WHAT MOTIVATES THE MOST COMPELLING CHARACTERS

The Big

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• HOW CREATIVITY WORKS
5 WRITERS TAKE YOU
INSIDE THEIR PROCESS

• BEAT WRITER’S BLOCK

WITHOUT WILLPOWER
TIPS FROM BRAIN SCIENCE

• DEVELOP ANY IDEA

INTO A GREAT STORY
4 SIMPLE STEPS

• HAVE A PERFECTLY
W D I N T E RV I E W
INSPIRED WEEK
A DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE
George R.R. Martin

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 F EATUR ES

Creativity
IDEAS
Inspiration
Revolutionize
Your Writing Process
20 28
How to Develop Inside the Creative
Any Idea Into a Great Story Processes of Real Writers
Even stories that start with brilliant strokes of Where do ideas really come from? Why are we compelled
inspiration too often fizzle out before we reach The to put them into words, and how do we do it? In this essay
End. Use this four-step method to develop your series, writers share their creative struggles, epiphanies
best ideas to their fullest. and victories.
BY ELIZABETH SIMS BY ROGER DUNLAP, JOANNA CASTLE MILLER, NANCY
CLARK, DEBORAH HALL & DESERÉT BAKER

24
Overcoming Writer’s 34
Block Without Willpower Have a Perfectly
In a modern world full of distractions, writer’s block may Inspired Week
just be at an all-time high. Here’s a look at why our brains Use this idea-packed day-to-day guide to invite more
freeze, and what we can do about it. creativity into your writing life.
BY MIKE BECHTLE BY THE WRITER’S DIGEST STAFF

2 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

02_wd1112_TOC.indd 2 9/5/12 7:33 AM

 NOV EMBER / DECEMBER 2 012 | VOLU ME 9 2 | NO. 8

INK W ELL

38 8 THE 7 DEADLY SINS OF SELF-EDITING: Avoid

these tempting traps, and save yourself from
THE WD INTERVIEW: the kind of painful revision that can lead your
George R.R. manuscript to eternal damnation.
Martin BY JANICE GABLE BASHMAN & KATHRYN CRAFT

Who says you have to write a book 10 PLUS: How to Publish Your Book • Poetic Asides •
a year to succeed in publishing Top Shelf: Gift Books • When Weird Works
today? For the author behind A
Game of Thrones, the best things C O LU M NS
come to those who wait.
BY RICH SHIVENER 16 ASK THE AGENT: Eddie Schneider,
JABberwocky Literary Agency

42
BY KARA GEBHART UHL

18 BREAKING IN: Debut Author Spotlight

The Amazing BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO

Mr. Appel 4 8 QUESTIONS & QUANDARIES: Which vs. That;

The winner of our Annual Why Word Counts in Magazine Queries Matter
Writing Competition proves BY BRIAN A. KLEMS
that no matter how busy you
5 0 YOUR STORY: The Safe Zone
are, anyone has the time to pen
BY PATRICIA S. COOK
a spectacular story.
PLUS: The top 10 winners in 6 0 STANDOUT MARKETS: The Countryman Press;
every category. The First Line; Yoga Journal
BY MARIELLE MURPHY BY TIFFANY LUCKEY

6 2 CONFERENCE SCENE: Blue Flower Arts; Aloha

Writers Conference; South Coast
W R ITER ’S WORKBOOK BY LINDA FORMICHELLI

7 2 REJECT A HIT: How the Grinch Stole Christmas!

C
 Matn SPOOF-REJECTED BY RICHARD VEGA

5 2 4 WAYS TO MOTIVATE CHARACTERS AND PLOT ON THE COVER

BY NANCY KRESS 5 2 What Motivates the Most
Compelling Characters
5 6 HOW TO MAKE ORDINARY CHARACTERS 2 8 How Creativity Works
COMPELLING 2 4 Beat Writer’s Block Without Willpower
2 0 Develop Any Idea Into a Great Story
BY STEVEN HARPER
3 4 Have a Perfectly Inspired Week
4 2 Winning Strategies From WD’s
5 8 DEEPEN MOTIVATIONS THROUGH ARCHETYPES Annual Writing Competition
BY VICTORIA LYNN SCHMIDT 3 8 WD Interview: George R.R. Martin

4 online exclusives 5 editor’s letter 6 contributors 7 reader mail

COVER PHOTO © PM C BM

PLUS:

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 Right Now at

Idea Development in Action

How better to learn than by example? To help you master
the BADS method of story development—Bend It, Amp
It, Drive It, Strip It—(Page 20), WD Contributing Editor
Elizabeth Sims puts her four steps to the test.

Winning Ways With Words

Inspired by the winners of WD’s Annual Writing
Competition (Page 42)? Get more secrets to success from
our grand-prize playwright, and read his winning script.
PLUS: With 10 categories, our next annual competition
offers every writer a chance at the top prize! Learn more:
writersdigest.com/competitions.

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A Legacy of Writing Advice
In the spirit of our InkWell In Memoriam (Page 15), ven-
ture into the WD archives to pay tribute to the late writer
Gore Vidal (a 1975 WD interviewee) and Cosmopolitan
editor Helen Gurley Brown (who graced our cover in 1966).

To find all of the above online companions to this issue in

one handy spot, visit WritersDigest.com/dec-12.

When in Doubt, Ask!

