#plot-driven-fiction

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Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
14 hours ago

On Memoir by Blake Morrison review lessons in life writing from a master

Life writing encompasses personal and collective experiences, requiring careful navigation of emotions and events.
Video games
fromKotaku
1 day ago

Pragmata Review: A Heartwarming Sci-Fi Puzzle Shooter

Capcom's sci-fi puzzle shooter offers a refreshing take on parenthood themes, featuring a positive father-daughter dynamic in a unique gaming experience.
DC food
fromIndieWire
1 day ago

'DTF St. Louis' Review: A Sensational Finale Reveals Far More Than Who Dun It - Spoilers

Detective Homer believes Clark Forrest is innocent despite doubts from the district attorney.
Podcast
fromABA Journal
4 days ago

The Burton Book Review: A discussion on 'When You Come at the King'

The first episode of The Burton Book Review Podcast features an interview about Elie Honig's new book, 'When You Come at the King.'
Television
fromThe Atlantic
2 days ago

Seven Documentaries for Fans of Fiction

Documentaries can effectively tell engaging stories, appealing even to those typically averse to the genre.
Film
fromDefector
4 days ago

'The Drama' Has More Going For It Than A Provocative Twist | Defector

Kristoffer Borgli uses dark humor and controversy to engage audiences and promote his films.
#writing
Writing
fromDefector
4 days ago

Why Would You Ask AI To Tell The Story Of Your Own Life? | Defector

Writing is a challenging profession with many aspiring writers and few opportunities for steady income.
Writing
fromDefector
4 days ago

Why Would You Ask AI To Tell The Story Of Your Own Life? | Defector

Writing is a challenging profession with many aspiring writers and few opportunities for steady income.
#exit-8
Independent films
fromInverse
4 days ago

How An Eerie New Thriller Revolutionizes The Video Game Movie

The film Exit 8 adapts a video game premise into an emotional narrative about isolation and personal struggle in a liminal space.
Games
fromThe Verge
5 days ago

The Exit 8 movie is even better if you play the game first

Exit 8 is a new horror film adaptation of an indie game, enhancing the surreal experience for viewers who play the game first.
Independent films
fromInverse
4 days ago

How An Eerie New Thriller Revolutionizes The Video Game Movie

The film Exit 8 adapts a video game premise into an emotional narrative about isolation and personal struggle in a liminal space.
Games
fromThe Verge
5 days ago

The Exit 8 movie is even better if you play the game first

Exit 8 is a new horror film adaptation of an indie game, enhancing the surreal experience for viewers who play the game first.
Games
fromKotaku
5 days ago

Game Devs Explain The Tricks Involved With Letting You Pause

Pausing a game involves various techniques, including manipulating time and adjusting game speed, depending on the game engine used.
Typography
fromPR Daily
5 days ago

4 reasons your writing accidentally sounds AI-generated (and how to fix it) - PR Daily

AI-generated content is losing favor, prompting brands to label their content as human-generated to maintain trust and authenticity.
NYC parents
fromVulture
5 days ago

All The Mistakes in Big Mistakes

Nicky and Morgan's theft of a necklace leads to dangerous consequences involving criminals and escalating family drama.
Music production
fromGameSpot
1 week ago

This Turn-Based RPG Musical Is Fun But Drags A Bit In Act 3 | People Of Note Review

People of Note is a whimsical RPG where music battles and friendship combat an ancient power, blending humor with a journey to fame.
US Elections
fromemptywheel
6 days ago

The Maggie and Swan JD Vance Fan-Fic - emptywheel

Trump's actions may signify the decline of American hegemony or lead to regime change in the US.
fromArmin Ronacher's Thoughts and Writings
6 days ago

Mario and Earendil

Last year changed the way many of us thought about software. It certainly changed the way I did. I spent much of 2025 building, probing, and questioning how to build software, and in many more ways what I want to do.
Software development
Graphic design
fromdesignyoutrust.com
6 days ago

Breathtaking Cinematic Illustrations That Will Make You Rethink Sci-Fi Concept Art

Katerina Belikova is a renowned Ukrainian digital illustrator known for her work in science fiction and dark fantasy, particularly with the Star Wars franchise.
fromThe Verge
6 days ago

