Table of contents for July/August 2022 in Writer's Digest

WD posed the question to readers on our website: “What has been the most pivotal moment in your writing life thus far?” Readers responded: “… I was an English minor in college and continued to write afterward, but at a diminishing pace ’til ‘real life’ brought it almost to a standstill. Then in 1999, an epiphany came in an unexpected form: an arrangement of three ripe red tomatoes on the white countertop in my kitchen. I was inspired to write about the image, and suddenly, the floodgates opened, and I began to write poetry at a furious pace as if to make up for lost time.” —Bruce Niedt “The pivotal moment in my writing career came the morning my place of employment shut down. The closure presented an opportunity to…

Have you ever talked about a movie or a book you’re interested in, only to have your social media accounts serve up ads for those very items, almost as if they were listening? Now imagine the same social media accounts could be harnessed by NSA data scientists, upscale influencers, and leisurewear-clad zealots to deliver the most frightening package of all to your doorstep: your dating history. Therein lies the central tenet of author Sloane Crosley’s new novel, Cult Classic, which debuted June 7. Much like her first novel, 2015’s The Clasp, Cult Classic finds its protagonist, Lola, coming to terms with the people and friendships of her past at a time when she’s embarking on a new life stage, namely an engagement to her fiancé, Boots. But as Lola navigates…

Writing groups are instrumental to helping writers better their craft and getting out of that dreaded writing tunnel. You know, the one where you think your story is the greatest thing in the world and there are no mistakes. Writing groups help you see where there are bumps in the road and where maybe your text is coming through unclearly. But they also help you grow as a writer off the page. Being in a community of writers who all believe in the magic of writing, of becoming a published author is a networking and inspiration wellspring. If you’re in the wrong one, though, your wellspring can be a bog of despair. FIVE SIGNS YOU’RE IN THE WRONG WRITING GROUP (AND HOW TO FIX IT) I’ve studied writing groups for…

Donna Gordon What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me (Literary fiction, June, Regal House) “A dying boy and his caretaker—a survivor of Argentina’s Dirty War—journey to Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia to look for the caretaker’s missing wife and child who had been among the Disappeared.” WRITES FROM: Cambridge, Mass. PRE-FRANKLIN: In my 20s, I was writing poetry and publishing in literary magazines.… My sentences got longer and became prose. I got the courage to start my first novel, Cave Paintings. An agent… agreed to rep my book, but only sent it to 12 editors. I was asked to rewrite it by two of the editors, but both turned it down. Years passed. I got married, had two children, was a freelance writer for The Boston Globe and other publications. TIME…

People talk about reaching “flow state” with their writing, but rarely does anyone tell us how to find that flow in the first place. Plenty of books, websites, and other resources teach us about the craft of writing and the publishing process. Yet, when it comes to getting those words on the page, the advice we usually get is BIC: backside in chair. The idea of churning out words through brute force can be daunting, especially when we find ourselves at a creative crossroads. What we need is a framework, a method that gives us structure and addresses those peripheral aspects of the writing life, like motivation or resilience. The Creative FLOW approach is designed to fill this gap so you can get words on the page and keep writing,…

It’s the dream for many writers: quitting the job (or jobs) that pays the bills and writing full-time. The unfortunate fact is, writing alone doesn’t pay a livable wage for many writers and authors, especially those early in their careers. Even traditionally published bestsellers and award-winners aren’t able to quit their day jobs right on getting an advance—and if you followed the #PublishingPaidMe discussion, you’re aware that there are vast disparities between the advances paid out. For indies and self-published authors, smaller or no advances can mean an even longer journey to that dream of quitting the day job. However, the dream is still possible to attain with work and preparation. At the most basic level, quitting the day job means becoming self-employed. So, what goes into making it work?…

Dear FYSA, I heard through the grapevine of my local writing group that another writer’s agent is leaving the publishing world. I’m just starting to query, and it made me wonder: What happens to the authors an agent works with if they leave the industry? Sincerely, Surprised and Curious Dear Surprised and Curious, Oh gosh, that’s an easy one: They are contractually bound to come with me and remain my colleagues in my new career. If I start a llama farm? They better learn shearing techniques. If I open a Yoga Yurt? They better get bendy. You get the drift OK, fine, what would actually happen is that I would have a conversation with my colleagues at the agency to see who would be a good fit for each client.…

