Innehållsförteckning för January 2018 från Writer's Digest

1 Man on the Moon Realistic sci-fi is a hot genre, and perhaps no one is more responsible for its meteoric rise than The Martian author Andy Weir (WD Interview, Page 42). In these outtakes, Weir offers a peek into the research process for his moon colony–set follow-up, Artemis. 2 Better Off Dead For those who want a hand in how their writing is handled posthumously, preparation is essential. Building on Jennifer Roland’s steps for securing your digital assets (“Ever-Afterword,” Page 14), Richard D. Bank advises how to manage your writing estate in your will. 3 Book Bets To promote a spirit of support across the writing community, we asked 10 established authors to name their most anticipated books for the coming year (“Pay It Forward,” Page 40). In this…

DEB CALETTI (“Making It Matter,” Page 20) is an award-winning author and National Book Award finalist. Her many books for young adults include Stay, Essential Maps for the Lost and Honey, Baby, Sweetheart—winner of the Washington State Book award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Best Book Award and a finalist for the PEN USA Award. Her books for adults include He’s Gone, The Secrets She Keeps and her latest, What’s Become of Her. Caletti lives with her family in Seattle. DAVID CORBETT (“What Would You Do?” Page 32) is the award-winning author of the writing guide The Art of Character (Elizabeth Brundage calls it a “writer’s bible”) and six novels, including the forthcoming The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday. His short fiction has been selected twice for “The Best…

I’d like to think when my daughter—who is now 7 years old—accepts the Nobel Prize in Literature, she’ll say something like, “Even though I hated my dad for lying to me all those years, I’d like to thank him for it today.” Because the truth is, I’m a little nervous about it now. I write speculative fiction, creating worlds, people and creatures that don’t otherwise exist. And I’m afraid that has bled over into my parenting. In our house, along with the standards—Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy—and supporting characters like Elf on the Shelf and leprechauns, we also have aliens that like cookies, toys that come to life and a fairy that lives in the walls. Like most other families, the majority of these characters are seasonal. The leprechauns…

Our words will live on long after we’re gone. As writers, that’s both a blessing and curse. Mulling over death is never pleasant, yet if you want your literary legacy to endure postmortem, it’s a necessity. Perhaps you’ve already thought through what to do with your unpublished works, or how your heirs can earn ongoing royalties from your published pieces. (If not, learn how to handle your print estate at writers digest.com/jan-18 .) But what about intangible digital assets? Who’s going to make sure everyone on your email list receives notifications? What about social media followers and the contacts in your personal email account? Here are five steps to ensure your assets are covered. 1. TAKE STOCK Make a secure list of your social media and email accounts. Include scheduling…

Megan Close Zavala grew up in a family of bibliophiles in the Washington, D.C., area. After graduating from the University of Hartford, she moved to Los Angeles to work in the entertainment industry—fulfilling a lifelong dream. But after seven years at various studios and networks, she needed a change. “[At that time] my husband serendipitously took a job working on a film in India, so we moved there for close to a year,” she says. “To say the trip was transformational is an understatement and, after traveling all over Southeast Asia, I came back to the U.S. determined to formally enter the publishing world.” She began working at Keller Media as an assistant before being promoted to agent in 2015. Find Zavala online at kellermedia.com, or on Twitter at @MeganCloseKMI.…

PARAGRAPHING IS AN ELEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL STYLE: YOU ARE IN CHARGE OF WHAT A PARAGRAPH SHOULD DO OR WHAT SHAPE IT SHOULD TAKE. Paragraphing in fiction writing doesn’t follow rules. Like storytelling itself, it is artistically liberated, and that liberation gives it the potential to contribute to the story’s aesthetic appeal. Paragraphs build a story segment by segment. They establish and adjust the pace while adding subtle texture. They convey mood and voice. They help readers visualize the characters and the way they think and act by regulating the flow of their thoughts and actions. If you associate paragraphing with your middle school English composition classes, you’re not alone. The typical drill: Open with a topic sentence, follow with three or more (but not too many more) lines of support—all…