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and with good reason—it’s a great place to tap instantly into
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ARE YOU SHOWING, OR TELLING? BOOK MARKETING SIMPLIFIED TAP THE FUTURE OF FICTION
Turn to this simple checklist to help Learn how the adage stop, look and Top agent Donald Maass shares his
you keep your writing vivid. listen works for book promotion, too. take on Writing 21st Century Fiction.
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 E DI TO R ’SL E TTE R
NOVEMBER /DECEMBER 2012
VOLUME 92 | NO. 8

EDITOR
Jessica Strawser

MANAGING EDITOR
Zachary Petit
Putting Ideas Into Action
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
Daniel T. Pessell The county fair fell on a blue-sky week-
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Amanda Kleiman
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Steve Almond, John Dufresne, Linda
Formichelli, Jane Friedman, Chad Gervich, classic Americana: the Ferris wheel filled
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Sims, Art Spikol, Kara Gebhart Uhl
pumpkins 10 times his size, the bites of
flaky apple pie fresh from the orchard.
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But inside the fairground, we found
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Robert Lee Brewer, Chuck Sambuchino,
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and droned, hardly anyone on board. The much-advertised “beer garden with
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I turned toward the voice just in time to see a boy of about 7 pop his target.
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Sins of Self-Editing,” Page 8) is managing editor of
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DON FRY (“When Weird Works,” Page 14) has
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06_wd1112Contribs.indd 6 9/5/12 11:31 AM

 READERMAIL

EDITOR’S NOTE: For more necessarily shared by SPOTTED ON

WRITING YOUR WAY
After reading the Writer’s
Workbook article 7 Steps
to a Foolproof Revision by
Don Fry (September), I
felt like I’d just received a Manual of Style. I would
prize. Which, of course,
I had.
I immediately ordered
Fry’s book Writing Your
Way. I want to learn more
of what this talented
teacher has to offer.
Thank you, Writer’s
Digest, for never failing
to meet the needs of your
readers. Mr. Fry: You
must have been reading
over my shoulder; thank
you for your insight.
Pat Rideout indeed his personal prefer-
Everett, Wash. ences, which are thus not
advice from Fry, turn to style sheet standards or TWITTER
Page 14. reputable linguists and
usage authorities.  Awesome articles
GRAMMATICAL PEEVES Gary Klinga in Writer’s Digest (Sept
I must take exception to Greensburg, Pa. Issue) on making the
James V. Smith Jr.’s “50 most of your writing
Grammatical Mistakes MORE THAN WORDS time.
to Avoid” (September) It It took me several tries @MiraLynKelly
turns out that quite a few to finish Kris Radish’s
of Smith’s pronouncements 5-Minute Memoir “An Loved the #blog 
concerning language Audience of One” (July/ your book article in
usage are not in accord August)—and I know @WritersDigest this
with Bryan A. Garner, the I’m not the only reader month [September].
author of Garner’s Modern whose heart was touched I’ll be starting my next
American Usage as well as and whose tears flowed project soon and this
the Grammar and Usage freely. Kris’ elegance not might be it!
chapter of The Chicago only embraced that #writingtips
courageous woman in @KidsWorkLife
respond to Smith’s discour- the bookstore, but also
agement in using however embraced every person Loved @Margaret
with: Is there really any who read her account of Atwood advice
palpable difference in sub- that evening. Kris wrote in [September]
stituting but or even so for that her readers are her @WritersDigest.
however? Or just what does inspiration. But know that Needed to hear it
he suggest in lieu of how- her philosophy of sharing, AGAIN today.
ever? If I were to put my kindness and generosity @britanybrownlee
money on an authority on provided inspiration to
grammar, I’d bet on Garner. Writer’s Digest readers. To Just read @chriscleave’s
Perhaps Smith should be a writer is much more interview in [September]
have stated in his piece than to place words on @WritersDigest. So
that many of the common a page. How deeply Kris inspiring! 
errors he would avoid are proved that. @a1972bmw
Mary Ellen Porrazzo
Hicksville, N.Y.

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07_wd1112_ReaderMail.indd 7 9/5/12 11:31 AM

 The 7 Deadly Sins of Self-Editing
Avoid these tempting traps, and save yourself from the kind of painful revision
that can lead your manuscript to eternal damnation.
BY JANICE GABLE BASHMAN & KATHRYN CRAFT

W
e’re most likely to
sin when we’re at
our most vulner-
able—and for cre-
ative writers, there may be no more
vulnerable time than the delicate (and
often excruciating) process of editing
our own work. Sidestep these too-
common traps, and keep your story’s
soul pure.

1. Greed
Many authors damn their efforts
from the start with a premature focus
on snagging a lucrative book deal.
They submit to agents or self-publish
before their work is truly ready. But
building a career requires that you
lay a strong foundation of only your
best work—and nobody’s first draft
is the best it can be. Careful editing
is the mortar that holds the story
tion, look for deeper motivation
to sustain you. Remember that the
revision process doesn’t have to be
any less enjoyable than the writing
itself: You’ll be setting out to find the
magic in each word, sentence, para-
graph. You’ll be tapping your creative
soul for ways to add tension to every
page, to find clever solutions to tough
story problems. Greed looks toward
the uncertain rewards of tomorrow.
the tendency to jump into a revision
right away. Words and ideas flood
your mind; emotions pump through
your heart. But that mad creative rush
can become excessive, harming your
ability to clearly assess your writing.
Penance: Step away from your cur-
rent project as long as you can bear
it—then wait an additional week.
You’ll need that emotional distance
before you revisit your work.
PHOTO © RTIMAGE/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

bricks together. The joys of writing are available to

Penance: Resist the temptation
to convince yourself your first draft
is “good enough.” If you find your-
self rushing your editing process just
to leap ahead to pursuing publica-
you today.
2. Lust
Just as dangerous as the temptation to
call your first draft “finished” can be
3. Gluttony
A great novel is like a gourmet meal.
It must be prepared carefully, and to
specification, with complementary
flavors and courses.

