Indholdsfortegnelse for January 2019 i Writer's Digest

1 To Tell the Truth WD Interviewee Michael Lewis (Page 44) explains his decision to pursue journalism instead of fiction, and why the two categories have more overlap than most people may think. 2 Code Breaker For this month’s “Potpourri for the Pen” (Page 72), WD Content Director Jess Zafarris hid a Nora Roberts’ quote in a cryptogram. Test your cipher skills on the web with two more of her cunning creations. 3 Idea Overload In “What’s the Big Idea?” (Page 38), our editors provide more than a dozen techniques to help prompt your next story. If you’re hungry for more, find additional idea-inducing tricks online. To find all of the above online companions to this issue in one handy spot, visit writersdigest.com/jan-19 . CORRECTION In our…

PAUL GOAT ALLEN (“Cross-Pollination,” Page 31) has worked as a genre-fiction book critic for the last 20-plus years, and has written thousands of reviews for venues like BarnesandNoble.com, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews and The Chicago Tribune. He has interviewed such genre fiction luminaries as Michael Moorcock, Anne McCaffrey, Laurell K. Hamilton, Cherie Priest, China Miéville, Kim Harrison, Joe Hill, Patrick Rothfuss and Justin Cronin. He is also an adjunct instructor in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program in Greensburg, Pa. ESTELLE ERASMUS (“Defend Yourself From Coaching Scams,” Page 14) is a writing coach, award-winning journalist, former magazine editor-in-chief and instructor at NYU. She teaches personal essay writing, freelance writing and pitching for Writer’s Digest University, and curates and hosts the “ASJA Direct” podcast for the American Society of Journalists…

A native New Yorker, Wendy Levinson attended Amherst College and began her career on the editorial side of publishing—first at St. Martin’s Press, where she worked in the paperback division, and then for HarperCollins Publishers, where she assisted the editor-in-chief. After a stint as a literary scout, Levinson says she was lured into the motion-picture business, where she worked for producer Stanley Jaffe (the former head of Paramount Pictures, whose credits include Fatal Attraction, Kramer vs Kramer, The Bad News Bears, The Accused and Taps) for nearly a decade. After the move to Hollywood, Levinson—a self-described overgrown English major at heart—says she came to miss the world of book publishing. “I realized that my skills and love of working with writers and shaping narratives hewed closely to the skills of…

Among the most reliable ways to ratchet up suspense is to place your characters in danger. When we think of danger, we normally think of physical threats, but isolation leads to a more insidious kind of menace. Isolation is scary. We humans are social creatures, and when we are excluded from social interactions, we wither. Novelist John D. MacDonald, author of the bestselling Travis McGee mysteries, wrote that the heart of page-turning tension is conflict. That conflict can occur in a physical dimension, a mental dimension, a spiritual dimension, or any of those in combination. Secluding characters is a surefire way to build compelling conflicts—the foundation of suspense. But to do so effectively, you need to understand the underlying power of isolation. Isolation is not synonymous with loneliness. You can…

1 TRY “X MEETS Y” A popular formula for enticing agents in a query, this classic equation has traditionally been used as a marketing tool after your manuscript is finished to compare your book to other titles. But when reverse-engineered, it can actually be used as a device for idea generation as well. Start by listing out some of your favorite movies, TV shows and books, then look for ones that are the least like each other. Plug them into the formula, and you’ll soon be getting odd combos like “Raiders of the Lost Ark meets Back to the Future,” “Anna Karenina meets The Hate U Give” or “Pirates of the Caribbean meets A Game of Thrones.” Some mixes may seem dissonant on the surface, but remember that genre-blending is…

Dear FYSA, I’ve been reading your column for years and it’s very clear that you only sign things that you love. No offense, but why do you think that your taste in literature is the right taste? Signed, A Salty Scribe Dear Salty, If you had a hype crew behind you right now, they would all put their clenched fists in front of their mouths and go, “Ohhhh!” Then my hype crew would aggressively defend me by sneering and crossing their arms in an intimidating pose. But right now one crew member is eating a sandwich and the other is actually just a mop in a bucket, so I guess there will be no dance-off today. Look: It’s a fair question. It’s also a nuanced answer, however, because of the…

