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  • Myr

    Paranormal Deep Dive 10

    By Myr

    The Top Read Paranormal Stories Since Deep Dive 9 Top 2 Most Read Paranormal - Cryptid Features creatures from folklore, mythology, or cryptozoology, such as Bigfoot, Loch Ness Monster, or Chupacabra. The narrative often revolves around encounters with these mysterious beings. A Night on Pine Ridge by Myr Complete Lovesquatch: A Culinary Cryptid Romcom by Rafy Complete Top 5 Most Read Paranormal - Cursed Objects Focuses on objects with supernatural or
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Writing Tips

Sequels, Prequels and Spin-offs

Have you ever completed a story that you were truly proud of writing, that got a standing ovation from your readers and fans, and became one of the shining gems in your body of work? If so, let me add to the giant round of applause and congratulate you on creating something truly special for everyone to absorb and keep close to their hearts for years to come. It's not an easy task, believe me. So take pride in the moment. Sometimes the success of something that you've previously written, al
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Classic Feature

December Classic Author Excerpt: Dare by Sara Alva

Monday I featured Sara Alva's short story, Dare. Did you read it? It's just 5k, a story of friends, fun... what more could you want to take a break from your life right now? A holiday time out, a reminder of summer to come if the cold is sapping you, or even just because those memories of carefree days can be so fun to head back to.  And that's just why I picked this excerpt. Did you ever play Truth or Dare? The swing is one thing... but were you ever this dumb?  Want to know what ha
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Writing Tips

Creating and Escalating Tension

Now, while many readers that get truly involved with the stories we write online are mostly involved in the sometimes exaggerated drama of the situations we put our main characters through...I feel that it is often the tension delivered in a few key scenes, sprinkled here and there throughout, that truly captivates a reader's attention and brings them to the edge of their seats. It's this grinding on the nerves, along with a few tugs on the heart strings, that can really allow your audience to l
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Writing Tips

Writer Responsibility

Writer Responsibility December 8th, 1980... A true musical icon was gunned down by his ′number one fan′, according to his assassin. Mark David Chapman murdered John Lennon that night by shooting him in the back, and this was not long after he had just given him a personal autograph earlier in the day. And he didn′t run afterward. Instead...he sat on the curb, and read from J D Salinger′s novel, ′A Catcher In The Rye′. A book that he says inspired his heinous act. One of the saddest day
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Writing Tips

Short Stories

While an extended story with multiple chapters and layers of depth may give a writer enough breathing room to truly build and explore the lives and personalities of the characters they′ve brought to life, I think it′s still a good practice to occasionally go back to writing short, self contained, stories to keep that particular part of their creative muscle strong. Short stories and flash fiction can teach you things than the ′wide open canvas′ style of writing can′t. It can help you to focus yo
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Writing Tips

"Low Light" Reel

Whether you are using an auto correct program on your laptop or PC, or whether you have readers constantly pointing out some of the same errors in your stories, chapter after chapter...there comes a time when you need to take an honest look at your writing and your bad habits...and make yourself a ′low-light′ reel for yourself. This is the opposite of a highlight reel, where you look at what you′re really good at and examine the best parts of what it is you do. That′s a good thing to do, an
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Classic Feature

December Classic Author Feature: Dare by Sara Alva

So half the world celebrates the holidays in the heat. So while this story isn't a holiday tale, I couldn't help but pick a story that features a group of friends and some summer-time fun. This snack-sized tidbit is just right for this busy time of year for readers to enjoy too! Length: 5,064 Description: Mark always takes a dare. A Reader said: This was just a wonderful story, written very well. And I loved the ending!  You are really really good at this. ~ Toast  
Cia

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Writing Tips

Fleshing it Out

Anyone who has ever read any of my personal story reviews of another author's story will almost always find a common theme popping up in my critique. Whether it's said in a positive or negative way, I am constantly pushing for people to give more and more detail in their work. (As a suggestion, of course.) Not in every single scene that they write about, but in a few choice scenes that I find myself wanting to dive deeper into as a reader. Now, that's just my opinion, and writers can take it or
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Writing Tips

