I've just been going through Alan Moore's (Watchmen, V for Vendetta, ...) graphic anthology Wild Worlds and I was truly struck by the difference in quality of storytelling between a master and the amateurs.
The anthology opens with a time loop story involving Spawn and the WildCATs which was beautifully developed (I won't say more here). But it was the second story that really brought home the difference in story quality for me. Essentially, it's a 'this could have been the beginning of the universe' story, told from the POV of some immortal characters at the end of one universe. I won't spoil it, but the story is developed beautifully so that we feel the dark, cold, aloneness at the end, but he also develops the science background enough to give you a conclusion that makes you think 'that's a cool idea, maybe...'.
I think this second story drove home the difference storytelling, the ability to develop a story from a rough idea, simply because at some point it seems every sci-fi writer has the thought to write a story about how the universe may have begun, and I've read my share of such submissions for the Utility Fog Press anthologies. But Alan Moore's blew them all away.
Take home message, if you're thinking of writing a 'beginning of the universe' story, read this one first.