8 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 8 9/5/12 12:43 PM

 Getting carried away and stuff-
ing in all the good ideas and beauti-
ful word pairings you’ve got in your
pantry can lead to overindulgence.
Penance: Put your manuscript on
a diet. Pare down or eliminate scenes
that don’t further the story. Examine
plot points, characters, description,
dialogue and exposition, until you
have precisely what you need to tell
your story, and not a character or
Thinking you don’t need feedback from others
isn’t just pride—it’s pride that can squelch
your potential.
subplot more. Then apply this same
philosophy to your work at the sen-
tence level, killing your darlings and
eliminating excessive adjectives and
adverbs, along with verbose descrip-
tions. Bring out the flavor of both
your story and your style, but stop
short of overseasoning.
4. Pride
Even in the current age of publish-
ing, where aspiring authors can and
must act as their own publicists and
webmasters and take on myriad other
roles, editing is one thing you can’t
complete alone. As a form of commu-
nication, writing needs an audience.
Thinking you don’t need feedback
from others isn’t just pride—it’s pride
that can squelch your potential.
Penance: Seek the help of beta
readers, critique groups and editors.
In return for the valuable feedback
you receive, share your growing skills
by critiquing the works of other par-
ticipants in return. Then take your
humble approach a step further and
volunteer at writing conferences,
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Which of these deadly sins do you fall prey to the most? How do you overcome them? Log on to the
discussion forum at community.writersdigest.com/forum to read other writers’ editing secrets and share your own.
08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 9
libraries or literacy programs. Start a author’s self-confident voice, or
neighborhood book club, a regional another’s way with words. Maybe it’s
networking group or a listserv for his humor, or her emotional hon-
writers. Read widely and blog about esty. If you fear your work pales
it. The more you support the liter- in comparison, remember that
ary community, the more likely it will those authors didn’t strike it big
support you. by mimicking others or wallowing
in jealousy.
5. Sloth Penance: With a friend or writing
The lazy scribe is one who’s failed to group, analyze your draft for what is
develop and utilize all her natural tal- uniquely you. Is it your voice? Your
descriptions? Your quirky observa-
tions about the world around you?
Edit your manuscript again, with an
eye for drawing that element out on
every page. Editors and agents don’t
want another x, y or z. They want
ents. To draft a story—and then stop
what you have that nobody else does.
there—is to ignore the very nature of
So don’t hold yourself to an impos-
literature, which constructs meaning
sible standard by trying to be one of
through the deft layering of craft ele-
your peers.
ments. If you find yourself bucking
that notion, you may be guilty
7. Wrath
of sloth.
The editing process can inspire
Penance: Just like with physical
uncontrolled feelings of rage in
exercise, whipping your talent into
a writer. It’s difficult to discover or
shape takes time and dedication. You
to hear from a trusted reader that
don’t jog once a year and end up with
you might not yet have fully devel-
a perfect body. So it goes with your
oped your work—but it’s also an
manuscript. To build the endurance
important step in growing your
skills you’ll need for marathon writ-
organic talent.
ing and revision, you must continu-
Penance: Wrath will only get in
ously train: Do writing prompts. Do
the way. Ignore feedback at your own
writing exercises. Keep your writing
peril: What angers us most holds a
muscles toned through daily practice,
nugget of truth. Find it. Listen for
and when you review your previ-
the gifts within the criticism offered,
ous work, your mistakes and weak
and use them to help inspire new
sections will become more apparent,
ideas. Your manuscript can only
you’ll be more capable of dealing with
improve as a result.
them, and you’ll be far less likely to
walk away.
Janice Gable Bashman (janicegable
bashman.com) is managing editor of the
6. Envy International Thriller Writers’ The Big Thrill.
Creative people are notoriously inse- Kathryn Craft is a freelance developmental
editor whose debut novel is currently out
cure. You may covet one published
on submission.
WritersDigest.com I 9
9/5/12 12:43 PM
 Vegetables Your manuscript must be
going better than ours
Butt in Chair
Snack Chocolate This thing’s going to
HOW TO PUBLISH
take some editing
YOUR BOOK BY ZACHARY PETIT

Box of wine Yep, we’ve been there

A British tabloid
The FBI staffer? Yikes Invent pseudonym
Citizens’
Academy
Someone
Google yourself else has your A New Yorker Score! Ride coattails
name? staffer?
Thriller
fans Your name is Oy
Jayson Blair?
Post about how Browse Facebook Notice your ex Score!
Hunger Get a you’re writing instead of writing has not aged well
Games procrastination Write
fans hobby
Log on to Facebook

Archery Harry Fifty Shades Start a

Potter Kill that
lessons fans Pinterest
fans one, too account
Kill the Start a
blog new one Where’s the
Organize a mouse? Acquire night
Quidditch Tread Drink shift to pay it off
league carefully
Wait, how the heck
Start a do you get new ink
blog for this thing? Buy typewriter
Coffee Water
Alcohol
Very Go for a MacBook Pro
Typewriter Acquire viruses
carefully walk or jog
Just know that Read a
your readers biography
can tell when of Hunter S. Nevermind
you’ve had Thompson Here’s Buy new Manuscript
writing machine Windows PC going that bad?
more than hoping your
three cups prose is
more inter- Too cold
esting than Edit
Proceed with your vices “Game of Thrones.”
caution; avoid “True Blood.” HBO
Vegas You need one Contemplate “The Newsroom.” You must be
Lifetime a journalist
of those big
balance balls your chair. Handwritten
Decide: letter
to sit on
Watch TV Basic TV
Discover You need “Game of
Slink back to lack of a futuristic Thrones” is on!
WalMart chair balance chair from
Ikea Poets, lit fic
scribes
Body
chocolate See Rake leaves
You need Slink back to
Burn illustrated Spend hours WalMart chair
instructions trying to build it a plush
recliner Correspond Romance
with a friend writers Dust/do laundry
Now that’s Pen, on the
what we’re Journalists back of utility Return plush
Slink back to talking about recliner
WalMart chair disconnection
notices
YA writers
Horror/crime Come on.
Sci-fi/thriller writers You really want
writers Rake leaves
to rake leaves
instead of write?
Words cut … Nap?
out from Get the band
Email magazines No back together
and pasted
together Build a
birdhouse
Text message/ Now you’re
tweet just looking for
excuses
Don’t Give Up