“The first draft of my second novel, Common Murder, began with five beautifully crafted chapters of backstory for my protagonist. When I sent it off to my agent, she said, ‘Lose the first five chapters. They’re lovely, but they don’t tell the story. Everything you’ve told us here can be fed in as and when we need to know it.’” That anecdote comes from bestselling crime writer Val McDermid, and it has a valuable lesson. Creating a back-story for your characters is critical to any novel you write regardless of genre, but it’s especially helpful in mysteries. In order for backstory to be effective, it must be layered and well-integrated with keen attention paid to when readers need to know specific information about your characters. Suppose you’re writing a novel…

“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” —Neale Donald Walsch When the above quote appeared in my Twitter stream, it gave me pause. “Comfort zone” is an expression we use often, but rarely do we contemplate how it affects our daily choices, both as writers and humans. “Comfort” implies safety and security—a warm and fuzzy place, akin to your grandma’s lap with the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking. Why would anyone want to push past that? I’ll tell you: Because getting comfortable in your comfort zone is dangerous. Resisting change paralyzes your writing and personal growth. Let’s call it what it really is: the “familiar zone.” Living life in familiarity isn’t living. It’s existing [insert yawn]. New York Times bestselling authors don’t write familiar stories; they push…

CALIFORNIA GENRE-LA™ CREATIVE WRITING CONFERENCE, February 22–24, 2019, Los Angeles, CA. The Conference for Literary and Screenwriters of Genre. Take your writing to the next level by learning the secrets of success from more than 30 published masters, literary agents, editors, publishers, bestselling authors, industry experts, Hollywood veterans, educators, and publishing professionals who will share their expertise to help guide you on the path to success over three days. No matter what you write, this is a unique opportunity to learn how to brainstorm and develop new ideas, visualize brave new worlds of wonder, create compelling memorable characters (both human and otherwise), plot and structure amazing story lines of imagination, and develop stand-alone award-winning novels, screenplays and graphic novels. Learn how to edit and polish your novels and screenplays, then…

MEMORY FOAM Structure is as crucial in memoir as it is in romance, thriller or historical fiction. Author Cheryl Suchors provides five considerations to help plot out your personal narrative. bit.ly/memoirstructureWD THE WOODWARD WAY Given the buzz surrounding his book Fear: Trump in the White House, this Q&A with Bob Woodward from the August 1996 Writer’s Digest is both enlightening and keenly relevant. bit.ly/bobwoodwardWD…

Samantha Downing 1 My Lovely Wife (thriller, March, Berkley) “Dexter” meets Mr. and Mrs. Smith in this dark thriller about a couple in a wealthy Florida town who, in order to break up the monotony of married life, select people to kidnap and murder together. WRITES FROM: New Orleans. PRE- WIFE: I saw a documentary about a couple who kidnapped a woman and locked her up for years. The wife [eventually] let her go. All crimes like this are led by a man. I wanted to write about a woman who instigated the crime. TIME FRAME: It took me six and a half months to write and revise the book. I wrote the first chapter while sitting in the Milwaukee airport in September 2016. The chapter remains almost the…

Imagine the haunting stories you could write based on the following quotes about isolation and the loneliness it engenders: “He is a man buried alive.” —Charles Dickens (after visiting a Pennsylvania prison) “It is strange to be known so universally and yet to be so lonely.” —Albert Einstein “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” —Henry David Thoreau “I was very depressed when I was 19. I would go back to my apartment every day and I would just sit there. It was quiet and it was lonely. It was still. It was just my piano and myself.” —Lady Gaga If you look at the lives of these luminaries, it’s odd to think they could possibly feel so alone. The lesson here is that we can never know…

