IT training writers digest TruePDF may june 2019

2 I WRITER’S DIGEST I May/June 2019FEATURES 24 THE 21ST ANNUAL 101 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS WD’s annual roundup of the top reader- and staff-nomi-nated websites for writers shows where

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10 SITES THAT

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4 STRATEGIES FOR

SUCCESS

FIND YOUR PEOPLE:

ONLINE WRITING COMMUNITIES YOU NEED TO JOIN

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• Print or Online Article

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2 I WRITER’S DIGEST I May/June 2019

FEATURES

24

THE 21ST ANNUAL

101 BEST WEBSITES FOR WRITERS

WD’s annual roundup of the top reader- and

staff-nomi-nated websites for writers shows where to go to improve

all aspects of writing and learn more about the business

BY JESS ZAFARRIS, WITH CASSANDRA LIPP

BY ROB EAGAR

42

PILLAR OF THE COMMUNITY

The right online writing community can push you furtheralong the path to success Whether you’re looking forprompts, beta readers, publishing advice or more writerfriends, here are a few places to find your people

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WritersDigest.com I 3

INKWELL

8 BACK IN THE DAY: Fiction and nonfi ction writers alike can glean lessons about writing from the examples of industry defying, sometimes outlandish, vintage magazines and comics

BY DON VAUGHAN

10 PLUS: 5-Minute Memoir: Time to Finish • Shared Writing • Poetic Asides: Rondine • Hook, Line and Self-Publish • Th e Art and Craft of Wasting Time •Worth a Th ousand Words

COLUMNS

20 MEET THE AGENT:Stephanie Hansen Metamorphosis Literary Agency

BY KARA GEBHART UHL

21 INDIELAB:Th e Seven Principles of Self-Publishing

5 4 YOUR STORY: First Th ings First, Contest #94

64 TAKE TWO: Formatting Your Screenplay

BY JEANNE VEILLETTE BOWERMAN

66 CONFERENCE SCENE: Lakefl y Writers Conference; Atlanta Writers Conference

PLUS: That Big Conference: Should You Go?

Th e master fantasy world-builder reveals her secrets

to success on Patreon and speculates on how

imagination might test-drive our future

BY J

ON THE COVER

MAY/JUNE 2019 | VOLUME 99 | NO 4

MAY/JUNE 2019 writersdigest com

N.K JEMISIN AWARD WINN NG FANTASY AUTHOR N K JEMISIN REVEALS THE PATH TO MASTERFUL WORLD BUILD NG AND PATREON SUCCESS

THE WEB SSUE PATHS TO PUBLISHING EVERYTHING AGENTS CONNECT WITH BETA READERS

TACTICAL TIME WASTING

10 SITES THAT IMPROVE YOUR WRITING BECOME AN AMAZON BESTSELLER

4 STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS FIND YOUR PEOPLE:

ONLINE WR TING COMMUNITIES YOU NEED TO JOIN

THE 21 ST ANNUAL

FOR WRITERSW BSI EBEST

+PUNCH UP YOUR PUNCTUATION

Writer’s Digest (ISSN 0043-9525) is published monthly, except bimonthly issues in March/April, May/June, July/August and November/December, by F+W Media Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Ste 300,

Blue Ash, OH 45242 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Writer’s Digest, P.O Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235 Subscription rates: one year, $24.96; two years, $49.92; three years, $74.88 Canadian

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PLUS: 4 online exclusives 5 editor’s letter 6 contributors

ERA BROWN

50

FANTASTICAL TRUTHS

AND WHERE TO FIND THEM

Th e winner of the 14th Annual Writer’s Digest Popular

Fiction Awards addresses universal truths—and attempts

to answer life’s big questions—through fantasy worlds

BY CASSANDRA LIPP

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Right Now at

App Happy

Are you happier viewing one of our 101 Best Websites

(Page 24) on your tablet or phone than on a laptop?

Check out our favorite apps for writers

Reading for Meaning

Award-winning fantasy writer N K Jemisin, this issue’s

WD interview (Page 46), talks about sensitivity readers,

author interpretation and more in an extended Q&A

Group Insight

Breaking In (Page 22) author Joanne Ramos shares secrets on how to fi nd and make the most

of your writing community

To ﬁ nd all of the above online companions to this issue in

one handy spot, visit writersdigest.com/jun-19.

Do some productive web surfi ng on WritersDigest.com!

IMAGINATION UNCHAINED

Bird Box author and multidisciplinary

creative Josh Malerman shares insights into his writing process, what it’s like having a story adapted for the screen, his unique theatrical book readings and more.

HOW TO SET WILDLY AMBITIOUS WRITING GOALS—AND ACCOMPLISH ALL OF THEM

P.S Hoffman outlines the secrets to successfully accomplishing your biggest, hairiest writing goals—including setting them and creating a sustain- able routine that will enable to you to realistically attain them.

FROM YA TO YEAH: 4 WAYS TO KEEP TEEN & YOUNG ADULT READERS HOOKED

Many YA authors are adults, which means the generation gap between these writers and their intended audience can make it easy to miss the mark Teen writer (and avid reader) Lorena Koppel lays out four ways to make sure your YA novel meets young audiences’ expectations and interests.

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MAY/JUNE 2019 | VOLUME 99 | NO 4

EDITOR’SLETTER

Time to Begin

Welcome to Th e Web Issue! Most of us have

a love/hate relationship with the internet It’s

a fantastic place to fritter away hours of good writing time obsessing over the latest celeb-rity breakup, taking quizzes to fi gure out what kind of breakfast food best represents us and arguing with strangers from across the world

on Twitter

It’s a place where we can be wildly derstood, but also a place where we can fi nd common ground It can be the place where we

misun-fi nd connections with others of our sort that

we otherwise might not—fellow parents, science fi ction fans, knitters, cat people, oh and, writers

For what—to me, at least—is a startling number of years (21!), Writer’s Digest has been compiling the Best Websites for Writers feature In this year’s

edition (Page 24), Jess Zafarris and Cassandra Lipp have assembled 101 sites that help writers succeed in every way, from fi nding an agent, to breaking a writing slump, to writing better fi ght scenes

I am particularly fond of this month’s 5-Minute Memoir (Page 10) In a single page, it speaks volumes on the theme of having time enough to fi nish—

to fi nish a book, to fi nish a life Becoming Editor-in-Chief of Writer’s Digest is

a monumental part of my life’s work And I’m just getting started!

From this issue forward, I’m hoping to connect with you, our readers, both online and here in our pages I don’t plan to “fi x” anything here that isn’t bro-ken But I will not be exactly like any previous editor—I’ll be me And who

am I? I’m a writer, just like you; an avid reader like you as well I want the

same thing for my writing that you come to Writer’s Digest for: to learn how

to write better, to discover how the business of publishing really works, to master the secrets behind the successes of our most esteemed writers

I will work doggedly to learn these things, and to share them with you I’ll also be seeking out new voices in the publishing world who can bring more representation and new ways of thinking about writing to the pages here As

we look forward to our 100th anniversary in 2020, I will be refl ecting on what

makes Writer’s Digest the trusted resource you’ve always loved, and how we

can best bring it into its second century

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Ericka McIntyre

SENIOR EDITORS

Jeanne Veillette Bowerman,

Robert Lee Brewer, Amy Jones

ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Jane K Cleland, David Corbett,

Bob Eckstein, Jane Friedman,

Steven James, Barbara Poelle,

Elizabeth Sims, Jeff Somers,

Kara Gebhart Uhl, Don Vaughan

DIGITAL CONTENT DIRECTOR

Jess Zafarris

PUBLISHER

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

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JULIE DUFFY (“Pillar of the Community,” Page 42) is

founder of StoryADay (storyaday.org), an online

com-munity and creativity challenge where she has been writing

about creativity, productivity and short fiction since 2010.

Her fi rst experience of a writer’s group was the ironically

named online Local Writers’ Workshop, back in 1996.

Aft er starting a family, she realized how important it was

to maintain connections with other writers and founded

StoryADay to create some accountability and fellowship.

JESS ZAFARRIS (“101 Best Websites for Writers,”

Page 24) is director of digital content and education for

Writer’s Digest and Script Magazine Her eight years of

experience in digital and print content direction include

such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW design magazine

and online content director of HOW and PRINT

maga-zines, as well as writing for the Denver Business Journal,

ABC News and Memphis’ The Commercial Appeal Follow

her at @JessZafarris or@uselessetyon Twitter, and

sign up for her free weekly Writer’s Digest Newsletter.

ROB EAGAR (“Operation Amazon,” Page 38)

is a marketing consultant who has coached more than

600 authors and helped books hit the New York Times

bestseller list in three diff erent categories He is the creator

of The Author’s Guide book series and instructor

of the Writer’s Digest University online course Mastering Amazon for Authors Learn more about Rob at

robeagar.com

JERA BROWN (“Th e WD Interview: N K Jemisin,”

Page 46) has been living her dream to be a full-time

free-lance writer since completing her Master of Fine Arts in creative nonfi ction at Columbia College Chicago

in 2017 She lives a block from Lake Michigan and fi nds inspiration walking the shoreline with her shelter mutt

Jera is most proud of her sex and relationship advice

column with Rebellious Magazine and her

memoir-in-progress, which depicts how her sexual journey is also

Ray Chelstowski

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Available at WritersDigestShop.com, Amazon, Barnes

& Noble, and other ﬁne book retailers.

Don’t wait for inspiration to strike! Whether

you’re an aspiring or published poet, this book

will help you get in a frame of mind to make

creative writing a consistent part of your life

With prompts from Robert Lee Brewer’s popular

Writer’s Digest blog, Poetic Asides, you’ll ﬁnd

125 ideas for writing poems along with the

journaling space you need to respond to the

prompt Wherever you are, your next poem

is never more than a page-turn away

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Back in the Day

Fiction and nonﬁ ction writers alike can glean lessons about writing from the

examples of industry defying, sometimes outlandish, vintage magazines and comics.