While editors may wear many extra hats nowadays than in publishing days of yore, it’s a myth that editors don’t edit. If you need proof, here are a few editor shout-outs from our author spotlight series on WritersDigest.com: • “Settling into writing was not something I could do at the beginning of COVID. I had to push back writing deadlines, which felt unprofessional and embarrassing. But Lake Union and my editor Jodi Warshaw were so generous and compassionate. I’m deeply grateful.” —Laila Ibrahim, author of Scarlet Carnation • “This is the third book that my editor James Melia and I have worked on together, and I never fail to be surprised by how his edits make me a better writer. It sounds a little cheesy, but it’s the absolute truth—James has…

Though I knew I wanted to work for Writer’s Digest by my third year of college, I can think of no fewer than four crossroads on my path to actually achieving that goal. They involve: a Great Recession, more schooling for lack of job opportunities, an unfortunate foray into teaching, and at least two company bankruptcies (surely I’m not the common denominator…). A different choice or a different stroke of luck at any one of those crossroads could have led me down a drastically different path. What I notice about that list is most of the crossroads sound like negatives. And that’s often how we perceive them as they’re (usually) forced on us. But when it comes down to it, I learned a skill or a mindset at each one…

One of my favorite nautical terms is “brightwork.” When I first encountered this word, I assumed it meant the polished metalwork on boats, but I learned it also refers to highly varnished woodwork. Search for Chris-Craft vintage runabout and you’ll find some stunning examples of wooden brightwork. I love the concept of brightwork because, like so many nautical concepts, it has a perfect analogy in the writing world. In the same way boatbuilders layer and polish the pieces of wood that make up the brightwork, we writers layer and polish description and dialogue to add depth and luster to our work. Just as a boat’s brightwork draws the eye of a discerning sailor, wellcrafted description and dialogue draw our readers into our story. Perhaps it’s what draws us, the stories’…

For several years, I had a dream job reporting on entertainment and celebrity news. And even though my career combined my love of writing with my passion for pop culture, there was also an underlying yet persistent discontentment. If you’ve ever harbored dreams of writing a novel, then you know the feeling. No matter what I had done, personally or professionally, there was always this hope of one day being able to write a book and then see it on bookshelves and in libraries and in the hands of readers. On some days it was akin to a faint itch, and other days it was a sharp elbow to the ribs. As much as I wanted to publish a book, the idea seemed daunting to the point of near-impossibility. I…

How did it start? Maybe a teacher declared you to be a good writer. Maybe a parent encouraged. You entertained your friends with well-told jokes. Your vocabulary was somehow better than theirs. You loved reading. Without really knowing it, you absorbed the rules of basic grammar. You wrote something. A poem, maybe. Then a few poems. A story. A bad story, probably. But it wasn’t all bad. You were on a path. You realized this. That’s what mattered. Being on the path, moving forward, was enough for now. Two hundred, 300 words at a time. 500! 1,000! But then the question arises: Shall I try to put this work out into the world? Try to get something published? Something has changed. You’ve encountered your first crossroad. If you’re serious about…

THE CHALLENGE: Write a short story of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt below. You can be funny, poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story. CONTEST #119 119 TO ENTER: Email your entry to YourStory Contest@aimmedia.com with the subject line “Your Story #119.” Entries must be pasted directly into the body of the email; attachments will not be opened. Include your name and mailing address. Entries without a name or mailing address will be disqualified. NOTE: WD editors select the top five entries and post them on our website (WritersDigest.com/your-story-competition). Join us online in September, when readers will vote for their favorite to help choose the winner. Follow @WritersDigest on Twitter for Your Story updates. The winners will be published in a future issue of…

My latest Estelle’s Edge is not just for publishing but for life: Go for what you want but prepare for it. I pivoted into editing launch publications when I impressed the former CEO of Hachette with my research and analysis of his publishing empire. Shortly aft er, he hired me as the editorial director of a new fitness publication. If you’ve been following my column and want to get an editor’s attention, I am analyzing a select number of pitches at the Writer’s Digest Conference. Email your pitch to estellesedge2022@gmail.com. Go for it! For this issue, I spoke with Shelby Vittek, the editor of Modern Farmer (ModernFarmer.com). The 10-year-old publication (formerly in print) became a Canadian nonprofit last year and has 10 million page views a year. It posts multiple…

Imagine that right now you’re in a coffee shop and glance up from your work and see… a leopard. How do you feel about a leopard gazing at you from just over there, by the counter with the cream and sugar? Shocked, frightened, curious? How do you react? Let’s further assume that the situation resolves happily for you and for the leopard. The leopard doesn’t hurt you or anyone else and is gently returned to the zoo. Whew! You’re a writer, so of course you’re going to share this experience. How you tell the story, though, will be shaped by when you tell it. As it’s happening, your thoughts might narrate: It’s about time for another cup of coffee. I’ll just go—wait! Is that—it can’t be—a leopard? It’s staring at…

