Planetside: The Online Magazine of SFWA

-
How Neuroscience Reveals the Alien Mind
by C. L. Kagmi. Neuroscience can give authors tools to imagine alien minds. Here’s how the biology of senses and emotions can help you create believable nonhuman experiences for your own worlds and stories.
-
SFWA Presents: Get to Know Our Industry Peer – National Association of Science Writers
by Janet Stilson and Sandeep Ravindran. National Science Writers Association: an industry peer supporting “science fact” and improving the general state of scientific wonder for science fiction writers.
-
Photostories Past and Present
by Emmalia Harrington. Photostories blend images and text to create a dynamic form of storytelling rooted in early newspapers and SFF history. Explore this distinctive method to stretch your creativity and tell stories in a fresh format.
-
Silent Movies Jump from Screen to Page in Movie Tie-In Novels
by Rosemary Jones. Early silent movie tie-in novels blended cliffhanger serials, film stills, and imaginative adventures. Explore the origins of photoplay editions and their enduring appeal to collectors of cinematic history.
-
A 23-Button Stenography Keyboard: All Gain, Zero Pain
by J.D. Henning. Because the QWERTY keyboard has well‑known ergonomic drawbacks, stenography offers a human‑centered alternative. Here’s how switching systems helped one writer overcome injury and rediscover sustainable productivity.
-
Managing Your Story Portfolio
by Laurence Raphael Brothers. A look at essential strategies to safeguard your manuscripts, track submissions, manage contracts, and navigate reprints and translations, with practical guidance that supports a sustainable approach to your writing career.
-
Unearthing Timbuktu’s Legacy: Using West African Manuscripts in SFF Worldbuilding
by Jason Collins. Explore Timbuktu’s manuscripts and see how their astronomy, law, medicine, and theology can spark original worldbuilding beyond traditional European-centric fantasy.
-
Walking and Dictating: A New Strategy to Mix Up Your Writing Routine
by Corrine Kumar. Writing while walking can boost creativity, deepen immersion, quiet your inner editor, reduce distractions, and help you reach flow. Here’s how to use physical activity in your creative process.
-
A Brief History of SFWA: The Nebula Awards Report
by Michael Capobianco. Learn how the awards began in the 1960s from simple postcard nominations and a small team tallying and reporting back. The evolution shows the growth of SFWA from 200 members to thousands, complicating the system.












