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5
Tips for Evoking Emotion in Writing
No matter what genre we write in, we all have the same
goal—we want to bring our readers along for the journey. How do we get
there? By reeling them in with their emotions. Think about your novel
as a roller coaster. Sounds odd, but trust me.
(Emotion
vs. Feeling: How to Evoke More From Readers)
Here are my top five tips for evoking emotion in readers. Read the
full article...
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For writers in
all genres at all levels. Talks, writing
groups, one-to-ones with literary agents, keynotes: Diana Gabaldon
(Outlander) and author/illustrator, Chris Riddell, and more!
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Writing Mistakes: Careless Character Names
Choosing
the names for the characters in your story is a big deal. Not only do
you have to live with them through the months (or years) it takes you
to draft and edit your story, you’ll also have to live with them
throughout the publication and promotion process (which, if you’re
lucky, will last you through a long and successful writing career).
And, so will your readers.
(7 Rules
for Picking Names of Fictional Characters.)
The
last thing you want to do is choose a name that carries little to no
meaning or that you’ll hate to hear for years to come. You can’t
predict how readers will react to the names you choose, but if you
choose a name with meaning, that can help readers overcome their
personal associations with the name (hello, high school nemesis…). Read
More...
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This Week in Writing
3/15—H.P.
Lovecraft died 1937
3/16—Alice Hoffman born 1952 (10
Hoffman Quotes for Writers)
3/17—Andre Norton died 2005
3/18—George
Plimpton born 1927
3/18—John Updike born 1932
3/19—Philip Roth born 1933
3/19—Arthur
C. Clarke died 2008 (How to
Write a Science Fiction Novel)
3/20—Henrik Ibsen born 1828
3/20—Lewis Grizzard died 1994
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Robert Lee
Brewer
Robert Lee
Brewer is a senior editor for Writer's Digest and former editor
of the Writer's Market book series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry Journal
and Solving the
World's Problems. Find him on Twitter at @RobertLeeBrewer
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Active Interest Media
P.O. Box 20730 Boulder, Colorado, 80308 USA
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Active Interest Media, P.O. Box 20730, Boulder, Colorado
80308, USA
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How do you hook an
agent right away, keep them hooked, and make the most of your new
publishing relationship? In this
boot camp, you'll learn how to get a literary agent’s
attention through a great submission, and also how to navigate the
process of working successfully with an agent. You’ll also work with an
agent online to review and refine your all-important query letter and
the first five pages of your novel.
Work directly with
an agent from the comfort of your home!
Your
Registration Includes:
- 60-minute
online tutorial presented by agents at the Sandra Dijkstra
Literary Agency
- Online
Q&A session hosted by the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency
- Networking
opportunities with your peers
- Feedback
from an agent on your first five pages and query letter
Get personalized
feedback from agents with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary
Agency! If your submission shows promise, they may ask you for
additional pages.
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Starts Tomorrow!
March 16-19, 2021
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This Week's
Boot Camp:
How to Find and Keep
a Literary Agent
with Sandra
Dijkstra Literary Agency
March 16-19, 2021
How do you hook an agent right away, keep them hooked,
and make the most of your new publishing relationship? In this boot
camp, you'll learn how to get a literary agent’s attention through a
great submission as well as how to work with them successfully. Agent
feedback on your first five pages and query letter is included!
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This Week's
Webinar:
What Agents and
Editors are Looking for in First Pages
with Katie
Shea Boutillier
March 18, 1:00 PM EST
The importance of first pages in query submissions can't
be overstated. Your ultimate goal is to make sure your readers (agent,
editors, and beyond) are into your work immediately. In this webinar,
literary agent Katie Shea Boutillier will provide a step-by-step
demonstration on the importance of strong first pages, focusing on
voice, tone, mood, setting, urgency, pace, description, dialogue, and a
natural approach to your characters.
