by Robert Lee Brewer
How to Write Intriguing Male and Female Characters
Understanding gender differences can improve your writing in any genre. Here’s how.
by Leigh Anne Jasheway
by Leigh Anne Jasheway
Best Writing Advice in 10 Words or Fewer
Several Writer's Digest contributors share their best advice in 10 words or fewer.
The Best and Worst of Writing Advice
When you gather a panel of writers to discuss the best and worst writing advice they’ve ever received, the conversation promises to be as colorful as it is informative—and this one with spy novelist Alex Dryden, mystery novelist Lisa Gardner, author Alex Kava, and debut author Daniel Palmer, did not disappoint.
5 Steps to a Great Female Protagonist
According to bestselling authors JT Ellison, Alex Kava and Erica Spindler, there are 5 key ways to make your heroine shine. Here they are.
by Jessica Strawser, reporting from ThrillerFest 2010 (New York City)
by Jessica Strawser, reporting from ThrillerFest 2010 (New York City)
How to Give Your Character the Perfect Name
What you call your characters could influence your readers’ perceptions of them. Here are some factors to consider in finding the perfect match.
by Devyani Borade
by Devyani Borade
From Idea to Page in 4 Simple Steps
Nothing is more exciting than the promise of a story in your head, but in order to get it on the page you need to figure out exactly what you need to do to make it work. Here are 4 steps to help you build the framework of your story.
How to Organize Your Story Ideas
The best ideas can start out running wild—but you’ll need to train them onto the page if you want to write that novel you have inside of you. Here’s how.
by N.M. Kelby
by N.M. Kelby
Using Parallelism in Your Writing
The Sentence Sleuth says you need to balance all the elements of your sentences.
by Bonnie Trenga
Read chapter 1, "What is Plot, Anyway?" of Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure.
by Bonnie Trenga
What is Plot, Anyway?
Read chapter 1, "What is Plot, Anyway?" of Write Great Fiction: Plot & Structure.
November is National Novel Writing Month
NaNoWriMo’s Chris Baty shares five tips for writing your book in a month.
by Chris Baty
Read Chapter 1 from 101 Songwriting Wrongs and How to Right Them: The Ones That Got Away.
Revising is often perceived as frustrating and overwhelming, but Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell gives you the guidance you need to revise like a pro.
In this excerpt from chapter fifteen, discover why it's so...
If you want to write a good sentence, don’t pay any attention to your grammar. I don’t mean “a sentence this like OK is.” I mean don’t automatically think you’ve written a good sentence just because it’s grammatically correct. Lots of bad sentences...
From the Write Great Fiction series, Revision & Self-Editing offers techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel.
Can you write one poem every day in April (National Poetry Month)? Join the editor of Writer's Market, Robert Brewer, as he offers prompts and encouragement—plus monitor his progress over at his blog, Poetic Asides!
by Chris Baty
Capturing Ideas Before They Get Away
Read Chapter 1 from 101 Songwriting Wrongs and How to Right Them: The Ones That Got Away.
Winners of the 2008 WD Poetry Awards
Lee Tupman’s “The Forest of Lost Husbands” took first place in WD’s 3rd Annual Poetry Awards competition, taking home $500 in prize money. The online contest, which pulled in nearly 3,800 entries, was open to poems of any style that were original, unpublished and 32 lines or fewer.
by...
by...
Tips for Revising Your Manuscript
Revising is often perceived as frustrating and overwhelming, but Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell gives you the guidance you need to revise like a pro.In this excerpt from chapter fifteen, discover why it's so...
The Four Commandments of Writing Good Sentences
If you want to write a good sentence, don’t pay any attention to your grammar. I don’t mean “a sentence this like OK is.” I mean don’t automatically think you’ve written a good sentence just because it’s grammatically correct. Lots of bad sentences...
WGF: Revision & Self-Editing
From the Write Great Fiction series, Revision & Self-Editing offers techniques for transforming your first draft into a finished novel.
April Poem-A-Day Challenge
Can you write one poem every day in April (National Poetry Month)? Join the editor of Writer's Market, Robert Brewer, as he offers prompts and encouragement—plus monitor his progress over at his blog, Poetic Asides!
Sub-Genre Descriptions
Here's a breakdown of some of your favorite fiction genres.
How to Prepare Poetry Manuscript Submissions
How many poems can you send to a magazine at one time? How do you prepare a collection of poetry for submission to a publisher? A poetry expert answers these and other questions.
How to Break the Rules & Get Published
If you stay true to your voice, this successful romance writer says, you'll find those rules aren't etched in stone.