The Miniature Wife was an exercise in visual trickery

"There's no case where those things aren't critical, but with a project like this, there is no 'fix it in post' because it just can't work like that. This is a show that has about 3,000 VFX shots, and we were working with up to five different VFX vendors at times."
Women in technology
Books
fromInverse
1 day ago

49 Years Later, Star Wars Just Inverted Its Most Formative Plot Trope

Villains in Star Wars, like Maul, often perceive their journeys similarly to heroes, showcasing the complexity of their narratives.
Television
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

There's no shortage of terrifying technology': how AI became TV drama's new go-to villain

AI is portrayed as a powerful and dangerous tool in modern surveillance and military operations.
fromThe New Yorker
4 days ago

"Exit 8" Is a Video-Game Adaptation That Ingeniously Subverts Its Source

The player ambles through an eerily underpopulated subway station, which gradually comes to resemble a metro-themed infinity loop—a maddeningly repetitive circle of mid-transit hell.
Film
Writing
fromVulture
5 days ago

It Would Be Crazy If Your Brain Doctor Wrote The Housemaid

Freida McFadden, a best-selling author, is actually Sara Cohen, a doctor who treats brain disorders.
Video games
fromInverse
5 days ago

'Project Hail Mary's' Newest Chapter Is Coming From An Unexpected Source

VR gaming offers immersive experiences that transform the player's environment, exemplified by upcoming titles like Project Hail Mary.
Books
fromPsychology Today
1 day ago

Do You See Yourself in a Story?

Comic books have evolved into a serious medium for exploring trauma and psychological depth, exemplified by works like Maus.
fromKotaku
4 days ago

Cult-Hit Doki Doki Literature Club Fights Sudden Android Removal

Their explanation is that the game's content violates their Terms of Service in its depiction of sensitive themes. DDLC is widely celebrated for portraying mental health in a way that meaningfully connects deeply with players around the world, helping them feel heard, understood, and less alone on their journey.
Games
Media industry
fromInc
2 weeks ago

Should You Hire a Writer or Use AI? Here's Why Journalists Still Win

Investing in journalists enhances content quality through expertise, relationships, and engaging storytelling, which AI cannot replicate despite its efficiency.
Video games
fromFilmmaker Magazine
5 days ago

Let's Play: Genki Kawamura and Jiro Nagae on a New Kind of Video Game Cinema

Genki Kawamura adapts the indie video game into a film, merging artistry with box office potential in a unique horror narrative.
#romantic-comedy
Film
fromInsideHook
1 week ago

"The Drama" Has No Idea How to Handle Its Controversial Twist

The Drama presents a romantic comedy that takes a dark turn with a shocking revelation about a character's past involvement in a school shooting plot.
Film
fromThe New Yorker
1 week ago

"The Drama" Struggles to Justify Its Combustible Premise

Charlie and Emma navigate their relationship's challenges through humor and the concept of starting over.
Philosophy
fromApaonline
2 weeks ago

Recently Published Book Spotlight: Aesthetics and Video Games

Video games possess unique aesthetic value that challenges traditional philosophical frameworks of games and fiction.
Books
fromFlowingData
5 days ago

Visual guide for Infinite Jest

Christian Swinehart created Infinite Digest, an illustrated companion to Infinite Jest, visualizing its structure and character connections.
#science-fiction
OMG science
fromBig Think
3 weeks ago

How "Project Hair Mary" turns hardcore science into page-turning drama

Ryland Grace, a science teacher, awakens in space on a mission to save humanity from extinction.
Film
fromVulture
3 weeks ago

Project Hail Mary Needs About 39 Percent Fewer Jokes

Project Hail Mary is an entertaining science-fiction adventure that balances humor with an intriguing apocalyptic story about stopping star-eating organisms threatening Earth.
Video games
fromwww.theguardian.com
6 days ago

How games capture the awe and terror of cosmic isolation

The Artemis II mission evokes feelings of solitude and vulnerability in space, reminiscent of experiences in classic and modern space-themed video games.
fromAnOther
1 week ago

