However, there is one important factor that I have also discovered while comparing these sites. And Triond, without a doubt, is the best.

One particular popular site, has content managers that are biased. Your article could be out-of-this-world-awesome, but if the content manager does not agree with you 100% on your facts and/or opinions, he/she will decline the content.

Triond is not biased. They are concerned about the article itself, yes they have Guidelines which must be followed. But, they do not let their personal feelings on the issue(s) decide whether the article is published or declined.

Which, in my opinion, is the way that all of the sites such as this should be. Whether the content managers are paid employees or volunteers, I believe they should be ‘let go’ if they cannot be unbiased.

Of course, there are several other reasons I like Triond. The pay is good, the members are friendly, the site is very user-friendly and you will receive a reply from a human within a reasonable time period when contacting support. But the #1 Reason I place Triond above other paid sites, is because they have the ability to be unbiased.

The truth about English language haiku is that the counting of syllables is one of the least important aspects of the form. Why is this so?

The haiku is a Japanese form. Many haiku written in Japanese follow a pattern of 5/7/5. The Japanese word for syllable is loosely translated as onji. An onji is a "sound unit". Seventeen onji do not equal 17 syllables. A poem written in 17 syllables usually contains a great deal more information than a poem written in 17 onji. So poets who are serious about writing haiku in the English language concentrate on other things besides the syllables.

There are many guidelines for writing contemporary haiku. Here are thirteen which I think are good to use if you're a poet who wishes to learn the joys and disciplines of haiku writing.

13 Guidelines for Writing Haiku

1. Use concise, simple and clear language
2. Write in two sections, using a fragment and a phrase
3. Use sense images, in particular what you see or hear
4. Write in the present tense
5. Compare or contrast two images
6. Try to include a seasonal reference
7. Write in 17 syllables or less, preferably between 8-12
8. Use minimal (if any) punctuation
9. Capture one or two moments that the reader can reflect upon
10. Do not make judgments or express your opinions
11. Limit your use of adjectives and don't use adverbs
12. Do not use rhyme, simile, metaphor or personification
13. Do not use capital letters

Haiku has evolved over a span of almost five hundred years in Japan. The
haiku does not need to be complete - it is a lightly sketched and ambiguous
poem, which the reader is expected to finish. It is at its best when it
contrasts or compares two images, and is written in the present tense,
focusing on nature and capturing one moment.

Basho (1644-1694) is one of the acknowledged masters of haiku and he wrote
this most famous example where he combined what he saw and what he heard:

old pond
a frog jumps into
the sound of water

In a haiku it is sometimes a good idea to keep the reader guessing about what is about to happen. Often the final line provides us with a surprise, as in this
delightful example by another famous master Issa (1763-1827):

snow melts
the village floods
with children

As you can see, neither of these excellent examples of haiku translated from the Japanese, contains 17 syllables. Rather they concentrate on the more important aspects of haiku - writing about one or two moments and concentrating on what the poets experience with their senses.

The haiku in English has been written for about seventy years and the form
is still evolving. It often contains around 8-12 syllables. There are over
66 different ways a haiku can be written. The form is currently very
popular in many parts of the world and has become an important poetic form.

Here are a few examples of haiku I have written over the years. In these haiku I follow the contemporary way of writing what I see or hear around me, rather than expressing what is inside me:

gentle breeze-
between falling leaves
a butterfly

sunlight
through the old pine
cobwebs

black ducks
all along the creek bank
willow stumps

driftwood-
a man meanders along
the tideline

mountain valley-
the river escapes
into an ocean

early autumn-
the pale rose rests
on a tin fence

Finally, here are some quotes about haiku. Please note that the plural of haiku is the same as the singular.

“The whole of life is in each moment, not in the past, not in the future -
and thus a true haiku is important because it is a moment of total and
genuine awareness of the reality of the Now.”
Robert Spiess (New and Selected Speculations on Haiku)

“Haiku has developed as a poem which expresses deep feelings for nature,
including human beings. This follows the traditional idea that man is part
of the natural world and should live in harmony with it. This differs from
the Western way of thinking, in which man is regarded as independent of and
perhaps superior to the rest of nature.”
Sono Uchida President of the haiku International Association.

“Haiku forces us to get out of the loops and worries or depressing thoughts
by demanding that we use our senses to explore what is around the body at
this very second.” Jane Reichhold

First, let's get some general guidelines out of the way. I'm assuming you have a workspace, a word-processor, or, much better, a computer with manuscript tracking software. If not, go to your local library. You can get everything you need there, and it's mostly free. Set aside a realistic amount of time. Read, and write, and research, and write. A realistic 5 hours per week is better than 30 or 40 hours that you can't manage.

Choose your Science Fiction Flavor

In the second-century BC, Lucian of Samasota described voyages to the sun and the moon, and in the early 1960s, science fiction was still talking seriously about little green men from Mars. Now, we're all living in a Science Fiction age, and the boundaries of the genre have exploded outwards. You will probably settle into one or two of the sub-genres of Science Fiction writing. If you are not sure what direction to take, read as many different types of SF as possible.

• Alternate history. - Read some of the works of Harry Turtledove
• Blend - SF/Fantasy, SF/Romance, SF/Mystery, SF/Western (as in the Brisco County TV series)
• Cyberpunk - think Matrix, or William Gibson
• End-of-the-World
• Hard SF
• Humorous SF
• Space Opera
• Near Future
• Alternate Universe
• Sociological - read Ayn Rand for a conservative point of view
• Something sublime. Try Ray Bradbury
• Weird stuff. Read J. G. Ballard.

