Howzat?

Crime fiction has something special for those who want to create it. It is a place where imagination is prime. No other genre offers a platform for greater creative input outside of Science Fiction: where no one has gone before.

Unless you have the audacity to mix your crime and your SF. And good for you if you do - see our Invitation to Submit page.

So, you want to write it. You want it to be eminently consumable. You want it to be the best. You need to hone and model your skills and raise your standard to ensure we readers want: your produce; your stories; your telling of the tale.

How do you know what style to match with what format?
When should you use first person to draw the reader in for a greater fear factor?
What's the difference between the psychological thriller and the revenge murder?
How can you be the creative writer and a self-employed business person?
How to use true crime as a springboard for your fiction, without giving the game away?
How to create loved and loathed characters-to-die-for?
How to avoid verbosity and how not to bore your reader with simplisitic writing.
Is discipline a killer for the free spirited writer?
Are you a procrastinator and don't want to admit it?
Where do you find the time to write when there are parties to go to, kids to parent and jobs to tick over?
How to develop the skill to assess your own writing, call it straight and know you're right?

True, in the end everyone must become their own judge, able to point the finger and say, 'This is good work', and 'This is definitely out.'

Having a helping hand to get to that point is a boon. Take it. Use it. Let these articles fuel your creativity and your skills. Let them teach you technique and strategy. Take the easy way out, work smarter not harder to expand your ability. Read the How To section in each issue of

It's a power lesson in a nutshell: consume, apply, advance your writing, claim it as your own.
You're welcome.

Can't wait? Click here for your first issue of

See also:

Crime Excerpts

Private Eye Serials

Food For Thought Articles

Crime News and Comps

Invitation To Submit