When collaborating with other authors on a project, how do you get everyone on the same page? It's challenging, but doable if you use these tricks.
Brian Klems’ The Writer’s Dig
16 Things All Historical Fiction Writers Need to Know
Here are key elements all writers need to know about the wide open category of historical fiction, as told from a literary agent who represents successful historical fiction authors.
7 Presidential Quotes About the Importance of Writing and Reading
In honor of President's Day, we've pulled together seven quotes from former commanders-in-chief about the importance of writing and reading.
Manuscript Rejection Feedback: 3 Critiques to Heed (and 2 to Ignore)
If your head is spinning from the manuscript rejection feedback you’re receiving while on submission, you’re not alone. Let us help you translate it.
How a Thank You Note Got Me Through Writer’s Block
You never know what creative writing exercise can end your battle with writer's block. Here's one way to tackle it with a simple thank you note.
When Do I Spell Out Numbers?
There are several rules of thought on how to handle writing numbers, but the most common is pretty simple. Here's when you should spell out numbers and when you shouldn't.
Ghostwriting: A Business Blueprint You Need to Succeed
There’s a big difference between landing one or two gigs and making a career of ghostwriting—or any kind of writing, for that matter. Use this plan for long-term, full-time success.
Sign Up Now! “Your First Ten Pages” Boot Camp Starts This Weekend
Learn, revise your writing and work directly with an agent who will provide feedback specific to your work. It starts Thursday,
How to Turn Elements of Your Novel Into a Masterpiece
Get too focused on any one instrument at play in your story, and you may lose sight of the harmony inherent in truly great fiction. Here’s how to compose the elements of your novel into a masterpiece.
10 Creative Exercises That Will Help You Improve Your Writing
Stage these 10 inventive techniques, and you just might find your creativity—and your writing—soaking up the spotlight. Read more about these creative exercises now.
Read Narrowly: When You Should Read Books You Love Again and Again
While you should read as many books as possible, there's something to be said for reading your favorite books by writers you love time and time again.
How to Write a Good Memoir: Advice on Finding Your Voice
Voice is like your book’s fingerprint—only the author can give a book its own style. Here's what you need to know about voice in understanding how to write a good memoir.
An Important Status Update on Government Funding for the Arts
While we continue to explore what this means to the greater writing community, we feel it is important to share the following letter from the Americans For The Arts with our readers, whom it may affect.
How Hearing “No” From Agents and Publishers Can Lead You to “Yes”
After facing rejection, here's how one writer found a path forward with her work. Also, she shares three examples of how hearing “no” can lead you to a “yes.”
What to Do (And Not Do) After Attending a Writer’s Conference
Literary agent Irene Goodman shares some insider do’s and don’ts about what to do after you attend a writing conference and how to get the most out of your experience.
Female Protagonists in Crime Fiction: What You Need to Know
If you want to muscle your female protagonists into the traditionally male world of the police procedural or PI novel, here are a few things writers should consider.
How to Write Better Villains: 5 Ways to Get Into the Mind of a Psychopath
In New York Times bestselling author Peter James’s latest Detective Roy Grace novel, much of the narrative is from the point of view of antagonist Jodie Bentley, a psychopathic Black Widow systematically marrying rich men and killing them in the most sinister of ways. Here, Peter James lists his top five tips for how...
Get Published in 2017! Agent One-on-One Boot Camp Starts January 17
This Writer’s Digest Boot Camp, "How to Craft Query Letters and Other Submission Materials That Get Noticed" (starts Jan. 17, 2017), is designed to help you streamline your submission materials to stand out in a good way.
Author Nick Petrie Discusses Building a Strong Protagonist
People don’t read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest for the science, and no one watches Forrest Gump for seafood recipes. Character is what truly makes an audience turn a page or turn up the volume. Thus, I am so pleased to sit down with bestselling author Nick Petrie to discuss the much anticipated second...
How Long Until You Can Follow Up on Magazine Query Letters?
Here's what you need to know when considering how long to wait before following up with a magazine editor.
Something to Consider Before You Hire a Book Editor
Make sure that your story is as close to perfection as you could dream before you self publish or pitch to an agent. Here are things to consider.
7 Ways to Make a Young Reader’s Hair Stand Up
There are some techniques seasoned writers use to create that tension. Here are seven ways to accomplish building tension in your novel.
7 Steps to Creating a Flexible Outline for Any Story
Let’s take a look at how to get the most out of the outlining process, beginning with the shaping of your premise and working all the way through to a complete list of scenes.
4 Lessons Running Can Teach You About Writing
One writer's new hobby of running has taught him four valuable lessons about writer's block that have helped him—and he hopes helps you too.
5 Tips for Writing Historical Fiction
BY VICTORIA PATTERSON The Peerless Four, based on the historical precedent of the first women allowed to compete in the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics in track and field on a trial basis, was a departure from my previous story collection and novel, Drift and This Vacant Paradise, both set at the end of the 20th...