Forcing a character to make a devastating choice instantly engages readers. Examples abound, from ancient stories to contemporary fiction: • A ship’s commander must choose between two grave perils, each of which will cause men to die; turning back is not an option. (The Odyssey) • A young nobleman must choose between his heart and his family’s honor; pursuing one means losing the other. (Le Cid) • A young mother must choose which of her two children will go to the death camp, and which to the labor camp; if she fails to choose, both will die. (Sophie’s Choice) Why are we so drawn to characters who find themselves in such states of desperation? When a decision must be made among options that have abhorrent, even disastrous consequences, the ultimate…

“I can’t wait for my former student Seth Kugel’s The Intrepid Traveler (MARCH 2018). Anyone who has read his great New York Times Frugal Traveler columns knows he is smart, hilarious and spills all the secrets of the cheap travel he loves to do for work and play.” —SUSAN SHAPIRO, author of What’s Never Said “The title alone is enough to make me preorder Beowulf for Cretins: A Love Story (JUNE 2018) by Lambda–shortlisted author Ann McMan, who in this forthcoming novel explores the thankless void of college teaching. McMan’s knack for portraying women gamely struggling to find love and make sense of a fractured world should make this one amusing and—dare I say it?—educational.” —ELIZABETH SIMS, author of You’ve Got a Book in You “I was waiting for Dreaming…

Samuel squinted across the BART train at Death seated opposite him. If the train hadn’t stopped midtransit from Ashby Station to MacArthur, and the other riders weren’t completely frozen solid, he would have thought the old man a normal Bay Area crazy. But those things did happen. So either Samuel was crazy (not uncommon for an actuary) or this man actually was Death. “Why don’t you have a cloak and sickle?” Samuel asked. “Really? I stop time and tell you that you are going to die in six hours, and that’s your question?” Death’s tired eyes rolled into the back of his head, his skin fell away, and darkness surrounded the car, forming a shroud around the figure. “Is this better?” Samuel found himself unable to move, as if every…

If you were sitting in the chair beside me, you’d probably notice the sounds filling the open window—the pneumatic wheeze as a bus rounds the corner, a jay’s raspy squawk, the rhythmic clackclackclack of a roller skate counting each sidewalk seam. You might look in my direction, start to speak, then, noticing the open book in my hands, think better of it. Think better of stirring a reader from the world of her book. If startled, I might jump in my seat like someone shaken too suddenly from a dream. The place I’ve entered is what John Gardner, in his classic book The Art of Fiction, calls the “fictional dream.” Because the writer has done her job, the world of the book I’m reading has become, for the moment, more…

CONFERENCE GUIDE JANUARY 2018 • 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. CALIFORNIA GENRE-LA™ SPECULATIVE FICTION CREATIVE WRITING CONFERENCE, February 23–25, 2018, Los Angeles, CA. Take your writing to the next level by learning the secrets of success from published masters, literary agents, editors, publishers, best-selling authors, industry experts, Hollywood…

Now with these exciting features: • A one-year subscription to the online database at WritersMarket.com, updated year-round • Original how-to articles by industry leaders • New interviews with bestselling and award-winning writers • Up-to-date listings for contests, conferences, workshops and professional organizations • And more! ITEM #R1509**; 896 pages RETAIL: $29.99 YOUR PRICE: $18.99* ITEM #R1510; 896 pages RETAIL: $49.99 YOUR PRICE: $29.99* ITEM #R1511; 512 pages RETAIL: $29.99 YOUR PRICE: $18.99* ITEM #R1512; 336 pages RETAIL: $29.99 YOUR PRICE: $18.99* ITEM #R1514; 480 pages RETAIL: $29.99 YOUR PRICE : $18.99* ITEM #R1513; 416 pages RETAIL: $29.99 YOUR PRICE: $18.99* ALL ITEMS AVAILABLE NOW *Sales prices listed were correct at the time of publication but may fluctuate slightly. Visit the WD Shop for current discount prices. **One-year subscription to WritersMarket.com…

CUSTOM CLASSICS What would the most famous passages from literature look like with a little line editing? First, fill in the blanks below with the most creative words you can think of. Then transfer each part of speech to its corresponding numbered blank in the passage on the right. 1. verb ending in -ing ___________ 2. verb ________________________ 3. verb ________________________ 4. past tense verb _______________ 5. adjective ____________________ 6. proper noun (infamous celebrity) _____________________________ 7. noun (attribute) ______________ 8. plural noun (thing) ____________ 9. noun (location) _______________ 10. noun (animal) ________________ SHARE A LAUGH: If your additions form a particularly funny or poetic combination, post a photo of your doctored passage with the hashtag #customclassicsWD on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram! RIDDLE ME THIS How can I deceive you? Let…

