6 elements of Southern Gothic

Beyoncé’s visual album, Lemonade, released in 2016, is steeped in southern gothic, a subgenre of gothic literature, takes its cues from America’s deep south.

6 Elements of Writing a Thriller

It’s no surprise that many thriller novels have been made into films, as they’ve got all the ingredients for a good cinematic experience. This is a big genre in fiction, but here are six elements to help you write a thriller…

11 Elements of Writing Noir

Noir has its roots in hardboiled fiction, such as Raymond Chandler and James M. Cain. This detective fiction then influenced cinema and became film noir, developing the tropes we’re familiar with from Humphrey Bogart and co. Cinema then influenced fiction again to create noir fiction, which differs from hardboiled, as it doesn’t put the detective…

6 Elements of Dystopian Fiction

It seems that writing a dystopian YA novel, is the golden ticket to a film trilogy in Hollywood. Well, it may be too late to jump on the YA train, as it must be reaching dystopian saturation, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t avenues to explore in other fiction markets. Dystopian fiction considers current day issues and takes them to a nightmarish conclusion. What if reality TV was fought to the death? The Hunger Games.

6 Elements for Writing a Heist Story

The heist is a well-trodden path in the world of film, but less so in novels. There’s no reason why this should be, as it offers the perfect framework for engaging characters, tension, action and excitement.

5 Elements of Cyberpunk

First of all, what is Cyberpunk? This sub-genre of science fiction focuses on a dystopian earth whose inhabitants are, mostly-speaking, techno-punks – criminals, misfits, or disillusioned geniuses who utilise cyberspace as their playground. The genre can be found in all areas of media entertainment: books, films and games, including board and role-playing games, and has…

Six Elements of Science Fiction

Love it or hate it, science fiction has been with us for a couple of centuries, and doesn’t look likely to go away. Indeed, as modern technology catches up with the science fiction of yesteryear we’re beginning to find science fiction pervading more and more of our entertainment, to the point we often barely notice…

5 Elements of Steampunk

by Martine Lillycrop Many people wouldn’t know what steampunk was if it chugged past wearing a bustle and a top hat. In reality, it’s one of science fiction’s most widely-known, best-kept secrets. Except it isn’t really secret. Even a casual reader of sci-fi, or watcher of TV and film, has come across it in some…