Explosive Stories Editor: W.D.Wilcox 
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“At the first of the explosions, I was no longer seeing the fireworks, but as a superimposition of every time that I had sat on concrete and plastic and sand and wood and gazed at the sky the day before vacation ended. I lost this experience in how comingled it was with the past and with vague accounting of when next I would see fireworks.”
― Thomm Quackenbush, Holidays with Bigfoot
“What's the good of having mastery over cosmic balance and knowing the secrets of fate if you can't blow something up?”
― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man
“Apocalyptic explosions, dead reactors, terrorists, mass murder, death-slugs, and now a blindness plague. This is a terrible planet. We should not have come here.”
― James S.A. Corey, Cibola Burn
“I ate the end of my piece of cheese and took a swallow of wine. Through the other noise, I heard a cough, then came the chuh-chuh-chuh-chuh--then there was a flash, as when a blast-furnace door is swung open, and a roar that started white and went red and on and on in a rushing wind. I tried to breathe, but my breath would not come, and I felt myself rush bodily out of myself and out and out and out, and all the time bodily in the wind. I went out swiftly, all of myself, and I knew I was dead and that it had all been a mistake to think you just died. Then I floated, and instead of going on, I felt myself slide back. I breathed, and I was back.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
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Writing explosive stories requires hooking the reader with a high-stakes promise, escalating tension by narrowing character choices, and stretching out the climactic moments using deep sensory details. A narrative must balance physical action with profound emotional consequences to truly resonate and thrill.
To make a story explosive, you must promise that something deeply important can go wrong. Instead of relying solely on physical danger, layer the action with heavy personal and emotional stakes. A character losing a loved one or failing a critical mission hits harder when the reader understands their internal wounds and the personal cost of failure.
Masterful pacing is the engine of an explosive narrative. You can build tension by using rapid-fire, action-heavy sentences, followed by moments of ominous silence where you defer important plot reveals to keep the reader guessing. When you finally reach the main event or climax, shift into "slow motion". Expand that crucial moment by zooming in on granular details, internal thoughts, and character reactions rather than rushing through the action.
WD Wilcox |
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MAIL FROM SOME FLOUNDER
A.D. Writes 
That first line can be a roadblock for me. I want it to be great too, which means sometimes it takes me a long time to write a story because I'm struggling to find the right first line. I know it technically doesn't have to be perfect since there should be rewrites and edits. Doesn't stop the struggle from searching for "the one."
ASIN: B0DJG3PQV2 |
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Short Stories: July 08, 2026 Issue [#13828]