10 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 10 9/10/12 4:26 PM

 No matter what you write, a bit of poetic license can
be a valuable asset to any writer’s arsenal.
BY ROBERT LEE BREWER

CR EATIV E CHA LLE NGE : NONE T

The nonet is a newer poetic form without a known origin, though the term
nonet literally means a combination of nine musical instruments or voices.
This nine-line poem gives writers a fun and flexible form to play with, and
there are no other definitive rules aside from the structure—which I’ve
detailed below in two examples by participants on the Poetic Asides blog.
The first line consists
“Dark in the Woods” of nine syllables. Each
by Ina Roy-Faderman subsequent line loses
The black crow descends on dreadful wings, one more syllable, until
blocks the sunlight, deadens the air. the final single-syllable
No gentle breezes to clear ninth line.
my tangled webs of thought.
For example, the sec-
Instead they collect
ond line has eight syl-
in still corners. lables …
Dark descends.
Black dog
… the third line seven
syllables, and so on.
barks.

“When Testosterone Starts Kicking In”

by Laurie Kolp
He said he couldn’t wait ‘til high school No subject or tone is
when he could date, and then he paused, off-limits with this form.
said it didn’t matter if
From reviewing many
she was smart or not as
nonets, I’ve found the
long as she was hot.
most common final
I rolled my eyes, words to be you, me
said a prayer. and one. Since many
Here it people select these
comes. monosyllabic words
for ease, it’s probably
something to avoid.
ILLUSTRATION © TONY CAPURRO

INSPIRED TO GIVE IT A SHOT? Try your hand at the nonet, and then share your
work alongside other writers on the Poetic Asides blog: tinyurl.com/7njyfxx.

Robert Lee Brewer (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides) is the editor of Poet’s

Market and Writer’s Market, and a published poet. He was also the 2010 co-Poet Laureate
of the Blogosphere.

WritersDigest.com I 11

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 11 9/5/12 12:43 PM

 A smattering of
our favorite literary
miscellanea these days.
BY ZACHARY PETIT

G IV E (O R G
E T !)
T H E G IF T O
FA
N E W W R IT IN
G
BOOK

The Amazing Story Generator

eneratorr by Jason Sacher
The pages of this cleverly designed
i d spiral-bound
i lb d bbook
k
have been (literally) spliced into three sections—one
ha
featuring
fe a situational detail, one a character, and one
an action—to allow you to craft your own prompts. Plotto: The Master Book
Our
O staff trial run resulted in this beauty: With a new of All Plots by William Wallace
outlook
o on life / a child genius / makes a deal with Cook
the devil … This handsome new edition of the
1928 original brings the complex,
strange and surprisingly entertaining
dictionary of plots, conflicts and char-
acters to a new generation. From the
familiar—“A is a youth who is ‘wild’
and hard to manage; he falls in love
with B, and his character is trans-
formed”—to the hilariously specific
(believe us, it gets weird), Plotto will
get you where you need to go.

Writing: A User Manual by

Missed Periods and Other
Grammar Scares by Jenny
Baranick
We were already chuckling at the
title of this book when we saw the
back-cover copy: “[This book is] like
a bikini: It’s fun, flirty, and covers only
the most important bits.” Inside, we
found that Baranick’s lively guide lives
up to the packaging. Missed Periods
tackles the essentials with humor and
style, making grammar both easy to
understand and shockingly enjoyable.
100 Headlines That Changed
the World by James Maloney
A testament to the power of print
media, this book will delight jour-
nalists and history buffs alike. 100
Headlines is a fascinating look at how
the most pivotal stories from the past
200 years were covered, from Jack
the Ripper (“THE WHITECHAPEL
HORRORS”) to the death of Osama
Bin Laden (“GOT HIM!”).
Wired for Story: The Writer’s
Guide to Using Brain Science to
Hook Readers From the Very
First Sentence by Lisa Cron
As both a publishing veteran and a
TV pro, Lisa Cron knows storytelling.
Here, she shares her fascinating psy-
chological approaches to the craft. Her
fresh way of looking at the core essen-
tials of writing has our neurons firing.
David Hewson
Thriller writer David Hewson
lays out a comprehensive A to Z
for penning a novel, from the details
of planning to the writing and
revising. A fantastic, no-nonsense
approach. But you don’t need to take
our word for it. Here’s Lee Child
from the foreword: “[Hewson] loves
the business to death, but is the least
starry-eyed writer you’ll ever meet.
… You should listen to him. I do, all
the time.”
For gift ideas from WD’s own
family of products—plus a special WD
reader discount—turn to Page 69.

