July/August 2013 Issue
July/August Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Get Published/Sell My Work | Write 1st Chapter/Get Started | Complete First Draft | Beat Writer’s Block
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Should You Blog? And If So, What Are Best Practices?
Photo credit: Laughing Squid More writers are blogging than ever. And if you’re not blogging already, you’ve probably considered it. Recently, a writer asked me via Facebook about blogging. She said: [It … Read more
Reinvigorate Your Writing
Learn prolific food and culture writer Monica Bhide’s secret to staying passionate and stoking your writing fervor.
by Monica Bhide
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Anne Tyler’s Tips on Writing Strong (yet Flawed) Characters
With a body of work spanning five decades, a Pulitzer Prize and membership in the Academy of Arts and Letters, Anne Tyler is a testament to the best kind of longevity—and the purity of the written word.
by Jessica Strawser
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Spotlight on Backspace
Learn the best ways to get connected, hone your skills and build your career on the Web in this expanded Q&A with the founders of Backspace. Read more
Spotlight on Authonomy
Learn the best ways to get connected, hone your skills and build your career on the Web in this expanded Q&A with the founders of Authonomy. Read more
Spotlight on Writing.com
Learn the best ways to get connected, hone your skills and build your career on the Web in this expanded Q&A with the founders of Writing.com.
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Spotlight on NaNoWriMo.org
Learn the best ways to get connected, hone your skills and build your career on the Web in this expanded Q&A with the founder of NaNoWriMo.org.
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Secrets to Success in Online Writing Communities
Learn the best ways to get connected, hone your skills and build your career on the Web in these expanded Q&As with the founders of the leading sites.
Compiled by Jessica Strawser
The 7 Biggest Myths of Publishing (Know the Truth)
A veteran author tells you, writer to writer, what getting published is really like—and confronts the seven biggest myths.
by Elizabeth Sims
5 Questions for Those Who Don't Have Time to Market/Promote
(Pictured above: Writer’s Digest and HOW editors/designers, promoting “Art of Manliness” project) “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his … Read more
Figuring Out Your Facebook Strategy: 3 Essential Tips
In May 2006, after reading this article in the New Yorker, I joined Facebook, which at that time was primarily used by students. Not being a student, I found very few people … Read more
Craft True-to-Life Nonfiction Characters
Many of the same techniques for writing characters in fiction apply to nonfiction: Through detail, through gesture, through talk, through close understanding of whole lives before and after the scope of your story, you make your people vivid in your reader’s head.
by Bill Roorbach with Kristen Keckler
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Create the (IM)perfect Heroic Couple
How exactly do you go about uniting your hero and heroine? When creating the perfect romantic couple, consider the following.
by Leigh Michaels
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A Checklist for Developing Your Hero and Heroine
Answer the following questions for each of your main characters to help figure out how each one fits in your novel.
by Leigh Michaels
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Writing Exercise: Fiction Techniques for Nonfiction Characters
Try these writing exercises to improve the quality of your nonfiction characters.
by Bill Roorbach with Kristen Keckler Read more
Use Method Writing to Learn About Your Characters
Good writers must also prepare themselves in advance for developing their fictional characters by going inside themselves. Enter method writing.
by Rachel Ballon
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Quick Tip: Use Causal Writing to Connect the Dots
Causal writing connects the beginning of your story to the end, meaning that each scene and chapter you write builds naturally from the one before it and causes the scene or chapter that follows. Here’s how to successfully do it.
by Rachel Ballon
Draw Characters From The Strongest Sources
Every drama requires a cast. The cast may be so huge or it may be an intimate cast of two. Where do you get these people, and how do you know they’ll make good characters? Here are the four key sources you’ll need to create great characters.
by Nancy Kress
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How to Weave in Backstory to Reveal Character
Creating characters’ backstories before you start writing is crucial because you’ll want to determine each one’s past experiences and the repercussions these experiences will have on your story before you begin. Here’s a close look at the different ways you can introduce backstory.
by Rachel Ballon
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Creating Characters: 4 Simple Exercises
Here are 4 simple exercises to help you invent characters for your fiction.
by Nancy Kress
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Celebrating 90 Years of WD:
Cult Classics
In 2010, Writer’s Digest will turn 90. To celebrate, we’ll be counting down to our nonagenarian years with a look back at WD history. In the September issue, we took a nostalgic look at how writers known for their cult followings have been reflected in our pages since 1920. The retrospective continues here.
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5 Quick Tips for Writer/Agent Negotiations
Just because you’re excited someone wants to represent you doesn’t mean you should let them take advantage of you. Beware of these red flags when negotiating contracts with agents.
by Howard G. Zaharoff
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Keep Your Career Alive by Following the Reader
Today I had a wonderful conversation with Mr. Media (Bob Andelman) about Writer’s Digest, the writing/publishing community, and the future ahead for writers. You can listen to the recording of the live … Read more
Query Clinic: Example of a Great Query Letter
Looking to switch agents? Here’s one author who succeeded with a gracefully written letter. Plus: her new agent’s insights on what made it work.
by Lori Perkins
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How to Land Testimonials (Let People Brag About You)
If you want to have testimonials to use in promoting your writing and platform, you have to be proactive. Here’s how.
by Christina Katz
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