Night Stage: Anatomy of a Modern Erotic Thriller

The illicit thrill of hidden desires definitely propels Night Stage, a riveting queer noir about an up-and-coming actor Matias and an aspiring politician Rafael who begin hooking up in public spaces.
Film
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
4 days ago

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror review roundup

Marc Winters investigates a cult's past while facing existential threats in a climate-changed Britain.
Film
fromVulture
1 week ago

The Twist in The Drama Is Not the Problem

The film features a controversial plot twist involving a character's past plan for a school shooting, sparking significant online speculation and backlash.
#film-vs-literature
#project-hail-mary
Independent films
fromInverse
3 weeks ago

'Project Hail Mary' Author Reveals Why That Twist Ending Is So Essential

Project Hail Mary succeeds through its relatable protagonist Ryland Grace, whose character arc includes a late-film revelation that recontextualizes his heroism and ends with him teaching science to young Eridians on an alien planet.
Independent films
fromInverse
3 weeks ago

'Project Hail Mary' Author Reveals Why That Twist Ending Is So Essential

Project Hail Mary succeeds through its relatable protagonist Ryland Grace, whose character arc includes a late-film revelation that recontextualizes his heroism and ends with him teaching science to young Eridians on an alien planet.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
6 days ago

Ghostwriting Is Good, Actually

Ghostwriting, when done by humans, can provide valuable support to authors and help share unique perspectives.
fromKotaku
2 weeks ago

I Can't Stop Playing This Terrible Game, So Maybe It's Good?

Timber Rush is about numbers going up in the crudest way imaginable, a clicker game that barely even features clicking, in which you move your woodcutter side to side as increasing numbers of increasingly silly logs fly around the screen.
Games
Artificial intelligence
fromThe Atlantic
4 weeks ago

The Human Skill That Eludes AI

Generative AI has paradoxically declined in creative writing quality since GPT-2, despite advancing in technical capabilities, with current models producing formulaic, flawed prose despite access to centuries of literature.
Books
fromKqed
5 days ago

11 New Books for April That Step Inside Someone Else's World

Keefe's latest book examines modern London's ties to the financial elite through a tragic incident involving a young man's death in the Thames.
Psychology
fromPsychology Today
4 weeks ago

The Shift That Happens When You Write a Non-Fiction Book

Writing a book transforms tacit knowledge into explicit frameworks, forcing experts to articulate intuitions they've developed through experience into clear, communicable ideas.
Books
fromwww.npr.org
6 days ago

11 new books in April offer a chance to step inside someone else's world

Books provide an alternative to doomscrolling, offering perspectives on anxiety, corruption, and reality.
Books
fromPsychology Today
1 week ago

Coping With the Up-and-Down Arc of a Prolific Writer's Life

Merrill Joan Gerber's latest book reflects her writing journey from the 1960s to the present, showcasing selected stories from her extensive career.
#literature
fromThe Atlantic
1 week ago
Books

Unconventional Novels About Conventional People

Aging revolutionaries and conformists share parallel narratives of disillusionment and the loss of youthful dreams in recent literature.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
1 week ago

Unconventional Novels About Conventional People

Aging revolutionaries and conformists share parallel narratives of disillusionment and the loss of youthful dreams in recent literature.
Books
fromThe New Yorker
1 week ago

The Sci-Fi Novelist Who Disappeared for Decades

Cameron Reed's science fiction explores cognitive estrangement, revealing alien worlds that reflect and challenge our own societal norms and moral dilemmas.
fromMedium
1 month ago

Things that don't matter when you write

To deny one's own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one's own life. It is no less than a denial of the soul. The concept I stick to - my core principle - is simple: I write in plain English, and only when I actually have something to say.
Writing
Books
fromPsychology Today
2 weeks ago

Fiction Is Indispensable to Life's Journey

Fiction is essential for emotional connection, learning, and social cognition, allowing us to escape reality and engage deeply with narratives.
Books
fromBustle
2 weeks ago

The 10 Best New Books About Women Breaking The Mold

Successful women often defy expectations, and quieter forms of rebellion deserve recognition alongside visible rule-breakers.
Music
fromwww.npr.org
1 month ago

