CATEGORIES
What Is Your Story Question?
Revision and editing advice to take your first draft to the next level.
Writing for the People We Hope to Become
Elisa Stone Leahy's new middle-grade novel, Mallory in Full Color, tackles the in-between moments of adolescence, when who we are and who we want to become collide.
Creating Community
Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.
Pat Barker
The Booker Prize-winning author of Regeneration shares the role characters play in developing novel ideas and explains what appeals to her about reimagining mythology.
How to Write in Different Genres
Emiko Jean and Yulin Kuang share tips and strategies for how they successfully write in different genres and mediums.
The Shortest Distance Between Two Points
Ten tips for writing a novel with 100-word stories.
Mayfly Marketing
How to sell your novel in a short-attention-span world.
"You'll be a great essay".
How to write six types of personal essays by finding the funny in your life.
The Idea Factory
Tired of staring at an empty screen? Unlock your inner fiction generator with these surprising inspiration techniques.
Seinfeld Was Right: That's a Story
Use mundane moments from everyday life to create stories that pack a punch.
Writing for a Warming World - Imagining the overwhelming, the ubiquitous, the world-shattering.
Climate change is one of those topics that can throw novelists—and everyone else—into a fearful and cowering silence. When the earth is losing its familiar shapes and consolations, changing drastically and in unpredictable ways beneath our feet, how can we summon our creative resources to engage in the imaginative world-building required to write a novel that takes on these threats in compelling ways? And how to avoid writing fiction that addresses irreversible climate change without letting our prose get too preachy, overly prescriptive, saturated with despair?
Kids' Author Meg Medina Inspires Readers
WD chats with the National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature.
The Horrors of Grief
Whether hot off the presses or on the shelves for years, a good book is worth talking about.
The Mystery of Growing Up
New York Times-bestselling author Jasmine Warga tackles a new genre with her signature blend of empathy for her readers, agency for her characters, and the belief that art is the great connector.
Education
Even if it's not your thing, you're probably familiar with the term dark academia.
A Do-Over Romance
Karin Patton, the first-place winner of the 24th Annual Writer's Digest Short Short Story Awards, shares a funny story about secondchance love and a brief Q&A.
Everyday Wonder
How to mine awe from the mundane
From Ordinary to Extraordinary
Unveil the hidden beauty in the facts and transform your nonfiction with the power of wonder.
Childhood: Our Touchstone for Wonder
How to get in touch with Little You and create big new work for today.
Agent Roundup
22 agents share details, about what kind of writing will pique their interest and offer tips for querying writers...
Frontlist/ Backlist - Working For Justice - In this edition of Frontlist/ Backlist, we'll be looking at the first two books in a series by Robert Justice
In this edition of Frontlist/ Backlist, we'll be looking at the first two books in a series by Robert Justice. As such, the order will be reversed (Backlist/Frontlist), but I'll be sure to avoid any spoilers.
A Tale of Two Mice
Novelist Simon Van Booy tells the touching true story of how his pet mice inspired his newest novel, Sipsworth.
A New Perspective Goes a Long Way
How exploring different perspectives in the drafting phase story's unique angle.
Steven Rowley
The New York Timesbestselling author discusses reconnecting with old characters, balancing humor and heart, and his new release, The Guncle Abroad.
Searching for Answers in Faith, Poetry, and the Empty Forest
Calloway Song, winner of the 18th Annual Writer's Digest Poetry Awards, shares the story behind his winning poem, \"Songs of Gideon.\"
A Funny Thing Happened When I Fell From the Sky
Using magical realism and surrealism in your writing.
Choosing Violence
The secret to writing animal characters.
The Ecology of the Family
Build and leverage a family ecosystem to develop and deepen your fiction.
The Art of People-Watching
Advice for how observation can help you put people on the page.
Acting Against Their Nature
Four ways to create effective uncharacteristic behavior in your characters.