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Courses
Starting This Week:
Advanced Novel
Writing
Instructor:
Mark Spencer
Push yourself beyond your comfort zone
and take your writing to new heights with this novel writing workshop,
designed specifically for novelists who are looking for detailed
feedback on their work. When you take this online workshop, you won't
have weekly reading assignments or lectures. Instead, you'll get to
focus solely on completing your novel.
Pitch
an Article: Write for Today's Marketplace
Instructor:
Estelle Erasmus
No matter what kind of article you want to write, a good pitch letter
will get you noticed by an assigning editor. This intensive two-week
course will teach you how to craft a good pitch letter and do it well.
Outlining
Your Novel
Instructor: G.
Miki Hayden
Writers often look upon outlines with fear and trembling. But when
properly understood and correctly used, the outline is one of the most
powerful weapons in a writer's arsenal. In this course, you’ll
brainstorm plot ideas, discover your characters, and explore what type
of outline is right for you.
Writing
Women's Fiction
Instructors: Terri
Valentine
You’re not sure how to describe women’s fiction, but when you read it,
you know that’s the kind of novel you want to write. In this course,
you will learn how to identify a story idea that falls under the
women’s fiction umbrella, create or strengthen a protagonist who will
propel her story forward, and more!
Writing
the Memoir 101
Instructor: Gloria
Kempton
The goal of this course is to teach you how to structure your stories,
develop your storytelling skills, and give you the tips, techniques,
and knowledge to adapt your own life stories into a chronological
memoir. Learn how to write a powerful memoir that will engage readers
for years to come.
Writing
the Picture Book
Instructor:
Holly Alder
Picture books are one of the most delightful—and important—genres in
all of literature. In this course, you'll learn how to write a winning
picture book narrative, envision it with illustrations, and put
together a picture package that a publisher will really notice.
Form
and Composition
Instructor:
Kelly Boyer Sagert
Proper grammar, punctuation, and mechanics make your writing correct.
In order to truly write well, you must also master the art of form
and composition. From sentence structure to polishing your prose, this
workshop will enhance your writing, no matter what type of writing you
do.
Freelance
Writing for Stay at Home Moms (and Dads)
Instructor:
Terri Valentine
Have you wanted to become a writer, but let your busy life get in the way
of writing? Here’s your chance to launch a freelance writing career –
and complete writing jobs from home.
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Upcoming
Virtual Conference:
7th Annual Mystery
and Thriller Virtual Conference
with 7
Award-Winning Authors
March 26-28, 2021
Gain expert insights from SEVEN award-winning and
best-selling authors on the finer points of how to write within the
mystery and thriller genres. Spend the weekend learning techniques for
honing your craft from seven different published authors, then pitch
your novel via query letter to a literary agent specifically looking
for material in the mystery or thriller genre.
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Upcoming
Webinars:
The Picture Book
Puzzle: Writing, Revising, and Querying Your Picture Book Manuscript
with Maria
Vicente
April 1, 1:00 PM EST
Join Maria Vicente and get your picture book on the
shelves. This webinar includes a live presentation, a Q&A session,
and a critique of your children's picture book manuscript that will
help you write, revise, and pitch your picture book long after the webinar
is over.
Writing & Selling
the Historical Novel: From Idea to Publication
with Gina
Panettieri
April 29, 1:00 PM EST
Writing and Selling the Historical Novel is a crash
course jam-packed with advice from the start of your novel to the
finish, from picking a concept with immediate appeal to pitching your
finished product to the agents and editors who will take it to
publication.
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EXPERT INSTRUCTORS | CONVENIENT ACCESS
INVALUABLE FEEDBACK
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Everyone Has What It Takes:
Writing Fearlessly, Ending Self-Doubt, Owning Your
Confidence
In this full-day workshop, William Kenower—author of Fearless
Writing and Everyone Has What It Takes, will guide students through the many
emotional blocks that keep all of us, regardless of our
experience level, from accessing our inherent genius, and
telling our best stories. In addition to Kenower’s teachings, there will be a number of
writing exercises where students both address the emotional
challenges that stand in the way of their craft, as well as
learn new techniques to free up their creativity.