BY DON VAUGHAN

an eclectic array of magazines rose up to dramatically alter the publishing landscape Some were new

in concept, such as comic books, a

truly American art form birthed in

the mid-1930s to immediate success

Others were new in approach, such as

Esquire in the 1960s, empowered and

eager to take on the establishment as

never before

Writers today can learn much from

publications of the past—magazines

that defi ned exciting new trends in

journalism, embraced innovative

writ-ing styles and gave voice to some of the

20th century’s most infl uential writers

1 THE PULPS (1890s–1950s)

Made from the cheapest paper

avail-able, pulp magazines were among the

bestselling fi ction publications of their

day, with the most popular titles

sell-ing hundreds of thousands of copies

per month at their height Th e pulps

paid just a penny or so a word, so

writ-ers quickly learned that making a

liv-ing required a nimble imagination and

remarkable speed, with some working

on several stories simultaneously

Contemporary fi ction writers can learn from pulp magazines the impor-tance of a tight, character-driven nar-rative; the necessity of imaginative descriptions and how to immediately grab the reader with an action-fi lled lead Jack Byrne, managing editor of the pulp magazine publisher Fiction House, wrote in an August 1929

Writer’s Digest article detailing the

manuscript needs of Fiction House’s

11 magazines: “We must have a good, fast opening Smack us within the fi rst paragraph Get our interest aroused

Don’t tell us about the general graphic situation or the atmospheric conditions Don’t describe the hero’s physique or the kind of pants he

geo-wears Start something!”

Readers can fi nd pulps aplenty on eBay, as well as in anthologies such as

Th e Pulps, edited by Tony Goodstone, and Th e Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps,

edited by Otto Penzler

2 COMIC BOOKS IN THE 1940s

Th e comic book as we know it today was birthed as a secondary showcase for popular newspaper comic strips

Th e medium’s appeal was ate, and by the early 1940s comic books fl ooded newsstands Th e ’40s was arguably the most important era

immedi-in comic book history because the medium invented itself as it went along Many comic books back then were PHOTO ©

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the psyches of everyone from StanleyKubrick to Ayn Rand

Playboy’s editors understood the

importance of thorough pre-interviewresearch, well-crafted questions andbravery on the part of the interviewer.Some of the era’s best interviews can

be found in The Playboy Interview,

edited by G Barry Golson

6 1970s ROLLING STONE

Launched in November 1967, JannWenner’s music newspaper really cameinto its own in the 1970s—a revo-lutionary decade that demanded anew approach to covering news Like

Esquire a decade prior, Rolling Stone

freed its writers from traditional nalistic constraints and encouragedthem to cover stories in new, provoca-tive ways Perhaps the apex of thisapproach was the publication in twoparts of Hunter S Thompson’s hilari-ously radical “Fear and Loathing in LasVegas,” which likely would have found

jour-a home nowhere else

Contemporary nonfiction writerslooking to hone their craft are encour-aged to study the ’70s-era reporting

of Tim Cahill, Howard Kohn, TomWolfe, Tom Burke and Joe Eszterhas—masters at looking past the obviousfor the real story hidden in the dark

Rolling Stone has published a number

of collections, but the best remains

Reporting: The Rolling Stone Style,

edited by Paul Scanlon It containssome of the magazine’s best storiesfrom the “Me Decade.”

dreck, but there were also gems, such

as Bill Finger’s early stories for Batman

and the Green Lantern

Finger and his colleagues saw in

comics a fertile new market where they

could play with outlandish characters

and explore innovative ways to tell a

story Quite a few mainstream authors

supplemented their income writing

for comic books during this period,

including Mickey Spillane, Alfred

Bester, Otto Binder and Edmond

Hamilton, who enjoyed a lengthy stint

penning the adventures of Superman

Writers today can learn about

care-ful plotting and thoughtcare-ful character

development from comic books of

the 1940s Popular titles from that era,

such as Superman, Captain America

and the original Captain Marvel, can

be found in a variety of readily

avail-able inexpensive omnibuses

3 MEN’S ADVENTURE

MAGAZINES (1944–EARLY ’70s)

One of the most interesting

publish-ing trends of the post-World War II

era was the men’s adventure

maga-zine At the genre’s height, dozens of

very manly titles fi lled newsstands,

enticing readers with lurid headlines

such as “We Battled the Man-Starved

Nymphos of Corumba” and even

more sensational illustrations Th eir

tabloid-y policy of story over facts

resulted in over-the-top tales of

com-bat heroics, horrifi c com-battles against

nature (“Weasels Ripped My Flesh”),

lost civilizations and more

While these magazines have

noth-ing to off er journalists, fi ction writers

will fi nd a master class in

put-it-all-on-the-page storytelling Most men’s

adventure writers toiled in anonymity,

but a handful of famous names rose

to prominence, including playwright

Bruce Jay Friedman and Th e Godfather

author Mario Puzo Four volumes of

Don Vaughan (donaldvaughan.com) is a

freelance writer in Raleigh, N.C., and founder

of Triangle Association of Freelancers.

men’s adventure features, edited by Pep Pentangeli, are currently available for curious contemporary readers

4 ESQUIRE IN THE 1960s

Audacious best describes Esquire in the

1960s During this era, the magazine published its most iconic and con-troversial covers (a smiling William Calley surrounded by Vietnamese chil-dren, an arrow-pierced Muhammad Ali as St Sebastian) and introduced New Journalism Suddenly, reportage was more than facts and fi gures—it included tropes previously found only

in fi ction, and oft en the writer was central to the story

Writers in the early stages of their careers will fi nd much to glean from the approach, style and structure

of ’60s-era Esquire features such as

“Frank Sinatra Has a Cold” by Gay Talese, “M” by John Sack and “Th ere Goes (Varoom! Varoom!) Th at Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby” by Tom Wolfe, among others

Esquire wasn’t alone in this

move-ment, but the remarkable freedom it gave its writers helped make it a cor-nerstone in an era when journalism

was in fl ux Esquire's complete archives

are available by subscription (classic

esquire.com) It's worth every penny

5 PLAYBOY IN THE 1960s

Established on a shoestring in 1953,

Playboy took a few years to fi nd its

footing But by the 1960s, it became a publishing powerhouse and household

name Like Esquire during this period, Playboy was turning journalism on its

head, especially when it came to the art of the interview Th e magazine sent Alex Haley to interview the founder of the American Nazi Party (Haley also conducted groundbreaking interviews with Martin Luther King Jr and Miles Davis) and unhesitatingly explored

PULP FICTION

Get more vintage writing tips from the 1929 article by Jack Byrne, “The Way to the Fiction House Market,” at

writersdigest.com/jun-19.

Trang 13

finish it, not even your mother Nor theagent who says by all means, send heryour manuscript

Nobody cares.But one You You

care Desperately

The clock in your room tellsthe time, each tick asÀeeting as aheartbeat You arenot getting up

from your chair You believe RonCarlson when he said, “The mostimportant thing a writer can do aftercompleting a sentence is to stay in theroom … The writer understands that

to stand up from the desk is to fail.”

You no longer have time to fail Soyou remain in the chair, poundingthe keys so you can fuel that late-blooming fire that is yours and yoursalone Because it’s nontransferable,it’s perishable

Time

As a writer it is all you ask for

Time to finish

“ I was not given time to fi nish!” the Russian writer Isaac Babel was said to

have shouted as he was whisked away to prison by Stalin’s secret police

in 1939 Babel was executed at age 45, leaving behind short stories, playsand novellas that would fill a thousand pages

Eighty years later, you are sitting at your desk in Seattle, writing your¿rst

novel You are 58, thirteen years older than Babel when he died What do

you have to show for it? The answer is laughable: a few essays, short memoir

pieces, a knock-kneed novel stumbling out of the gate

Then you wonder, How many are given time to finish?

Consider now your 83-year-old uncle, who passed away from liver cancer

He managed to say goodbye to all¿ve children and 21 grandkids who Àocked

to his hospital bed Lucky man.He was given time to finish.

But then you remember your friend Isabel She died suddenly, alone in her

apartment, of a massive heart attack at age 64 She had spent the last decade

try-ing to get her screenplay produced That dream died with her, because her passion

was hers alone, like a fi re that can’t leap from one human being to another

As a student of Zen, you once believed that each life lived, no matter how

short, was a complete life But this was before you fell, body and soul, down the

writing well If death came tomorrow, no way would you be ready! Why? You

are thinking about all the stories inside you, bubbling in the cauldron of your

mind, stories waiting to rise to the rim

When you were a child your mother said you dilly-dallied at just about

everything Looking back, you are not proud.All those years spent mucking

around Not reading Not writing All the time squandered Now, you read like a

thirsty dog lapping up all of the craft books about fiction you can get your hands

on You read with the eyes of a drunk, guzzling down the great novels of our

time You take a fl urry of writing classes, unfazed that you are the oldest person

in the room—older, even, than the instructor

In the spring you goziplining in Hawaii for the first time You let out a

silent scream as you dangle like a helpless puppet, terrified,

700 feet above a ravine You cling like a madwoman to yoursafety harness No way you want to die Yet a few monthslater, you hear that Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain used

a scarf and a bathrobe belt, in that order, to end their lives

How many even want time to finish?

Here’s the sorry-ass deal if you are an unknown writer:

The world is not waiting for your novel Nobody cares if you

Reni Roxas’s writing has been published in

Brain, Child magazine, ParentMap and the

upcoming anthology WRITING IN PLACE:

Prose & Poetry from the Paciﬁc Northwest.

She is at work on a novel while reading the wonderful short stories of Isaac Babel.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submit your own 600-word essay reﬂection on the writing life by emailing it towdsubmissions@fwmedia.comwith

“5-Minute Memoir” in the subject line.

Trang 14

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hus-band Joe Ray knew what

they needed when they

opened Type Set in Seattle

in March 2017: “A quiet and serene

place to work, away from the dishes

and distractions, that also provides

the collegiality of other writers,”

Eaves says “Th ere’s a real mutual

respect for the need to put our heads

down and do our jobs I just don’t get

that amid the noise and to-ing and

fro-ing of a coff ee shop.”

