Innehållsförteckning för March/April 2018 från Writer's Digest

1 Pithy Prose This month’s WD Interview subject, Leigh Bardugo (Page 42), is known for YA fantasy novels, but she’s an equally accomplished short story writer. Here, she shares the benefits of fashioning short narratives. 2 Woke Writing To accompany her primer on diverse voices in publishing (“Diverse Books Matter,” Page 39), Ammi-Joan Paquette provides a list of essential links for informed writers. 3 Self-Pub Strategy The 25th Annual WD Self-Published Book Awards winner (“The Big Dance,” Page 46) shares indie publishing tips. 4 Bookstore Bonanza In “Potpourri for the Pen” (Page 72), Bob Eckstein writes about an essay contest in which the grand prize is a bookstore. Read about his visit to this mom-and-pop shop. To find all of the above online companions to this issue in one handy…

YOU SHOULD GO THERE Excellent article by Elizabeth Sims (“Should You Go There?”) in the January issue of Writer’s Digest. Just queried an agent with my first novel—always great to find ways to see my work objectively and learn from others. Thanks! —Stephen Eidson St. Louis TREK TIPS To say that I enjoyed Ms. Dobush’s informative article (“Writing Wanderlust”) in the Writer’s Digest November/ December issue would be somewhat of an understatement. In 1963, the U.S. Marine Corps provided me with an all-expenses paid vacation to Southeast Asia. They even covered the cost of room and board with sightseeing opportunities in a little jungle paradise for 26 months. From that adventure to today, I have enjoyed many exciting moments in Southeast Asia and Europe. And now…

Character accents are wonderful fictional devices. While every character must have their own unique voice, accents can show your reader a character’s class, country of origin, cultural affiliation and even age. Yet writing an accent you’re not intimately familiar with can be a challenge. In literature, “accents” are really grammar patterns diverging from standard English. Grammar is more consistent than writers notice—the trick is bending the rules of your character’s grammar. Achieving verisimilitude requires research and patience. Consider these guidelines: 1. ASK WHETHER YOUR CHARACTER NEEDS AN ACCENT. Don’t write accents just for laughs, or because you think a person with a specific background must speak with an accent. Readers will have no trouble believing a Chinese doctor or a Russian professor speaks standard English. An accent should be significant…

When I was a young and impressionable magazine editor aspiring to be an author, I lived in Brooklyn, where I delighted in seeing my role model, Alice Walker, frequent my favorite local health-food café. After a while I no longer caught sightings of her. In reading her next book, I learned that she had moved. “New York, whose people I love for their grace under almost continual unpredictable adversity, was a place the people in The Color Purple refused even to visit,” she wrote in 1983’s In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens. Once Walker realized her characters were country people, she headed for the hills of northern California where Celie, Shug, Albert, Sofia and Harpo would come and “sit wherever I was sitting, and talk.” I read that passage back…

Dear FYSA, I heard you speak at the Writer’s Digest Conference and you said you only respond to unsolicited queries if you’re interested in seeing more. But then you added that you might respond—if you felt the manuscript was of high quality but not for you—with a referral to another agent in your agency (or even a peer outside your agency) who might be a better match. I don’t understand: If you think something is good enough to sell, why not just sign it? Sincerely, Flummoxed in Phoenix Dear Flummoxed, This one time in my early 20s, I was single and at a party, and there was this guy who was funny and outgoing and charming and good-looking and I could tell he was dropping a hook in the water…

Here’s a situation that many screenwriters will find familiar: Your trusted script consultant, fresh off reading your most recent screenplay, sends you an email. You open the message with hope and excitement, only to read, “Script is great … but cut 25 pages.” Slashing 25 words is one thing, but cutting 25 pages? How can you get rid of 25 precious pages—scenes that further your plot and develop your characters—just like that? It’s painful, but you know it’s necessary to make your story more polished and straightforward. When it’s done, your script will be free of the excess fat that’s dragging it down. But deciding what exactly to leave on the cutting room floor can be onerous. Follow these steps to make major cuts easier during the later stages of…

