May/June2013 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
Preview the Issue
Buy It Here
Give a Gift SubscriptionSave 58%!
Website of the Week
How to Improve Writing Skills
You have the drive, you have the passion, and you’re more than willing to put in the time it takes to finish a manuscript. But you also want to make sure your work is clean, compelling, and perfectly structured. Help for doing just that can be found right here.
Beginnings, Middles, & Ends
Find out more about Elements of Fiction Writing: Beginnings, Middles, & Ends by Nancy Kress.
- Hook readers, agents, and editors in the first three paragraphs.
- Make and keep your story’s implicit promise to the reader.
- Build drama and credibility by controlling your prose.
Q&A With Nancy Kress
Read an exclusive Q&A with Nancy Kress, author of Elements of Fiction Writing: Beginnings, Middles, & Ends.
Read more
Take Back Your Lunch Hour
In this excerpt from Chapter 4: Writers, Take Back Your Lunch Hour from Áine Greaney’s Writer With a Day Job, you’ll learn:
- how to make your lunch hour work for you
- the most effective ways to organize your time at lunch
- how much you can really expect to get done in an hour
Writer With a Day Job
In Writer With a Day Job by Áine Greaney
- Learn how to balance a day job and a writing life
- Find exercises, inspiration, and techniques you need to build creative expression into your daily life.
- Get quick, practical tutorials to help you master scenes, point of view, characters, settings, dialogue, and more
How to Craft Compelling Characters
To make characters seem real, you need to tap into what drives them. Use this foolproof method to bring the emotion of your story to life.
by David Corbett
Read more
Finding Your Memoir’s Voice
Literary agent Paula Balzer discussed finding your voice in this excerpt from her book WRITING & SELLING YOUR MEMOIR. Read more
Online Exclusive: Stock Your Bookshelves the Pat Conroy Way
In this bonus online exclusive, Pat Conroy (The Prince of Tides, The Great Santini and other contemporary Southern classics) shares recollections and recommendations of some of his favorite bookstores, past and present, across his native South.
by Lynn Seldon
Read more
10 Ways to Start Your Story Better
A good opening line is a powerful thing: It can grab an editor’s attention, set the tone for the rest of the piece, and make sure readers stay through The End. Here are 10 ways to steer your story toward success.
by Jacob M. Appel
Read more
How to Amp up Dialogue with Emotional Beats
Dialogue benefits from variety. A good way to maintain your reader’s interest is to insert a variety of beats into your dialogue. Beats are descriptions of physical action—minor or major—that fall between lines of speech. Try the following techniques to punch up your dialogue.
by Todd A. Stone
Read more
3 Secrets to Great Storytelling
If you think you’ve heard all you need to know about what drives a plot, think again. Here’s the real stuff the best stories are made of.
by Steven James
Make Money Freelancing – Premium Collection
Another month, another amazing premium collection offer. In both January and February, these limited edition kits sold out before their respective months were half over, and this month’s collection is sure to … Read more
8 Ways to Write a 5-Star Chapter One
When you decide to go to a restaurant for a special dinner, you enjoy the anticipation. You’ve committed to spending sufficient time and money, and now you’ve arrived, and the place looks … Read more
The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference
Be confident in your grammar with The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference by Gary Lutz and Diane Steveson.
Read more
Using Adjectives
In this excerpt from chapter two: Modifiers and Other Parts of Speech from The Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference, you’ll learn:
- How to properly use adjectives.
- Learn how to avoid common grammatical errors.
Write your Essay the Reader-Friendly Way
Rules, as they say, are meant to be broken. But even groundbreakers learn by observing what has worked before. Let’s take a look at some examples that can help you break the rules in a meaningful and effective way.
by Dinty W. Moore
Read more
How to Edit Your Dialogue
If dialogue wastes time and stops or delays your novel’s progress toward resolving the conflict, it must be cut, pared down or rewritten. Look for these areas in your manuscript, and you’ll find places where your dialogue should be revisited.
by Todd A. Stone
Read more
Interview with 18th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Books Award Winner Weldon Long
Weldon Long’s memoir, The Upside of Fear: How One Man Broke the Cycle of Prison, Poverty and Addiction, won the 18th Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published Books Awards. In this bonus coverage, Long talks about his long path toward writing success.
by Melissa Wuske
Read more
WD Interview Bonus Q&A: Emma Donoghue
In this bonus exclusive, Emma Donoghue, author of Room, shares her thoughts on researching, plotting and writing for multiple genres.
by Jessica Strawser
Read more
Find an Agent and Get Published! – Premium Collection
In January, Writer’s Digest unleashed its Premium Collection kits with the Getting Started in Writing kit, which sold out before the month was half over. This month, half the Find an Agent … Read more
How to Balance Action, Narrative and Dialogue in Your Novel
Most of the time, we want to balance our scenes using dialogue, action and narrative to engage readers at an emotional level and keep them hooked. Here’s how to do that.
by Gloria Kempton
Read more
Novel in 30 Days Worksheet Index
To help you successfully complete your book in 30 days, here are nine worksheets to help you keep track of plot, scenes, characters and revisions. All of these worksheets originally appeared in Book in a Month by Victoria Lynn Schmidt and were also featured in the special issue Write Your Novel in 30 Days.
Read more
Flash Fiction FAQs
No question about it, flash fiction is gaining popularity fast. Here’s what you need to know if you’re thinking of taking the short way around.
by William Highsmith
Read more
The 7 Tools of Dialogue
My neighbor John loves to work on his hot rod. He’s an automotive whiz and tells me he can hear when something is not quite right with the engine. He doesn’t hesitate … Read more
Career Patterns That Work
In this excerpt from Career Patterns That Work from Donald Maass’s The Breakout Novelist, you’ll learn:
- How to get off to a good start
- How to answer the What should I be writing? question
- The best ways to build your audience