1. SET YOUR TIMER FOR 15 MINUTES. Embrace what is called “stream-of-consciousness” writing. Just vomit out ideas. Write about your premise, your main character and/or your antagonist. 2. SET THE TIMER AGAIN. What does your hero want more than anything in the world? Write it out, along with the main goal of the story and a list of personal and professional goals your hero might have. (Fodder for potential subplots and conflicts.) 3. YOU GUESSED IT: SET THE TIMER AGAIN. What is your hero’s biggest fear? What could happen to your character to make them face those fears? Do they have a secret that could crash their world? A crucial desire or vice? Facing their internal wound is critical to their overall evolution in the story, allowing them to finally…

Out of more than 220 entries, Writer’s Digest editors and forum members chose this winner, submitted by KELSEY GILBERT of Monument, Colo. I notice too much. The cubicle walls join at not-quite-90-degree angles, creating a dull, fuzzy maze. The gray of them spreads like a bad attitude. A single red pushpin sneers from an otherwise blank wall. A paper cut makes somebody hiss. Above the drab landscape hangs the murmur of voices. Busy, bored, muted, with a thread of resentment—we’re all trapped in the Great American Rat Race. Calm, I tell myself. Soon. I take another bite of Muenster, another breath. I slip my high heels off and twist, slowly, in my office chair. I didn’t used to notice so many things. I used to be your average nine-to-fiver: Drive…

Nothing slows down a novel quite like large mounds of exposition and backstory. Exposition is material the author puts on the page to explain context. Backstory is story material that happened in the past but for some authorial reason is dropped in the present. When this kind of material appears in the middle of a scene it can slow the pace, sort of like a Mastodon trying to escape a hungry caveman by way of the tar pits. Now, not all exposition or backstory is bad. In fact, properly handled, they’re tremendously helpful for bonding readers with characters. But if they’re plopped down in large doses, and without a strategy in mind, they become a pool of hot goo where the story gets pitifully stuck. DEBUNKING MYTHS If backstory is…

1 San Diego State University Writers’ Conference Hone your literary skills at this long-running university-sponsored event in the Golden State. WHEN: Jan. 31–Feb. 2, 2019. WHERE: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel San Diego–Mission Valley. PRICE: $579. Early bird registration is $529 through Jan. 2. Writer’s Digest readers can enjoy a special rate of $479 through Dec. 14; enter discount code WD2019 at check out. Consultations with editors and agents and a pre-conference workshop led by Jonathan Maberry are available for an additional fee. See website for details. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: The event has a strong focus on educating tomorrow’s literary voices, connecting them with publishing professionals who can help them reach the next stage in their careers. “We cap attendance at 500 in order to maintain a good ratio…

Two months into my first year of college, a leg snapped off my desk chair while I was writing an essay. I’d blame it on the so-called freshman 15, but I’d been bulky long before then. My waistline had yo-yoed for most of my life—as a kid my jeans were labeled “husky”—and while I could establish short-lived healthy habits, it never lasted, and the weight would comeback twofold. Which is why, when holiday break rolled around and it was time to set goals for the year ahead, I took a different tack. My past attempts failed for one main reason: Exercise and healthy eating, at least in my experience, sucked. And it’s hard as hell to stay committed to a purpose when you hate the process. To hop that hurdle,…

I first started writing in the summer of 1998. Back then I was a teacher. After years of dreaming, I decided it was finally time to write a book. For 10 years I wrote, submitting four middle-grade novels and six picture books almost exclusively to editors. This was back in the snail-mail querying age. Remember the anticipation you experienced as a child waiting for birthday presents to arrive in the mail? That was me for the better part of a decade. In Spring 2009, at the last minute, I decided to submit a middle-grade historical novel-in-verse to a competition at a local writing conference. I knew in my heart that it was my best work, but I wasn’t sure how it would be received alongside pieces meant for the adult…

POETIC FORM: DESCORT Imagine a poetic form in which you can write whatever you want. That almost describes the descort, which is distinct from other poetic forms through its own internal differentiation. In fact, the guiding principle of the descort is that each line should be different from the other lines in the poem. A descort offers up different line lengths and meters, and it avoids end rhymes and refrains. Stanzas should vary as well. Note that this is different from free verse, because even free verse may occasionally have similar line lengths and meter. However, descort is very intentional in its variability. Here is a three-stanza descort by a Poetic Asides reader. Frost opposite, by K Weber Glass is tambourine sound. She sells shoeshines by the front…

