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.
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The 5 Essential Story Ingredients
Forget three-act structures, formulas for plot, and even beginnings, middles and ends. Write better stories by propelling your protagonist through a transformation your readers will never forget. Read more
Read These Successful Query Letters
Writing a book is fun. Writing a query letter is stressful. In your book, you can add layers of backstory and extra pages to let your full story flow. In a query letter, you basically have four tiny paragraphs to say “PICK ME! PICK ME!” (Holy crap, I’m having grade-school playground flashbacks.) So what’s the best plan of attack to creating a pitch perfect query letter? Read more
7 Grammar Blunders to Avoid
Nothing is worse than getting in the first edition of our new issue, opening it up and finding a giant grammar mistake plain as day. This doesn’t happen often, but when it does it blows my mind. “How did that happen? We read the issue 5 times each, hired an extra copy editor and even used the Microsoft WORD’s spell check (which never misses a mistake, right?).” Read more
One Simple Question All Writers Should Ask Themselves
In this brief exercise, Douglas Preston, co-author of the bestselling Pendergast novels (Relic) and The Monster of Florence, challenges writers to really write what they know to take their thrillers to the … Read more
One Simple Way to Sharpen Your Pitch
As anyone who’s ever tried to come up with one of those vital one-sentence pitches for their book knows, getting it right can be maddening. Here, courtesy of bestseller Jon Land, is … Read more
Science-Fiction Author John Scalzi Explains How Not to Be Boring
JOHN SCALZI is the author of several science fiction novels, including the bestselling Old Man’s War series, comprising Old Man’s War, The Ghost Brigades, and The Last Colony. He is a winner … Read more
When the Story You’re Writing Isn’t Working: An Interview with Donald Miller
Donald Miller is the author of multiple New York Times Bestsellers including Blue Like Jazz and A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He has served on the Presidential Task Force on … Read more
Memoir Spotlight: Jeannette Walls
Jeannette Walls is the author of The Glass Castle, a memoir with more than 3 million copies in print, and Half Broke Horses, a bestselling true-life novel based on her grandmother. She … Read more
Women’s Fiction Spotlight: Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah (kristinhannah.com) is The New York Times bestselling author of 18 novels, including the blockbusters Firefly Lane, True Colors and Winter Garden, and, most recently, Night Road. You’ve said the seed … Read more