Susan Orlean talks to WD about the challenges of researching and writing The Library Book, and how libraries are meeting the needs of 21st century patrons.
How should talented, upcoming writers present themselves to editors when pitching articles? Freelance professional Katherine Swarts has a few tips.
Are you looking for new ways to generate fresh article ideas? Here are 20 you can accomplish in fewer than 20 minutes each.
In the February 2019 Writer’s Digest, Roger Morris asks award-winning reporters how they convince sources to reveal explosive information. To add context to that piece, here he breaks down the difference between “on the record,” “off the record” and “on background” in this glossary refresher.
Given the buzz surrounding the explosive book Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward, we dug out a surprisingly timeless article from the August 1996 issue of Writer's Digest about Mr. Woodward's investigative journalism techniques.
Bestselling author Curtis Sittenfeld (Eligible) explains how her characters keep it “real,” and why plumbing the awkward and uncomfortable can lead to the richest social commentary.
We're not all comedy writers, but many of us want to write a funny story or incorporate funny scenes into a novel. In this excerpt from The Byline Bible, Susan Shapiro offers 18 quick and easy ways to improve at eliciting laughs from your readers.
Research is a key to captivating writing. Whether you’re composing a novel, a blog post, or an email, accurate facts improve authenticity and entice readers to the next sentence, paragraph, page or chapter.
Publishing contracts are as varied as book genres. It’s easy for an author hungry to be published to be blinded by any contract’s lure, to the potential detriment of their career and their hard-fought creative work. Here are three things to look out for.
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!
By keeping a catalog of published pieces, freelancers can leverage future success when querying editors. Kimberly A. Edwards offers methods for organizing and structuring your list to get more freelance writing projects.
Small-circulation publications are often overlooked, but they offer big perks to writers who are willing to reach out.
Whether you’re working on an article or researching your book, steal a page from the psychology world using these 10 methods to get the most from your interviews.
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Gene Weingarten shares his thoughts on writing, reporting and how, exactly, to capture the meaning of life
Use these 5 steps to transform any meal or day in the kitchen into a written experience that will leave readers hungry for more.
You interviewed your sources for an article, wrote it up and turned it in. Done? Not yet. Often you need to provide backup info for the publication’s fact checkers, and requirements for doing so vary. With that in mind, here’s a checklist to keep even the toughest fact checkers happy—and to pave the way for that second assignment.
Whether or not you’re already an expert on your topic, it’s vital that you do all the necessary work to get accurate information. Here's how to guarantee you do that.
If you’ve ever jotted down a recipe or shared do-it-yourself instructions with a friend, you already understand the basic structure of how-to writing. Christina Katz offers a six-step process for writing a good explainer.
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.
Can a simple formula tell you exactly where you are in your freelance goals? The right equation can help you see your freelance goals more clearly—and quantify what you need to do to meet them. by Perry P. Perkins
Don't be afraid to get personal and use your connections to get writing assignments. by Chad Gervich
Here's your step-by-step guide to the publishing process–how it works, why you need to know and how you can play an influential role in your book’s success. by Jerry D. Simmons
Insiders Bob Sacks and Samir Husni square off in the magazine industry’s hottest debate: Will print magazines survive—or even thrive—in the next century?
