Innehållsförteckning för January/February 2022 från Writer's Digest

“I define success as finally being able to do what I’ve dreamt of doing since I was 10: writing for a living.… From 2020 to 2021, I’ve completed nine feature-length screenplays, a television series, and a horror novel at 116,000 words.… In one year, I’ve placed in over 300 film festivals across 30 countries on six continents in six different genres!… Success hasn’t changed my routine because writing is what I have to do. My greatest moment will come when I can sit in a theater, watch what I’ve seen inside my mind play out on the screen for all to enjoy, then I will feel at peace.” —Kevin J. Howard “When I first fell in love with telling stories, I thought success was being a household name. Selling millions…

In his book Wealth of Words, author Amit Kalantri says, “All my problems bow before my stubbornness.” I relate to this sentiment. As a writer, all my rejections bow before my stubbornness. I remember my first non-publishing rejection. It was a Saturday. A couple of talent scouts descended on a shopping mall, perched at desks behind rigid dividers. They were casting for commercials, the large sign had said. “Do you want to do it?” my mom asked. I was 12 and an avid theater kid. I shrugged, nervous. It could be the shot of a lifetime. Mom led me over to the growing line of children waiting to be seen by the scouts. They asked us, one by one, to say a line about Burger King having the best food…

What’s at stake? That’s the key question writers are exhorted to ask about their characters’ motivations. And it’s a great question! After all, if nothing is at stake for the main character, there is no story. For example, Jocelyn, a police detective, really likes her job. Nope, move along, nothing to see here. What if something’s at stake, but it’s mundane or predictable? Sure, there’s a story. But is it one readers will really care about? Probably not. That’s why we need big stakes for our protagonists. The weight of literally saving the world doesn’t have to be on their shoulders, but figuratively, it should be. For example, the protagonist’s career, an important relationship, or even soul should be on the line: • Given the outcome of her last case,…

Xavier Navarro Aquino Velorio (Literary fiction, January, HarperVia/HarperCollins) “In the wake of Hurricane Maria, a remarkable group of survivors search for hope on an island torn apart by both natural disaster and human violence.” WRITES FROM: Always from home: Puerto Rico. But I currently live in Indiana. PRE-VELORIO: I was previously publishing stories in literary magazines while working on a novel about sibling trauma and familial legacy (which I’m still working on). Also, writing poetry that may never see the light of day.… For the longest time after the storm, I wrote more poetry than fiction. TIME FRAME: I wrote a full draft in five weeks while in an artist residency. ENTER THE AGENT: I met my agent at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. The conference has a signup form for…

When stay-at-home orders were issued in March 2020, I found myself trying to buy food in a crowded grocery store after shoppers panic-bought most everything off the shelves. I knew of enough substitutes for everyday staples—sour cream for eggs, baking soda for any household cleaning product—to not walk out of the store empty-handed. I felt a sense of pride as I picked up a bottle of tea tree oil face wash, knowing that the essential oil’s antibacterial and antifungal properties could sub for hand sanitizer. It’s times like these that I’m grateful I spent a year and a half editing articles for a content mill for a mere 80 cents a pop. After telling people that I worked as an editor for a content mill, most asked if it was…

Dear FYSA, I am about 60 percent through my novel, and I find myself struggling a little. I know how to map out the last 20 percent or so, but I seem to be at a loss at how to connect where I am to where I am going. Looking for a 20 percent bridge—any tips? Signed, Running on Fumes Dear Fumey, First of all, whoa whoa. Is this an algorithm? I crushed a D average in Honors Calculus (yes, yes, I am made of dichotomies), and I start sweating when I think I am reading a word problem. Is there a train leaving a station? Am I plotting for X? Was that the bell? I can’t remember my locker combo! I forgot to wear pants! OK, so here’s the…

CONTEST #116 TO ENTER: Send your story via email to yourstorycontest@aimmedia.com (entries must be pasted directly into the body of the email; attachments will not be opened). Entries without a name and mailing address will be disqualified. NOTE: WD editors select the top 12 finalists and post them on our website (WritersDigest.com/Your-Story-Competition). Join us in March, when readers will vote for their favorite to help pick the top 10 winners! Follow @WritersDigest on Twitter for Your Story updates. 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: February 28, 2022.…

As we look to find success in 2022, what better place to start than examining business magazines? While these publications can get cumbersome with reporting news and analyzing numbers, they’re also often very inspirational and share innovative ideas that can be used by businesspeople and writers alike. After all, freelance writers are businesspeople. Working in a booming business sector may give you the expertise to write for this category, but you don’t have to be an economics major (or own a business) to make your mark. Many of the opportunities available to writers involve profiling business wheelers and dealers, as well as doing the type of research you’d expect in any category. Also, remember that you’re not limited to pitching the big national (and very competitive) business magazines. There are…

