Listen, I know you can't teach writing with a book. But you can advise prospective and beginning writers on the elements of writing According to You. As one of the contributors to the other great horror writer's companion, Mort Castle's classic On Writing Horror (WD Books), I know that—as in life—writing advice is often subjective. Just as many writers will tell you plot is most important as will say characters are. Just as many writers will tell you the beginning is most important because it has to hook you, as will say the ending's most important because it's what sticks in your mind.

So who's right? They all are.

Because almost all approaches to writing are subjective to some extent. Outline? Yes, I never sit down without it! No way, I like to find out what happens along with the characters! First Person? Absolutely, it's the one readers relate to most easily! Ach, no way, it's the most artificial because you know the narrator survived! Gore? Give it to me good! No, show restraint! Monster? Show it, baby! Aw man, my imagination'll conjure up a Thing way scarier than your puny words. And so on. Your head might do a Linda Blair if you listen to all the contradictory advice.

So why recommend another writing advice book? Because when used wisely, a good collection of varied viewpoints on the elements of writing by the best names in the business will make you think, teach you something you may not have known, and give you options by widening your buffet. Or by sharpening the tools in your writer's tool kit. (See: metaphor, use of.) In Michael Knost's Bram Stoker Award-winning The Writers Workshop of Horror), an incredible array of talented writers tell you what works for them, and you can bet a lot of it will work for you, too.

Just a sample of what you have here: Mort Castle, who knows a thing or a million about teaching, on blending history, fantasy, and horror (a favorite of mine!); Jonathan Maberry on constructing fight and action scenes; Rick Hautala on tone, style, and (gulp) voice; Tom Monteleone on dialogue (and he's one of the best); Jeff Strand on humor (not only useful, his essay's actually funny, too); Gary Braunbeck on character and definition of the self, a key to writing serious horror; Tim Waggoner on plot; Scott Nicholson on POV; Ramsey Campbell on heightening fear and dread; Liz Massie on beginnings; Mike Laimo on middles; J.F. Gonzalez on endings; Michael Arnzen on scene and structure; Deborah LeBlanc on character mannerisms; Joe Lansdale on reading widely; Brian Keene on making time; Lisa Morton on the ups and downs of a screenplay life; Michael Knost on writerly epiphanies; and. . . even more, with interviews of Clive Barker, Tom Piccirilli, F. Paul Wilson. . . And then there's manuscript mechanics, and—well, you get the idea. This book is packed.

Some are essays, some are tidbits, some are interview clips, almost all include examples. So you may not learn how to write, but you'll definitely find advice in this well-organized volume that will help you write better. And you'll find these lessons are by and large applicable in any kind of fiction writing, a bonus for those who write as well as read across genres. Chances are The Writers Workshop of Horror belongs on your reference shelf no matter your experience level.