Peaks and Valleys

Raise your hand if you′ve been on a roller coaster before! Hehehe, I′m just kidding. It′s the internet, I can′t see you raising your hand! Trust me, if I could set up spy cameras around you, it would be in the shower...not next to your laptop! ::Giggles:: Seriously, though...when riding a roller coaster, you experience certain peaks and valleys. You slow down in certain sections of the ride, left anticipating the next big ′dip′ with baited breath...and then everything speeds up and races t
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Weekly Wrap Up

Weekly Wrap Up (Dec.13 - Dec. 19)

On Behalf Of The Staff Of GA To All The Members And Guests Of GA Geseënde Kersfees (Afrikaans), 메리 크리스마스 (Korean), Nadolig Llawen (Welsh), С Рождеством (Russian), sretan božić (Bosnian), メリークリスマス (Japanese), god jul (Norwegian), boldog Karácsonyt (Hungarian), Nollaig Shona (Irish), feliz Natal (Portuguese), Krismasi Njema (Swahili), ਮੇਰੀ ਕਰਿਸਮਸ (Punjabi), Շնորհավոր Սուրբ Ծնունդ (Armenian), Gleðileg jól (Icelandic), срећан Божић (Serbian), ပျော်ရွှင်သောခရစ္စမတ်ဖြစ်ပါစေ (Burmese), veselé Vánoce
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Writing Tips

Sex Appeal

What is sex appeal? Take a moment and really think about that. What is it that we find ′sexy′ about the people we dream about? Now, not everybody writes romance or sexually themed stories online, but that doesn′t mean that your characters don′t have some sort of appeal to them that acts as a direct interest to your main character. What is it that draws your protagonist in? What is the bait? Why this particular boy over all others? Today...we′re talking about sex appeal. What it is, what it
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Writing Tips

Adding Humor

You know...there′s often a ′complaint′ that goes around about a lot of the Marvel Comic Book movies that I never really understood. That is the introduction of humor into their storylines. Now, there are some people that I know that could, quite literally, find something wrong with everything in existence. If God Almighty showed up tomorrow in white robes, 400 feet tall, with an entire symphony of angels singing His praises behind him, all surrounded with the brightest light ever seen by human e
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Writing Tips

Metaphor & Similie

″His eyes were as blue as a half-melted crayon, his skin as soft as wet clay...with a smile that could warm my heart like leftover meatloaf in the oven. He was so beautiful.″ Hehehe, ok, so that′s not the best collection of phrases to demonstrate the use of metaphor and simile! LOL! But I write a LOT...so I need to save my best stuff for the stories themselves. But we can start here, just so you guys can get an idea of what I′m babbling about this week. Easily put, metaphors and simil
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Writing Tips

Darker Themes

There are going to be times, every now and again...when the written content of your stories may take a very dark turn, or veer off into situations that are somewhat uncomfortable for other readers to absorb as readily as they do some of your 'brighter' themes. This can be an intimidating atmosphere for you to thrive in. The gritty realities and graphic nature of the story that you want to tell may be too much for some of your readers to handle or understand. But, while there is the temptation to
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Writing Tips

Exposition

Not long ago, I wrote a short article on the concept of ″Show, Don′t Tell″, and made sure to add that both sides of the equation are needed to tell a good story. When it comes to exposition, it is the skillful use of both show and tell in unison that can give your story a smooth and natural feel, while still giving the audience the tools it needs to fully understand what′s going on. Finding a way to finesse both sides takes a little practice, but once you nail it down, it will pretty much become
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Writing Tips

One Life to Live

When writing a story of your very own, I think there is an added effect that comes from using your own personal experiences as a blueprint for the writing itself. Your memories, your feelings, your beliefs, your personality...drawing from these sources gives the whole feel of a story a certain ′touch′ that can′t be achieved by just putting words on the screen. You may often hear the term, ″write what you know″ being thrown around a lot, and I couldn′t agree more. No matter what the content of yo
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