Innehållsförteckning för September 2018 från Writer's Digest

1 Still Dreaming In this month’s WD Interview (Page 46), bestseller Jacqueline Woodson reveals why she’s drawn to so-called “controversial” subjects. In this uncut version, she shares her thoughts on the We Need Diverse Books movement. 2 Redeeming Qualities David Corbett explains how to fascinate readers with unlikable protagonists in “No More Mr. Nice Guys” (Page 34), and in this web exclusive, he provides a short case study. 3 No Dead Ends Knowing the nature of writer’s block is key to overcoming it, as Jane K. Cleland describes in “Fear No More” (Page 30). When nothing else seems to work, employ these techniques. 4 Social Beings As a bonus to his book excerpt on self-promotion (“Put Yourself Out There,” Page 38), Jeff Somers shares his three steps for social-media domination.…

In 2005, Linda Camacho earned her bachelor’s degree in communication from Cornell University and dove almost immediately into the publishing world: working as a production assistant at Penguin Group; interning at Dorchester Publishing, Simon & Schuster and Writers House; earning her MFA in creative writing from the Vermont College of Fine Arts; and serving as a marketing associate at Penguin Random House. Those experiences led her to become a literary agent in 2015, starting at Prospect Agency before moving to Gallt & Zacker two years later. “I look forward to being surprised by a fantastic story,” Camacho says. Her dream client? “They’re all so different, but someone who’s professional, hardworking and, above all, kind.” Visit Camacho online at galltzacker.com or on Twitter @lindarandom. Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com) writes and edits…

i once read to an empty bookstore. That isn’t exactly a highlight of my career,1 but it’s a great story that combines my two favorite elements for anecdotes: my own humiliation and my own fiction. It was 2002, and my wife and I had organized a DIY book tour in support of my first novel, Lifers. Some of the readings were huge hits—especially in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago. Some were less great. But nothing in my life, before or after, has ever compared to the disaster that was my reading at Olsson’s Books and Records outside of Washington, D.C., on June 8, 2002. Because literally no one showed up. I don’t know what to blame for this. We did everything we’d always done. I’d contacted local press, emailed everyone…

Jacqueline Woodson writes about issues that make her feel powerless. Most recently, that means police brutality as well as mass deportation and its impact on American families. The author of more than 30 books for children, middle-grade and adult readers, Woodson writes to better understand difficult subjects, but also with the high-minded goal of provoking tangible change—something she has believed literature capable of since she herself was a young reader. To Woodson, the power of literature comes from creating what Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop—pioneering Ohio State University emeritus professor of children’s literature—refers to as “mirrors” and “windows.” Says Woodson: Readers “need mirrors to see reflections of themselves in literature, which is reaffirming, but they also need a window to see how the ‘other’ lives.” Woodson has used her own background…

Out of more than 1,000 entries, Writer’s Digest editors and readers selected the following 10 winners. 1 With her batch of baked hearts finally complete, she set out to perform the ritual that would bring her loved ones back. —Shivang Gupta 2 Elise worked the refreshment table, passing out heart-shaped cookies to the popular girls, who’d all be dead by morning. —Annette Bethers 3 If I had even an inkling about how our day would end, I would have let him eat every last cookie I baked that morning. —Kathleen Stanko 4 My grandmother once said there are 47 words to describe love, but none of them delighted grandpa’s heart quite like her homemade cookies. —Erin Jantz 5 My mother’s kitchen wasn’t always filled with love. —Jennifer Tooker 6 “Now…

You’ve heard it before: When it comes to writing, there are no shortcuts. … But what if there were? There is one shortcut, at least. It’s called “Find and Replace,” and it’s a great tool when your manuscript is finally ready for revision. Inevitably, all writers have certain words or phrases that they return to again and again, without even being aware of their own preferences. But those repetitions and other unnecessary words stand out to readers — especially with the increasing popularity of audiobooks — and keep your prose from truly achieving its potential. Open the “Find and Replace” tool in your word processor of choice (usually under the “Edit” menu). In the “Find” box, type the word or phrase you want to limit in your writing. In the…