Attendees will learn:
- Why they don’t have to care what
other people think of their work.
- The only two questions a writer
ever needs to ask.
- How best to harness the creative
power of our unique curiosity.
- Why failure isn’t real.
- How to get into and stay in the
creative flow.
- How to know when the Muse is
speaking and when she isn’t.
- How to market our work fearlessly.
- And why writing a story can teach
us how to live our most authentic lives.
Remember:
It’s not a question of whether you have it, only
whether you’re willing to use it.
Register for
just the Thursday workshop or add it onto your basic conference
registration at a discounted price. Seats are limited, so don’t delay!
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40 Plot Twist
Prompts for Writers
Writing Ideas for Bending Your Stories in New Directions
Have you hit a wall on your work-in-progress? Maybe you
know where you want your characters to end up, but don’t know how to
get them there. Or, the story feels a little stale but you still
believe in it. Adding a plot twist might be just the solution.
Plot twists can spin your story in a new direction and keep your
readers turning the pages to see what happens next. With this collection
of 40 plot twist prompts from Senior WD Editor Robert Lee
Brewer, you’ll be able to experiment to see which plot twist works best
for your story. Alternatively, if you’ve been experiencing writer’s
block, use one of the prompts to begin a new tale. Either way, your
story will thank you.
Perfect for novelists of any genre, the prompts include:
- Sudden disappearances
or appearances
- Unexplained phenomena
and unexpected powers
- Trips and journeys (and
blocked passages)
- Magic, monsters, and
missing items
- And so much
more!
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Active Interest Media
P.O. Box 20730 Boulder, Colorado, 80308 USA
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This month, we're focusing on #WDmystery,
#WDthriller, and #WDsuspense. Here are some tips from
industry experts on these popular genres.
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Mystery, thriller, and suspense novels have
been—and remain—popular.
But to pitch the right agents, you first need to know
exactly what it is you’re pitching. In this article from
2019, award-winning author David Corbett lays out the
differences between all these subgenres.
David Corbett, WritersDigest.com,
March 2019
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One of the first things to consider when
setting out is what kinds of expectations your story
creates so you can go about gratifying readers in
surprising ways.
This is particularly true of writing in a
genre, where conventions can seem ironclad—or all too often
degrade into formula. And formula, by definition, surprises
no one.
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The suspense genres in particular have a
number of seemingly hard and fast rules that a writer
defies at his peril. And yet the most satisfying mysteries,
thrillers, and crime stories find a way to create a new
take on those rules to fashion something fresh,
interesting, original. In other words, while you don’t want
to mistakenly pitch your cozy mystery to an agent who wants
only high-octane thrillers, you also want to make sure that
when you connect with that cozy-loving agent, she’ll be
jumping to sign you because your cozy stands out from the
rest.
Here’s a map to help you navigate subgenre
subtleties.
Read the full article on our
website...
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Moriah Richard is an editor at Writer’s
Digest with a particular interest in discussing craft
and genre. As a reader, she’s most interested in horror,
fantasy, and romance, although she will read just about
anything with a great hook. Find Moriah on Twitter @MoriahRichard93.
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What Agents and Editors are Looking for
in First Pages
The importance of first pages in query submissions can't be
overstated. In this webinar, literary agent Katie Shea
Boutillier will provide a step-by-step demonstration on the
importance of strong first pages, focusing on voice, tone,
mood, setting, urgency, pace, description, dialogue, and a
natural approach to your characters.
Learn more and
register...
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It’s time
that self-published authors earn the respect they deserve. All
that time you spent writing and rewriting, editing, and making
your own choices about covers, layout, and distribution
shouldn’t go unnoticed!
That’s why Writer’s Digest has been honoring self-publishing
writers for 29 years with the Self-Published Book Awards.