BABY BRAIN Kids can be a blessing—but they’re not exactly a boon to your writing routine. Communications consultant Lisa Lepki offers six strategies for staying creative when you’re elbow deep in diapers. bit.ly/writingafterkidsWD WHAT WOMEN WANT The demand for fiction by women, about women is more robust than ever before. Author Anne Leigh Parrish shares five tips for storytelling success in this broad, bustling category. bit.ly/femalefictionWD SHIPSHAPE The perfect setting can provide a crucial boost to your work-in-progress. Writer Laura Heffernan explains why a cruise may be your passport to productivity paradise. bit.ly/writingcruiseWD…

GETTING TO THE MEAT OF IT I always enjoy my WD issues, but I particularly loved the two offerings in “Writer’s Workbook: Real Page Critiques” of the October issue. My writing motto is “show, don’t tell,” and you did that expertly in these two pieces; the kind of real meat we need more of. Thank you. —Mac Burnett Fredericksburg, Texas DEADLY ADVICE I thoroughly enjoyed “A Grave Matter” in the October issue. The 1930s novel I’ve almost finished writing was inspired by an old studio portrait of young woman, a painting I found in a bin at an antique store. There is something powerful about taking a real person and giving them a different story, a second life. I’ll be visiting a graveyard soon to see what speaks to…

Among the best methods for authors to extend their readership, as well as their income, is through foreign sales (or the sale of a work’s translation rights to publishers in other countries). Foreign deals can come together in a variety of ways. For more established authors, a book might be sold to several different countries at once. More commonly, however, the deals are made after the book has demonstrated strong sales in the author’s home country. A foreign publisher might show interest in a book because it touches on a cultural or social aspect that resonates with its readers, sometimes acquiring those rights months or even years after a book first saw print. The book market in each country is unique in its culture, demographics and literary interests. Equally important,…

POETIC FORM: RIMAS DISSOLUTAS Rimas dissolutas was a popular French form in the 12th and 13th centuries, and though today somewhat obscure, this fun poetic exercise remains timeless. The form rhymes … and doesn’t rhyme. That is, the rhymes skip from stanza to stanza, as opposed to rhyming within the stanza. For instance, Line 1 of the first stanza rhymes with Line 1 of the second and third stanzas (and so on). This is a variable form, which means that poets get to decide how many lines there are per stanza and how many stanzas per poem. There’s an optional envoi at the end that would rhyme with the second half of the lines from a typical stanza. Here’s an example by a Poetic Asides reader who settled…

Mary Lynn Bracht 1 White Chrysanthemum ( historical fiction , January , G.P. Putnam’s Sons ) “Two sisters are separated during the Second World War when one is abducted by the Japanese army, but they never lose the hope of finding one another again.” WRITES FROM: London. PRE-WHITE CHRYSANTHEMUM: It began as a short story that I wrote during my master’s program in creative writing. It was published in the course’s anthology before morphing into the first five chapters of a novel for my thesis. TIME FRAME: It took nearly a year for me to complete the first draft, and another 10 months before it was completely ready to send to publishers. Once acquired, it took another year and a half to reach publication. ENTER THE AGENT: My agent…

Do you remember how you felt when you found out that Rebecca De Winter’s last cruel trick was to bait her husband into a homicidal passion—the murderous result actually being her suicide, because she had just weeks to live? Just after you gasped aloud in disbelief at learning that mannerly Maxim was an accidental killer, you thought, Gotcha! Way to lead us down the path to the cliff, Daphne du Maurier. Do you remember how you felt when you realized that, after the shipwreck, the gentle vegetarian boy Pi may not have really been sharing the life raft with a tiger named Richard Parker, but instead, perhaps, with a brutal cook by the same name who ultimately ended up … well, cooked? Gotcha again. In part because of the wellspring…

