February 2012 Issue
February Issue
Writer's Digest Magazine
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Andrew Jack's site not only follows the journey of this writer on his quest to get his fiction published, but also offers solid writing advice.Andrew Jack Writing 
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How to Start Writing a Book, 1st Chapter
[description]Learn how to start writing a book – get guidelines, advice and inspiration to write your first chapter.[/description]
[keywords]how to write a book, how to start a book, how to start writing a book[/keywords]
[keywords]how to write a book, how to start a book, how to start writing a book[/keywords]
Sometimes there’s nothing worse for a writer than a blank screen, just waiting to be filled in. Here you’ll find guidelines, advice, and inspiration for taking those first steps from blank page to finished piece.
10 Tips to Avoid Clichés in Writing
It’s not enough to love our story ideas. We need to weigh their suitability as subjects for fiction, and then figure out how to go about making use of them. This means steering clear of cliché and its sappy cousin—melodrama. Here are 10 tips to help you do just that. Read more
10 Ways to Tell if Your Story Should be a Memoir or a Novel
Should your story be fictionalized or be a true telling of your life? You have to decide. Here are 10 factors to consider. Read more
10 Ways to Harness Fear and Fuel Your Writing
If we let the fear of rejection prevent us from pitching or querying or submitting, we are ensuring that we’ll never realize our aspirations. But when we consciously work with fear, we can actually harness this energy source in ways that support our writing goals and enhance our writing experience. Here are 10 ways to do it. Read more
How to Use an Outline to Write a First Draft
Once you’ve completed an outline, it’s time to put it to use and get to work on your first manuscript draft. Chances are, you’ll face a lot of questions. Let us help you answer them. Read more
The 90 Top Secrets of Bestselling Authors
Here, some of the most successful writers in recent (and not-so-recent) memory share their take on everything from how they get ideas (or go find them), to the best way to start a manuscript (or why the only important thing is that you start at all), to their most methodical writing habits (and quirkiest rituals), to writing with the readers in mind (or ignoring them entirely). Read more
How to Avoid Parenting Your Characters
There are a lot of ways that writers parent their characters, but no matter how you do it the end result is the same—a story that just doesn’t work and ultimately won’t sell. Fortunately, it’s a habit you can break. Read more
20 Master Plots Exclusive
Download a free PDF of the checklists for each of the 20 master plots. About the Book Learn more timeless plots for your fiction in 20 Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias.
20 Master Plots Excerpt
Master Plot #6: Revenge from 20 Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, … Read more
20 Master Plots
20 Master Plots by Ronald B. Tobias Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-537-8 ISBN-10: 1-59963-537-2 $16.99 paperback, 288 pages Buy the Book at WritersDigestShop.com! Read an Excerpt! Find out more about … Read more
How Smartphones and Tablets Can Help You Write More
If you’ve got a tablet or smartphone, you’re in business. Write on the go with the latest generation of apps. Read more
Writer’s Workout Exclusive
Download a free motivational poster to keep you moving as your build your writing career. Read an Excerpt! Learn how to cultivate clarity, inventory ideas, write richly, and serve up words. About … Read more
Writer’s Workout Excerpt
Excerpt from The Writer’s Workout by Christina Katz CULTIVATE CLARITY When you write something needlessly prolix and convoluted, there’s a reason for it, and that reason is usually a lack of clarity … Read more
Writer’s Workout
The Writer’s Workout: 366 Tips, Tasks, & Techniques from Your Writing Career Coach by Christina Katz Writer’s Digest Books, 2011 ISBN-13: 978-1-59963-179-0 ISBN-10: 1-59963-179-2 $19.99 paperback, 384 pages Buy the Book! Read … Read more
10 Ways to Launch Strong Scenes
Any story or novel is, in essence, a series of scenes strung together like beads on a wire, with narrative summary adding texture and color between. A work of fiction will comprise many scenes, and each one of these individual scenes must be built with a structure most easily described as having a beginning, middle and end. The beginning of each scene is what we’ll address here. Read more
Write-A-Thon Poster
Need a speaker? Contact Rochelle to speak by phone with your critique group, NaNoWriMo region, or book group: rochelle@writenowcoach.com Download a 26-day countdown poster with energy boosting ideas to fuel your marathon … 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
The 7 Deadly Sins of Writing
In a thought-provoking ThrillerFest panel, four popular authors shared what they believe to be the deadly sins of the writing craft. Here are seven of their offerings. Have you committed any of … Read more