Here’s the
scoop: Submit your self-published, printed and bound book in
one of eight categories (mainstream/literary fiction, genre fiction,
nonfiction/reference, inspirational, life stories, early
reader/children’s picture books, middle-grade/young adult,
poetry) for a chance at:
- A Grand Prize
package that includes $8,000, a trip to New York City for
the Annual Writer’s Digest Conference and a feature
article about you and your book in the March/April 2022
issue of Writer’s
Digest.
- One of eight
First Place prize packages that include $1,000 in each
respective category and promotion in the March/April 2022
issue of Writer’s
Digest.
Every
entrant will also receive a brief commentary from one of our
qualified readers—all who have experience in their respective
categories and/or the publishing world.
Ready to earn the recognition you deserve? Send us your book,
which must have been published between 2016 and now, and we’ll
take care of the rest. You’ll be well on your way!
The best deal on entering will expire on April 1, so enter now!
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In this issue, learn why trying to write for
everyone is a common mistake (and how to avoid it), find
a new agent alert, get writing goals for the pandemic
countdown, and more!
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Don't Try to Write for Everyone
There are times when common sense would
direct us to take one action when another action is
actually better. Such is the case when thinking about who
your target audience is. Common sense would probably lead
a writer to think that the best target audience is the
largest audience, so write for everyone. However, writing
for everyone is often the same as writing for nobody.
Read the full article...
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Craft & Business of Writing
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New Agent Alert: Kathryn Willms
Kathryn Willms of The Rights Factory is
seeking "Nonfiction that informs, inspires,
delights, or surprises. As a generalist who simply likes
'good books,' she's open to a variety of genres,
including history; culture and current affairs; sports;
biography and memoir; women's issues; health and wellness;
food and drink; self-improvement." Read More...
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10 Writing Goals for the Pandemic Countdown
It seems safe to say that after a year of
lockdown, normal life finally shimmers on the not too
distant horizon. Maybe you've spent the past 12 months
simply surviving, working, and taking care of your
family, itching for an hour to write. Possibly you've enjoyed
vast stretches of solo time, but maybe no motivation to
put pen to paper or to open your digital document.
Whatever your pandemic situation, you're not alone if you
feel FOMO about writing objectives left unaccomplished. Read More...
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Write What You Love, Not What You Know
Every time I sit down to start a new book, I
ask myself the same question: If I were to walk into a
bookstore or library, what book would I want to read? And
I try to write that.
Read More...
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Send Your Work to
2nd Draft Critique Services!
No matter your style or genre, Writer's
Digest Shop offers a high-level view of your writing.
Gain a critique of your manuscript, query letter,
synopsis, and more! Click here
to learn more >>
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How to Co-Author a Book
Every few months, we would find a rental
cottage somewhere between our respective hometowns and
book it out for a long weekend. These get-togethers were
where the project kicked off properly, and where all the
subsequent big decisions took place. In truth, I don’t
think we wrote a single sentence on these weekends. Read More...
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Robert
Lee Brewer
Robert Lee Brewer is a senior editor for Writer's
Digest and former editor of the Writer's Market book
series. He is also the author of Smash Poetry
Journal and Solving the World's Problems.
Find him on Twitter at @RobertLeeBrewer
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No matter your genre, we have top tips for
handling the emotion in your manuscript and how to work
with others.
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The March/April 2021
issue of Writer's
Digest is showing up in mailboxes and will
soon be available at retailers. Get a sneak peek of the
new columns we're introducing with the expanded page
count! Read the full article...
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Write Better First Drafts
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Copyediting
Certificate Program
Writer's
Digest University
This workshop will provide training for
aspiring copy editors in order to give them practical and
marketable workplace skills. If you complete all the
assignments and pass the comprehensive test, you will
receive documentation from Writer's Digest of your
completion of the Copyediting
Certificate Program. Learn More...
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Moriah
Richard is an editor at Writer’s
Digest with a particular interest in discussing
craft and genre. As a reader, she’s most interested in
horror, fantasy, and romance, although she will read just
about anything with a great hook. Find Moriah on Twitter @MoriahRichard93.
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