At Type Set, writers can choose

from nine workstations, two club

chairs or a long table used for

monthly brown-bag lunches with

guest speakers, such as a

develop-mental editor or the Sasquatch Books

editorial director A gurgling coff ee

pot and the soft clack of keys may be

heard, but the 650-square-foot offi ce

has a quiet policy; members take calls

outside or in a small phone room

As writers type their next novel or

memoir, they’re working side by side—

not falling into Facebook “It’s sort of

Pavlovian,” Eaves says “You see you’re

in the writing space, so you write.”

Fellow coworkers empathize with

the writing life, says Type Set member

Margot Kahn, and connections led her

to freelance gigs, a book deal and joint

ventures Kahn says the camaraderie

of connections can be valuable and

inspiring “If I’m working from home,

it’s possible for the day to go by where

I don’t see anyone besides my family

and the mailman,” Kahn says

Type Set is one of the newest writer-only shared offi ces nationwide, off ering focus, collaboration, solidar-ity and professional development Th is year marks the 40th anniversary of the fi rst such destination—New York City’s nonprofi t Th e Writers Room, where writers have craft ed more than 1,400 books Over the years, execu-tive director Donna Brodie has fi elded calls from curious writers in Boston, Hamburg and Brooklyn, hoping to start their own workspace

Of course, not every space can off er

a view of the Empire State Building

PHYSICAL SPACE

Coworking spaces diff er greatly, but all spur the creative process in thoughtful ways and off er free WiFi

Th e ADA-compliant Writers Room

is located in a cast-iron, equipped building At 4,000 square feet, it’s spacious by any standard, equipped with 45 custom-built parti-tioned desks and oversized armchairs

elevator-At Paragraph’s Brooklyn location, overhead skylights brighten a room with 30 desks, while the Union Square location’s 38 desks are beneath tin ceilings At both locations, desk users intentionally can’t see one another;

blocked sightlines improve focus

In San Francisco, a former law fi rm houses Th e Writers Grotto, where 32 individual offi ces are equipped with doors Los Angeles’s Th e Hatchery Press is located in two next-door build-ings: the West Egg is in a former print-

ing press with original ink spills on a polished concrete fl oor, while the East Egg is a cozy converted bungalow

Th e Hatchery’s spaces include silent library rooms, 60 desks, a con-ference room’s 12-seat walnut table and a Deadline Room, where cubicles wall off the world Corner desks

in quiet, cozy rooms go fi rst, along with standing desks and desks near windows, co-founder Talia Bolnick says A favorite desk already snapped up? Head out onto the rooft op patio, wraparound porch or ground-level, grill-equipped patio Th e two com-munal kitchens contain typical appli-ances, panini and waffl e makers and honor-system snacks

Kitchens are where writers take breaks and socialize (Hatchery’s is also known as “Th e Procrastination Room”) at all coworking offi ces Free coff ee and tea power the writers’ days

At Toronto Writers’ Centre (TWC), writers gather in the natural light of

Shared Writing

More than just a quiet space to work without distraction, writers can ﬁ nd

connections with other writers and more in coworking spaces created speciﬁ cally

Trang 16

the lounge and kitchen “Th ere is a

great camaraderie,” director Jocelyn

Hidi says “Th e established

writ-ers are open to questions from the

emerging writers It’s a very

coopera-tive atmosphere.” And in Paragraph’s

soundproofed kitchen, writers can

chat or commiserate without

disturb-ing others

Unlike coworking offi ces designed

for tech entrepreneurs and solo

busi-ness owners (which encourage

net-working via deskside chats), writers

need quiet, Bolnick points out So

most writers’ spaces enforce quiet/

silence policies

MEMBERSHIP

Keys, codes or cards open

doors—lit-erally Some, like TWC, off er 24/7

access to full-time members Most

offi ces require a membership for use,

aft er approving an application

dem-onstrating professional experience

But all genres are welcomed,

includ-ing novelists, poets, journalists,

screen-writers, playwrights and online

blog-gers, among others At the Hatchery,

about 60 percent of members work

in screenwriting—this is Los Angeles,

aft er all—alongside academics,

young-adult novelists and ghostwriters

Membership numbers range from

TWC’s 51 members, Th e Hatchery’s

130 to Th e Writers Room’s 200 Yet no

fi sticuff s break out over desk space

Brodie’s formula: “For every desk,

you can support six writers over a

24-hour period without congestion,”

due to diff ering schedules

Pricing varies by location and

access options: Type Set’s full-time

membership is $140/month and

part-time is $85/month; $350/month for

full time at the Hatchery; $410 for

four days per week in a Grotto offi ce

Visitors’ passes are oft en available

to test-write in a space (Paragraph’s

run $35/day and $75/week for tors), and some have reciprocity agreements For example, Paragraph’s members can visit Chicago’s Th e Writers WorkSpace or Toronto’s Writers’ Centre for free

visi-COMMUNITY

“Nobody needs a desk, you have one

in your home,” muses Caroline Paul,

a longtime member of Th e Writers Grotto “What you do need is com-munity, an energy, a gauge of what’s going on in publishing and how peo-ple are doing,”

To that end, most coworking spaces off er social and professional events, readings and workshops Paragraph hosts agent and editor roundtables, events such as Pitch Wars (pitch-ing agents before an audience) and evening writing workshops Th e Hatchery’s opportunities include a monthly Grill N’ Chill hangout, a members-only screenwriting critique, plus bi-weekly poetry workshops At TWC’s Tuesday writers’ lunches, mem-bers chat about writing-related ideas and challenges, while Writers’ Room of Boston gives open houses, public read-ings and even a summer picnic

Email or online groups enhance communication and community;

on Th e Writers Grotto email list, members might ask for fi rst readers, inquire about setting ghostwriting rates or share agent names

Encouraging new writers is important, too Th e Writers Grotto, Paragraph and Writers’ Room of Boston off er fellowship or residency programs to emerging writers Th e Writers’ Room of Boston’s annual fellowships include a year’s full membership and a public reading

Paragraph’s Jane Hoppen Residency Program off ers summer residencies for MFA students, plus a six-month mem-

bership for LGBTQ+ emerging writers Joy Parisi co-founded Paragraph with a fellow MFA graduate, hoping to create

a community similar to grad school’s

“All of our events are tailored to help writers in all stages of their writ-ing life,” Parisi says “People have gained friendships, connections, rep-resentation and more from being a part of the space.”

Lora Shinn is a former librarian who now

writes about general interest topics, travel, books and the writing life She’s also penned articles, interviews and reviews for

Poets & Writers, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Kirkus Reviews and more.

Trang 17

POETIC FORM: RONDINE

Th e rondine is a typical French form It’s loaded with rhymes and refrains As a result, rondines are—like most French forms—lyrical and fun.

Here are the basic rules:

• Twelve lines in two stanzas

• Seven lines in the fi rst stanza, fi ve in the second

• Eight to 10 syllables per line (with the exception of lines seven and 12)

• Lines seven and 12 have the refrain, which is the opening phrase of the poem

• Rhyme scheme is abbaabR/abbaR

Here’s an example by a Poetic Asides reader

The Memory Store by Taylor Graham

It’s all swept clean, Main Street seven o’clock.

Nothing’s open yet, as rain turns to snow.

I’m walking yesterday-town, Antiques Row.

A pewter tray, a stoneware pickling crock.

That grandfather rocker long ceased its rock.

A feather boa from decades ago.

It’s all swept clean, sidewalk’s ready for morning, key in lock.

There’s a sewing basket—no thread to sew.

Old portrait—how the eye has lost its glow.

Surprised by time, age, or memory block, it’s all swept clean.

POETIC PROMPT

Take any “(adjective) (noun)” phrase and replace the words with another tive and noun Make this new phrase the title of a new poem For example, anew poem could be derived from the phrase “dirty laundry,” using “UncleanWearables” as the title

BY ROBERT LEE BREWER

Robert Lee Brewer is the editor of Poet’s Market and Writer’s Market (both WD Books) and

the author of the poetry collection Solving the World’s Problems.

SHARE YOUR POETIC VOICE: If you’d like to see your own poem in the pages of

Writer’s Digest, check out the Poetic Asides blog (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/

poetic-asides) and search for the most recent WD Poetic Form Challenge.

In this example, Graham chooses the phrase “it’s all swept clean” to begin the poem and use as the refrain.

For the fi rst refrain, Graham uses it to connect the fi rst and second stanzas.

Since the a and b rhymes are

used fi ve times each, be sure

to pick rhymes you can tain throughout the poem.

main-Graham uses the next to last line to nail the fi nal refrain and end the poem.

Trang 18

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Trang 19

influences his writing

pro-cess as an author, as he must

understand what the hook is

that makes a story interesting before

he can write it The hook in his e-book

The Last Checkout is two lovers

com-ing together at a hotel in which the

only way to check out is to die

“I thought it would be interesting [to

have a world where] suicide was

actu-ally encouraged and there was

hope-lessness, and to try to find the hope in

that,” Besson says “Maybe you find the

bright spark or hope or love even in

the sh*ttiest circumstances.”

Besson self-published The Last

Checkout because he truly believed

in his story, even as interest from

agents waned When thinking about

self-publishing, he figured there was

no reason not to do it Just like he

has made short films before, Besson

knows that if you believe in your

work, you just have to put it out and

see what happens “If you work hard

at it, something will result from it,” he

says “It’s the freedom of taking fate

into your own hands and saying ‘I

can push it and I can make it work.’”