Here are the top five ways to keep your momentum going after a writing conference: 1.Brainstorm ways to apply new concepts before the event even ends. Jot them down, including a timeline, so you can later put your plan into action.2. Review summary sheets provided by speakers along with your own notes or photos/screencaps to jog your memory.3. Participate in any social media groups created specifically for attendees; these can be helpful for both pre- and post-event collaboration. Connect with others and try to establish regular check-ins with those you consider mentors or accountability partners.4. Write about what you learned. Key conference takeaways can be shared in blogs, newsletters, or articles. For lasting value, share pieces with colleagues, online or in-person writing communities, social media groups, or local bookstores.5. For…

“Persist.” —Viet Thanh Nguyen “Write what you love.” —Chris Bohjalian “It does get easier.” —Lisa Jewell “Be gentle with yourself.” —Min Jin Lee These are words of advice taken from WD interviews with award-winning and bestselling authors. Notice, though, not a single mention of their status, prizes, or advances—in other words, their success. And while status, literary awards, and money can be indicators of a successful writer, one must actually sit down and write for any of those things to happen. That’s what all of these pieces of advice have in common: they all boil down to putting words on the page. For you to find success in 2022, you must first decide what you want to achieve: today, this week, this month, this year. Because success is all relative.…

In 1953, Spanish poet and Nobel laureate Juan Ramón Jiménez wrote his last book, Time and Space, while living in exile in America. He wrote it as an “inner monologue” of poetic autobiography. It’s written in a stream of consciousness, an attempt to capture his “inner cinematography.” Despite the (high art) literary premise of the book, in the prose fragments, Jiménez shows us he is not above snobbery, bravado, and petty grievances. He gives a D. H. Lawrence poem a backhanded compliment (“I like his poem more as an aesthetic representation than as a poem”) and accuses a number of his (right-wing) peers of hypocrisy for praising and appropriating the poetry of Lorca and Machado, “two poets whom (the right-wing dictatorship) had killed.” I bring up Jiménez and this book…

Whether you’re just now launching into writing or you’re an old pro, here are 12 surefire ways to fail this year as you pursue your dreams within the writing world. 1. COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS You’ll be tempted to compare other authors’ sales figures, reviews, likes, comments, shares, bestseller list status, and so on, to yours. But playing the comparison game will tend to either devastate your ego (if you don’t think you’re measuring up) or unnecessarily inflate it (if you look down on others). Be warned, quitting it will be tough to do. Most of us have spent a lifetime playing it, ever since elementary school when we asked our classmates, “What’d you get?” when the teacher handed back the graded tests. Bowing out of the comparison game will…

“Help me understand something,” a fellow writer asked me over coffee, scratching her head in confusion. “You’re going to law school, but you’re not going to be a lawyer?” I had heard the question so many times that answering it was second nature. “That’s right,” I said. “Why waste all that time, money, and energy?” she asked. “So I can be a more business-savvy writer.” Then, my friend’s head exploded (figuratively). In August 2017, I enrolled in a well-respected law school with no intention of practicing law or sitting for the bar exam. I kept my grueling 9-to-5 job that demanded 50 hours per week and frequent travel. I was also raising a toddler, writing five to 10 books per year, and hosting a YouTube channel and two podcasts. Somehow,…

As a writing coach and NYU professor who teaches a pitching bootcamp for Writer’s Digest University, one of the first questions a student asks me is “How can I come up with ideas?” Even if you are creative, that part of the pitching process can be challenging. I have analyzed the process and developed an effective idea generation strategy. That’s why my Estelle’s Edge and focus of this column is on capturing an editor’s attention by using my mapping template to mine your life for ideas. My students credit it as integral to their pitching success. Here is how it’s done. MAPPING TEMPLATE: HOW TO MINE YOUR LIFE FOR IDEAS IN FOUR STEPS Take five to 15 minutes a day to do this brainstorming exercise. Take a piece of paper…

CONFERENCE GUIDE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 • Keep in mind that there may be more than one workshop in each of the listings.• 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 ANNUAL CALIFORNIA CREATIVE WRITERS CONFERENCE™, produced by West Coast Writers Conferences. March 2022. New Hilton Los Angeles Westside Culver City. Writers of all genres and disciplines will benefit from this educational and inspirational conference focused on the craft and business…