BOOKSTORE BONANZA You—yes, you—could be the proud owner of your very own bookshop. All you have to do is explain, in 250 words or fewer, why bookstores are important to the community. If your essay is selected, From My Shelf Books & Gifts in charming Wellsboro, Pa., will be yours. This is a chance for all bookstore lovers to find that golden Willy Wonka ticket and fulfill a dream. No business experience, no credit check, no money down—just a $75 entry fee. (You’ll get the money back if you win, or if less than 4,000 people enter—in which case there is no winner.) The grand prize includes 60,000 books, 6 months’ free rent, an in-place staff and free consultation from current owners Kevin and Kasey Coolidge. The deadline is March…

In Medias Res That’s a Latin term I was unfamiliar with until a couple of months ago, when a contributor—an English professor—taught me its meaning: “into the middle of things.” It’s a narrative technique in which a story starts smack-dab in the midst of action, bypassing the slow build up. Think Homer’s Odyssey, Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. It’s through that prism—in medias res—I see myself stepping in as the new editor-in-chief of the institution that is this magazine. I regard my role as both steward and soothsayer. WD published its inaugural issue in December 1920, and since then such legends as H.G. Wells, Jack Kerouac, Joan Didion, Ray Bradbury, Maya Angelou and Kurt Vonnegut have expressed themselves through our pages—a lineage of literary royalty so…

POETIC FORM: CONTRAPUNTAL POEM I’ve struggled to pinpoint the origin of the contrapuntal poem, but it appears to be influenced by the music world, where contrapuntal pieces are composed of multiple (and relatively independent) melodies that are played at the same time. In the poetic world, contrapuntal poems twist together two (or more) independent poems into a single piece. This is usually accomplished by alternating corresponding lines of the original poems. Here’s an example by a Poetic Asides reader. First, I’ll share two individual poems—followed by the contrapuntal form, all by Jane Shlensky. 1. Identity Sometimes I’m fisherman Sometimes fish Or snap of line Or rippling chill Or morning mist burned clear This first poem plays with the metaphorical complexity of identity. 2. Apple Picking fat pink apple…

A native of rural Oregon, Kerry Sparks ditched the Pac-NW for SoCal after high school, moving to Los Angeles to pursue a degree in English at California State University. During her six years in L.A., she published short stories and wrote and produced plays, before migrating to New York in 2008 to try her hand at agenting at Levine Greenberg Rostan, where in the last 10 years she’s built up the kid-lit department and digital initiatives. Sparks currently heads up the Levin Greenberg Rostan Oregon outpost in her home state, where she now lives with her husband and two young daughters. “I like to find debuts in the slush that might need a little work, but that I have a vision and excitement for,” Sparks says. “It’s a very exciting…

What advice would you give to other authors considering self-publishing? It’s absolutely essential that you put money into your manuscript and your cover, because that carries the entire weight. Have a platform, have a team, have a plan and make your cover and your manuscript the best that they can be. If you are starting out and know you have a series in you, I’d almost hold off until you have two [books] finished so you could put one out and [then] put another one out in quick succession. What can you not live without in your writing life? Coffee. Actually, no, my massage therapist. He’s been with me for five books now, and not only does he help with the chronic neck and shoulder strain, but when I take…

On Wednesday afternoon, a handsome, wealthy attorney renowned for handling affluent clients came into the restaurant. At least that’s how Lawrence described himself to me in his intro. He was dressed in a sharp navy suit, white shirt and silk tie. He asked, “How long have you been waiting tables?” Jokingly, I replied, “I’m new, so forgive me if your meal lands on your lap.” He replied, quite sternly, “Don’t make excuses for your mistakes.” I thought he was joking, but his face lacked even the hint of a smile. In the same tone, he said, “Come to dinner with me Saturday night.” I ignored his invitation, which seemed more like a demand, and asked, “How long have you been an attorney?” “As long as I’ve wanted.” Confused and curious,…

