic fiction—and why they matter.

Definition of Post-Apocalyptic Fiction

Let’s cover the “what” before we get to the “how.” After all, you can’t write post-apocalyptic fiction until you know what it is and what it involves.

Definition: ...

How to Structure a Zombie Novel

If you’re going to write a zombie or post-apocalyptic novel (as opposed to a short story), I recommend using one of the traditional structures. This is especially important for new and inexperienced writers.

The novel structures listed below have been around for centuries, because they work. They will help you stay on track when writing your first draft, while helping the reader along as well.

My advice is to think about the kind of story you want to tell—and how you want to tell it—and ...

Building the Bones: How to Structure a Zombie Short Story or Novel

You have a lot of options when it comes to structuring your zombie apocalypse story. And ultimately, you’re the only one who can make those choices.

But it helps to know what those options are and how they work. After all, you can’t choose a path until you know it exists. So that’s what we’ll focus on in this guide.

Let’s start by examining the key differences between short stories and novels.

Zombie Short Stories vs. Novels

Zombie short stories and novels differ in many ways. Novels...

How to Create a Zombie Virus: Fictional & Real-World Inspiration for Writers

Welcome to the zombie virus workshop! I created this guide for fiction writers who want to build a story around a zombie virus or similar disease outbreak.

Here’s what you’ll find in this guide:

Zombie virus examples from books and moviesSome original ideas we haven’t seen beforeVirus facts that fiction writers need to knowA mini-glossary of epidemiology terms

We’ll get started in just a second. I seem to have a weird pain in my neck…

Zombie Viruses We’ve Seen Over the ...

Tips for Creating Fictional Technologies When Writing Sci-Fi

When writing science fiction, you might find yourself in a position where you have to create a fictional technology in order to complete the story.

It might be as small as a nanochip or as large as a generation ship, and all things in between.

Get the tech right, and you’ll end up with a better sci-fi story. Get it wrong, and you might lose the reader (especially if they know more about that particular technology than you do).

So, what’s a non-technical science fiction writer to do?

...

How to Write a Story That Combines the Sci-Fi & Post-Apocalyptic Genres

Science fiction and post-apocalyptic fiction play nicely together. Both genres fall under the umbrella of speculative fiction and therefore have a lot in common.

These stories look at what is … and speculate about what could be.

In this guide, I’ll offer some ideas for combining sci-fi and post-apocalyptic elements within the same story or novel.

Combining Post-Apocalyptic and Science Fiction

The science fiction and post-apocalyptic genres go together like peanut butter and jelly. Th...