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A review by elysianbud
Spec Fic for Newbies: A Beginner's Guide for Writing Subgenres of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror by Val Nolan, Tiffani Angus
challenging
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
A throughly educational yet also entertaining book, offering readers a concise but interesting look at thirty different subgenres/categories from across science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
In between the wonderful quips that kept the mood upbeat, conversational, and engaging, readers can expect to find plenty of useful information on a wide variety of topics. It's a great place to get inspiration from, thanks to the numerous examples from a variety of media for each section, providing readers with lots of potential options for further research should a particular subgenre or category strike their fancy.
In addition, each section ends with two activities to guide the reader for further practice and each encourages playful twists on the tropes of discussed category, prompting real engagment with the text and what the reader has learned. Personally, I'm looking forward to taking a proper crack at the epistolary story prompt from the Gothic Horror section.
I also appreciated the fact that this book reminds the reader throughout that as a writer you have to be aware of things such as racist tropes and other potentially problematic issues when writing a story. For example, I particularly liked the bit in the 'Aliens' section that warned against the stupid idea that aliens built things like the pyramids, because, as the authors say, "just because White people didn't do it doesn't mean it was aliens" (p.21).
Also, I will say that it's very fun before you read a section to take a guess at what books or films they might mention and see if you're right. I was super pleased when I guessed correctly that they would mention Grady Hendrix's 'The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires' in the suburban horror section.
Overall, this was really helpful read that's made me feel more motivated about my own writing. I was particually happy to see splatterpunk was included under the horror section because I've been reading some lately and have been considering dipping my toe in to writing some myself.
In between the wonderful quips that kept the mood upbeat, conversational, and engaging, readers can expect to find plenty of useful information on a wide variety of topics. It's a great place to get inspiration from, thanks to the numerous examples from a variety of media for each section, providing readers with lots of potential options for further research should a particular subgenre or category strike their fancy.
In addition, each section ends with two activities to guide the reader for further practice and each encourages playful twists on the tropes of discussed category, prompting real engagment with the text and what the reader has learned. Personally, I'm looking forward to taking a proper crack at the epistolary story prompt from the Gothic Horror section.
I also appreciated the fact that this book reminds the reader throughout that as a writer you have to be aware of things such as racist tropes and other potentially problematic issues when writing a story. For example, I particularly liked the bit in the 'Aliens' section that warned against the stupid idea that aliens built things like the pyramids, because, as the authors say, "just because White people didn't do it doesn't mean it was aliens" (p.21).
Also, I will say that it's very fun before you read a section to take a guess at what books or films they might mention and see if you're right. I was super pleased when I guessed correctly that they would mention Grady Hendrix's 'The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires' in the suburban horror section.
Overall, this was really helpful read that's made me feel more motivated about my own writing. I was particually happy to see splatterpunk was included under the horror section because I've been reading some lately and have been considering dipping my toe in to writing some myself.