12 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 12 9/10/12 4:24 PM

 #CompleteThisTweet
We asked, and @WritersDigest followers on Twitter answered.
One thing the best writers know by heart …

… is how to end and where to start!
@wyde1340
… is The Elements of Style.
@KnightAuthor
… is to write to one so as to reach many.
PHOTO © LASSEDESIGNEN/FOTOLIA.COM
… is that emotions don’t come … is that they stand on the
into the editing process. You have shoulders of giants.
to be heartless. @SKValenzuela
@mark_fisk
… the right word can change
… is that “write what you know” everything.
makes for one boring story. @sabinaschuyler

@GoodGrammarian @rachelscottness
… is their muse’s phone
… is that a bestseller is written 96% … is that the intertwining of words number. And they keep it on
by switching off the modem. bring healing and hope. speed dial.
@DioptraBooks @aboutproximity @SoIInterviewed

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WritersDigest.com I 13

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 13 9/10/12 4:24 PM

 When Weird
Works
BY DON FRY
M
ost of the writers I know
regard their methods as
weird. But weird is OK—as
long as it makes for fast and compel-
ling writing with minimum agony.
If your own writing process has its
quirks, here are a few tales of other
outside-the-box (and some off-the-
wall) techniques to let you know
you’re in good company.
• Morris Freedman discovered
one of the poet Alexander Pope’s
odder methods, and wrote about
it in The Virginia Quarterly
Review: “I recall viewing a selec-
tion of Alexander Pope’s posthu-
mous manuscripts at the New York
Public Library. They consisted of
dozens of pairs of rhymed words
running down the right side of sev-
eral sheets of paper, the left sides
left blank, indicating that Pope for
this unfinished project composed
the ending words before he did the
lines preceding them.”
• The scholar Robert Kellogg could
write a research paper overnight
using a method that might seem
slow, but wasn’t. He’d put two
legal pads side by side, draft a
sentence on the left one, and
revise it to perfection. Then he
copied it onto the right-hand pad.
He kept that up until he com-
pleted the last sentence. Then he
was finished, no revision needed.
I once saw him write a paper
on a Norse saga that way, from
midnight until breakfast, which
14 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 14
he delivered two hours later to
hearty applause.
• Some authors I know compose
with the screen turned off. They
type a whole piece as fast as pos-
sible, watching their fingers to
make sure they stay on the right
keys. This method often surprises
authors the first time they try it,
because they find they write bet-
ter and faster than they ever have.
How can that happen? Simple:
Their Internal Critic can’t see the
screen and criticize them, so they
write with carefree confidence and
freedom. (To “turn the screen off ”
on a laptop, drape a towel over it.)
• Frank Barrows, then a columnist
at The Charlotte Observer, had a
reputation as the fastest writer on
the paper’s staff. He would stroll
into the newsroom an hour before
deadline, toting two large bottles of
Tab. He’d set the soft drink on his
desk, sit down, and clamp a pair of
earmuffs onto his head. Then he’d
take off his belt, wrap it around the
back of his chair, and strap himself
in. He’d type at blazing speed for 40
minutes. Then he’d file the column
20 minutes early. What did he do
with the Tab? No one seems sure.
Maybe he drank it at the end as a
reward. My guess? I think he drank
both bottles as soon as he sat down
to put pressure on himself to get
out of that chair, if you get my drift.
• Some writers get weird marking
up their notes. I once talked with
a Swedish journalist who’d fin-
ish an interview and then grade
each note he’d taken on its impor-
tance, from zero to 100. As he
finished subsequent interviews,
he’d regrade all the notes, because
the more he learned, the better he
could judge each entry. And he
kept this up until he’d finished his
reporting, typically regrading each
note 10 times. I asked him if his
system worked. He replied, “No, I
think it makes me slow.”
Can I top these techniques? My best
writing happens in trances. I wander
around, mowing the lawn and taking
showers, until I have the whole thing
in pictures in my head. Then I start to
type. If I’m lucky, the muse lifts me up
into a trance.
One night, I woke up at 1 a.m., fired
up my laptop, and typed for an hour.
I went back to sleep and woke up the
next morning to find a complete novel
chapter I had not planned. I’m a poor
typist, but the text had no typos. Who
wrote it? The staff in my head.
PHOTO © FLY_FAST/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how
weird your techniques are—as long as
they work for you.
Don Fry, a writing coach, is former head of
the writing faculty at the Poynter Institute. His
latest book is Writing Your Way (WD Books).
9/5/12 12:43 PM
 In Memoriam
Gore Vidal Helen Gurley Brown Maeve Binchy
Novelist (Burr), nonfiction author Longtime Cosmopolitan editor, Novelist (Circle of Friends, Tara
(United States), screenwriter (Ben- author (Sex and the Single Girl), Road), 1940–2012
Hur, Caligula), 1925–2012 1922–2012 “Write as you speak. … I write as
“You can improve your talent, but “We’re not an intellectual’s maga- I speak and it’s very quick and
your talent is a given, a mysterious zine, but I don’t want to scare off breathless. And it worked. I thought
constant. You must make it the best the intellectual writer. I’m terribly it would only work in Ireland,
of its kind.” keen for good but it works
—Writer’s writing.” everywhere.”
Digest, 1975 —Writer’s —Writer’s
Digest, 1966 Digest, 2008
BINCHY PHOTO © DAVID TIMMONS

JULIA CAMERON’S THE ARTIST’S WAY

NETWORK
HAS INSPIRED MILLIONS
Find more great
tips, networking
and advice by
Now her timeless wisdom on
following Writer’s Digest
the creative process has been
editors on Twitter: adapted for those on the go!
@writersdigest Fill your creative well with these 64 gorgeous cards
@jessicastrawser containing motivational quotes from The Artist’s Way.
@brianklems Each day, draw a card to let Julia Cameron guide you
in living more creatively.
And become
a fan of our The perfect gift for the artist in your life!
Facebook page:
facebook.com/writersdigest

Finally, to have the

latest tips, tricks
and articles from
WD magazine
shipped to your inbox
every Tuesday, sign up for
our free e-newsletter at In bookstores now! FOLLOW US ONLINE Tarcher-Books @TarcherBooks
writersdigest.com.
TARCHER/PENGUIN | A member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. | tarcherbooks.com