Read as much as possible, then settle into what you do best. Good Space-Opera is better than preachy apocalyptic stories, or implausible "hard" science-fiction. And currently, if you can write hypertext fiction, you have a whole new world of writing at your feet. The point is, do what you're comfortable with. (However, take heed when an editor offers you a suggestion. He is the person who will publish your masterpiece.)

Conjuring up different worlds - some pointers

Here are a few ideas to play with. They should help you to come up with at least an outline for a story, or a novel.

• A science fiction story has to be about people, even if the "person" is an alien, a robot, a computer program, or a sentient cloud of roving, intergalactic gas. Take a look at any episode of any of the "Star Trek" series and you'll see what I mean.
• Try to visualize (depending on your age), what you would have imagined the year 2004 to be 10, 20, 50 years ago. Would you have imagined a world without the USSR, robots on Mars, faster than light travel, cloning, nanobiology, a world of computers. They all exist today. - Faster than light travel?? Take a look at some of the latest research into quantum mechanics.
• Now try to remember how you thought then, and how you think now
• Do you have any idea what your grandfather thought, how he saw the world? Your world is as different from his as yours will be to the cyberpunk kids of 2025. Of course, the same applies to women, only more so.

Here are a few more things to consider: -

• Don't try to force a message or a plot, unless your editor suggests it, and even then, think carefully about it
• Do listen to the advice of your editors
• Don't worry about criticism
• Do consider it. Constructive criticism is important
• Draw on the world around you
• Keep your mind in a "what if" mode
• Watch people, and tuck away weird facts
• Write, write, read, and write

Practicalities

Everyone writes differently, but you can still learn from other writers. A classic "how to" book is Orson Scott Card's "How to write Science Fiction and Fantasy" It's comprehensive, examining "speculative fiction" from several perspectives. It talks about creating worlds with logic and internal consistency. It looks at story and character construction, viewpoint, and language. Finally, it focuses on markets, agents, classes, and finances.

Markets, Agents, Classes, and Finances.

Connecting these is the very important subject of research. Please, if you have a computer, or have access to one - use it.

Research the markets for likely online and hard copy publishers. Go to a search engine such as Google, type in "Writers Guidelines", and you will get 112,000 entries (as of today). Search within results for "Science Fiction" and you will get 4,650 results. How on earth can you handle this avalanche of information? Think about your own areas of expertise. Say you're a history buff, hardly a subject for science fiction, you might think. Search for "history" within the 4,650 results, and you'll get close to 1000. It's tough to have a world of information at your fingertips. Let's say you find the perfect market(s). Now you can look up the American Civil War, Quantum Mechanics, and all the different ways a gunshot wound of knife bleed.. You can also join an email discussion group or a newsgroup.

Agents are listed in the Writers and Artists Yearbook, and Google will dig them up for you by the hundreds. Then you can narrow your search. There are also specialty search engines that on the areas you require. Where do you find these? Do a search on "Specialty Search Engines." You'll get about 11,600 hits.

If you want to take writing classes, look them up on the Internet, and compare prices. Or, go to your trusty newsgroups or discussion lists. Another option is to visit writing websites, many of which have writers' forums. One of the best I've found is a website designed by Francis Coppola, which has forums for all kinds of writing, including SF.

As you can see, research will also be very helpful in controlling your finances. With a vast amount of information on the web, you can choose between deluxe and free classes, research forums, manuscript and writing software, and anything else your science-fiction heart desires. Free content is often as good, or better than, an expensive product.

Over the Top

As in trenches. It's a big effort to launch yourself into the unknown, face the minefields of rejection and writers block. You must keep running, despite all obstacles. Eventually, you will make your first sale, and all the effort will be justified. Then you will make your next sale, and your fiftieth, and with each sale, all the effort will be justified again.

• Do you understand the assignment?
• Make sure that you do. If not, ask a teacher or a friend in your class.
• When is it due?
• If you don't know when the paper is due, you won't know how to not get overwhelmed.
• Do you choose your topic, or is it chosen for you?
• It's a pretty big problem if you don't know what the topic is, so find out if it's your choice or not. If it is, get brainstorming.
• Start early: this is the key for making the paper as fun as possible.

Finding Focus

• You may be really exited about your topic and want to start right away. Slow down! The first thing you need to do is focused.
• Your topic may be animals, but the length of your paper may be limited to four pages. What animals, or aspects about those animals do you want to research???
• You may find it interesting that rabbits and elephants both use the large surface area of their ears to regulate their body temperature. Why else do they have large ears???
• Now you're focused!

Gathering Information

This is the fun part of the process. Think of it as a treasure hunt! Clues may be found in: books, periodicals, CDs, encyclopedias, personal interviews, or the internet.

• Take organized notes as you read
• Remember to keep track of where you found each piece of information. It is very important to document the sources used in your paper.
• Once you have gathered you research notes, it is time to organize them and formulate the main point of your paper

Writing the Paper

Are you on track? Review the purpose of the assignment.

• Create a rough outline. The "flow" of your paper will help the reader follow your logic as you set out to achieve your main point.
• Create a rough draft
• Proofread and get feedback from your friends and parents
• Is your main point and supporting information clear?
• Does the "flow" of your paper make sense?
• Did you achieve your main point?
• Incorporate this feedback and your own final revisions into your final draft