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING BIG FIVE WHO THEY ARE: • Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan (each has dozens of imprints). WHO THEY WORK WITH: • Authors who write works with mainstream appeal, deserving of nationwide print retail distribution in bookstores and other outlets. • Celebrity-status or brand-name authors. • Writers of commercial fiction or genre fiction, such as romance, mystery/crime, thriller/ suspense, science fiction and fantasy, young adult, children’s. • Nonfiction authors with a significant platform (visibility to a readership). VALUE FOR AUTHOR: • Publisher shoulders financial risk. • Publisher will pursue all possible subsidiary rights and licensing deals worldwide. • Physical-bookstore distribution nearly assured, in addition to other physical-retail opportunities (big-box, specialty). • Best chance of mainstream media coverage and reviews. HOW TO APPROACH: • Almost always…

Not all isolation can be divided into neat categories. People often experience a combination of physical or social isolation. Immigrants, for instance, who are fearful of not fitting in or who are undocumented may physically segregate themselves, resulting in social isolation. In Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s 2013 novel, Americanah, Nigerian immigrant Ifemelu finds herself in the United States, confused, lonely and broke. Meanwhile her lover, Obinze, is in London, undocumented and in constant danger. Their experiences challenge their definition of success—only when they find their way back to their homeland can they shake off the mantle of alienation. Likewise, some tragedies are overwhelming and lead to both physical and social isolation. We see this in Edgardo Vega Yunqué’s No Matter How Much You Promise to Cook or Pay the Rent You…

Whether by luck or an innate synchronicity, Michael Lewis often finds himself on the precipice of moments that shift the axis just slightly—but reshape the world in their wake. Through the collapse of the housing market in 2010’s The Big Short, the introduction of big data to the nation’s pastime in 2003’s Moneyball, or the root of behavioral economics in 2016’s The Undoing Project, Lewis rides the seemingly imperceptible edges of epochs to chronicle the point where the tide ebbed, often discovering riches hidden underneath. It’s a skill he’s been honing for decades. The 58-year-old nonfiction bestseller first cut his narrative teeth as a bond salesman, witnessing the heady descent of the investment bank Salomon Brothers from Wall Street juggernaut to financial sector cautionary tale, detailed in his 1989 debut,…

WRITE A SHORT STORY of 650 words or fewer based on the photo prompt below. You can be poignant, funny, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story. TO ENTER: Send your story via the online submission form at writersdigest.com/your-story-competition or via email to yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com (entries must be pasted directly into the body of the email; attachments will not be opened). NOTE: WD editors select the top five entries and post them on our website (writersdigest.com/your-story-competition). Join us online in January when readers will vote to help rank the winners! The winner will be published in a future issue of Writer’s Digest . DON’T FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person. DEADLINE: January 7, 2019…

You board a bus full of people. Each of them has a reason to be here, just like you do. That reason—where they’re going and what they’re hoping will happen when they arrive—is what matters right now. Their entire life history does not. Backstory and history are not the same thing. History is all that has happened to those people on the bus before today. Backstory is that fraction of a fraction of a fraction of their history that’s relevant to them being here, now, riding this specific bus to a specific bus stop for a specific reason. You won’t know your protagonist’s backstory until you realize which details are significant to your book—and that probably won’t happen until you’ve finished your first draft, since only then will you know…

• Give yourself more planning time than you think you need. Conferences don’t come together in a day or week—they require months of careful preparation. When setting the date for your event, make sure you build sufficient time into your schedule to arrange your venue, schedule guests, and so on. For perspective, we start about nine months out. • Form a planning committee, then delegate. By spreading around specific responsibilities, everything gets done in a timely fashion and no one has to shoulder the burden alone. Individual committees may include Registration, Promotion, Programming, Catering, Book Sales and A/V Tech. • Big names are great, but experience is a better value. Sure, award-winning Author X may have sold a million books, but does she have anything of importance to offer aspiring…

JANUARY 2019 • Keep in mind that there may be more than one workshop in each listing. • 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.…