The most frequent story-level misstep is confusing concept and premise, which are different elements (though they are inextricably connected to the point that confusion is understandable). We need look no further than the bestseller lists to see this truth in action. Bestsellers arrive in one of two categories: books by established A-list authors, and extraordinarily compelling novels by new authors. Within this latter category, nearly every entry is a “high-concept” story, while those from established authors are more likely to be based in the character-driven premise, or at least the extension of a concept they’ve established in earlier works (the Harry Potter series, for example). So it’s important to keep the terms clear: • Concept: the big, exciting stage on which your story is set. • Premise: the drama unfolding…

Audentes Fortuna Iuvat I’m the sort of person who deadbolts the door of our apartment when taking the laundry down to the basement washing machine and prints out a map of the high ground when we go to the beach just in case a tsunami happens to hit. In high school, I was the guy nauseated by anxiety as others jumped off the second-story deck into a swimming pool. When I got a tattoo in college, I sat my mother down as if about to reveal a horrific medical diagnosis and solemnly passed her a folder containing a picture of the illustration … after spending months carefully considering the choice on my own. There’s a natural tendency for scribes to seek control—to act with calculation. After all, our pastime of…

If you are an incarcerated writer in the state prison library where I work, you know a lot about typewriters. While I haven’t used a typewriter since 1979, you are an expert. You understand how to choose the right print wheel, how to install the ribbon, how to change the correction tape. You get stressed when the typewriters act up and make a mess of your work. I don’t have the heart to tell you that, no matter how carefully composed, your typewritten submissions must appear to editors like they surfaced from a mailbag lost in the last century. Writing in prison is like time traveling 40 years into the past. Here, typewriters are in use, not artifacts in a museum. In prison, the few computers on hand offer legal…

Helen Hoang 1 The Kiss Quotient (contemporary romance, June, Berkley/Penguin Random House) An autistic mathematician hires a male escort to teach her about romantic relationships, and is surprised to find herself falling in love. WRITES FROM: San Diego, Calif. PRE- QUOTIENT: [Before] I wrote historical/ paranormal fantasy romances with a martial arts bent. I think of them as my practice books. Not only was the writing “not there yet,” but the emotions and conflicts of the characters weren’t things I personally related to [as a woman on the autism spectrum]. TIME FRAME: I wrote the first draft of The Kiss Quotient in about 10 weeks, but [then] it was basically a concept and 100,000 words of impassioned rambling. The manuscript then underwent several major revisions before [and after] it was…

REACH OUT Writing is a solitary activity—or is it? Keeping your writing to yourself feels safe, but—unless you have no wish to publish ever—you’ll benefit greatly from joining a writing community. Here are four ways to put yourself out there: 1 TAKE PART IN A WRITING GROUP. For support, inspiration and evaluation, there’s nothing more valuable. Find or create a group in your area, or join an online group for virtual connection. Consider taking part in the NaNoWriMo forums in November, or check out the Online Writing Communities section in our annual list of the 101 Best Websites for Writers (in the May/ June issue of WD). 2 FIND A WRITING BUDDY. If you’d rather work one-on-one than in a group, a writing partner is a great option. Don’t know…

WD: You teach at Syracuse University. What is the first piece of storytelling advice that you give your students? I teach a third-year workshop to the MFA candidates, who’ve been there three years. I also teach a different class called “Forms Class,” which is literature for writers. It depends which class that we meet in, but the one thing I say is: Let’s put up a big old set of parentheses around this semester and around everything I’m going say. Just footnote those parentheses and say, “according to George.” I like to talk about process, and it’s interesting to me and I’ve learned a lot about my own process, and I like to try to share it. I can get pretty dogmatic about it and pretty detailed in a way…

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 12 entries and post them on our website (writersdigest.com/your-story-competition). Join us online in early September, when readers will vote for their favorite to help rank the top 10 winners! The winners will be published in a future issue of Writer’s Digest . DON’T FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person. DEADLINE: August 20, 2018.…

Big revisions can feel a bit daunting at times. When you see the behemoth of a project before you, you may not even know where to begin the editing process. Novelist and writing coach James Scott Bell writes: “Instead of seeing your whole novel, just see the immediate scene you’re working on.” In other words, break your novel into compartments, or scenes, and work from there. Remember, novels are written one scene at a time. Each scene must attend to character, plot, action, setting, conflict and time. Each scene must have a beginning, a middle and an end, and each scene must be “doing something” for your overarching story. With each scene, you should be able to answer the following questions: • What is the goal/purpose of this scene? •…