In turning back to your work-in-progress, keep in mind these tips and considerations: • As much as possible, present options that are equally demanding, horrifying or dangerous, and make a choice inescapable. • As much as possible, make the options few and clear-cut—and terrible. Where ambiguity works best is in creating tension by clouding the character’s judgment or in sapping his will—but this works only if the need to decide continues to barrel down relentlessly. • If the best option seems relatively clear, as in choosing the lesser of two evils, make the consequences devastating, so even the clear-cut choice haunts the conscience. • If the character’s convictions are firmly held, make them irreconcilable. • If the character’s convictions are uncertain, clarify and intensify them through the deliberation, decision and…

Andy Weir isn’t into all that dystopian stuff. Sure, if a story is well-crafted, he can get roped in like the rest of us (he specifically praises Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One). But in general: global pandemic, nuclear holocaust, zombie apocalypse—Weir could do without. No, the author of 2014’s runaway bestseller The Martian—which introduced readers to wisecracking, MacGyver-esque astronaut castaway Mark Watney, left to survive on Mars with only his wits and scientific savvy—prefers a more optimistic view of the decades to come. “One thing that seems to have all but disappeared from science fiction is aspirational views of the future—looking at the future as if it’s something cool and awesome,” Weir says. “I just don’t see a lot of that nowadays. So I wrote it.” His Martian follow-up, Artemis,…

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 will select the top five entries and post them on our website ( writersdigest.com/your-story-competition ). Join us online in mid-January, when readers will vote for their favorites 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 8, 2018.…

FOR YOUR BOOKS: Dial Books for Young Readers ABOUT: “Dial publishes books for [ages] two through teen that aim to entertain, enrich and encourage our readers. We care deeply about diversity and about artistic excellence, and we’re proud of the many awards that have highlighted our focus on these priorities.” FOUNDED: 1961. PUBLISHES: About 50 titles per year. ADVANCE: Varies. ROYALTY: Competitive. CATEGORIES: Easy-to-read, middle-grade, young adult. RESPONSE TIME: If interested, will respond within 4–6 months. HOW TO SUBMIT: Send either your entire picture book manuscript, or up to 10 pages of your longer work, to Dial Books for Young Readers, 345 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014. DETAILED GUIDELINES: penguin.com/static/html/aboutus/youngreaders/dialyrguidelines.pdf. WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY: An imprint of Penguin Books USA, Dial’s impressive backlist is filled with renowned titles,…

The Doctor Recommended TV • EARS ® headset has helped millions of people hear television dialog clearly while eliminating concerns about loud volume or the need to buy expensive hearing aids. Put on your TV•Ears headset and turn it up as loud as you want while others listen to the television at a comfortable volume. You can even put the TV on mute and listen through the headset only. Others in the room won’t hear a thing, but we guarantee you will. Imagine watching television with your family again without fighting over the TV volume or listening in private while a loved one sleeps or reads. As thousands of our customers have said, “TV•Ears has changed our lives!” Voice Clarifying Circuitry ® The TV•Ears headset contains…

Have No Fear When I was in third grade, I was hit in the mouth with a baseball. I’d love to say it was from diving for a grounder or crowding the plate while a pitcher served me a wild fastball, but it was nothing so glamorous: During warmups, I absent-mindedly wandered between two teammates playing catch. The damage was minimal—just a split lip, a sore jaw and the ensuing tears—but it was the shock of it that really stuck. It had never occurred to me that the sport I loved could cause bodily harm, and from then on the prospect of being hit again struck such fear in me that I became absolutely useless on the diamond. I cowered from pop flies and shivered in the batter’s box as…

Early on in my career, having published a few articles, I began keeping a list of these jewels. As the years went by and I continued writing, I added titles of newly published pieces, and also recorded relevant activities such as coursework and workshops. Decades later, I am the proud owner of an inventory of published works and pertinent writing-related endeavors. The document has proved supremely useful: When pitching an editor, there’s no scratching around to gather credentials—my full history is easily accessible for reviewing and plucking relevant items. Creating a personal bibliography of achievements aids writers in four ways: It establishes a sense of accomplishment and self-confidence, documents your credibility, steels you when rejections flood in and banks your credits for later use. Employ the following steps to build…

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO, TRULY, IS WRITE THE BOOK THAT STIRS YOUR HEART AND DISTURBS YOUR SOUL. As writers, we know we must have an intriguing plot, complex characters and a carefully chosen point of view. We’ve been coached on voice and dialogue, tension and revision. The demands and requirements of the market spin in our heads. But there’s a rarely mentioned piece, a critical, crucial element for the success of any story: your own deep and personal connection to what’s on the page. In other words, this thing you are painstakingly creating has to matter to you. It has to matter big and bad and hard, in order to matter to anyone else. The old adage “write what you know” is in many ways off the…