As a result of Besson releasing his

work, The Last Checkout won the

Grand Prize in the 6thAnnual Writer’s

Digest PublishedE-Book Awards, beating over 580other entries Besson’s prizes include

Self-$5,000 and a trip to the Writer’s DigestAnnual Conference in New York City

He chose the e-book formatbecause of its ability to reach a largeraudience, as getting a self-publishedbook on the shelves of a bookstore is atough sell, and a greater percentage ofe-book sales go back to authors

Besson’s advice to other authorswho would like to create e-books andself-publish is to seek professional help,

because it is out there To create The Last Checkout, he hired an editor as

well as a book cover designer from afreelance hiring website To help withe-book formatting, Besson found anauthor of a book on the subject

“There’s people who are really good

at what they do,” he says “I believe infinding the best fit and giving peoplethe chance to add to the product, find-ing new things that you never thoughtabout It’s a collaborative effort.” WD

Hook, Line and Self-Publish

Awards shows where truly believing in your work can

take your stories.

BY CASSANDRA LIPP

Cassandra Lipp is associate managing

editor of Writer’s Digest.

THE WINNERS

GRAND PRIZE

THE LAST CHECKOUT by Peter

Besson ($7.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $17.95 Audible), peterbesson.com.

MYSTERY/THRILLER

GILCHRIST by Christian Galacar

($4.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited;

$19.99, paperback; $21.99, Audible), christiangalacar.com.

FANTASY

COYOTE ATE THE STARS by

E.A Van Stralen ($4.99 Kindle; $9.99 paperback).

THE LOVELOCK by Eichin

Chang-Lim ($2.99, Kindle; $15.99, back), eichinchanglim.com.

paper-ROMANCE

SCOTLAND’S KNIGHT: A ROSE IN THE GLADE by Anne K

Hawkinson and Paul V Hunter ($3.99, Kindle, Kindle Unlimited; $5.99, paperback),

annehawkinson.com

SCIENCE FICTION

ANGEL CITY BLUES by Jeff

Edwards ($4.95, Kindle; $14.99, paperback, $21.95, Audible), Braveship Books,

CONTEMPORARY FICTION

BECOMING JIJI by David R Yale

($0.99 Kindle; $7.90, paperback), A Healthy Relationship Press,

davidryale.com.

THE WINNER CHECKOUT

Read Besson’s unabridged interview

and a complete list of winners at

writersdigest.com/jun-19.

Trang 20

Have you ever said to yourself “I’d

love to get a computer, if only I could

figure out how to use it.” Well, you’re

not alone Computers were supposed

to make our lives simpler, but they’ve

gotten so complicated that they are

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is a completely new touch screen system, without the cluttered look

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up It’s so easy to use you won’t have

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Trang 21

Bob Eckstein is a New York Times bestseller and award-winning cartoonist and illustrator

for The New Yorker and The New York Times His new book is The Ultimate Cartoon Book

of Book Cartoons.

GET

DIGITALLY! THE ART AND CRAFT OF WASTING TIME

“Never put off till tomorrow what may be done day after tomorro w just as well.”

—Mark Twain

“I think of myself as something of a connoisseur

of procrastination, creative and dogged in my approach to not getting things done.”

Trang 22

Are You Ready For Your Book Deal?

AUGUST 23–25, 2019 | NEW YORK CITY

“ It was my first time to ever pitch my

novel and I pitched 4 agents and all 4 of

them requested my full manuscript It

was an unforgettable experience! ”

– M LINDSEY | South Carolina

Experience the Pitch Slam—a rare opportunity to pitch your book directly to professional agents and editors actively looking for new voices! Advocate for your book in a high-energy environment, and you might just become another Pitch Slam success story

With over 50 agents and editors representing the full spectrum of genres and publishers of all sizes, you will receive insightful feedback and actionable advice—and potentially get requests to submit a formal book proposal

“ Pitch Slam was a great experience—forced me

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Trang 23

BY KARA GEBHART UHL

METAMORPHOSIS LITERARY AGENCY

Stephanie Hansen, owner and senior agent at

Metamorphosis Literary Agency, represents debut and

New York Times bestselling authors alike She holds a master’s

degree and creative writing specialization While she mostly

represents young adult sci-ﬁ and fantasy, Hansen says she

also has “a secret addiction” to romance

Hansen handles everything ﬁ ction, from children’s books to

adult thrillers Currently she’s seeking romantic comedies and

“all YA with unexpected antagonists.” She’s “intrigued by prose

that ﬂ ows as smoothly as poetry, unforgettable plot twists and

well-rounded characters.”

Previously an editor for Mind’s Eye literary magazine,

Hansen founded Metamorphosis in July 2016 Originally

look-ing to help Midwestern authors garner the attention of major

publishing houses despite residing in “ﬂ yover states,” Hansen

says she found camaraderie with multiple agents and editors.

Visit Hansen online at metamorphosisliteraryagency.com

and on Twitter @MetamorphLitAg Check out her manuscript

wish list at mswishlist.com/agent/hansenwriter.

Patty Carothers and Amy Brewer,

authors of

Texting Prince Charming (Omniﬁ c

DREAM CLIENT

“Someone with millions

of fans and/or one who works hard, is respectfully kind and has a positive attitude.”

some-PITCH TIPS

“Pay attention to what people are looking for (manuscript wish lists).”

WRITING TIPS

“Write freely.” “Edit with precision.”

QUERY PET PEEVES

“authors claiming

‘you’ve never seen this before’”

“authors claiming ‘this

is the next bestseller’”

The 2019 Kansas City Writing Workshop (kansaswritingworkshop.com),

March 30, Kansas City, Mo.

Wyoming Writers, Inc 46 th Annual Writers’

Conference (wyowriters.org), June 7–9, Laramie, Wyo.

Trang 24

New rules New strategies New paths to success.

Promoter Hat when positioning yourself

as a writer worth reading Th is includes knowing your readership , sending pitches and setting up partnerships Your success as an indie author will refl ect how well you wear these hats As creative director, you integrate writing and publishing in a way that works for you

6 YOU’LL NEED TO INVEST

Publishing requires commercial and creative investment Prepare for this in advance Create an investment plan and

be realistic Th e less experienced you are as a writer, the higher your editorial expenses will be Also be realistic about the number of books you’ll need to sell

to recoup your investment

7 KNOW WHAT OTHER INDIE AUTHORS KNOW

Th ere is a lot of opinion and mation about self-publishing It’s diffi -cult to get real data on this fast-chang-ing business Don’t buy into the myths Instead, connect with other successful indie authors who know what’s work-ing now

misinfor-Last and most of all, know that you are part of the most dynamic move-ment to hit publishing and media in

600 years Th e creative choices you make not only frame your author business but also infl uence what’s possible for other authors

Make good choices and you will thoroughly enjoy the rewards

of self-publishing WD

Whether it’s done by a trade

pub-lisher or an author, publishing has two aims: to make words consum-

able in reader friendly formats, and to

get those words read by enough people

to make a profi t. Th ese aims demand

that seven processes are done well:

editorial, design, production,

distri-bution, marketing, promotion and

rights licensing Being a good

author-publisher means being a good writer

and being good at running a digital

business

Each of these demands

dedica-tion Too many writers get carried

away by the creative process of

mak-ing the book and press the “publish”

button too soon Th is can happen

when the writing isn’t truly ready Or,

authors haven’t set up their

mar-keting and promotion, or business

processes are not ready. When

self-published too soon, a book will likely

bomb. However, knowing these core

self-publishing principles can save

you from this fate:

1 KNOW YOURSELF

What kind of writer are you? What

do you off er readers—Inspiration?

Education? Entertainment? Why do

you want to self-publish? Are your

motives creative (e.g., control over

design), or commercial (you value

your publishing rights)? Your motives

will be a mix of the two, but that mix

is individual to you Analyze and

understand it

Knowing yourself as a publisher

also means knowing yourself as a

writer What is your genre and niche

within that genre? What are your

Orna Ross is an author, poet and director

of the Alliance of Independent Authors.

books bringing to the world of words that is unique or remarkable?

2 YOU’RE GOING INTO BUSINESS

Writing is a craft , but publishing is always business Many authors fi nd that they’ve ended up in business by default, with tasks they never bud-geted for time-wise or money-wise

Know that the day you fi rst sell a book is the day you’ll need to start keeping records and balancing passion and profi t, incomings and outgoings, both creative and commercial

3 PUBLISHING IS A CREATIVE BUSINESS

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking ing is creative but publishing is toil Th e more creative you can be in your busi-ness as well as your writing, the more successful you will be And the more your business will nurture your writing, and vice versa

writ-4 KNOW YOUR BUSINESS MODEL

You choose your business model One model is high volume book sales, but that only suits a few authors You can also sell informational products, teach online courses, run a membership website, attract patronage and invest-ment, set up affi liate income streams, etc To maximize your chances of success, choose a blended model that matches your aspirations

5 AN AUTHOR-PUBLISHER WEARS THREE HATS

Wear your Craft er Hat when ing: writing the books and the copy of book descriptions, ads, social media updates, etc Wear your Director Hat

produc-when processing: looking aft er your

copyright and IP, your virtual tants, your bank balance, etc Wear your

Trang 25

assis-22 I WRITER’S DIGEST I May/June 2019

Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned and why you can do it, too BY CASSANDRA LIPP

Joanne Ramos

The Farm (Literary

ﬁ ction, May, Random House) “Would you trade nine months of freedom for a better life?” WRITES FROM: New York City

PRE-FARM: My career jumped from

investment banking to private-equity

investing to journalism Th ough I’d

loved writing stories since I was a

child, I’d never considered it a career

option As an immigrant from the

Philippines, the idea didn’t seem

“practical.” Th ere were ideas that

occu-pied me for most of my life Th ese

ideas ended up suff using Th e Farm

TIME FRAME: I spent a year writing

short stories on themes that obsessed

me Aft er 15 months, I happened

upon an article about a surrogacy

facility in India Th is triggered an

ava-lanche of what ifs I wrote Th e Farm

over the next three years ENTER THE

AGENT: Anytime anyone mentioned

that they knew an agent, I’d add the

name to my list, making sure to note

who would make the introduction I

sent [my manuscript] to the top four

agents on my list Within a couple of

days, I received my fi rst off er of

repre-sentation I signed with Jennifer Joel

at ICM BIGGEST SURPRISE: Writing a

book is the antithesis of linear I felt

discouraged by what seemed like

plodding, fi tful progress I believe that

no work is wasted Even sections that

didn’t make it into The Farm informed

it.WHAT I DID RIGHT:I tried simply tofocus on writing, on the world I wascreating Once I began editing, I didthink about “next steps.” But I triednot to let that rush me I edited thebook three times—even though thismeant missing my personal deadline

of sending out the manuscript.NEXT UP:I have a few ideas—but nothingI’m ready to talk about yet!