RAYMOND ANTROBUS was born in London to an English mother and Jamaican father. He’s a Cave Canem Fellow and the author of To Sweeten Bitter, The Perseverance, and All The Names Given, as well as children’s picture book Can Bears Ski? He is the 2019 recipient of the Ted Hughes Award as well as the Sunday Times/University of Warwick Young Writer of the Year Award and became the first poet to be awarded the Rathbone Folio Prize. His first full-length collection, The Perseverance, was shortlisted for the Griffin Poetry Prize, The Forward Prize, and was a 2020 notable poetry collection in The New York Times. JANIE CHANG writes historical fiction with personal connections, drawing from a family history with 36 generations of recorded genealogy. She grew up listening about life…

POETIC FORM: IMAYO The imayo is a Japanese form that was originally written to be sung, though there are no rhyming or subject constraints. The form has only the following guidelines: • Four lines• 12 syllables per line• A caesura (or pause) between the first seven syllables and final five in each line Here are a few examples by Poetic Asides readers: “Vehicle” by Bruce Niedt The warranty’s expired—harder to get parts. Everything falls apart now, piece by piece by piece. Not even duct tape will help—repairs are futile. “Well,” my doctor reassures, “you’re just getting old.” In this example, the poet uses a mix of dashes and commas to create the caesura in each line. “As Summer Slips Past” by Linda L Stead leaves blaze in golden glory—summer shifts…

Michael Longclaws was born in Flint, Mich. and raised by two loving grandparents. “My grandfather was my greatest role model growing up,” he says. “He taught me the importance of community and how important it is to help others.” Longclaws studied at Michigan State University. He is half-Black, half-Ojibway, and an enrolled citizen of the Long Plain First Nation. “As far as I know, I’m one of the only half-Black, half-Indigenous people in the publishing world,” he says. “So, I do what I do to help elevate the voices of Black and Indigenous people and get their voices heard.” You can submit to Longclaws via Javelin’s site, JavelinDC.com/literary. Kara Gebart Uhl is a writer, editor, and author of The Curse of the Nannau Oak, forthcoming from Lost Art Press.…

Whether you’ve been querying for a while or are still considering how to get your book into the world, self-publishing might have crossed your mind. The great thing about self-publishing is that technically, it’s open to anyone and provides opportunities to those who have decided not to pursue traditional paths. But what do you need to know before deciding to jump in? MINDSET The first thing to know about self-publishing isn’t how to get a book published. It’s the mindset needed to be successful at it. Many writers turn to self-publishing after having spent some time in the query trenches. With months or even years invested in writing and finding a home for a manuscript, self-publishing might feel like a consolation prize—a way to get something out of the process.…

Lisa Jewell has found her sweet spot. After writing a few rom-coms, then sliding into family dramas, her books now land solidly in the psychological thriller category. And she’s not going anywhere. “I’m settling here,” she says. “It was destined that I wasn’t going to write a thriller for my first novel, and I’m quite glad I didn’t—now. But this is where I was meant to be, and this is where I’m going to stick.” And why wouldn’t she? The success the British novelist has found throughout her 19 novels is impressive. The Family Upstairs was an instant New York Times bestseller and was followed by Then She Was Gone which spent more than a year on the same list and sold over a million copies. Combined, her books have…

1 “No man’s going to tell me what I can and can’t do,” thought Lilith as she rowed away from Eden in her self-made boat, the serpent coiled at her feet and the hull full of ripe red apples. —Mary Hansen 2 The reservoir of the past forever recreates the wellspring of the present; we found ourselves there, traveling the river of time. —Ann Marie Liakos 3 You can say anything you want about nature’s beauty and healing power, but if my hair gets wet, you are a dead man. —Beth Lent 4 As their rowboat slipped through the Emerald Passage and carried them into exile, Arren stared downward while Sera gazed wistfully at the evergreen beauty of their home one final time. —Keith Schooler 5 Under the waterfall, about…

1 San Francisco Writers Conference An annual Bay Area gathering including bestselling authors, literary agents, publishers, pub house & indie editors, and both traditional & self-publishing industry professionals. Presenters come from the West Coast, New York City, and beyond. WHEN: February 17–20, 2022. WHERE: Hyatt Regency, San Francisco, Calif. PRICE: $695–$895. One-on-ones with literary agents, manuscript editors, and screenwriters; agent speed dating; and Master Classes (which you do not need to be a conference registrant to attend) are available for an additional fee. WHAT MAKES THIS CONFERENCE UNIQUE: Offering many free events that are open to the public, such as a Writing for Change panel, Poetry Open Mic, and vendor booths. “It’s four days of everything you need to get published,” says Director Laurie McLean. From educational sessions, panels, Ask…