May/June 2012 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Website of the Week
Writing Website of the Week
Published author Roz Morris' website covers a lot of topics about writing--some serious, some for fun. Either way, it's a site that's worth a few minutes of any writer's week. (I recommend following her on Twitter too.Nail Your Novel 
*Not affiliated with our 101 Best Writing Websites feature.
Overcoming Writer’s Block
Every writer suffers from it to one degree or another. Look here and you’ll find ideas, exercises, and advice for overcoming writer’s block. And maybe you’ll find a few new story ideas as well.
How to Build Tension and Heighten the Stakes
The stakes in fiction matter because stakes create tension. Here’s how to up the stakes so your audience will stay with you until the end of your novel.
by Jessica Page Morrell
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Exercise: Capturing the Moment of Irrevocable Commitment
Is there a moment of ultimate stakes in your current manuscript? If not, you need to fix it on the page to ensure that your hero’s testing and eventual commitment will be fixed in your readers’ minds for a long time to come. Read more
Exercise: Raising Public Stakes
How far do the public stakes in your novel-in-progress rise? How deep do they cut? How bad do they get? Take them higher and deeper. Make them worse—much worse. Your novel can only get better. Read more
Top 10 Productivity Pitfalls for Writers to Avoid
When you find time to write, you want to make sure you’re making the most of whatever time you have. With that in mind, here are Sage Cohen’s productivity pitfalls you should avoid.
By Sage Cohen
3 Exercises For Tapping Inspiration
Sometimes writers need a little inspirational nudge. Try these exercises to help get you started.
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7 Reasons Inspiration Matters to Writers
Here are 7 reasons why inspiration matters—and plenty of ways to use them to your creative advantage.
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Flex Your Creative Writing Muscles
A well-balanced writing diet includes a daily dose of creativity. Here are four ways to satisfy your creative urges.
by Stephenie Steele and Joe Stollenwerk
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Is Writing Inspiration or Perspiration
Do we owe our best writing to our creative muse, or to days and nights of backbreaking effort? The answer may surprise you.
by May E. DeMuth
How to Channel Passion in Your Writing
Transposing your own powerful feelings, opinions, joys and sadness to your characters, every day, is the way to instill in your pages the wisdom that is living inside your novel—and you.
by Donald Maass Read more
StoryFriday: November 06, 2009
We write the first line, then someone adds the next line, and so on. Track with #storyfriday on Twitter. Here’s our collaborative story for October 30, 2009. Read more