1 Taylor University’s Professional Writers’ Conference Hosted by the Professional Writing major at Taylor University, a Christian liberal arts college, this event is in its sixth year. WHEN: July 28–30, 2022. WHERE: Taylor University, Upland, Ind. PRICE: $139 (Fri.-Sat.); $139 teen (16+) track or advanced track (Thurs.- Fri.); $249 all (Thurs.-Sat.). Includes conference, meals on campus, one-on-one appointment with faculty, and one-on-one social media help if desired. On-campus housing is available for a fee, or there are hotels within three miles of campus. WHAT MAKES THIS CONFERENCE UNIQUE: “We have found our niche being a Midwest Christian conference that’s short, affordable, and a friendly and welcoming place for writers of all ages and experience levels,” says Director Linda Taylor. Offering an advanced track for those who want to take their…

CARTEN CORDELL is an award-winning journalist based in Northern Virginia. An Alabama native, Cordell holds bachelor’s degrees in history and journalism from Auburn University and a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He is now a content manager with Washington, D.C. public relations and marketing firm Sage Communications. His work has appeared in USA Today, Washington Business Journal, Defense News, Federal Times, FedScoop, Huff Post, and many other publications. When not writing, Cordell enjoys movies, travel, and attempting to manage his two sons with his wife. KIM LOUISE (she/her) is the author of 11 novels and five novellas. Her writing has been published by BET Books, Kensington Publishing, Third-World Press, and Harlequin Enterprises and has been nominated for awards in genre fiction. She is the recipient of…

POETIC FORM: CHANSO The chanso is a French form that offers poets a great deal of freedom—even as it sticks to some very defined rules. Here are the guidelines: • Five to six stanzas of the same length followed by an envoy (a brief stanza that ends French poetic forms such as the ballade or sestina) that’s roughly half of the size of the first five to six stanzas• Those first five to six stanzas can be as concise as couplets (or twoline stanzas) or have more than 10 lines• Each line should have the same number of syllables, but whether it’s five syllables, 15, or somewhere in between is up to the poet’s discretion So, as you can see, this form has a few strict rules that provide a…

Four Women; The Appeal of Ebony Jones; Love Never Fails; Adulting; Lessons We Were Never Taught; Beyond Bourbon Street (African-American fiction, women’s fiction, literary fiction, poetry, NEW Reads Publications) WHY SELF-PUBLISH? I spent months querying agents. Some sent back form rejections. Many didn’t respond at all.… I remembered seeing an article from ESSENCE magazine about why writers should consider self-publishing. I took it as a sign and began setting up an account on CreateSpace and BAM Publish.… I connected with the literary agents who liked the manuscript and wanted to represent me. I signed with them in December 2015.… By early fall of 2016, my agents began pitching to editors.… but in the end, there was no sale. Toward the end of that year, the Jacksonville Public Library announced its…

Liz Parker runs the publishing department at Verve Talent & Literary, an agency based in New York City and Los Angeles. She represents horror, upmarket and literary fiction, and select graphic novels and YA, as well as memoir, sociopolitical, narrative, and platform-driven nonfiction. Parker began her career in editorial, serving as an editorial assistant at Viking/Penguin, and ultimately as the publishing director at Counterpoint and Soft Skull Press. She was a scout with Maria B. Campbell Associates and spent three years with InkWell Management before joining Verve Talent & Literary in April 2018. “It’s really exciting to help someone launch their career,” she says. “My favorite exercise is to ask a client where they want to be in five years, and we walk backwards, step-by-step until we’re at the present…

Recently, I reached that point in a novel-inprogress—somewhere after page 30 and before page 50—when my story lost momentum. Once stranded like this, I usually start circling back to the earlier pages, sprucing them up, brightening characters, chiseling dialogue. Simple procrastination as I try to find an exciting way forward. I’m hesitant because I know all too well that many novels die out there in the long wintery tundra of the second act. Meandering in circles, blinded by a blizzard of characters and subplots and complications spawned. Outlining is often presented as a cure for this. Create a map! Follow the map, and survive the second act! But as a developmental editor, I’ve seen books based on splendid outlines still end up in terrible ruts, out there in that icy…

