• ISBN13: 9780441011339
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

Product Description
An overview of the best science fiction short stories of the 20th century as selected and evaluated by critically-acclaimed author Orson Scott Card.

Featuring stories from the genre’s greatest authors:

Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Robert A. Heinlein, Ursula K. Le Guin, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, Harlan Ellison, George Alec Effinger, Brian W. Aldiss, William Gibson & Michael Swanwick, Theodore Sturgeon, Larry Niven, Robert Silverberg, Harry Turtledove, James Blish, George R. R. Martin, James Patrick Kelly, Karen Joy Fowler, Lloyd Biggle, Jr., Terry Bisson, Poul Anderson, John Kessel, R.A. Lafferty, C.J. Cherryh, Lisa Goldstein, and Edmond HamiltonAmazon.com Review
Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Century may not include every reader’s choices for the top science fiction of the 20th century, but it lives up to its title. Editor Orson Scott Card has assembled 27 standout stories by the biggest names and best writers in the genre. Not surprisingly, most of these stories have been anthologized or collected elsewhere, and some (like Arthur C. Clarke’s “Nine Billion Names of God,” Harlan Ellison’s “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman,” and Robert A. Heinlein’s “All You Zombies–”) have been reprinted innumerable times. In addition, Card has previously placed some of these selections in his retrospective 1980s anthology Future on Ice.

While some stories in Masterpieces lack fine prose and well-rounded characters, they are solid and engrossing entertainments. Other selections combine literary and science fiction virtues to produce a superior blend, and some of these stories–”Bears Discover Fire” by Terry Bisson, “Snow” by John Crowley, “‘Repent, Harlequin!’ Said the Ticktockman” by Harlan Ellison, “Face Value” by Karen Joy Fowler, “Tourists” by Lisa Goldstein, and “The Ones Who Walked Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin–are art.

Masterpieces isn’t an anthology for the well-read fan. However, it is a great book for the new or intermediate science fiction reader. –Cynthia Ward

Creative writing ideas can hit you anytime. It can hit you while you are nonchalantly doing your everyday household chores or while youâ??re doing your normal tasks.

But there are also times that creative writing ideas, no matter how hard you try, just wonâ??t seem to form in your head. When this happens to you, you can count on the methods and techniques below to help your mind easily come up with great ideas to write about.

Pick Out A Scene

This is one of the simplest techniques to come up with creative writing ideas. You start out by thinking of a scene. If you still canâ??t think of a specific scene on your own, then stick your head out your window and observe the people around you. Pick any of the activities they are doing and stick with it.

Now that you have your first scene, you need to explain it. For example, a scene you have chosen is an average looking guy briskly walking down the street and suspiciously scanning the area around him. You then explain why this certain person was walking this way. It is possible that this person was part of a gang who just robbed a store and was acting as a decoy for the police to follow. Then you just explain further and add random scenes as you continue the story.

From the scenes you have created, you can then build a creative story from it.

A Combination Of Different Stories

Another effective way of coming up with creative writing ideas is through a combination of different stories – the more absurd the combination, the better.

A good example would be combining the story of Noah and the Arc and the story of Star Trek. You can come up with a story featuring one whole family who survived the demise of their planet by escaping through the spaceship that they built. When will they be able to go back to their home planet?

Another good example would be combining the story of Romeo and Juliet and the story of King Kong. A human has fallen in love with an ape who has the ability to speak. Unfortunately, the norms of society wouldnâ??t allow their love to flourish.

There are a lot of innovative writing ideas you can come up with by combining different stories.

It’s All About You

You can use yourself as the source of creative writing ideas. Be aware of your interests and preferences. Get to know yourself better and know what truly are your opinions about different subjects and topics. You can use your emotions to stir up your writing juices.

Whatever you can think of, write about it. Pick a topic say, politics. Write what your opinions are and the emotions about the current issues in politics. List everything you can think about it and make a list. You can then pick a topic from this list to come up with your creative writing ideas.

If you belong to the few who like to write – if you enjoy “the finest melody the words make,” the rhythm and pace of phrases and sentences, the architectural possibilities of paragraphs – do not read this article. It is intended for those who don’t have such warm feelings for writing. For those who experience great anxiety and discouragement every time they have to put some words to paper.

We hate writing especially college or university written assignments for toil, anxiety they cause. We are tired of hearing severe words of ruthless criticism for being “unclear” or “vague” or “wordy” in our writings. But still we can’t escape the necessity of writing, unless you choose to turn for help to a freelance writer. Even for such people that seem “hopeless” from the first sight there is a possibility to become freelance writer. It sounds very disappointing that writing has become something intimidating and unpleasant. I don’t think it deserves such a negative attitude. Let’s have a look at the better side of writing and forget about chaotic thoughts, broken sentence structures and low marks for all our efforts. Before making a decision that a good freelance wanted writer will be a solution to your problems, consider a couple of facts. You can trust me that writing will help you to grow and develop your potential. When you write you discover whether you really understand the problem, or think you do; and the very process of writing makes you think, and think much. Your first work may not be perfect but the pride of the accomplishment will make the services of freelance job writer unnecessary. When you read works of prominent writers, you think that writing comes to them spontaneously and they generate their masterpieces quickly and with no efforts at all. In fact it is quite the opposite. Beneath the surface there is a hidden history of struggle, false starts and dead ends, incoherent and vague ideas laboriously worked into clear, lucid text. Not every person involved in freelance writing work thought that it would be the way to earn a living. Holding a freelance writing position one can generate ideas and create masterpieces, but writing requires will and burning desire not to quit a job right in the middle of the process when nothing seems to be right. Every writer is aware that freelance academic writing is not just a resource of income, but also a way to teach students and post-graduates a culture of writing by own samples.

Good writing, like any craft, is the result of training, practice, and persistence. That can be discouraging, but it should also encourage you: if you persist, if you work, if you try, you will become a better writer, a good writer, able to express your thoughts with elegance and clarity. Over the long term the best thing you can do to become a better writer is to read a lot and develop your own judgment and skill. Read stories, newspaper and magazine articles, novels, poetry, email, online stuff, magazine ads, cornflakes boxes, movie reviews, and freelance writing samples, whatever. You’ll discover lots of excellent writing and lots of revolting writing – and once you have a bit of a critical eye you can learn useful lessons from everything you come across. Above all, just read, read, read. Learn to stop fussing about and just take pleasure in playing with words. Finally, write for yourself – write to reflect, write to learn, and write to become a wiser and better person.


- Tyler Benson

I’ve heard a lot of people taking those courses and they end up in dead-end jobs unrelated to creative writing. It seems useless to me. The great writers of the past never took those courses, but they wrote masterpieces. What’s in those courses anyway? Can creative writing even be taught??
- Mike

I have this urge to express myself through words that cant be fulfilled due to my current low self-esteem and writer’s block… It’s just that… How can one think of writing when there are so many masterpieces out there? I acknowledge I am too perfectionist; I see my work as an insult compared to sooooo many things.

What do you suggest I do?
- Claudia G