Writers thrive when we open our minds to new challenges and larger communities. Now more than ever do we eschew identifying exclusively as poets or screenwriters, novelists or journalists, bloggers or playwrights, but find ourselves writing in many mediums, across multiple platforms. Writers write. Period. All of this is why I’m excited to debut my new screenwriting column, Take Two. Hollywood loves adapting intellectual property, so there’s never been a better time for writers of all stripes to learn about the screen-writing process. And applying the methods behind strong scripts to your fiction can offer benefits like sharper dialogue, improved pacing and stronger characters. I can hear you all now: “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.” But that classic line from Gone With the Wind—a variation on the…

A large writing conference can be a daunting affair. Between the struggle to decide which sessions to attend, debating how to approach an author, and agonizing over which of your manuscripts to share with agents, it’s easy to get carried away and forget your manners when they matter most. Here are six etiquette tips to ensure your conference experience goes smoothly. 1 Conference time is precious, so don’t waste it. Be punctual for panel discussions, meetings with editors or agents, and other activities. You’ll get kudos for being prepared and timely from whoever you’re pitching or querying. 2 Keep your phone in your pocket or purse during presentations. It’s rude to constantly check email or Facebook while someone is lecturing, and a distraction to the presenter. 3 Be concise when…

JEANNE VEILLETTE BOWERMAN (“Take Two,” Page 64) is the editor of Script magazine, co-founder of Twitter’s screenwriting chat #Scriptchat and pens WD’s new screenwriting column. She has authored and pitched her award-winning screenplays to many of Hollywood’s top producers and networks, including both her narrative-and limited-series adaptations of the Pulitzer Prizewinning book Slavery by Another Name. Follow her on Twitter at @jeannevb. DAVID CORBETT (“No More Mr. Nice Guys,” Page 34) is the award-winning author of the writing guide The Art of Character (“A writer’s bible”—Elizabeth Brundage) and six novels, including The Long-Lost Love Letters of Doc Holliday (August 2018). His short fiction has been selected twice for Best American Mystery Stories, and his nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, Narrative, Bright Ideas and WD, where he is…

POETIC FORM: OTTAVA RIMA Of Italian origin, the earliest known ottava rima—one of the more rhythmic poetic forms I’ve encountered—were written by Giovanni Boccaccio in the 14th century. In English, Lord Byron used the form for the satirical poem “Don Juan,” and more contemporary writers like William Butler Yeats (in “Sailing to Byzantium”) and Kenneth Koch (in “The Duplications”) have experimented with ottava rima as well. The rhythm in this form, which can be composed of multiple eight-line stanzas or can stand alone as an eight-line poem, is set up by an ababab rhyme scheme in the first six lines, capped with a cc couplet. Most commonly written in iambic pentameter (or 10-syllable lines), ottava rima accommodates any consistent syllabic structure. Revel in the musicality of the form…

In her 18 mysteries starring female detective Aimée Leduc—a private investigator who owns a computer security firm—Cara Black tackles Paris one neighborhood at a time. Jampacked with delicious insider details about each arrondissement (administrative district), her travelogue-like novels, a delight for Francophiles, explore themes that range from Vichy France to Balkan War criminals, from human trafficking to, in her June release Murder on the Left Bank, Cambodian Khmer Rouge refugees. The New York Times bestselling author has a knack for teasing out local stories, from police officers to café owners. Each book in her catalog is based on a real-life account she’s either heard or read. “People tell me things and I think, What if? Once I hear a nugget, I probe,” says Black, who cites curiosity as her best…

Not so long ago it seemed every writer agreed: Protagonists must be “likable.” Then something curious happened. Everyone began to realize that “likable” is merely a few degrees from “nice,” which in turn nudges perilously close to “boring.” People may not like spending 200–500 pages with a wanton wretch, but they don’t like wasting time with a Boy Scout’s shadow, either. In truth, protagonists need to be compelling—better yet, fascinating—not necessarily agreeable. And what makes characters compelling or fascinating is their capacity to surprise. A character who is predictably anything quickly becomes a one-trick pony, incapable of maintaining reader interest for long. The challenge is especially daunting for characters who may disaffect readers with some particularly repellant trait—a vicious temper, a drinking problem, arrogant self-confidence, outright immorality or even criminality.…

