F+W, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA
Our most prestigious
award will have almost 500 winners.
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For 88 years,
Writer’s Digest has been looking for and shining the light on new and
up-and-coming writers in any genre or category.
And it’s that time
again—we’re looking for writing that strikes and grabs us, that we can’t put
down. We’re looking for standout writing in any and all of the following
categories:
- inspirational/spiritual
- memoirs/personal essays
- print or online article
- genre short story (think romance, thriller, mystery,
sci-fi, etc.)
- mainstream/literary short story
- rhyming poetry
- non-rhyming poetry
- script (think stage play or television/movie script)
- children’s/young adult fiction
That’s a lot of
options, but we’re sure something you’ve written or are writing will fit in.
And we’ve seen a wide range of winners in the past several years. Just be
sure to check our website for entry details—we have strict word count
restrictions for each category.
So, how will this
competition help you? That’s easy. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000
in cash, a trip to New York City for the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference,
and an interview for a feature article in our magazine. Nine first place
winners in each category receive $1,000, nine second place winners in each
category win $500, and on and on!
Ready to be the next
writer we spotlight? Enter by May 6
for the best price!
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F+W, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA
Join Steven James at
#WDC19 this August in NYC!
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You slide behind the steering wheel, slip
your key into the ignition and…nothing happens. You twist it back and forth,
pound the dashboard a few times and utter words that would make a nightclub
comedian blush.
But still, nothing happens. The battery is dead. And you’re not going
anywhere until you get a jump start.
We all know what it takes to jump-start a car, but what do you do when you
slide behind the computer, slip your fingers onto the keyboard and…nothing
happens? You sweat and squirm, pound your desk and curse at the cursor, but
it doesn’t do any good. Your story is stalled out. Your writing isn’t going
anywhere.
Most of us know what it feels like to be uncreative — our ideas are stale and
dry, our writing is boring and predictable. We long to come up with ideas and
stories that are fresh, original, inventive and spontaneous.
But how do you jump-start your brain?
Explore your L.I.F.E.
When you don’t know where else to turn, explore L.I.F.E., an acronym for
Literature, Imagination, Folklore and Experience. L.I.F.E. is a limitless
well of ideas waiting to be tapped.
Coax new stories from classic plots by setting them in a different time and
place; examine your imagination for themes that pique your interest; search
through the timeless motifs of myth, fairy tale and folklore; scour the
expanses of your own experience to spark new ideas. Let your memories come
alive!
Some memories inspire us, others haunt us. Some memories cling to things we
own, others hover around places we’ve been. Start with what you have, then
nurture that fragment of memory: your teacher’s face, the smell of your
grandmother’s cookies, the charming way your father used to whistle, the
chill in your soul as you rushed to the hospital, the taste of salt spray that
summer at the ocean, how it felt to hold your daughter’s hand for the first
time. Turn those memories over in your mind, flesh them out, allow them to
breathe.
Every vivid memory is a garden of ripe ideas waiting to be harvested. Read More...
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The Writer’s Digest
Annual Conference offers everything you need to advance your writing career
creatively and professionally. Gain invaluable tips to improve your craft,
explore publishing options and learn how to establish a sustainable
career—all while being inspired by successful authors and your fellow
attendees. And it’s all brought to you by Writer’s Digest, the experts at nurturing
and developing writers at every stage of their career for 100 years. Register
today for your best price and join us at the Hilton Midtown in New York City
from August 23-25, 2019!
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F+W, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA
The good, the bad
and the wildly outdated.
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In this edition of the Writer's Digest
newsletter, step back in time to writing advice from the late 1920s. Plus,
discover a new Your Story contest, clever insights from a debut author, and
tips for better character development.
– Jess Zafarris
Follow @jesszafarris
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The Good, the Bad, and the Wildly Outdated: 14
Short Fiction Writing Tips from 1929
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In the nearly 100
years that Writer’s Digest has been shepherding writers through
their careers, the magazine has published countless tips on the craft of
writing. Some timeless fiction writing tips are great advice for writers to
follow no matter the year. Others don’t age as well, shedding light on how
readers’ tastes and publishing trends have evolved over the last century.
In WD Contributing Editor Don Vaughan’s recent article for the Writer’s Digest May/June 2019 issue, he gives an
overview of the various types of magazines published during the 20th
century and the lessons fiction and nonfiction writers alike can learn from
the styles of storytelling these magazines pioneered.
