WD Presents: Writer’s Digest Annual Conference and Novel Writing Conference!
This time around, get excited for the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference and Novel Writing Conference (both virtual this year), seven new online writing courses, poetry awards deadline, and more.
There's always so much happening in the Writer's Digest universe that even staff members have trouble keeping up. As a result, we decided to start collecting what's on the horizon to make it easier for everyone to know what's happening and when.
This week, we've got our big Writer's Digest Annual Conference (usually held in New York, but virtual this year), big Novel Conference (usually held in California, but virtual this year), seven new online writing courses, poetry awards deadline, and more!
Writer's Digest Annual Conference!
One event we've been planning since August of last year is this year's Writer's Digest Annual Conference. In a way, it's been our guiding star throughout our 100th anniversary celebration year. And despite all the challenges we've faced in the past couple years, it's happening this week, and it's going to be great!
While we originally planned to have this massive writing party in New York City like usual, we've moved it online this year. And we have some incredible speakers, including Viet Thanh Nguyen, Maaza Mengiste, Chuck Wendig, Jane Friedman, Hank Phillipi Ryan, David Corbett, William Kenower, Windy Lynn Harris, Hallie Ephron, Susan Shapiro, Jessica Strawser, and so many others.
There will be pre-conference workshops led by Windy Lynn Harris and David Corbett, the ever popular Pitch Slam, virtual lounge areas, and more.
Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference!
Simultaneously, we've also set up our annual Writer's Digest Novel Writing Conference to held virtually (instead of our usual location in sunny California). Both conferences will be held at the same time, but attendees will be able to get an all inclusive pass this year and access all sessions either live or on your own schedule after the event.
Poetry Awards Deadline November 2!
Calling all poets! We're on the look out for poems of all styles–rhyming, free verse, haiku, and more–for the 15th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards! This is the only Writer's Digest competition exclusively for poets. Enter any poem 32 lines or less for your chance to win $1,000 in cash.
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Check out the September/October issue of Writer's Digest!
In a special double issue for September/October 2020, Writer’s Digest considers the theme The Future Is … The world has changed dramatically in the past several months and that change is likely to continue well beyond the fall. This has made all of us look at our writing through a new lens. That might mean considering one’s own writing goals for the future or finding an agent, or that might mean considering how advancing technology will impact how mystery/crime writers will keep readers guessing. We cover this and much, much more in the latest issue of the magazine.
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Seven Online Writing Courses Start This Week
Seven new online writing courses start this week, including selling books on a shoestring budget, writing the picture book, building a novel scene by scene, and more. Click here to check out the Writer's Digest University calendar.
Fitting Writing Into Your Life
Finding the time, energy, and motivation to get the writing done—day after day—stumps even the most seasoned writer on occasion. Life as a writer can be difficult to sustain, especially if you don’t have the direction, organization, and support you need. Get a glimpse into the life of a professional writer and set realistic writing goals for yourself with this online workshop.
Read Like a Writer: Learn From the Masters
This course will demonstrate that the best way to become a good writer is to study the writing of others, especially the work of the masters. Because there are no hard-and-fast rules to writing, it’s important to study what other writers have done and how they consciously make narrative decisions and meticulously select details based on audience and purpose.
Blogging 101
A key to success for any writer is having an online presence. Blogging is one way to share your expertise and—at the same time—build an author platform. Don’t know how to start a blog? Not sure what to focus on? Don’t fret! This online writing workshop will guide you through the entire blogging process—how to create and setup a blog, where to start, and much more.
Outlining Your Novel
Writers often look upon outlines with fear and trembling. But when properly understood and correctly used, the outline is one of the most powerful weapons in a writer's arsenal.
Form and Composition
Proper grammar, punctuation, and mechanics make your writing correct. In order to truly write well, you must also master the art of form and composition. From sentence structure to polishing your prose, this workshop will enhance your writing, no matter what type of writing you do.
Introduction to Copyediting
Copy editors are not the stars of the show when it comes to publishing and news media but they do help the stars to shine. If you’ve thought about becoming a copy editor but you’re not sure how to go about it, this is the course for you.
Short Story Fundamentals
Whether you are a writing novice looking to cut your teeth or a published professional, the short story is a unique and challenging medium that offers you amazing opportunities. Also, short stories are a great way to gain publishing credentials with less time investment than it takes to develop a novel-length work. The workshop covers structure and the common pitfalls writers experience when crafting a short story.
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13th Annual November Poem-A-Day Chapbook Challenge!
Every November, Robert Lee Brewer shares a poetry prompt (and an example poem) each morning to help inspire poets to write daily poems in November. Then, he challenges poets to collect those poems into chapbook manuscripts of 10 to 20 pages of poetry during the month of December. It's a fun and free poetry challenge that has led to publication and new poetry for many poets over the years.
Polish your writing to find success!
2nd Draft provides a high-level review of your writing, pointing out reasons your work may be getting rejected, or may not meet the standards of traditional publication.
After an evaluation of your submission, one of the professional 2nd Draft critiquers will provide feedback and advice. You'll not only learn what's working in your writing, but what’s not, and—most important—how to fix it.
Send your work to Writer's Digest 2nd Draft Critique Service!
Robert Lee Brewer is Senior Editor of Writer's Digest, which includes managing the content on WritersDigest.com and programming virtual conferences. He's the author of 40 Plot Twist Prompts for Writers: Writing Ideas for Bending Stories in New Directions, The Complete Guide of Poetic Forms: 100+ Poetic Form Definitions and Examples for Poets, Poem-a-Day: 365 Poetry Writing Prompts for a Year of Poeming, and more. Also, he's the editor of Writer's Market, Poet's Market, and Guide to Literary Agents. Follow him on Twitter @robertleebrewer.