Grab your notebook. Ponder the times when you’ve been so energized that you couldn’t wait to get words on paper, and start making a list of activities and environments to incorporate more regularly into your life. What prompted that writing energy? If you know right off, that’s a plus. If you don’t, take time to figure it out. Here are a few ideas to use as a jumping-off point: • a favorite movie • a favorite book • the latest episode of your favorite TV series • a new book by a favorite author • the current bestseller • writing prompts • cooking or baking • painting or sewing • enjoying the outdoors/ nature (fishing, walking, biking, hiking, running) • exercise • yoga • a class, workshop, conference or retreat • looking at inspirational photos or photo books • prayer or meditation • being around…

Dear FYSA, I always hear about how valuable writer’s conferences can be, but the idea of showing up by myself to a four-day conference is greatly intimidating. How can I overcome this? Best, Timid in Tampa Dear Timid, You know I just want to say, “vodka,” and mic drop … but this is a family show. Instead, I want to acknowledge that you feel intimidated and uncomfortable. Conferences aren’t for everyone, and I’m all for you finding a realm of similar value that doesn’t require you stay in a hotel with strangers, load your pockets with Xanax and white-knuckle through small talk. There are some fabulous online forums out there that provide fertile soil for planting seeds of education and camaraderie that mimic the experience of attending an in-person event.…

A well-crafted book will appear to move along effortlessly, just like a skilled rock climber scaling a cliff. But is it effortless? No, of course not. That grace was earned through hundreds of hours of training and hard work. So, brace yourself. To make your story appear effortless, it’s also going to require hundreds of hours of hard work. Maybe thousands. You’ll have to tunnel through a mountain of words to find the path to the ones that’ll best fit in this story, in this context. Words that’ll ring true. That’ll be vibrant on the page. Alive. Authentic. While certainly there’s a point of diminishing returns, for the most part, the more time you spend crafting your story, the less time it’ll take someone to read it (and the more…

Maybe you’re one of the lucky ones. Maybe you know precisely what needs improvement in your current novel or screenplay. Maybe you can account for why it was rejected or the target of someone’s soul-crushing criticism, or even why the soft voice in your head keeps whispering that it’s not yet good enough. But the better likelihood is that you have no idea whatsoever, which puts you among a crowd of frustrated writers. Perhaps you’re altogether mystified, because beta readers loved your story. Either way, in order to fix the thing, you’ll need to pinpoint specific issues of a conceptual, structural and narrative nature, rather than simply polishing the manuscript. And that only works after you’ve plugged all the leaks. Anything short of total honesty and uvmerabillity is ch›ing, and…

1 10MinCon: Small Things Brought Together Time-crunched scribes will find loads of timely inspiration at this debut conference. WHEN: August 9–11, 2018. WHERE: Embassy Suites Hotel, Covington, Ky. A special hotel rate is available for conference attendees. See website for details. PRICE: $379. WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE UNIQUE: 10MinCon provides a supportive atmosphere for new authors with a story to tell and the drive to get published. “Community is a big part of who we are,” Conference Director Katharine Grubb says. “In our four years on Facebook, we’ve grown to more than 10,000 members. We’re hoping that this conference will allow us to build more relationships with novelists everywhere.” HOW MANY ATTEND: 300. FACULTY: Novelists/writing coaches James Scott Bell (the Mike Romeo series), Janice Hardy (The Healing Wars trilogy) and…

CONFERENCE GUIDE SEPTEMBER 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 THE BCX™ BOOK CAMP XTREME CREATIVE WRITING CONFERENCE. October 12–14, 2018 Los Angeles, CA. Writers of all genres will benefit from a full weekend of creative writing workshops, plus attendees may apply for Advanced Submission ProCritiques™ of…

DAY-JOB JUMBLE Even literature’s most famous figures had to find other ways of paying the bills before breaking big. Below, match the author on the left with their day job on the right. 1. Kurt Vonnegut 2. Harper Lee 3. Haruki Murakami 4. J.D. Salinger 5. Agatha Christie 6. Fyodor Dostoyevsky 7. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 8. William S. Burroughs 9. Octavia Butler 10. Vladimir Nabokov A. Exterminator B. Apothecary’s Assistant C. Engineer D. Airline Ticketing Agent E. Surgeon F. Zoology Museum Curator G. Car Dealer H. Jazz Bar Manager I. Cruise Line Entertainment Director J. Potato Chip Inspector Find all the answers at writersdigest.com/sept-18. STORY STARTERS Mara stands at the sink, wringing her hands. August approaches and puts a hand on her shoulder. “It had to be done. If…