The Most Welcoming of Secrets

Abine wasn’t tired.  But he was supposed to be, wasn’t he? He was retired. He had seen the world and it had seen him.  So why wasn’t he tired? You’d think he would be tired. Old, even. That was what was expected of him. That he would just yield the moment they told him, take...

40 Writing Prompts to Inspire Your Short Fiction

Every once in a while when navigating the waters of writing inspiration, I'll find myself lost in a murky patch, unable to come up with anything worthy of the page. Practicing one's craft is essential, but too often we find ourselves void of ideas or inspiration, leaving us with nothing of substance to write about....

So Many Books, So Little Time

I'm not a fast reader. It often amazes me when people online say they've read a hundred books a year, since even fifty is more than I can typically mange. It takes me a month or more to dissect most books (though I'll often read several at a time). I want to note everything the...

Worldbuilding: When to Stop

So, while I've enjoyed talking productivity and reading habits pretty continuously over the past month or so, I feel that I've gotten a bit burnt out over the topic and am ready for a shift. Worry not, for we will return to those things---just not today. Today, I'd like to harken back to a sort...

It’s Not About How Many Books You Get Through, but How Many Books Go Through You

Greetings! This is my wrap-up for March. I thought I'd do something a little different for this month's final post and bring you something I've been pondering recently, something I certainly have an opinion on. As I've been delving more and more into nonfiction as of late, I thought it would be a good time...

Unfinished Stories: Child of the Sun

Introduction: This snippet is presented as the fifth of my "unfinished stories"---a series of short tales I've begun to enjoy including here on the Goblin Opinions site. This one is particularly unique, as it was originally intended to be the prologue of a novel I began writing last November. Now, things got a little sidetracked...

February Wrap Up and New Short Story

Greetings! Today's post will be a short one, and mostly just an announcement concerning a new short story I've made public on the site. I wrote this one last November during National Novel Writing Month; it's rougher around the edges but still one I wanted to share. You can find that story, and a brief...

Writing with Clarity

Greetings! Today I'd like to talk to you about an aspect of writing that I've had a hard time with recently, and that I know others struggle with, but that I believe there is a clear solution to. I've recently been reading Dæmon Voices, a collection of essays on writing by the English author Philip...

Science Fiction: A Genre Study

Greetings! Today I’ll be discussing the great genre of science fiction, providing examples of the genre at work, and examining its various applications. The goal here is to give you a better understanding of the genre, and perhaps some inspiration for your own stories set within it.  Primary subgenres A difference should be mentioned here:...

The Winds of the Storm

Introduction: This short story was written late in 2021 to be submitted to an online contest of short stories. I've decided to post it here, so that it may be viewed by the visitors of this site. It varies distinctly from the other short stories I have presented here; I categorize this tale as science...