writing Tag

Whenever authors ask me for writing advice, one of the first things I tell them is to read a lot. And not just in your chosen field either. Reading a wide cross-section of genres and styles will always help improve your craft. In fact, reading outside of your comfort zone can often help you to bring new ideas and approaches to the table in your own writing. I've compiled here a list of thirty short stories (admittedly one of which stretches the definition of 'short'). All of these are supremely excellent tales, and I believe that every one of them has something unique to teach when it comes to constructing narratives. I've taken care not to focus solely on horror, although there are plenty on the list that belong in our little corner of the literatureverse. I'd recommend that everyone with aspirations to write for the podcast - whether newcomers or returning authors - check these stories out if they get chance. Everything on the list is available to read online for free, with links provided in this post.
18 December, 2018

So it's time. We're putting together Suddenly Shocking 8, for Season 10. Which means we're asking for flash fiction...

31 March, 2018

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Good afternoon Sleepless! Welcome back to the new, twice-weekly-scheduled 2018 return of the NoSleep Blogcast. Going forward, we’ll be publishing two blog entries per week, on Tuesdays and Fridays (circumstances allowing) so be sure to check back on those days for the hottest NoSleep Podcast content direct into your eyeballs.

It’s an exciting, if bittersweet, time at the NSP HQ right now. Our intrepid tourers; David C, David A, Erika, Nichole, Jessica and Brandon are packing up their things, ready to leave us. The first tour date is on February 20th at the Aladdin Theater in Portland, so they gotta get ready, get their practising on, rehearse the scripts, and fine tune their scariest voices to give you NO SLEEP. So we’ll be bidding them farewell on this weekend’s show.

But who’s hosting in David’s stead, you ask? Well. I can’t divulge that yet, but let’s just say it’s someone who’s sure to give you many a sleepless night. I’m personally very excited to begin working with this person to produce a handful of home shows you’re never gonna forget. It’s up to us to keep things running smoothly while David and co are on tour, and aside from the occasional fire, flood and kaiju attack, I reckon we’re gonna do okay! My trusty butler Theobold has my back too, so I can’t see anything going wrong.

06 February, 2018
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Greetings and salivations, Sleepless. It is I, Olivia White, host of The NoSleep Podcast, back with another dose of terrifying, nail-biting horror.  On this week's episode we have six skin-crawling tales about bigamist Bigfoots, twerking Thunderbirds, cuckolded Chupacabras and meme-loving Mongolian Death Worms. In our first tale, entitled What I Saw On Top Of My Mom's Wardrobe Will Haunt Me To This Day, author Chainsaw Dave takes us on a journey of...

Wait, sorry, no, my bad. That story got rejected. I'm being told it was only 300 words long, 248 of which were just the word 'really', and the ending twist was that the story was just a dream.

Now, you may be wondering two things here, Sleepless. One, 'why is Olivia pretending to be David?'. Well, the answer to that is simple. I'm getting practise in before I have him 'disappeared' and stage my coup to take over the show as host. The second thing you may be asking is 'how does The NoSleep Podcast select such quality stories, instead of the kind of rubbish outlined above?'. The answer to that is more complex, but in short: Gabrielle Loux.

For those who don't know, Gabrielle is The NoSleep Podcast's extremely talented story editor who, along with some story curator I've never heard of, works tirelessly to select the best of the best of horror fiction to be produced on the show. Gabrielle is one of our less public-facing team members, but she has one of the most important jobs on the show, and so what better to give you an insight into her fantastic work than... A NOSLEEP BLOGCAST INTERVIEW?

So read on, kiddies, as transcribed from an exclusive found footage recording, we have a glimpse into the mind of... GABRIELLE LOUX, STORY EDITOR EXTRAORDINAIRE.

12 October, 2017