Why music has become such a big part of the romance novel reading experience

Romance novel readers increasingly use pop music playlists to enhance their reading experiences, creating a community that bridges book fandom and music fandom, exemplified by Charli XCX's Wuthering Heights album.
Arts
fromwww.npr.org
2 months ago

'Islands' is a spare and satisfying slow-burn thriller

Islands is a spare, slow-burn drama set on barren Fuerteventura that examines alienation and luxury through a broken tennis pro's interactions with a wealthy family.
Television
fromBustle
2 months ago

'Vanished' Starts Sweet, Then Drops You Into A Twist-Heavy Mystery You'll Devour

A woman’s romantic trip turns into a dangerous, twisty thriller as she pursues her mysteriously disappeared boyfriend across Europe, becoming a competent, action-ready heroine.
fromDefector
3 weeks ago

Stephen Fishbach's Reality-TV Novel Is More Reality TV Than Novel | Defector

Each chronicle was the latest installment in a serial that began in 1492 and extended indefinitely into the future. A full-bearded Englishman (or Dutchman, or Scotsman, or Frenchman) landed on shores where everything was unfamiliar. After trial and triumph, the hero returned home to tell the tale.
Books
Video games
fromKotaku
2 months ago

Split Fiction's Director Dishes On Clair Obscur, EA, And Gen AI

The games industry must preserve diversity across AAA, AA, and indie projects rather than converging solely on perceived 'safe' AA successes.
Writing
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Writer's Secret Weapon

Swimming and physical exertion enhance creative thinking by muffling sensory input, boosting neurotransmitters, and enabling deeper, more original idea generation.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

How Not to Recommend a Book

Reader's advisory—the skill of matching specific books to individual readers' preferences—is essential for successful book club experiences and literary recommendations across libraries, bookstores, and online platforms.
Video games
fromwww.theguardian.com
2 months ago

It's a loving mockery, because it's also who I am': the making of gaming's most pathetic character

Baby Steps uses deliberate frustration and an inept, awkward protagonist to transform player irritation into empathy, identification, and unexpected affection.
fromSilicon Canals
2 months ago

7 things people do when telling stories that make others tune out immediately without realizing it - Silicon Canals

We've all been there. Someone starts telling a story, and within seconds, your mind starts wandering. Maybe you pull out your phone, suddenly remember an urgent email, or find yourself mentally reorganizing your weekend plans. The storyteller doesn't notice. They keep going, completely unaware that they've lost their audience. After interviewing over 200 people for various articles, I've noticed patterns in how people communicate their experiences. Some captivate you from the first word, while others lose you before they've even gotten to the point.
Writing
Writing
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

Taking the Internet Novel Offline

Depicting internet-mediated life requires new narrative strategies that ground online behavior in familiar forms like family drama to keep readers engaged.
fromEngadget
1 month ago

Layers of 3 revealed via a mysterious trailer and poem

The new chapter will include not only a game but a novel and music, the company said in a press release. The developer revealed the new IP via a live-action teaser, with an actor reading lines from William Blake's poem, The Sick Rose. A painting then fell from the wall, and the actor then turned over an hourglass with red sand, with a tagline stating "The door won't stay closed."
Video games
Writing
fromVulture
1 month ago

The Horny Girls Who Walked So Heated Rivalry Could Run

M/M slash fanfiction, often written by women and known as BL in Asia, evolved through fandoms like Star Trek, enabling mainstream successes like Heated Rivalry.
Books
fromSlate Magazine
1 month ago

Something Strange Is Happening With Books. It Could Reshape Literary Culture.

BookTok readers increasingly prefer first-person narrative perspective in romance and fantasy novels, viewing third-person narration as unnecessarily complex and off-putting.
fromThe Independent
1 month ago

17 great movies ruined by terrible endings

10 Cloverfield Lane Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman and John Gallagher Jr are locked in an underground bunker for the majority of this left-field sequel to Cloverfield, with thrilling results. In the film's final throes, Winstead's character exits the bunker, and finds that her captor was telling the truth about an alien invasion above - a twist that completely and ruinously dissipates the hard-earned tension that came before.
Film
fromKotaku
2 months ago