• A key tactic is to make decisions with a minimum of angst. We manufacture angst when we’re afraid we’ll make a mistake. Angst is a gumption trap: the endless weighing of options, objections, until all doubt is vanquished. If you have to know the outcome before committing to a path and it’s impossible to know, then you just sit there. If you sit there long enough, you’ll rot into the landscape. Recognize this, and accept mistakes here and there as the price of relaxed forward motion. • A deadline can help you get moving. Deadlines from publishers are especially motivating. We need this book by next April. You got this, right? Alternatively, set your own deadlines and go after them. • Perfectionism is your enemy. Dump it. • Making…

It’s always a surprise to learn which new poem and poet will win the Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards, but I always know it’s going to be a fun process. Even though it’s a challenge to narrow down a list of finalists and ultimately choose one winning poem, there’s an annually fulfilled promise of great reading. For the 16th Annual Writer’s Digest Poetry Awards, there were more than 1,100 entries. The poems covered a range of poetic forms, including sonnets, villanelles, and free verse. The subjects were just as diverse covering the big issues of 2021 (like the continuing pandemic and political drama), as well as timeless subjects (like experiencing romantic love or the admiration of cats). In the end, I selected Julie Novak-McSweeney’s “The Old Ones” for the First Place…

Sometimes I look around, and I am gobsmacked by the world. For entertainment alone, I have a smorgasbord of choices: YouTube, Netflix, TikTok, not to mention being determined to get out of the house after being cooped up for two years. I wonder in this world: How do we, as fiction writers, engage our readers in new, surprising, and captivating ways? One way I achieve this is by leaning into lessons on drama from my MFA in Stage and Screen. These lessons have sharpened the way I write fiction, and my work has more vibrancy and emotional richness as a result. DIALOGUE—THE SWISS ARMY KNIFE OF DRAMA In fiction, dialogue is the primary method we use to distinguish our characters. On the stage, the spoken word takes on a valiant…

The publishing world is filled with crossroads consisting of surprises and opportunities. How publishing worked when I started in the business as an intern in 2000 is not how it operates today. The landscape constantly changes for editors, but I love discovering what surprises authors the most about the publishing process. For instance, Michael P. Branch highlighted the process of gathering illustrations for his nonfiction book, On the Trail of the Jackalope: How a Legend Captured the World’s Imagination and Helped Us Cure Cancer, “The time and money it took to secure permissions for all the images I wanted to use surprised me. It was completely worth it, because the book’s insert of color illustrations is spectacular, but next time around I’ll budget twice as much time for that process.”…

As we contemplate what the “new normal” might look like, many long for the comfort of old routines. Naturally, conference attendees are concerned about health and safety, expecting assurances that the right measures are in place. It’s likely that everyone will have higher expectations for face-to-face events post-COVID—from hygiene to hybrid. Attendee registration and check-in may require the most modification, especially if the event requires proof of vaccination. Remember to pay attention to conference communications leading up to the event. Conference leaders are investing in safe experiences by creating breakout groups or workshop sessions that foster discussion and welcome remote contributors, some encouraging a more retreat-like environment that’s less intimidating than a big hall. I expect that hybrid meetings, with both virtual and in-person attendance, will be the standard as…

CONFERENCE GUIDE JULY/AUGUST 2022 • Keep in mind that there may be more than one workshop in each of the listings.• These workshops are listed alphabetically by state, country, or continent.• Unless otherwise indicated, rates include tuition (T) only. Sometimes the rates also include airfare (AF), some or all meals (M), accommodations (AC), ground transportation (GT), materials (MT), or fees (F).• When you find workshops that interest you, be sure to call, email, or check the website of the instructor or organization for additional information.• All listings are paid advertisements. CALIFORNIA ANNUAL GREATER LOS ANGELES WRITERS CONFERENCE, produced by West Coast Writers Conferences at the new Hilton Los Angeles, Westside Culver City. August 5–7, 2022. Writers of all genres and disciplines benefit from this popular educational and inspirational three-day event on…

WRITING PROMPTS FOR WHEN YOU OR YOUR CHARACTERS ARE AT A CROSSROADS YOUR CHARACTERS Make a deal with the devil (or an antagonist) to gain some new power, whether that’s being able to resurrect a loved one, have money, or play the guitar better than anyone living. Describe the possible obstacles waiting for your character if they take the “shortcut.” Then, describe the possible benefits if your character takes the “scenic route.” Explain what your character most wants at this crossroads. Are they trying to escape something? Are they pursuing someone? What will make their life better as they weigh their options? If you don’t know where to take your character next, go back to the last decision they made. List out the other possible choices they could have made…