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I’ve been fascinated with Amazon Shorts* for a while, though I’ve not yet purchased any of them. I can’t help but trawl through the lists every few months, though, and mentally exclaim “Oh, I want that!”.

I’ve found some interesting shorts on how to write, or how to improve your writing. Since I’m actually procrastinating on writing my own novel, I thought I’d compile some of the more interesting ones. I’m making this a page instead of a post so that it’ll be easier to find to update.

By the way, by “interesting”, that could mean title, angle, favorite author, or any number of other reasons that I may want to add it to the list. If you’ve downloaded a short on writing, please drop a line in the comments on what you downloaded and whether it was any good or not. Thanks!

Note: in the case of non-fiction, this is like buying a 50 cent article that you’re interested in rather than $5 for a magazine that only has one interesting article…

1. Why Writers Are Cranky and Five Emergency Tools for Writing a Short Story- by Bruce Holland Rogers

“Why Writers Are Cranky” is an essay in the manner of my book on the psychology of writing, WORD WORK: SURVIVING AND THRIVING AS A WRITER. The companion article, “Five Emergency Tools for Short Stories,” shares five methods that I use for coming up with and developing fiction ideas in a hurry. The first piece is philosophy. The second one is a hands-on how-to for a writer who wants to write fiction on demand, even if he or she has no story idea to begin with.

I just got a kick out of that title. Just under 4000 words and has rave reviews. I may have to download this myself, after I get some writing done.

2. Why I Write About Elves-by Terry Brooks

This is yet another attempt to explain why I write what I write and why people in general sometimes have trouble understanding my reasoning. I have been doing this verbally and in writing since I first published Sword of Shannara. I guess I keep doing it because I feel so strongly about what I do. I want readers to look beyond preconceptions and first impressions. I want them to be open to what fantasy can be and how much fun it is to be a part of it. The funny thing is, I didn’t set out to write fantasy. I just found my way there by trial and error. I have decided that it was fate that took me on that journey, and you never want to argue with fate.

2302 words, $0.49. This is just an essay by Terry Brooks on why he writes fantasy- or possibly why he writes the type of fantasy that he writes. I just thought it was rather interesting, and I love the idea that an author can actually sell what would normally be a long answer to an interview question.

3. How to Write a Great Query Letter
- by Noah Lukeman

Over 21,000 words on how to write a query letter… but I had to post it because it’s actually a free download. That’s right, FREE. And we all know that starving writers are more than happy to take anything that’s free. After all, if it’s horrible, it might make a good story…

4. On Being a (Sort of) Writer- by J.A. Walderzak

Just over 2000 words. A rant on being a writer, by a humor writer, I think. I just liked the title.

5. Building Alternative Realities- by Robert Silverburg

During my fifty years as a science-fiction writer I’ve often ventured into the invention of alternative worlds of possibility – history that never happened, but perhaps should have — which I find opens up the sort of infinite ranges of speculative thought that have made s-f so much fun for me. In this piece I explain what the science-fiction genre of :”alternative reality” is all about and show, step by step, how I went about creating the alternative world that was the basis of ROMA ETERNA, my most ambitious work in that form.

Another essay by a professional author. This clocks in at 4,800 words, and is also $0.49.  I’m not as keen on science fiction as I am on fantasy, but world building is more or less the same for the two genres.

6. Ask a Reviewer-by Shirley Priscilla Johnson and Laurel A. Johnson

As reviewers Laurel and I have been asked numerous questions about reviewing, and decided a commentary on Amazon might be helpful. You as an author need all the help you can get in promoting your book, and that is where we come in. It is our hope that through this article you will have some questions answered, and see some important dos and don’ts that may give you an edge on obtaining a review. Remember, reviewers are overwhelmed with requests, and you need to know what may be some of the deciding factors in your book being chosen above others for a review. We hope this article will help you.

This 7000+ word article isn’t on writing, it’s on how to get reviewers to read your book! Doesn’t quite fit into the list, but I thought it was interesting anway. And, as a reviewer, I plan to read this eventually to see how the pros do it.

*For those who don’t know, Amazon Shorts is Amazon’s own digital printing press for short works of both fiction and non-fiction. Most, or possibly all, downloads are a mere $0.49, making the risk very low, even if what you download turns out to be crap. Or just really short. However, you can not publish on Amazon Shorts if you haven’t been traditionally published at least once (I could be wrong, perhaps it’s only published- they may take self published authors, I’m not clear on this), which instills somewhat more confidence in the purchases. My main concern is that it’s instantly downloadable, yet they don’t offer a Kindle option. I assume that you could pay the $0.10 to have the document translated into Kindle language, though, and it’s still a good price.