Many people, including filmmakers, think of screen-writing as an art, like sculpture or painting. The truth, however, is that screenwriting is more like architecture than it is any other medium. Architecture combines science and art. It deals with rigid structures and flowing lines, beauty and serviceability, style and structure. This is exactly what a well-written screenplay does. If it doesn’t combine these aspects, it is likely a failed screenplay. There are a lot of lousy scripts that get made into movies. Some of these lousy movies do very well, sometimes even extraordinarily well, at the box office. The 1997 film Titanic made more than $2 billion worldwide and won 11 Oscars, yet the screenplay itself is so weak that it wasn’t even nominated. So, here’s a useful exercise—let’s fix it.…

PAUL GOAT ALLEN (“Critical Thinking,” Page 36) has worked as a genre-fiction book critic for more than two decades, and has written thousands of reviews for outlets like BarnesandNoble.com, Publishers Weekly, the Chicago Tribune, Kirkus Reviews, BookPage and BlueInk Review. He is an adjunct instructor in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction graduate writing program, and has also published stories in a variety of genre categories. ALEX FIELD (“The Editor Behind the Curtain,” Page 24) is principal and founder of The Bindery, a literary agency and consulting firm serving authors and publishers, and is a former vice president and publisher overseeing two imprints at Penguin Random House. Today, he and his family live along the front range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado. Find him online at thebinderyagency.com. STEVEN JAMES…

During my days at the University of California, San Diego in the 1980s, I rubbed elbows with visiting writers by assisting the university events office with airport pickup. Perhaps I thought their abilities would magically pass on to me. Some were famous while others clung to the fringes. Undergrads considered members of the Beat Generation gods. Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs were the Big Three. Literary respect was bestowed upon those who’d crossed paths with the Beats, such as Ed Dorn and Robert Creeley. These luminaries would ride shotgun in my Z600 coupe, a pint-sized hatchback powered by a motorcycle engine that I drove like a Porsche. Anne Waldman kept her eyes shut. Gary Snyder chewed gum nervously. The events office gave me cash for entertainment, a few shekels to treat…

1 Rock the Tote We don’t normally envision Kafka in leather or Thoreau wearing a spiked collar, but this tote captures their rebellious spirit by re-imagining our favorite novelists as punk-rock icons. To complete your collection, this Out of Print design is also available on coasters and tees. The best part? Every purchase helps fund literary programs and book donations to communities in need. ($18, outofprintclothing.com/products/punk-rock-authors-tote-bag-new) 2 Three-Cheese, Please Impress your guests with this set of cheese boards resembling book jackets that are sure to be the talk of Tuesday-night book club. Serve your favorite cheese or charcuterie on the Vermont-made trays, or gift them to the voracious reader/host(ess) extraordinaire in your life. ($55, jkadams.com/product/maple-book-cheese-servers-set-of-3/wooden-serving-boards) 3 Killer Tee Inspired by Stephen King’s infamous 1986 horror novel-turned-movie It, this T-shirt is…

Natasha Bell 1 Exhibit Alexandra (feminist thriller, March, Crown) “A missing-person story about love, loss and gender.” WRITES FROM: Southeast London. PRE-ALEXANDRA: I started writing creative nonfiction in my early 20s because I had a story I needed to squeeze out of myself. [Once] my brain switched over to fiction, Alexandra’s world began to obsess me. TIME FRAME: I wrote the first draft of this in a fevered few months, but I’ve spent the past seven years rewriting it. ENTER THE AGENT: I’d sort of given up on chasing publication and [decided] I wanted to keep writing whether or not anyone ever read my work, so I applied for what felt like a completely indulgent MA in creative writing. A few months into the course, though, my class released…

Leigh Bardugo has always written the stories she wanted to write. When querying her debut, Shadow and Bone— in which she introduced readers to a Czarist Russia-inspired world where individuals called Grisha have the mystical ability to manipulate matter—Bardugo was faced with a publishing-industry reality. Although young adult novels were popular at the time, and her premise was unique and compelling, no literary agents seemed interested in epic or high fantasy books for young readers. She forged ahead anyway. “I knew very little about the market. I learned that many [agents] would not even entertain the idea of that kind of book,” she says. “It’s wise to know what’s out there, [but don’t] let that hinder you. If you have an idea, pursue it. [Think] about things that make your…

