Like Tim Waggoner’s Bram Stoker Award-winning Writing in the Dark, a manual for how to write horror fiction, this workbook covers a wide variety of topics, ranging from monster, idea, and plotline creation to avoiding clichés and developing the art of suspense. The workbook, however, foregrounds practice over discussion to help writers master these concepts. Both texts stand on their own while working together to provide you with the direction and tools you need to maximize your own authorship.

The wealth of examples and exercises in Writing in the Dark: The Workbook are designed to inspire and stretch the imagination. Waggoner draws from his own experiences and acumen in addition to other professional writers, among them Laird Barron, Maurice Broaddus, Nadia Bulkin, Ramsey Campbell, Mort Castle, Tananarive Due, Christopher Golden, Grady Hendrix, Daniel Kraus, Joe R. Lansdale, Elizabeth Massie, Graham Masterton, Seanan McGuire, John Shirley, and many others.

With an introduction by Michael A. Arnzen, Writing in the Dark: The Workbook will resonate with young authors who are just getting started on their careers as well as veterans of the horror genre and craft.

TIM WAGGONER has published over fifty novels and seven collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror as well as media tie-ins, and his articles on writing have appeared in numerous publications. He’s won the Bram Stoker Award and the Horror Writers Association’s Mentor of the Year Award, and he’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Scribe Award, and the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a fulltime, tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.