May/June2013 Issue
May/June Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Write-A-Thon Poster
Download a 26-day countdown poster with energy boosting ideas to fuel your marathon and track your accomplishments from Day 1 to Day 26. Write-A-Thon Poster 8.5×11 Write-A-Thon Poster 11×17 … Read more
Write-A-Thon Interview
Q&A with Rochelle Melander, author of Write-A-Thon Need a speaker? Contact Rochelle to speak by phone with your critique group, NaNoWriMo region, or book group: rochelle@writenowcoach.com How many books have you written … Read more
Write-A-Thon Excerpt
Need a speaker? Contact Rochelle to speak by phone with your critique group, NaNoWriMo region, or book group: rochelle@writenowcoach.com Avoid Overwhelm From Write-A-Thon by Rochelle Melander Being a poet is one of … Read more
Write-A-Thon
Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book in 26 Days (and Life to Tell About it) by Rochelle Melander Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-391-6 ISBN-10: 1-59963-391-4 $16.99 paperback, 240 pages Buy the book! … Read more
How to Be an Online Critique Geek
Can a virtual critique group really be as good as meeting face to face? If you make the most of the format, it could be even better. Here’s how. Read more
Choosing the Best Outline Method for You
The following are just a handful of suggested outlining techniques that may work for your writing. Which method is best suited for you? Find out here. Read more
Write a How-to Article in 6 Easy Steps
A how-to is written as a sequence—first you do this, and then you do this. The essential question the writer asks herself when writing a how-to is, “What happens next?” If you are about to embark on a how-to, start at what you consider the beginning, and just keep answering that question over and over again. Before you know it, you will have sketched out a draft of a how-to article. Read more
3 Tips for Consistent Tone
If you find yourself having a difficult time sustaining one tone over a long work, try these three tricks. Find a paragraph that sounds exactly the way you want to sound for … Read more
Donald Maass, James Scott Bell and Christopher Vogler Discuss Story Structure
Three of the most popular writers on story structure will come together this November 3-6 in Houston, Texas, for an intensive three-and-a-half day workshop called “Story Masters”. As a preview, we asked them the following questions. Read more
How to Raise Your Characters Above the Status Quo
If you find your characters falling flat, sometimes the best way to add dimension is also the most overlooked. Here’s how to enhance your fiction through the subtleties of characterization. Read more
Literary Journal Submissions 101
To submit your latest short story, essay or poem, you’ll need a cover letter—which is much different from a query. Use these tips from inside a creative writing program to help your letter make the grade. Read more
25 Ways to Improve Your Writing in 30 Minutes a Day
The best writers never stop striving for ways to write better. Here, five masters of the craft share their secrets for honing the essentials, one technique at a time. Read more
How to Keep Some Privacy When Using Social Media
In an age when both working and aspiring writers are expected to be “out there” more than ever before, privacy has become a luxury unaffordable to those of us not named Stephen … Read more
10 Ways Writers Lose Blog Traffic and Alienate Readers
As a food and travel writer, I rely on my blog as my lifeline. It helps me connect with my readers and is a wonderful platform to make my voice heard. But … Read more
A List of Funny Words to Help You Writing Funnier Stories
Some words just make us laugh, even though we might not consciously know why. Try using one of these time-tested terms when it fits. Read more
How to Write Better Using Humor
A man walks into a bookstore. “Where’s the self-help section?” he asks the clerk. She shrugs and replies, “If I tell you, won’t that defeat the purpose?” —Anonymous Humor is an integral … Read more
Where to Find Writing Grants
Start your search small and local by investigating grant opportunities in your own town, region and state. Peruse the websites of your town’s art council and your state’s arts commission. To help … Read more
Free Money for Writers
Grants, fellowships and residencies offer both support and opportunity—and all they ask in return is that you follow your writing dreams. Here’s what you need to know about some of the best opportunities you could be missing. Read more
How to Take Your Short Stories to the Next Level
Are you writing a short story? The first short story I ever wrote was in the 6th grade. It was about a fictitious solar system of salad toppings. No joke. I remember pacing around the house, dictating ideas, plot and dialogue into my mom’s hand-held tape recorder and, eventually, piecing it all together into a short story that earned me an A. Looking back, it was one of my proudest moments as a young student—and as a young writer. With that memory poking at my brain today, I decided to round up several excellent articles on writing short stories. Read more
Flat Fees vs. Hourly Rates
My daughters like to play bookstore at our house. They hide behind one of our beds, pull up a giant pile of books and ask me to buy them—and I’m happy to oblige because 1) I love books and 2) it costs me pretend money. And I’m willing to buy nearly anything with pretend money. When you’re discussing rates for freelance projects, it can often feel like pretend money. Read more
How to Land Writing Gigs When Meeting Editors
Last fall, author and journalist John Moir redeemed part of his grand prize from WD’s 78th Annual Writing Competition when he traveled to New York City, where his escort from the WD … Read more
It’s Time for #StoryFriday
Two years ago on a hot Friday morning I was feeling burnout and was desperately looking for a fun boost. Scrabble just wasn’t going to cut it, I was tired of losing The New Yorker Caption contest, and HR apparently frowns upon booze in the office (I know, I know, silly office rules). I glanced at the rest of the WD staff and they seemed to be in a funk too. Or they turned into zombies. Either way, I figured it was bad. So I suggested a story-building exercise we could all participate in. Read more
The Q: Do You Have Writer Envy?
All I’ve ever wanted to be one of the most clever writers in the world and, thanks to Facebook status updates, I’m not even sure I’m the most clever writer in my house. Not a day goes by where I don’t read an article, short story, book or tweet and think to myself, Oh man, that’s so good. I wish I’d have written that. The disease is called Writer Envy and I have it. BIG TIME. Read more
7 Ways to Structure Your Picture Book
Author and editor L. Rust Hills once said, “The sinister thing about writing is that it starts off seeming so easy and ends up being so hard.” If only this quote weren’t true. But it is. However, we picture book writers are lucky. We have seven wonderful techniques to help us organize our plots and hold our stories together. Read more