WritersDigest.com I 15

08_wd1112_InkWell.indd 15 9/10/12 4:42 PM

 ASK THEAGENT
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
awfulagent.com/submissions-2
BEST PUBLISHING ADVICE EVER
RECEIVED:“Keep your stick on
the ice.” I can’t tell you how
many times that’s saved me
from the penalty box.
16 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
16_wd1112ATA.indd 16
BY KARA GEBHART UHL
Eddie Schneider
JABBERWOCKY LITERARY AGENCY
A former magazine editor, computer salesman, short-order cook, freelance graphic
designer and archery instructor, Eddie Schneider joined JABberwocky in 2008. He
previously worked as an agent at Folio Literary Management. Schneider seeks
literary fiction, science fiction and narrative nonfiction, and maintains an interest in
young adult and middle-grade. He’s currently on the hunt for plot-driven literary
fiction: “I’ve seen it and therefore know it exists, but it’s my white whale,” he says.
PERFECT DAY IN THE OFFICE: I’m afraid I wouldn’t be in the office the day I had
to attend a client’s Nobel acceptance speech.
BIGGEST PET PEEVE: Sentence fragments, left unedited and desultory, in novels.
Attention-grabbing? Lyrical? Lazy.
BIGGEST CAREER SURPRISE: Even though I know better, even though I shouldn’t
be, I’m always surprised when something appallingly written blows up and sells
tens of millions of copies. These books are a blast of unmitigated id, and a cul-
tural letting off of steam, so there’s a point, but it’s always a shock to see these
become the ambassadors of literary culture to people who otherwise don’t read.
DREAM CLIENT: Of the people I don’t already represent, the author I’d most like
to might be David Mitchell (Ghostwritten). I’m most interested in authors with
a lot of range who can write at a very high level throughout that range.
HARDEST LESSON FOR AUTHORS TO LEARN: It’s hardest to put aside the starter
novel and write something new. Doing that is like having to put your own dog
to sleep, and you can only comfort yourself with the idea that maybe you can
take the pelt and stitch together a new, better dog.
FAVORITE CONVERSATION WHEN AGREEING TO WORK WITH A CLIENT: We have a
provision in our retainer agreement whereby we agree to kitchen-test dessert reci-
pes for the Pillsbury Bake-Off (really), and finally had a client take us up on that. 
LAST AMAZING THING READ: Although it wanders a bit, I really enjoyed Keith
Richards’ Life. Most lives do that, now that I think about it.
SCHNEIDER PHOTO © JESSIE CAMMACK
BEST/STRANGEST WRITING CONFERENCE EXPERIENCE: I could tell you about the
time we went to a rodeo, or poked around in an abandoned building, or what
happened when we sat in a hot tub in a snowstorm (these are all things I’ve
done at writing conferences), but I’m afraid I’ve run out of space. WD
Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com) is a freelance writer and editor based in Fort Thomas, Ky.
9/5/12 9:23 AM
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 BREAKINGIN
Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned, and why you can do it, too.
Ben Masters
Noughties
(mainstream fiction,
Hogarth, October) “A
comedy about a group
of friends on their last
night at university as they try to
come to terms with the past and
their untold futures.”
WRITES FROM: Cambridge, U.K. PRE-
NOUGHTIES: I had just finished doing
a master’s at Oxford and stayed in the
city to do a summer job as a waiter
[at] my college. That’s when I started
writing the novel. Besides two regret-
table short stories, Noughties was the
first piece of fiction I had written.
TIME FRAME: I wrote the first draft in
about six months. I then had to find
an agent, after which I did a couple
[more drafts]. ENTER THE AGENT: I
didn’t have any useful contacts, so
I … bought The Writer’s Handbook
[a now defunct guide to U.K. pub-
lishing], circled the agents who
sounded best for me and submit-
ted the opening couple of chap-
ters. Fortunately, my first-choice
agent, Georgia Garrett [of Rogers,
Coleridge & White], got in touch
and foolishly took me on. I owe her
a lot for taking that chance. WHAT I
DID RIGHT: I have no idea. You can
only write what you want to write
or what suggests itself to you, do the
best job you can at the time and then
hope for the best. Too much calcula-
18 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
18_wd1112BreakingIn.indd 18
tion will hamper you. PLATFORM: I
don’t do anything wacky or attention-
grabbing to that end. Thinking about
that kind of stuff can be too much
of a distraction from writing. I do
the typical things, though—readings,
festivals … etc. NEXT UP: I’m cur-
rently completing the first draft of
my second novel.
Gina Bellisario
The Twelve
Days of Christmas
in Illinois
(picture book, Sterling
Children’s, October) “For
the holidays, Mia sets off with her
cousin on an authentically Illinois
road trip, collecting gifts to the
tune of a classic carol with a Land of
Lincoln twist.”
WRITES FROM: Near Chicago. PRE-
ILLINOIS: I have a background in
journalism and teaching, so my
pre-Illinois writings include articles
in newspapers and educator maga-
zines. But before college (and even
kindergarten), I wrote children’s
stories. Learning picture book struc-
ture came later, thanks to my liter-
BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
ary agent’s teachings. TIME FRAME:
Completing the first draft took about
a month. I already knew how the
draft should look well before I wrote
it. The Twelve Days of Christmas in
Illinois is one of many titles in an
established series, so I was able to
reference other titles. ENTER THE
AGENT: I did an Internet search
for “children’s literary agents.” Kelly
Sonnack [of the Andrea Brown
Literary Agency] popped up. Since
our writing tastes seemed similar, I
submitted a picture book manu-
script. A rejection letter returned
with revision advice and an invita-
tion to resubmit. I followed Kelly’s
advice. Several rewrites later, she
offered representation. WHAT I
LEARNED: The clichéd phrase “never
give up” is underrated. If a writer
wants his/her work published, that
phrase is a must to live by. WHAT
I DID RIGHT: Kelly gave revision
advice; I accepted it with open ears.
PLATFORM: Since Illinois celebrates
state history and town landmarks,
I’m reaching out to representatives
of the book’s destinations. WEBSITE:
ginabellisario.com. NEXT UP: I have
four books coming out in 2013. They
9/5/12 9:27 AM
 are part of an eight-book series from
Millbrook Press.
F.T. Bradley
Double Vision
(middle-grade thriller,
HarperCollins Children’s,
October) “When 12-year-
old Linc Baker replaces a
junior secret agent for a mission …
he has only his quick wits to crack
secret codes and find a dangerous
painting—before the bad guys do.”
WRITES FROM: Biloxi, Miss. PRE-
VISION: I wrote short crime fiction
for years, getting published in small
press magazines and e-zines. I still
write shorts when I can—it’s the best
way to stay sharp craft-wise. I also
wrote freelance articles to pay the
18_wd1112BreakingIn.indd 19
bills. TIME FRAME: I’m one of those
freak success stories: the Double
Vision series (three books) sold on
proposal. I had only written 75-odd
pages, and about half [of those]
didn’t even make it into the first
draft. From first draft to copy-edited
manuscript, it took about eight
months. ENTER THE AGENT: I had
pitched Stephen Barbara at Foundry
Literary + Media two different YA
manuscripts, but no luck. We spoke
on the phone, and he suggested,
based on my writing, that I try mid-
dle-grade. We worked on the sample
pages and proposal for about six
months before he sold Double Vision.
WHAT I LEARNED: I’m still amazed by
how great editors are at what they
do. If I’m ever stuck creatively, they
always have the key to unlock the
story and make it better. WHAT I DID
RIGHT: I kept writing something new.
I’m not afraid to throw stuff out—
I’ll cut chapters, passages or plot-
lines that don’t work. I even have
six manuscripts in the drawer that’ll
never see print. PLATFORM: I have a
blog and am active on Facebook and
Twitter. I’m on Goodreads and Skype
now and attending conventions to
connect with librarians and book-
sellers. WEBSITES: ftbradley.com. WD
Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of Guide
to Literary Agents.
BE A PROMOTION PRO
Gina Bellisario debunks the biggest miscon-
ceptions about book promotion: writers
digest.com/editor-blogs/guide-to-literary-
agents (select “Breaking In”).
WritersDigest.com I 19
9/5/12 9:27 AM
 How to
Develop A while ago I attended an inventors’ club meeting.
Some of the members had already launched
successful products and were working on more,

