Submitting personal essays might just be your best way to break into freelance writing.
Writing Articles
How Not to Kill Each Other: A Writer’s Guide to Collaboration
When collaborating with other authors on a project, how do you get everyone on the same page? It's challenging, but doable if you use these tricks.
4 Short Lessons on the Subject of Short Stories
What do short fiction editors really look for? What's the secret to great flash fiction? Are anthologies the most overlooked markets around? The answers may just jump-start your career.
Manuscript Rejection Feedback: 3 Critiques to Heed (and 2 to Ignore)
If your head is spinning from the manuscript rejection feedback you’re receiving while on submission, you’re not alone. Let us help you translate it.
15 Ways to Earn Your Audience as a Writer
It’s not enough to just write prolifically. You need to develop an audience, and deliver them excellent content. Here’s 15 ways to handle developing an audience as a writer.
How a Thank You Note Got Me Through Writer’s Block
You never know what creative writing exercise can end your battle with writer's block. Here's one way to tackle it with a simple thank you note.
Emotion vs. Feeling: How to Evoke More From Readers
Recognizing the subtle differences in writing emotion and writing feeling can help render both more powerfully on the page.
5 Ways to Write Romance With Respect
Veteran authors of writing romance know that respect is key to success in the market. Here are my five tips on how to write romance with respect, for those looking to break in.
5 Tips for Writing Engaging Romance
Harlequin author Rhenna Morgan shares five tips for writing crackling romance that keeps your readers turning pages.
Ghostwriting: A Business Blueprint You Need to Succeed
There’s a big difference between landing one or two gigs and making a career of ghostwriting—or any kind of writing, for that matter. Use this plan for long-term, full-time success.
11 Reasons Writing is Good for Your Health
Most of us write simply because we love to. It’s an outlet for our creativity. It’s fun. (Hard work, sure, but fun.) As it turns out, writing’s got some health perks, too.
How an Indie Author Landed a Traditional Book Deal
Every journey leading to publication and success is different—this one followed the indie author path before landing a traditional book deal.
How to Turn Elements of Your Novel Into a Masterpiece
Get too focused on any one instrument at play in your story, and you may lose sight of the harmony inherent in truly great fiction. Here’s how to compose the elements of your novel into a masterpiece.
How to Write a Good Memoir: Advice on Finding Your Voice
Voice is like your book’s fingerprint—only the author can give a book its own style. Here's what you need to know about voice in understanding how to write a good memoir.
What to Do (And Not Do) After Attending a Writer’s Conference
Literary agent Irene Goodman shares some insider do’s and don’ts about what to do after you attend a writing conference and how to get the most out of your experience.
Female Protagonists in Crime Fiction: What You Need to Know
If you want to muscle your female protagonists into the traditionally male world of the police procedural or PI novel, here are a few things writers should consider.
How to Write Better Villains: 5 Ways to Get Into the Mind of a Psychopath
In New York Times bestselling author Peter James’s latest Detective Roy Grace novel, much of the narrative is from the point of view of antagonist Jodie Bentley, a psychopathic Black Widow systematically marrying rich men and killing them in the most sinister of ways. Here, Peter James lists his top five tips for how...
Which Sample Chapters Should You Send to Agents?
When agents ask for sample chapters, which chapters should you include? If your strongest chapters fall in the middle, is it OK if I send those? The answer is different for fiction and nonfiction.
How to Craft Characters Scene by Scene
Dimensional characters are born from drama—not description. Here’s why (and how) to delve into your characterizations one defining scene at a time.
6 Things American Horror Story Can Teach Us About Writing
I think the general consensus among those writers who teach the craft is that you must read—and read widely—about the craft of writing, particularly those authors who write in your genre. But I think there’s a lot you can learn about writing from other mediums, too. Specifically television. Every other week, I’ll bring you...
7 Serious Tips for Writing a Humor-Filled Novel
Writing humor can be tricky. Use these tips to humor writing in your novel to make your readers laugh so hard milk squirts out their noses.
What’s Missing in the Modern Romance Heroine
The following is a guest post by romance author Kait Jagger. She is the author of two novels: Lord and Master and Master’s Servant. Jagger is currently working on the final installment of her Lord and Master trilogy, The Marchioness. You can follower her on Twitter at @KaitJagger. The alpha male is currently very...
Write for Platforms of Yore
Friends, Romans, countrymen—lend me your ears. We come to bury Reject a Hit, the back-page humor column of WD. Since the March/April 2010 issue, RaH has treated readers to the satirical letters of imagined “curmudgeonly or fool-hearted” editors, as they bluntly dismissed the manuscripts of classic novels from Lolita and War & Peace to...
How to Brainstorm: Give Your Brain Free Rein
It’s a new year, and the perfect time to recommit yourself to your writing life. Whether you’re still working on your same project, or just opening a fresh notebook or Word document to start a new one, it can be intimidating when you hit a mental block. And that means it’s always a good...
Write Like Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is an absolute classic, particularly around this time of year. And even if you don’t want to write exactly like Dickens, there’s something—a technique, an idea, a theme, etc.—that every writer can pull from Dickens’ writing. The following is an excerpt from William Cane’s Fiction Writing Master Class, which...