Xuan Juliana Wang

Home Remedies

(Literary ﬁ ction, May, Hogarth) “Set across Beijing, New York, Paris and Los Angeles, stories of love, family, identity, space and time, reﬂ ecting the vibrant youth of the millennial Chinese.”

WRITES FROM: LA PRE-REMEDIES:

When I moved to Beijing aft er grad, I felt like I got to experience the life I would have lived had I never immigrated to the States Th ere was a boisterous ambiguity about Chinese people I felt compelled to capture, and that got me writing When I started Columbia’s MFA program I was told

under-“nobody buys short story collections

anymore.” So I looked up the authors

of my favorite collections to see where they had published, what fellowships and contests they’d won and tried

to win those I won second prize in

Th e Atlantic Monthly Student Writing

Contest Th at gave me the confi dence

to keep going TIME FRAME: 10 years

ENTER THE AGENT: Claudia Ballard

found me through a story published

in Ploughshares WHAT I LEARNED: Th is being my fi rst book, everything is new and I feel constantly underprepared

I am learning to not be so afraid

of doing something wrong, just to focus on writing and not worry about everything else WHAT I DID RIGHT: I

broke in by sheer eff ort I rented a studio in a warehouse with my friends that was so far from the subway that

I knew when I went, I would stay all day and I had to write something For

a year, nothing seemed to happen I kept getting rejected from maga-zines but I thought I could at least make my writing better Publishing wasn’t something I could control But this was something I could WHAT I WOULD’VE DONE DIFFERENTLY: I used

to lose work all the time and rewrite things Th en a friend taught me to use RAMOS PHOTO ©

Trang 26

Scrivener and it has brought me so

much joy.NEXT UP:I’ve been writing

a novel for the last five years, a love

story set in Beijing.WEBSITE:

xuanjulianawang.com

Juno Rushdan

Every Last Breath

(Romantic thriller, April, Sourcebooks Casablanca) “Two covert operatives form a strained alliance to stop an

imminent attack, but the former

lovers ﬁ nd themselves on a deadly

collision course with a world-class

assassin.”WRITES FROM: Northern Va

PRE-BREATH: I started writing while I

was an Intelligence Offi cer in the Air

Force My husband had deployments

at the same time we started a family

Handling two kids under two with no

support system was brutal, so I got out of the service With the free time

I had, I worked on my craft Some of the themes in the book come from my military background TIME FRAME: I

started writing this book in May 2016

Before it was fi nished, I entered the manuscript into Romance Writers

of America contests Once it started winning, I queried agents I signed with my agent in August ENTER THE AGENT: I queried fi ve agents I fol-

lowed them on social media, which I recommend because you can learn a lot Sara Megibow was my number-one choice WHAT I LEARNED: (1) How

little control the author has in the ditional publishing process Th e cover, title, price, metadata, distribution and release date are out of my hands (2) How important it is to have an editor that understands your vision WHAT I

tra-DID RIGHT: I wrote a book with a high

concept and fast-paced action readers can visualize My literary agent, edi-tor and Hollywood agent have said the book feels cinematic. ADVICE FOR WRITERS: Tap into micro-infl uencers

around you My college alumni ciation and military-affi liated groups spread word about my series Th e support has been a big boon NEXT UP:

asso-I’m contracted for three books in the Final Hour series WEBSITE:

Trang 27

THE WEB ISSUE

F or 21 years, we’ve been compiling our annual 101

Best Websites for Writers Th at means this year’s

compendium is offi cially all grown up Selected

according to the discerning tastes of WD editors, our

annual collection represents the fi nest digital

destina-tions for writers Th ese internet sommeliers scour the

web, sort through hundreds of reader-nominated

web-sites that pour in all year, revisit fi ne vintages from the

101 Websites of yesteryear and consider staff favorites in

their quest to compile the ultimate list

Here you’ll fi nd the toast of the internet for

novel-ists, poets, screenwriters and freelancers of all

persua-sions and skill levels For your convenience, these free

resources are organized into nine sections:

creativ-ity, writing advice, everything agents, general resources,

publishing/marketing resources, jobs/markets, online

writing communities, genres/niches and just for fun

Be sure to check the icon key (right) to note the

features of each website at a glance Each website may

include: advice for writers, classes/workshops/conferences

(or links to them), contests, critique forums, newsletters/

RSS feeds, a Facebook group or page, resources for young

writers, discussion forums, an Instagram account, job

list-ings, markets for your work, a podcast, a Tumblr site, a Twitter feed or a YouTube channel

While some of the websites you’ll fi nd on this list are recurring classics that have aged like fi ne wine—like Th e Market List—we’re always looking for innovative new

fl avors to serve the palate of today’s author If a particular site has never before appeared on this list—like Storium under “Just for Fun,” for example—you’ll fi nd a black box around its corresponding number

So pull up a stool, prepare your bookmarks bar and peruse our menu of the fi nest websites for writers—it’s

BY JESS ZAFARRIS, WITH CASSANDRA LIPP

101 AT A GLANCE: SYMBOLS KEY

Advice for Writers Classes/Workshops/

Conferences Contests Critiques Newsletters/RSS Facebook

For Young Writers Forums

Instagram Jobs Markets Podcast Tumblr Twitter YouTube

# First Appearance on Our Annual 101 List

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On Aliventures, Ali Luke provides

business and craft advice for fiction

and nonfiction writers, as well as

bloggers and copywriters Check out

her free writing e-books and

her newsletter

2. BRAIN PICKINGS

BRAINPICKINGS.ORG

Writer and thought leader Maria

Popova’s website may not be just for

writers, but it’s certainly an excellent

resource for any storysmith The site

itself is brimming with articles on

literature, science, art, philosophy

and other outlets intended to inspire

lateral thinking and

out-of-the-box ideas, but you can also sign up

for different newsletters to receive

recaps and highlights each week

3. CREATIVITY PORTAL

CREATIVITY-PORTAL.COM

Coming up on its 20thanniversary

in 2020, Creativity Portal offers

endless writing prompts, exercises

and productivity guides, as well as

imaginative mixed-media

inspira-tion Don’t miss the Imagination

Prompt Generator

4 ELECTRIC LITERATURE

ELECTRICLITERATURE.COM

Powered by Medium, the

non-profi t digital publication Electric

Literature provides news and

infor-mation of interest to the literary

enthusiast and writing world It

focuses on creativity, publishing trends, inclusivity and storytelling secrets as well as more general infor-mation about arts and culture

5. LANGUAGE IS A VIRUS

LANGUAGEISAVIRUS.COMPlay, explore and catch infectious inspiration from this cleverly named website In this celebration of exper-imentation and multimedia cre-ativity, you’ll fi nd writing prompts, exercises, text generators and more alongside fascinating experimental projects by famous artists and writ-ers Don’t miss the text manipula-tion exercises, poetry gizmos and word games

6 REDDIT’S /R/WRITINGPROMPTS

REDDIT.COM/R/WRITINGPROMPTSWith more than 13 million subscrib-ers who respond to user-submitted prompts, this subreddit is one of the best places to get your work seen and gain feedback Th e best submissions (prompts and responses) are upvoted

to the top for all to see

7. SIX-WORD MEMOIRS

SIXWORDMEMOIRS.COM

“For sale: baby shoes, never worn.” Most writers know this six-word story, oft en attributed to Hemingway Now it’s your turn

to create a six-word story Your best and most concise tale will join the ranks of those written by more than 1 million contributors, including Madeleine Albright, Lin-Manuel Miranda and George Takei

Past excellent contributions have appeared in publications from NPR

to Th e New Yorker, and can even be

found inside Honest Tea bottle caps

8. STORYBIRD

STORYBIRD.COMStorybird is a truly unique resource that helps you visualize stories of all kinds Uniting prose, poetry and art, this website allows you to almost instantly create visual stories using artwork by illustrators and animators from around the world Participate in challenge prompts for a chance to be featured on the Storybird blog

9-25

WRITING ADVICE

9. CAREER AUTHORS

CAREERAUTHORS.COMLive the dream! Learn to become a full-time writer from fi ve publishing professionals who have done it, off er-ing advice on every aspect of your writing career, including editing, novel writing, building author plat-forms and journalism

10. DIY MFA

DIYMFA.COM

A WD author and conference lar, Gabriela Pereira has risen to writing-world fame through her book, website, workshops and pod-cast branded under the moniker DIY MFA Off ering the tools and knowledge you’d get from a Master

regu-of Fine Arts program, Pereira’s blog and podcast in particular are

a wealth of inspiration and advice, with the 200+ episode show guest-starring legendary writers and pub-lishing powerhouses

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THE WEB ISSUE

11 FIGHT WRITE

FIGHTWRITE.NET

Martial artist Carla Hoch, author

of Fight Write from WD Books,

breaks down the particulars of

writing realistic battles, brawls,

duels and more—from fi ghting in

water to vital targets and how

vari-ous types of wounds work in real

life Be sure to check out her

pod-cast, Th e Geek Block, part of Along

Came a Writer

12. HELPING WRITERS

BECOME AUTHORS

HELPINGWRITERSBECOMEAUTHORS.COM

Novelist and acclaimed writing

mentor K.M Weiland’s goals are to

help “show you how to write your

best story, change your life and

astound the world.” She does this

through hundreds of resources on

her website, including free e-books,

a blog, newsletter, vlog, podcast and

glossary of writing terms

13 LIVE WRITE THRIVE

LIVEWRITETHRIVE.COM

As a novelist, editor, writing coach

and fi ction track director for the

San Francisco Writer’s Conference,

C.S Lakin knows her stuff On her

website you’ll fi nd helpful blog posts

(which you can get via email if you

subscribe) with writing advice and

tips

14. NATHAN BRANSFORD

NATHANBRANSFORD.COM

Author and former literary agent

Nathan Bransford has dedicated his

blog to helping writers achieve their

goals and get published He covers

craft tips, industry trends and

sta-tistics, marketing advice and more,including helpful information forwriters seeking to publish via tradi-tional and indie routes