Grand Prize An Exaltation of Larks BY SUANNE LAQUEUR ($17.99) Cathedral Rock Press.suannelaqueurwrites.com. Children’s Picture Books FIRST PLACE Rice & Rocks BY SANDRA L. RICHARDS AND MEGAN KAYLEIGH SULLIVAN (illustrator) ($17.99) Wise Ink Creative Publishing. sandralrichards.com. HONORABLE MENTIONS Charlie the Cross-Eyed Crocodile (The Adventures of Willy Nilly and Thumper) BY JIM HENRY WITH JIMMY PATTERSON AND MARJORIE VAN HEERDEN (illustrator) ($7.95) Willy Nilly Stories LLC. willynillyandthumper.com. The Day Annabelle Was Bitten By a Doodlebug BY JULIE WENZLICK AND JAIME BUCKLEY (illustrator) ($10) Wordmeister Press. juliewenzlick.com. Genre Fiction FIRST PLACE The Baker’s Man BY JENNIFER MOORMAN ($9.99) CreateSpace. jennifermoorman.com. HONORABLE MENTIONS A Violation of Innocence BY JOE PIKE FARR ($9.99) CreateSpace. Brutal Angels BY GORDON GUSTAFSON ($7.99)…

How do you boil down your big, beautiful screenplay to just a few lines? It sounds impossible. In fact, it sounds insulting! Your story is vast. It contains multitudes! But say you only have 20 seconds to pitch it to someone. Can you do it? Of course you can. Because every great story grows from the kernel of one simple idea—the essential distillation of your plot in its purest form. To sell that big idea, you need to prepare an elevator pitch. But don’t just write a one-sentence summary and assume it’s good enough to rattle off. Before you approach that producer, consider the following questions: 1. IS YOUR LOGLINE UNIQUELY APPEALING? The one-sentence version of your story that encapsulates its distinctly original central idea is called a “logline.” It…

FOR YOUR SHORT FICTION, ESSAYS AND POETRY: Contrary Magazine WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY: Billing itself as a “journal of unpopular discontent,” Contrary provides a venue for writers with a talent for innovative, original storytelling. Complete with a sizable circulation, the publication has featured work from such notable names as Sherman Alexie, Andrew Coburn, Amy Reed and Stephanie Johnson—but doesn’t hesitate to acquire writing from fresh voices that capture the magazine’s mission. —TM ABOUT: Contrary publishes fiction, poetry and literary commentary, and prefers work that combines the virtues of all those categories. “We like work that is not only contrary in content but contrary in its evasion of the expectations established by its genre. Our fiction defies traditional story form.” FOUNDED: 2003. CIRCULATION: 38,000. PUBLISHES: Quarterly. READING PERIOD:…

1 Mid-South Christian Writers Conference Inspirational and mainstream writers alike will find much to advance their careers at this Deep South get-together. WHEN: March 16–17, 2018. WHERE: Collierville First Baptist Church, Collierville, Tenn. PRICE: $80 until February 24, $90 after. Pre-conference self-publishing workshop only, $55. See website for early-bird discounts on weekend events. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: Its small size allows attendees ample opportunity to network. “We strive for inclusiveness, hoping everyone feels welcomed and encouraged,” Conference Director April Carpenter says. “Though our conference isn’t an evangelistic event, we are upfront about our faith. We welcome both inspirational and general market writers who desire to honor God with their creative gifts.” WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Writers at all levels seeking inspiration and guidance in their quest for publication. HOW…

CALIFORNIA ANNUAL GREATER LOS ANGELES WRITERS CONFERENCE, produced by West Coast Writers Conferences. June 22–24, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. Writers of all genres and disciplines benefit from this popular educational and inspirational three-day event focused on the craft and business of writing. Our 20th conference will feature program tracks for what we call the 3-A’s™ (Aspiring, Active, and Accomplished) for writers of fiction, nonfiction, and screenplays. Topics will be presented by 40+ literary agents, editors, veteran educators, best-selling authors, and industry professionals in progressive streams of seminars, workshops, and panels. Live critique workshops include Great Beginnings for Novels & Screenplays, Query Letters, and more. There are FREE 1-on-1 pitch sessions with literary agents and publishers looking for new talent with polished manuscripts. Take advantage of informative sessions with…