The MindsEye Publishing Car Wreck Ends With No Hitman Mission

What this means for the future of , once pitched as the first building block in an ambitious open-world metaverse , is currently unclear. But apparently the mission, the shooter's highest-profile bit of upcoming content, is canceled. Build a Rocket Boy and IO Interactive didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. The most surprising part of Insider Gaming 's report is that Build a Rocket Boy was apparently the one pushing to end the ill-fated partnership, a decision influenced by the 's "desire to bring its publishing in-house and gain more control over its future."
Video games
Video games
fromGameSpot
2 months ago

Here Are The Best Detective Games To Check Out

Industry layoffs and studio closures coincide with major game updates, gameplay impressions, character trailers, and recommendations including Steam Detective Fest deals and free PC games.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Pieced Together review poignant narrative game gathers bittersweet fragments of a friendship

Through the ingenious medium of an interactive scrapbook, we play as Connie, glueing in photos, notes and memories of her friend after years of separation. The game begins with several attempts to write Connie a letter, before we cut-out, stick and sort the story of their lives together.
Video games
Books
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

How to Put Sex in a Novel

Contemporary literary fiction increasingly avoids depicting heterosexual intimacy while queer novelists freely explore sex's complexities, as exemplified by Jan Saenz's unconventional novel about selling experimental orgasm-inducing pills.
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

A Biography Without 'The Boring Bits'

Sophia Stewart poses a choice that many biographers struggle with: "what to do with the boring bits."
Books
Books
fromArs Technica
2 months ago

TR-49 is interactive fiction for fans of deep research rabbit holes

Research notes in a cataloged database reveal interlinked authors, hidden computer commands, and an unfolding narrative converging on a metaphysical search and encroaching threat.
Books
fromThe Atlantic
1 month ago

When Did Literature Get Less Dirty?

Philip Roth's Zuckerman Unbound functioned as a response to the controversial reception of Portnoy's Complaint, with Roth's protagonist expressing regret over writing sexually explicit material that drew accusations of anti-Semitism and misogyny.
Books
fromMedium
2 months ago

How to start writing (like it's easy)

A profoundly immersive book can deeply alter readers and provoke self-doubt about one's own creative abilities.
fromThe Atlantic
2 months ago

The Writer's Magic Trick

A writer is a kind of magician. Their job is to create living, three-dimensional people out of the ordinary stuff of ink and paper. This is no easy task, because readers can't literally hear, touch, or observe a character. Everything that defines a human being in real life-the physical space they occupy, or how they smell, feel, and sound-is stripped away, replaced by description. But authors have one major, mystical advantage: They can show you what's happening inside of someone's brain.
Books
Books
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

Myth, monsters and making sense of a disenchanted world: why everyone is reading fantasy

Fantasy is a dominant, all-pervading cultural form offering diverse subgenres, serious artistic value, and lineages from varied creators and traditions.
fromJezebel
1 month ago

Turns Out, When You Write a Novel About Killing a Politician, People Tell You How They'd Do It

When the people who are after me get here, they'll arrest me and put me on trial, or they'll disappear me to some black site. Or they won't bother with any of that and they'll just kill me. All of these seem like plausible outcomes, but in the novel's prologue, the narrator seems much more confident of her success: I am a fucking genius, a gorgeous fucking genius, and the only thing left to do is sit down and write.
Books
Books
fromDefector
2 months ago

Fanfiction's Total Cultural Victory | Defector

Fifty Shades of Grey's transition from fanfiction to mainstream publishing transformed the industry, proving fanfiction-originated romances can be highly lucrative and culturally influential.
Books
fromSlate Magazine
2 months ago

The Unlikely Hit That's Popularizing a Whole New Type of Novel

Dungeon Crawler Carl is a bestselling LitRPG series blending RPG mechanics with post-apocalyptic adventure, inspiring fervent cosplay fans and a television adaptation.
fromwww.theguardian.com
1 month ago

The best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror review roundup

Subsequently, runaway children turned the valley into a fortress, surviving on food they could catch or grow, with occasional forays into the towns below. Riley has heard the rumours, but it is only when she sees a green-clad boy or is it a girl? hovering outside her bedroom window offering directions on how to find Nowhere that she realises this might be her chance to escape and save her little brother from their sadistic guardian.
Books
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