15 P.S HOFFMAN

PSHOFFMAN.COMWriter P.S Hoffman dissects thesecrets of story structure, charac-ter development and more writingtechniques in blog posts that providemyriad examples from literary staplesand contemporary iconic authors

16. THE SECRETS OF STORY

SECRETSOFSTORY.COMMatt Bird, creator of the blog TheSecrets of Story (and author ofthe WD book of the same name),

is known for his clever, in-depthanalyses of popular films, booksand tropes As a screenwriter, hisvideos on movie and story tropesare particularly engaging, but don’tmiss the deep archive of in-depthmaterial on his blog, including storyannotations, posts on structure,genre conventions, characterizationand more

18. TERRIBLEMINDS

TERRIBLEMINDS.COMChuck Wendig—bestselling author (of fi ction and WD books), screen-writer, game designer and Twitter provocateur—shares his humorous and unabashed insights into tradi-tional and indie publishing, the art of storytelling, the craft of writing and more Th is blog isn’t for the easily off ended, but if you have the courage, you’ll fi nd a wealth of valuable insight told in Chuck’s frank and funny style

19. WELL-STORIED

WELL-STORIED.COM

Th is handy site features Scrivener tutorials, workbooks and online courses on developing characters, plotting and more Check out the community page to participate on social media, and listen to the pod-cast for quick answers to your press-ing questions

20. WRITE IT SIDEWAYS

WRITEITSIDEWAYS.COMLook at writing from a new angle with the articles on Write It Sideways, a site with a unique cat-egorization system whose easily searchable contents aim to help you rethink your writing process,

career and more

21. WRITE NONFICTION NOW!

WRITENONFICTIONNOW.COMAuthor, blogger and book coach Nina Amir established Write Nonfi ction Now! to serve the needs

of nonfi ction writers It’s also home

to Write Nonfi ction in November, which echoes NaNoWriMo and features a popular Facebook group

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22. WRITERS IN THE STORM

WRITERSINTHESTORMBLOG.COM

Th is group of experienced writers

from diff erent genres blogs about the

challenges every writer faces,

includ-ing rejection, publishinclud-ing woes and

writers’ block It’s all clear skies with

their proactive advice and inspiration

23. WRITER UNBOXED

WRITERUNBOXED.COM

Founded in 2006, this blog and

101 regular off ers craft advice from

authors and industry pros who

speak to writers in all genres and

career levels Join their highly active

Facebook group boasting thousands

of writers It’s also well known for an

annual UnConference, “part

sym-posium, part networking aff air, part

workshop, part retreat.”

24 WRITING CLASS RADIO

WRITINGCLASSRADIO.COM

As you might expect, Writing Class

Radio is centered around its

pod-cast, which is quite literally a writing

class that you can tune into to listen

to stories, participate in prompts,

discover writing advice and more

Th e website is more than a podcast,

though Find blog posts, videos,

information on where to submit

your own story to the podcast,

writ-ing events and more

25. WRITING EXCUSES

WRITINGEXCUSES.COM

If you’ve never tuned into the

Writing Excuses podcast, now is the

time Hosted by three novelists and

a web cartoonist, each 15-minute

episode in the podcast’s 14-season

library is organized by a handy

topi-cal tagging system for easy ability and features information

search-on character development, building, structure and more

of over 400 members, who haveall pledged to adhere to the associa-tion’s high standards of professionalconduct in serving their clients

The AAR includes both literaryand dramatic agents

27. BETWEEN THE LINES

BOOKSANDSUCH.COM/BLOGAgents Rachelle Gardner, RachelKent, Wendy Lawton, Janet KobobelGrant and Cynthia Ruchti of Books

& Such Literary Management sharetheir expertise and educate writersabout the publishing process, whatagents are looking for and the prac-tice of writing

28 COOKS & BOOKS

COOKSPLUSBOOKS.COMLiterary agent and blogger Maria Ribas created Cooks & Books as a hub for writers, readers and cre-atives focused on the books they love, what they’re writing and achieving their goals Discover prac-tical publishing advice, book recom-mendations, time management tips and fun literary printables

29. JANET REID, LITERARY AGENT

JETREIDLITERARY.BLOGSPOT.COMConsulting this blog before send-ing your fi rst query is a must Janet Reid answers authors’ most popular questions about writing and sending queries Read real query letters sub-mitted by authors for commentary and see the Query Shark’s revision suggestions Submit your own query

to the shark if you’re brave

30. LITERARY CARRIE

LITERARYCARRIE.BLOGSPOT.COMCarrie Pestritto of the Laura Dail Literary Agency posts query cri-tiques and valuable advice about a variety of publishing and writing topics, looping in the opinions of other experts

31. LIT REJECTIONS

LITREJECTIONS.COM

Th e agency database at Lit Rejections includes submission guidelines for more than 350 literary agencies around the world On top of that, the website’s articles and interviews make it a core resource for authors looking to get published

32. MANUSCRIPT WISH LIST

MANUSCRIPTWISHLIST.COM

Th is site makes it easier to fi nd the perfect fi t for your manuscript, as agents and editors update their pro-

fi les with detailed bios, submission guidelines and in-depth informa-tion about exactly what they’re looking for Learn more about what agents and editors want with the Manuscript Academy podcast

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THE WEB ISSUE

33. QUERYTRACKER

QUERYTRACKER.NET

Join the ranks of over 2,700 authors

(and counting) who have found

agents for their books through

QueryTracker Th e free service

allows authors to search the

data-base of over 1,600 agents, explore

agent data and keep track of the

queries they send out

34-42

GENERAL RESOURCES

BEST OF THE BEST

ARCHIVE.ORG

Th e Internet Archive is the

ulti-mate research resource Th is

non-profi t library includes millions of free

books, movies, soft ware, music,

web-sites and other media Whether you

want to read the classics for

inspira-tion, learn more about a specifi c time

period or get insights from scholarly

articles and even entire libraries, this

treasure trove has what you need

BEHINDTHENAME.COM

Creating names for your characters

can be a challenge, especially if you

aim to imbue them with story-rich

meaning Use this search engine to

determine the history, location and

meaning hidden within names from

cultures around the world, or to

fi nd names with specifi c meanings

Check out the surname site and the

place name site under “tools” while

you’re there

CANVA.COMNeed to design a book cover, butdon’t have a strong aesthetic eye?

Want to make an infographic foryour blog, lay out your book, cre-ate a presentation or market yourwork on social media with awesomegraphics? Canva is the resource foryou, full of thousands of free, taste-ful design templates for all pur-poses Although you can access paidelements with a work account, themajority are free to use You canupload your own elements as well

GRAMMARLY.COMGrammarly’s core off ering is a free web browser extension that catches grammar, spelling and punctua-tion errors while you’re typing, but the blog, videos and social media accounts all off er diff erent helpful tips, facts, trends and career advice

for writers Check out the YouTube channel for helpful grammar videos

KIRKUSREVIEWS.COM

A 101 Best Websites staple, Kirkus

Reviews is the resource for

keep-ing up with various writkeep-ing kets Featuring book reviews, author interviews and “best of ” genre lists for free, Kirkus also off ers indie book review services for a small fee, help-ing to spotlight self-published works

DICTIONARY

ETYMONLINE.COMTake a look back into the history

of common words and discover their hidden meanings with this online etymology dictionary that draws from several reliable sources Exploring the dictionary is especially helpful for avoiding anachronistic dialogue and understanding how

BEYOND THE 101: THE WRITER’S DIGEST FAMILY OF SITES

WRITERSDIGEST.COM WD’s hub of free articles, prompts and downloads is ﬁ lled with career advice, craft tips, competitions and more Check out the editor blogs for friendly expert advice on writing and publishing, poetry challenges, agent updates and more.

WRITERSMARKET.COM Along with 9,000-plus market listings updated continually, sub- scribers receive articles, industry updates, submission trackers and more Monthly, six-month and annual paid subscriptions are available.

WRITERSDIGESTUNIVERSITY.COM You don’t even have to leave home

to get one-on-one instruction from expert authors and editors: WDU classes are offered year-round for every genre and experience level TUTORIALS.WRITERSDIGEST.COM More than 300 instructional videos are available to stream immediately, with new videos added weekly A monthly subscription is $25, while

an annual is $199.

SCRIPTMAG.COM

Script Magazine offers vital

script-writing advice, news and info on spec scripts, ﬁ lm festivals and more.