Any Idea while others were merely beginners with great ideas. The
beginners were commiserating about how hard it is to
deal with financing, raw materials, manufacturing, pro-

Into a
motion and all the rest, when one of the experienced
inventors suddenly stood up. “Look,” he said impatiently,
“ideas are a dime a dozen. It’s the development that puts
you over the top. Do what you have to do to make it real

Great Story and get it to market.”

Even stories that start with
brilliant strokes of inspiration
too often fizzle out before we
reach The End. Use this four-step
method to develop your best
ideas to their fullest.
BY ELIZABETH SIMS
I was surprised, because I’d always thought that a bril-
liant idea could make you a fortune. But I quickly realized
my new friend was right: Idea is just the beginning.
Fiction writers share a lot with those inventors. It’s not
hard to get inspired by a great concept, to take it to your
table or toolshed or cellar and do some brainstorming,
and even to start putting the story on paper—but eventu-
ally, many of us lose traction. Why? Because development
doesn’t happen on its own. In fact, I’ve come to think that
idea development is the No. 1 skill an author should have.
How do great authors develop stunning narratives,
break from tradition and advance the form of their fic-
tion? They take whatever basic ideas they’ve got, then
move them away from the typical. No matter your start-
ing point—a love story, buddy tale, mystery, quest—you
can do like the great innovators do: Bend it. Amp it. Drive
it. Strip it.
Bend. Amp. Drive. Strip.
It’s BADS, baby, it’s BADS.