Vaughan’s exploration of the men’s adventure magazines popular in the
1940s-1960s unearthed a classic writing tip from Fiction House, Inc. Managing
Editor Jack Byrne. In "The Way to the Fiction House Market," an
article he penned for the August 1929 issue of Writer’s Digest, Byrne gave this advice for
writers looking to break into any of the 11 men’s adventure magazines
published by the now-defunct Fiction House:
"We must have a
good, fast opening. Smack us within the first paragraph. Get our interest
aroused. Don’t tell us about the general geographic situation or the
atmospheric conditions. Don’t describe the hero’s physique or the kind of
pants he wears. Start something!"
This quote from Byrne is often cited in many anthologies and studies of men’s
adventure magazines. While they can no longer be found on newsstands (unless
you’re shopping in an antique mall), Byrne’s advice still holds up for any
type of fiction today. An intense opening hooks readers and increases the
changes that they’ll remain hooked, wanting to find out how your story
unfolds from there.
Yet, some of the tips from Byrne’s article don’t hold up as well as the above
for various reasons. After unearthing the full 1929 article, WD editors have
selected their favorite vintage fiction writing tips from the piece -- the
good, the bad and the just plain silly.
"Build your plots
so that action can be continuous. Picture your story as a succession of
action scenes that will unfold a situation and solve it in the climax. It may
help you if you think of your plot as a movie director would visualize it if
he were making a six-reeler. Ask yourself what scene he would use as an
opening to get immediate attention and interest -- what continuity would he
follow -- from what angle would he shoot various scenes to get his best
effects?"
While Byrne’s assumption that all movie directors are male doesn’t hold up
(sorry, Greta Gerwig), action writing is still a good quality to strive for
in your writing. Readers expect to be dropped into the middle of the action
at the beginning of a story. Don’t bog them down with the details that led up
to that point. If you’re stuck wondering where the action of a scene is, it
couldn’t hurt to try looking at it as if you were a director (who can be any
gender) filming a movie.
"Study our
magazines. It is the one surest way to familiarize yourself with the special
formula of each of our publications. And we mean study! Don’t just read the
stories -- dissect them, find the qualities in them that made us buy
them!"
For fiction and nonfiction writers, this remains true of any magazine or
literary journal you’d like to submit your work to. Most writers will
probably read (or skim) a few pieces from publications before submitting
their own writing to the editors. However, you greatly increase your chances
of getting published by figuring out what makes pieces from the publication
unique and adapting your work to better nail the style and tone that
publication seeks. Read More...
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WIN A FREE EVALUATION OF YOUR MANUSCRIPT’S FIRST 30 PAGES by acclaimed story coach
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Write Better. Get Published.
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Debut author Joanne
Ramos talks about letting herself get lost in the world of her book, when she
knew to let others in and when to let The
Farm out into the world. Read More...
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Write the opening
line to a story based on the photo prompt for your chance to be featured in Writer's Digest Magazine.
You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.
Read More...
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Dan Goforth shares
the journey from script to Neflix of the story of professional barrel racer
and inspirational speaker Amberley Snyder is brought to the screen in Walk. Ride. Rodeo. Read More...
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Register for Pikes Peak Writers Conference May 3 -
5.
Anne Bishop, John Gilstrap, Rachel Howzell Hall and Susan Wiggs! Pitch
Acquiring Editors and Agents.
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Take a walk around
the block near your home or work, and note the pieces of litter and discarded
items you find along the way. Write a story or a scene based on the items you
see lying around. Read More...
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How can you make
your characters -- flaws and all -- people that your readers can’t forget?
Aaron Bauer explains. Read More...
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F+W, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA
Our most prestigious
award will have almost 500 winners.
|
|
|
For 88 years,
Writer’s Digest has been looking for and shining the light on new and
up-and-coming writers in any genre or category.
And it’s that time
again—we’re looking for writing that strikes and grabs us, that we can’t put
down. We’re looking for standout writing in any and all of the following
categories:
- inspirational/spiritual
- memoirs/personal essays
- print or online article
- genre short story (think romance, thriller, mystery,
sci-fi, etc.)
- mainstream/literary short story
- rhyming poetry
- non-rhyming poetry
- script (think stage play or television/movie script)
- children’s/young adult fiction
That’s a lot of
options, but we’re sure something you’ve written or are writing will fit in.
And we’ve seen a wide range of winners in the past several years. Just be
sure to check our website for entry details—we have strict word count
restrictions for each category.
So, how will this
competition help you? That’s easy. The grand prize winner will receive $5,000
in cash, a trip to New York City for the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference,
and an interview for a feature article in our magazine. Nine first place
winners in each category receive $1,000, nine second place winners in each
category win $500, and on and on!
Ready to be the next
writer we spotlight? Enter by May 6
for the best price!
|
|
|
F+W, 10151
Carver Road, Suite 300, Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA
|
|
|
|
|
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