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words come to be so you can invent

your own words and languages

FORMS OF INSANITY

PUBLISHEDTODEATH.BLOGSPOT.COM

On this active and highly valuable

blog, author Erica Verrillo collects

and reports on opportunities for

writers, including hot markets,

pub-lishers accepting unagented

submis-sions, calls for submissubmis-sions, agents

seeking clients, free writing contests,

ways and places to earn reviews for

your work and more

TVTROPES.ORG

No story can be written without

a trope, and this wiki attempts to

catalog every known storytelling

trope Th e entries defi ne which

ele-ments are essential to each

com-mon plot device and lists the

cre-ative works where the motifs can be

found, including literature, TV, fi lm,

video games, comic books, anime

and more Don’t miss the Pitch

Generator and Story Generator,

both built using data from the wiki,

for inspiration and fun

COPYRIGHT.GOV

Get all your questions about

copy-right law answered with legal advice

straight from the source Learn how

to register your work and what is

protected by copyright, stay up to

date on fair use and understand

your rights as an author A FAQ

sec-tion makes all the legal informasec-tion

easily digestible

43-54

PUBLISHING/

MARKETING RESOURCES

43. ALLI SELF-PUBLISHING ADVICE CENTER

SELFPUBLISHINGADVICE.ORG

Th e Alliance of Independent Authors’ (ALLi) Self-Publishing Advice Center is a one-stop shop for indie authors looking for infor-mation about copyright, contracts, platform-building, design, produc-tivity and more

44. CREATE IF WRITING

CREATEIFWRITING.COMLooking to establish or develop your promotion and marketing strate-gies? Create If Writing has you cov-ered Discover in-depth informa-tion about publishing and selling

on Amazon, as well as social media algorithms and essential informa-tion about building your platform and expanding your web presence

45. THE CREATIVE PENN

THECREATIVEPENN.COMBestselling indie author Joanna Penn shares her insider knowledge

of self-publishing, marketing, the writing process and more on her blog and in her weekly podcast, which boasts over 400 episodes

46 DIGITAL PUBBING

DIGITALPUBBING.COMSelf-publishing guru, writer and podcaster Sabrina Ricci covers publishing startups, highlights indie authors and their books, and shares her knowledge of e-books

and self-publishing Check out her secondary blog at resources.digi-talpubbing.com for jobs, events and recommendations

47 THE INDEPENDENT PUBLISHING MAGAZINE

ZINE.COM

THEINDEPENDENTPUBLISHINGMAGA-Launched in 2007 by editor Mick Rooney, this online magazine pro-vides self-publishing information and resources, as well as reviews of self-publishing service providers

48. JANE FRIEDMAN

JANEFRIEDMAN.COMFormer WD publisher and writing world powerhouse Jane Friedman is

an absolute wealth of knowledge for writers of all kinds, and you can tap into that gold mine on both her blog and in her bi-weekly newsletter “Th e Hot Sheet,” which she co-founded with Porter Anderson to document and analyze industry trends

49 KIKOLANI

KIKOLANI.COMKikolani focuses on marketing, branding, social strategy, boosting traffi c to your website and more While it’s geared toward bloggers, the site provides helpful platform-building and blogging tips for writ-ers of all kinds

50 PUBCRAWL

PUBLISHINGCRAWL.COM

A group of authors and industry professionals who formerly called themselves Let the Words Flow—

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THE WEB ISSUE

including Patrice Caldwell, Eric

Smith, Julie C Dao, Julie Eshbaugh

and other thought leaders—write

about publishing secrets, craft ,

revi-sion, critiques and more on this blog

51 PUBLISHING PERSPECTIVES

PUBLISHINGPERSPECTIVES.COM

Find news and trends focused

on international book publishing

written by authors, publishing

professionals and other writers with

focused experience in worldwide

markets Th e newsletter and online

content are free, but they also publish

several print magazines each year

52. REEDSY

REEDSY.COM

Th ere’s a reason WD works with

Reedsy: Dig in with their free

book-editing and typesetting tools on

their website or discover helpful

blog posts on self-publishing,

work-ing with designers and more While

you’re there, explore their

data-base of freelance editors, designers,

ghostwriters and other professionals

off ering paid services

53. WINNING WRITERS

WINNINGWRITERS.COM

A regular in our 101 list, Winning

Writers is dedicated to free

writ-ing and literary contests spannwrit-ing

genres and forms Subscribe to the

free newsletter to get access to their

database, which is updated monthly

Don’t miss Winning Writers’ own

contests and lists of resources

rec-ommended by their editors

54. THE WRITE LIFE

THEWRITELIFE.COM

Th e Write Life lives at the intersection

of business and writing, including resources and information for free-lancing, marketing, indie publishing and more

For a one-time fee of $24.95, add your profile to the writer directory

56 BE A FREELANCE BLOGGER

BEAFREELANCEBLOGGER.COMBlogger Sophie Lizard’s site off ers up-to-date listings for freelance blogging opportunities (all of which pay at least $0.10 per word or $50 per post), their pay rates and how

to submit On the blog, she shares what she learned going from home-lessness to success as a freelance blogger, and contributors provide additional advice

57. ED2010

ED2010.COM

Th is community established by a

former Parents editor is dedicated

to helping newbies fi nd their way

in the magazine industry Search

Ed2010 for media job listings and advice from veterans in the industry For $50, submit your resume for cri-tique by industry professionals

58 THE FREELANCE BEAT

THEFREELANCEBEAT.COMJournalist Tatiana Walk-Morris pens this blog and weekly newsletter, which include calls for pitches, free-lancing news and more

59. FUNDS FOR WRITERS

FUNDSFORWRITERS.COMEditor C Hope Clark says she writes for a living, and she won’t post any opportunity on the website that she wouldn’t try herself You can trust that you’ll fi nd only the best paid writing opportunities such as grants, contests, freelance gigs, publish-ers and agents here Sign up for the newsletter so you won’t miss a beat

60. THE MARKET LIST

MARKETLIST.COM

Th is is the original electronic

writ-ers’ market resource, which began

in 1994 Th roughout its long tory and now, fi ction and nonfi ction writers trust Th e Market List as a comprehensive guide to the markets for their work Th e markets include agents, magazines, book markets, small presses and even resources for screenwriters

his-61. MEDIABISTRO

MEDIABISTRO.COMDon’t miss this plethora of free career advice, tips on interviewing and structuring your resume, and of

Trang 34

course, job listings For $14.99 per

month, freelancers can also access

unlimited online courses, guides

and other resources to help them

pitch to editors and find clients

62 WHERE TO PITCH

WHERETOPITCH.COM

Th is website starts with an idea—

your idea Th e homepage features a

single search bar Type in an outlet

(a magazine, website, etc.) or a

gen-eral topic (fi tness, dogs), and you’ll

get a list of publications where you

can pitch your idea Plus, sign up

for the newsletter and check out the

resources page for more

63. WHO PAYS WRITERS?

WHOPAYSWRITERS.COM

Find out what you’re getting into

before you pitch your work to a

publication Writers who have been

there before can anonymously leave

tips about how they broke into a

publication, how easy (or not)

edi-tors are to work with and how much

they were paid for their work

With a facelift that makes it “Fitbit for

writers,” according to founder Grant

Faulkner, the upgrade coming in May

features new tracking and

account-ability tools, community features,

vir-tual write-ins, podcast episodes, blog

posts and pep talks to help you

yearround in all stages of writing—draft ing, revising and publishing

-65. STORYADAY

STORYADAY.ORGJulie Duff y aims to stimulate your creativity with this site, because she says the only way to become a better writer is to write Jump right in to her challenges to write a short story

a day for one month straight, or look at her weekly writing prompts, craft -focused articles and podcast

66. SCRIBOPHILE

SCRIBOPHILE.COMScribophile boasts that it’s the friendliest and most success-ful online writing workshop, with over 1 million critiques served so far Writers can join this commu-nity and share their own writing for critique, in exchange for providing detailed and helpful critiques on the work of other community members

67 STORYWRITE

STORYWRITE.COMStorywrite is a community specifi -cally geared toward short story writ-ers, but you can also post poems, journal entries and columns Gameify the process with an optional points system Free access includes writing groups and private forums that allow for critiques and feedback, as well as contests for new and veteran mem-bers Paid levels start at $5.95 per month and include a variety of fea-tures and customization options

68 SWOON READS

SWOONREADS.COM

Th ink “American Idol” for YA manuscripts Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group powers

Swoonreads, a writing group for young adult and new adult novelists

in which readers help determine if your book will be traditionally pub-lished by Macmillan

69. WATTPAD

WATTPAD.COMShare your work-in-progress one chapter at a time with this com-munity of over 70 million writers and readers Your writing can gain attention in this massive community through votes and comments For some lucky authors, Wattpad success has led to a book deal

70 WRITERSCAFE

WRITERSCAFE.ORGJoin WritersCafe for free to post your writing, get feedback, network with writers, join specialized groups and enter contests Readers can rate and review your work and add notes

to it, all of which are compiled in handy graphs so you can track your stats and progress

71. THE WRITING COOPERATIVE

WRITINGCOOPERATIVE.COM

WHITHER REDDIT

Reddit has several communities geared toward writers, poets and screenwriters, from hobbyists to those looking to publish To learn how to navigate various subreddits, visit

writersdigest.com/jun-19.

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THE WEB ISSUE

Writers using Medium’s Th e Writing

Cooperative can get paid for their

work by earning “claps” from paying

readers, whose $5 monthly member

fees fund the process Join the Slack

group to participate in discussions,

writing challenges and critiques

In 2018, Th e Writing Cooperative

announced its Patreon that added

more incentives for supporters

Fantasy author Rae Elliott dedicates

her blog and free resources to

help-ing teens write and publish

“fan-dom-worthy fi ction.” Th e articles

mostly focus on technique

73. GO TEEN WRITERS

GOTEENWRITERS.COM

Brimming with inspiration and

writing craft advice, this site is specifi

-cally geared toward young writers

who want to get published Be sure to

visit the YouTube channel as well

74. INKYGIRL

INKYGIRL.COM

Picture book illustrator and author

Debbie Ridpath Ohi started

InkyGirl as a resource for children’s

authors looking to write successful

children’s books Not only are her

advice and interviews excellent—so

is the art that accompanies them

75. KIDLIT

KIDLIT.COM

Mary Kole, a former literary agent

and author of Writing Irresistible Kitdlit from WD Books, shares her

best tips for publishing books for children, middle-grade readers and young adults While the con-tent is created for authors writing for young readers, her experience allows her to dig into the nitty-gritty

of the publishing process and vide info valuable to authors writing for any age group

pro-Fantasy/Science Fiction

76 DAN KOBOLDT – PUTTING THE SCIENCE IN FICTION

DANKOBOLDT.COMCurated by Dan Koboldt—a sci-fi and fantasy author and editor of

Putting the Science in Fiction from

WD Books—the “Science in Sci-Fi”

and “Fact in Fantasy” sections of this blog have dozens of articles with helpful and accessible info on biol-ogy, chemistry, psychology, physics, computers, feudal history, designing realistic magic systems and more

77. SCIENCE FICTION &

FANTASY WRITERS OF AMERICA

SFWA.ORG

Th e website for the Science Fiction

& Fantasy Writers of America vides plenty of free resources for both members and non-members

pro-Resources include writing advice and the Writer Beware Blog, which warns authors about “the scams, schemes and pitfalls” of the literary world

Published writers can become bers of the organization (see eligibility requirements) for an annual fee

79 THE FREELANCER’S YEAR

THEFREELANCERSYEAR.COMLindy Alexander is a freelance writer who says she earned more than

$100,000 in her fi rst 11 months of freelancing On her blog, she shares tips, strategies and guides on earning

a living writing on topics that est you

inter-80 THE INTERNATIONAL FREELANCER

THEINTERNATIONALFREELANCER.COMFounded in 2002 by award-winning journalist Mridu Khullar Relph, this site features endless articles, down-loads and videos full of advice for freelancers all over the world Since then, it has spawned a series of books and courses, but the website remains a trove of free resources

writersdigest.com/jun-19.

