Imitating the Masters: How to Use Setting to Test Your Character’s Voice
Practicing this type of imitation is useful because displacing characters and putting them in new settings and situations helps clarify how character voice affects a story as much as (or more than) plot.
The Winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Story Competition
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Story Competition. Each year, writers submit their very best short stories of 1,500 words or fewer.
Extended Q&A with WD’s 2017 Short Short Story Competition Winner
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Fiction Competition. Each year, writers submit their very best short stories of 1,500 words or fewer. This year, “Beneath the Cracks” by Nicole Disney bested more than 3,000 entries. Read a Q&A with her here.
18th Annual WD’s Short Short Story Competition Winner: “Beneath the Cracks”
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 18th Annual Short Short Story Competition. Each year, writers submit their very best short stories of 1,500 words or fewer. This year, “Beneath the Cracks” by Nicole Disney bested more than 3,000 entries. Read the story here.
21 Ways to Pivot Your Plot
You can write a great character sketch, a moving love scene, a thrilling chase, even a heart-clutching murder—but a good story needs more than those elements. It needs plot movement—articulated by pivot points.
4 Ways Writing Is Like Running
If you’re one of the millions of individuals who want to write a book “someday,” you may be struggling to turn that someday into today. Similarly, running might be that “impossible” thing and now I consider myself a runner. Here are 4 things writers can learn from running.
Excerpt: Opening Chapter of WD’s Self-Published e-Book Awards Winner
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards. For complete coverage of the awards, see the May/June 2018 issue of Writer’s Digest. For an extended interview with grand-prize winner Emily James, click here. For a list of all winners, click here. For a selection of advice and...
Extended Interview with Emily James, WD’s Self-Published e-Book Awards Winner
A Sticky Inheritance by Emily James was the winner of the 5th annual Self-Published E-Book Awards. Read an extended interview with Emily.
58 Gems of Writing Advice and Inspiration from Self-Published e-Book Authors
The winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards share their best tips, writing advice and inspirational thoughts.
Announcing the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards Winners
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 5th Annual Self-Published e-Book Awards.
Thriller Short Story: “The Polaroid”
“The Polaroid” by Renee Roberson is the First Prize-winning story in the Young Adult category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Horror Short Story: “The Hole”
“The Hole” by John Bowie is the First Prize-winning story in the Horror category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Young Adult Short Story: “The Holiday”
“The Holiday” by Sophie Myers is the First Prize-winning story in the Young Adult category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Romance Short Story: “Widow”
“Widow” by Julia Lemyre-Cossette is the First Prize-winning story in the Romance category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Crime Short Story: “Not in My Neighborhood!”
“Not in My Neighborhood!” by Diana Bredeson is the First Prize-winning story in the Mystery/Crime category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Science Fiction Short Story: “When I Was Your Age”
“When I Was Your Age” by Darren French is the First Prize-winning story in the Science Fiction/Fantasy category in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Grand Prize-Winning Short Story: “Snow. Blood. Love.”
“Snow. Blood. Love.” by Ami Cameron is the Grand Prize-winning story in the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular Fiction Awards.
Announcing the 13th Annual Popular Fiction Awards Winners
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 13th Annual Popular Fiction Awards. The winners of this year’s awards were chosen from over 875 entries and represent the very best in genre fiction. Please join us in congratulating our winners!
Writing Advice and Inspiration from WD’s Popular Fiction Award Winners
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 13th Annual Popular Fiction Awards. Here, discover helpful writing advice and inspiration from our esteemed winners.
Tune In: 23 Best Podcasts for Writers
This year, to accompany our annual list of 101 Best Websites for Writers, we decided to put together a list of what we think are the best podcasts for writers. Here are our favorites—let us know if you have any additional suggestions!
Extended Interview with WD’s Popular Fiction Awards Winner
Writer’s Digest would like to congratulate the winners of the 13th Annual Popular Fiction Awards. The winners of this year’s awards were chosen from over 875 entries and represent the very best in genre fiction. Here, meet Ami Cameron, winner of this year's awards.
Imitating the Masters: How to Develop Character and Tone Through Imitation
Writing imitations of work that you admire is a great way to stretch your writing skills and improve your mastery of writing techniques. Here's an example of how it's done using Tana French's In the Woods.
Writing Exercise: 3 Reasons to Write Imitations of Your Favorite Authors
Many artists have encountered the advice to "imitate the masters." Aspiring composers generally study, practice and perform pieces by others before attempting to write their own concertos, for example, and visual artists often attempt to recreate museum pieces in their own sketchbooks. This practice of imitation makes a great writing exercise...
Short Training for Your Long Game: How Writing Short Stories Can Help You Hone Your Novel-Writing Skills
Even if you’re focused on writing a novel, writing short stories can be a wonderful creativity tool to help you strengthen elements of your fiction, experiment with characters and simply stay loose.