Reading stories by masters of the unexpected turn is arguably the best way to figure out how to do the twist. Of course, the genre that most actively and reliably employs the plot twist is the mystery, from the cozy to police procedurals—though many types of fiction carry elements of mystery, especially in recent years. A mystery asks not just who done it, but how and for what reason. “If my neighbor shot her husband, I’d want to know why,” Ford explains. “Character development gives us the ‘why’ in a believable context. But, if she didn’t shoot her husband, there’s no story. So you need both.” Readers have learned to expect tightly wrought, jaw-dropping, no way moments from the likes of Dennis Lehane in Gone Baby Gone and his recent…

Most of us learn early in life that starting a discussion about politics or religion with a stranger will lead to either: cheerful agreement; silence, from uncomfortable to icy; or disagreement, from mild to fisticuffs. Odds vary. But what if you write fiction? If your work gets out into the world, it/you will be “talking” to strangers all the time. Why do so many authors shy away from dealing with politics and religion? Several good reasons: • Those subjects are loaded with strong emotion. Many of us picked up religious and political tenets at a young age—or rejected them. In maturity, you figure things out for yourself, and it can be a complex road. • It’s hard to be well informed—and impossible to be perfectly informed. Nobody has witnessed every…

If you’re worried about folks stealing your ideas, your title, your character, I can only hope you queried me. Because if you’re that good that folks want to crib off of you? Well, my Tory Burch boots aren’t gonna buy themselves—come on over. Dear FYSA, One would assume that word limitations for writing contests, short story calls or book submissions are strictly enforced. In that case, should I assume that the restrictions apply only to the body of the story, and not the title, byline, postscripts, reference list, etc.? Or am I amiss? Yours, Mindfully Meticulous Dear Meticulous, Say you told me I had only 100 words in which to answer this question. First I’m going to do some kind of witty intro, maybe referencing Chris Pine. Because, Chris Pine.…

Flash fiction is not a new phenomenon: From Aesop’s Fables to the works of Walt Whitman, some of the oldest fairy tales, mythic stories and parables can be considered flash. Today, you can find these super-short stories in most children’s publications and plenty of grown-up markets. Flash fiction has a lasting appeal for editors—it’s short, bright fiction that can easily fill in missing themes in an anthology or magazine. For readers, flash offers complete narratives that can be enjoyed start to finish during a 10-minute work break. Flash fiction is often defined as any piece under 2,000 words in length, but that number still sits on the long end of the category, and definitive word counts are few. Some editors only consider stories under 1,000 words to be authentic flash,…

1 AWP Conference & Book Fair Get acquainted with the hottest literary trends at this behemoth gathering sponsored by the Association of Writers & Writing Programs. WHEN: March 7–10, 2018. WHERE: Tampa Convention Center and the Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina, Tampa, Fla. PRICE: $170 for AWP members and $270 for nonmembers through Jan. 4. Student, senior and other discount rates available. See website for details. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: The largest literary conference in North America, the AWP Conference & Book Fair boasts more than 550 literary events and 2,000 presenters. “It’s probably the best overview around for acquainting oneself with the artistic, political and intellectual currents of the modern literary landscape,” Conference Director Christian Teresi says. WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Writers keen on tracking the pulse of…

• Search more than 8,000 listings for book publishers, magazines, contests, literary agents, greeting card publishers, screenwriting markets, playwriting markets, conferences, newspapers, online publications, syndicates and organizations.WritersMarket.com includes listings from Writer’s Market, Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, Guide to Literary Agents, Children’s Writer’s and Illustrator’s Market and Poet’s Market. • Organize your publishing opportunities into personalized folders. • Manage your submissions with our easy-to-use record-keeping tool. • Learn how much to charge for your freelance writing projects with our “How Much Should I Charge?” rate chart. • Stay abreast of the latest publishing news with editor Robert Lee Brewer’s Market Watch updates. • Gain advanced publishing and marketing knowledge from our Q&As with industry experts. • Find information tailored to your writing needs—whether you’re interested in fiction, nonfiction, poetry,…