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AWRITEROFHISTORY.COM

Historical fi ction writer M.K Tod

aims to focus conversations on the

reading, writing and researching of

historical fi ction Find craft -focused

blog posts on writing historical fi

c-tion, author interviews and

per-sonal posts about what she’s reading

or researching One of Tod’s most

insightful resources are her reader

survey results, for which she

gar-nered thousands of participants

Horror

82 THE HORROR TREE

HORRORTREE.COM

Founded in 2011 as a market resource

for horror authors, Th e Horror Tree

lists anthologies and publications that

pay for speculative fi ction and poetry

Th e handy calendar view shows

dead-lines for submissions at a glance, and

the weekly newsletter sends updates

to your inbox For fun, check out Th e

Horror Tree Game in the sidebar

83. HORROR WRITERS

ASSOCIATION

HORROR.ORG

Stay up to date about everything

hor-ror writing with the website of the

offi cial organization for the genre

Here you’ll fi nd author interviews

and other blog posts related to horror

writing Paid members (see

eligibil-ity requirements online) get access

to more resources for an annual

fee such as mentoring, information

swapping and promotional resources

Mystery/Crime

84. ELIZABETH SPANN CRAIG

ELIZABETHSPANNCRAIG.COMFind a roundup of the best writing-related links circulating this week in Twitterifi c Writing Links blog posts

Th e bestselling cozy mystery author also blogs about the nuts and bolts

of writing as well as tips to keep writers motivated and organized

85. JUNGLE RED WRITERS

JUNGLEREDWRITERS.COMCrime fi ction authors Julia Spencer Fleming, Lucy Burdette, Hallie Ephron, Rhys Bowen, Hank Phillippi Ryan, Deborah Crombie, Ingrid

Th oft and Jenn McKinlay share daily updates on the writing life and sus-

pense “It’s Th e View With bodies.”

86. MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

MYSTERYWRITERS.ORGFree resources from the premier orga-nization for mystery writers include

a list of crime publishers approved

by the membership committee and updates on new books in the genre

Members (see eligibility ments online) can access manuscript critiques, mentorship opportunities,

require-a bookstore drequire-atrequire-abrequire-ase require-and other perks for an annual fee

Today, they work with a full duction team of other poets—from amateurs who answer calls for sub-missions to Danez Smith and Jane

pro-Hirshfi eld—and fi lmmakers to create full seasons of audiovisual poetry

88. POETS.ORG

POETS.ORGSign up for the newsletter to receive one new, unpublished poem per weekday in your inbox, or access the site’s database of over 9,000 poems Other resources include poetry arti-cles as well as poetry lesson plans for teachers

publishing-to readers Th e site also off ers free online “lectures” from established romance writers

90. ROMANCE WRITERS OF AMERICA

RWA.ORGGet romance writing news with the free blog, or join the organization (see eligibility requirements and fees online) for Author Survival Guides, discounts, subscriptions, courses and the support of an advocacy net-work dedicated to romance writing

Scriptwriting

91. GO INTO THE STORY

GOINTOTHESTORY.COMScreenwriter Scott Myers blogs on all your questions about the craft and business of screenwriting If he hasn’t already answered your questions, Myers takes questions via email and

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THE WEB ISSUE

Twitter He also off ers private script

workshops on a limited basis for a fee

92 SCRIBE MEETS WORLD

SCRIBEMEETSWORLD.COM

Scribe Meets World is aimed at

screenwriters and maximizing the

commercial appeal of your story

through better structure Free blog

posts and downloads help write

bet-ter characbet-ters, climaxes and more

Spiritual

93. THE STEVE LAUBE AGENCY

STEVELAUBE.COM/BLOG

Learn what the agents at Th e Steve

Laube Agency are looking for and

get their advice about querying,

sub-mitting, publishing and coping with

rejection in the Christian market

Thriller

94. THE BIG THRILL

THEBIGTHRILL.ORG

Th e offi cial magazine of the

International Th riller Writers

orga-nization has much to off er,

includ-ing thriller news, author interviews

(including bestselling authors) and

giveaways Subscribe to the monthly

newsletter for a chance to win signed

fi rst-edition thriller books by your

of the genre is available with dailyblogs from top thriller writers oncraft, marketing, promotion, revis-ing and independent publishing

Women’s Fiction

96. WOMEN’S FICTIONWRITERS

WOMENSFICTIONWRITERS.COMWomen’s fiction novelist and writingcoach Amy Sue Nathan blogs aboutwriting women’s fiction as well asgeneral writing advice, inspirationand author interviews

97-101

JUST FOR FUN

97THREE-PANEL BOOK REVIEW

THREEPANELBOOKREVIEW.TUMBLR.COMIllustrator and author Lisa Browndraws witty three-panel recaps ofclassic and contemporary literaryworks Warning: Once you startreading, it’s difficult to stop

98FIRST DRAFT OF THEREVOLUTION

INKLESTUDIOS.COM/FIRSTDRAFT

If you’re interested in experimental storytelling techniques, explore this interactive epistolary story about the process of writing—“as a process

of revising, weighing word choices, evolving a text gradually over a long period around changing expecta-tions of what it should even be say-ing”—created by interactive fi ction writer Emily Short and produced by Liza Daly

99 SIX ACT STRUCTURE

SIXACTSTRUCTURE.COM

Th is fun, helpful resource features structural breakdowns of famous books and fi lms by Marshall Dotson, who argues that most modern stories focus on a six-act sequence, and writ-ers can solve plot problems by using this structure in their own works

100 STORIUM

STORIUM.COMCreative writing becomes an online multiplayer game, and victory lies

in creating an excellent story with a community of other players Your skill level isn’t important—in fact, the game is great for building all manner

of writing skills, generating ideas for your own stories and characters and meeting new writer friends

101 VOCABULARY.COM

VOCABULARY.COM

If you’re interested in expanding or honing your vocabulary or just like word games and quizzes, this never-ending vocabulary quiz platform is a fun use of your spare time If you’re trying to wrap your head around the usage of a word you’re less than familiar with, you can paste those words into the site to add them to the game WD

LOOKING AHEAD TO THE NEXT 101: Don’t see a favorite site here? Wish

we’d add a new category? Send your comments and nominations for next

year’s list to writers.digest@fwmedia.com with “101 Websites” in the

subject line between now and December 1, 2019.

Jess Zafarris is digital content director of

Writer’s Digest.

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I’ve never been more productive than when I was in

high school and college This was due to a

combina-tion of youthful enthusiasm, a misguided conviccombina-tion

that I was more or less inventing modern writing1and

the extreme amounts of free time I had The thing about

that free time, though, was that it was also kind of

excru-ciatingly boring Back in those primitive days your only

choice for entertaining yourself while taking a

45-min-ute bus ride from your dorm to your first class of the day

was listening to music and reading Nothing is wrong

with either, but I lacked the hypertextual ability to skim

endless, infinite stuff If I’d had the internet when I was

18, I’d probably still be on that bus, falling down an

end-less rabbit hole of dog tippy-tap GIFs2

Every writer has had to battle to carve out a few hours

in order to write—over a weekend, or at night after the

kids have gone to bed—only to snap out of a Facebook

daze two and a half hours later with nothing

accom-plished3 Among social media, news sites, kitten

vid-eos and tons of websites you’ll have to justify visiting to the FBI someday (most likely by claiming it was in the interest of “research” for your book), it’s easy to lose all your precious writing time in a swirl of clicking because

the internet and social media are designed that way Th e Algorithm is powerful stuff, and it’s not only designed to attract your eyeballs, it’s designed to keep them there for

as long as possible4

We all waste time—and always have Wasting time isn’t something to be ashamed of—it’s necessary; forcing yourself to grind away at your work without a break is

a quick ticket to a full-on The Shining-level breakdown5 It’s just too easy in the modern age Wasting time is as simple as alt + shifting out of our word processors and into the infinite void of the internet Then there’s guilt and self-reproach because writers are also bombarded with exhortations to focus, turn off the web and livesome sort of pure artistic life where all you do is crank out beautiful prose and have no idea what Kanye West

When procrastination beckons, surfing the world of wordsmithing

websites ensures that your time isn’t truly wasted.

1 The timeline went something like this: Freshman year: Did I just invent stream of consciousness? Sophomore year: Well, no, but I certainly have improved upon it Today: I was paid $25 for my last short story I may have miscalculated.

2 Please refrain from searching for “dog tippy-tap GIFs” until you’re done reading this article—I’ve already lost you, haven’t I?

3 Unless rage-blocking your entire family and everyone you went to high school with counts as an accomplishment, which I believe it does.

4 Technically this is what writers aspire to do, but we just can’t compete with the sheer volume of plot twists that real-life social media offers Who knew every single person you know is crazy and also terrible?

5 The upside to a Shining-like mental breakdown: The word counts will be off the charts.

BY JEFF SOMERS

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