20 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

20_wd1112_SimsIdeaToStory.indd 20 9/10/12 12:14 PM

 Bend it.
Chuck Palahniuk is on record as saying he drew heavily
from The Great Gatsby to create his novel Fight Club. I’ve
read both books (multiple times) but would not have per-
ceived that parallel. He said, “Really, what I was writing was
just The Great Gatsby updated a little. It was ‘apostolic’ fic-
tion—where a surviving apostle tells the story of his hero.
There are two men and a woman. And one man, the hero,
is shot to death.” Palahniuk took a traditional love story set
in the high society of America’s Roaring ’20s and trans-
formed it into a violent and bloody tale of sexual obsession,
cultism and social disruption, set in a rotten world.
He bent the ideas behind Gatsby into something all
his own.
The next time you get a great idea for a story, don’t stop
there. Bend your initial concept, making it more unique—
and more powerful—with every turn:
• GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND INTO YOUR PELVIS. Give
your characters inner yearnings (sexual or otherwise)
that they don’t understand and can’t deal with cogni-
tively. Palahniuk took his idea for an apostolic main
character and gave him an unnamable urge, a gland-
level longing that drives him to pretend to be a can-
cer patient and participate in support groups where
hugging and crying are not only OK, but expected.
Breaking the taboo against exploiting nonexistent
pain does more than give the character relief: It moves
the story forward in huge leaps.
Brainstorm who your own characters might be by
starting with their motivations. Let’s say you’ve come
up with the idea that your main character is an insom-
niac who needs chocolate to fall asleep. Take that urge
and bend it into something else that would be totally
disquieting to anybody but your protagonist. Wouldn’t
it be more compelling if she has to, say, shoplift an
expensive item precisely one hour before bedtime?
• BREAK AWAY FROM FAMILIAR PARAMETERS. Most
authors write characters who have backgrounds simi-
lar to their own, at least with respect to class, educa-
tion and money. Throw that out. Write billionaires,
bums, addicts, the hopeless, the heroic. Give them
20_wd1112_SimsIdeaToStory.indd 21
crappy, selfish habits, resentments, grudges. Mix traits.
Make feral creatures out of urban sophisticates and
urban sophisticates out of feral creatures.
• ADD INSANITY. The key to making a character believ-
ably and compellingly crazy is to give him a way to
rationalize his behavior, from the slightly weird to
the outrageous. Is your character actually nuts, or is
there something else going on? How can anybody tell?
Crazy characters wind up needing a lot of resources
to keep them out of trouble—and can have a major
impact on everybody else. Have fun with that.
• QUESTION CONVENTION. Use existential questions
to bend the life lessons your readers think they’ve
already learned: What is suffering? What is pleasure?
What is a waste? What is worthwhile? Can something
be both, or neither? Invite your characters to reject
common wisdom and look for answers themselves.
Amp it.
Brief Encounter is a British film adapted from Nöel
Coward’s play Still Life. It’s the story of two quiet people
who meet and fall in love in spite of being married to oth-
ers, but then, conscience-stricken, break off the relation-
ship before it really gets going. The small, exquisite trag-
edy resonated with the genteel, romantic codes of conduct
valued in prewar England.
But then along comes Tennessee Williams with his
play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a love story that has similar
themes at its core but rips us away from any semblance
of civilization. Could Williams ever amp drama! For one
thing, he knew that a story about noble ideals wouldn’t
cut it any more. Setting his play in the emotionally brutal
mélange of the postwar American South, he slashed into
WritersDigest.com I 21
9/5/12 9:36 AM
 the secret marrow of his protagonists and antagonists
alike, exposing the weaknesses and delusions that bind
people together on the surface while tearing them apart
below decks.
Take the essence of your story, and amp it:
• ADD CHARACTERS AND PILE ON THE EMOTION.
Playwrights used to limit the number of characters
in their stories, not wanting to overcrowd the stage.
But when Williams crams six or eight people onto
the scene at once and sets them all at one another’s
throats, we get a chance to feel their emotional claus-
trophobia and unwanted interdependence. Amp up
your action by adding cunning, vindictiveness, jeal-
ousy, fear of exposure, stupidity, even death.
• MAKE EVEN MINOR CHARACTERS FIERCE AND ELEMENTAL.
Consider Mae and Gooper’s five children in Cat on a
Hot Tin Roof, who lesser authors would describe (bor-
ingly) as “brats” and leave offstage. Before you even
see them, you witness their havoc (ruining Maggie’s
dress) and listen to Maggie call them “no-neck mon-
sters.” You don’t even have to meet them to fear them.
Then Williams gives them stage time, every second of
which makes you squirm with discomfort.
• EXPOSE INTERNAL BLEEDING. The deepest, most painful
wounds are the invis-
ible ones humans inflict
on one another and Kinship is story gold.
ourselves in a hundred Take your pick of, and take your
ways: betrayal, selfish-
ness, abandonment. time with, its darker aspects:
Strive to write charac- scapegoating, favoritism, jealousy.
ters who feel vulnerable
to pain, whose secrets
are so close to the surface that they can’t afford to be
polite. Put in a truth-teller and watch the inner flesh
rip and sizzle.
• CREATE BLOOD TIES. Kinship is story gold. Take your
pick of, and take your time with, its darker aspects:
scapegoating, favoritism, jealousy. A blood link can
instantly heighten any conflict. Why? Because kinship
is the one thing in life you can’t change or walk away
from. Make your characters learn this the hard way.
Drive it.
Many great modern stories spring from the same seeds
as old folk tales. The subjugation of young women, for
instance, is not only one of the oldest oppressions, it’s
one of the most pernicious—hence, it still resonates with
22 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
20_wd1112_SimsIdeaToStory.indd 22
audiences of all sorts. We first meet Cinderella in the
scullery, a slave to the rough demands of her stepmother
and older stepsisters. When Cinderella tries to take some
initiative to improve her situation, she’s squelched and
punished. (I might add that the step-relationship is espe-
cially lush ground for storytellers, given the schizophrenic
strength of the half-kin, half-stranger link.)
Margaret Atwood, in her landmark dystopian novel
The Handmaid’s Tale, steers the Cinderella archetype away
from any home whatsoever and from any relationships,
besides. She multiplies Cinderella a thousand times, and
all the Cinderellas are kept alive for the sole asset they
possess that can’t be synthesized (at least, not yet!): their
fertile wombs. Their purpose is to procreate a society that
would be better off dead. And there are no handsome
princes to come along and change anything.
Atwood drove Cinderella to a point almost—but not
quite—beyond recognition. And that’s the power.
You, too, can make gut-wrenching magic out of your
fiction by driving your tale to a conclusion further than
you ever thought it could go:
• START AT THE CRUX OF YOUR PREMISE AND HIT THE GAS.
Agents and editors often tell new writers, “Don’t start
at the beginning, start in the middle,” which usu-
ally means, “Don’t waste
pages setting up the core
of your story.” Wise advice.
Try starting at your knot-
tiest point, and then drive
it forward using the same
techniques that got your
concept there. Everybody’s
bloody and panting, every-
body’s heart is broken, everybody’s hanging on by
their fingernails. Now what? Let the story begin!
• MAKE IT BIGGER THAN THE INDIVIDUAL. How would an
organization intimidate and subjugate? Make it legal;
go step by small step. Lawlessness isn’t as frighten-
ing as a breakdown of the social order with the wrong
people in charge. An organization can be as small as
a truck stop, a fraternity house or a bridal party. Let
everything seem normal at first, and then gradually
let things devolve, deteriorate, go wrong. Make your
characters passengers trapped on a train that’s barrel-
ing toward disaster.
• ADD THE COMPLICITY OF A VICTIM. Polite, politically
correct society isn’t at all comfortable with a victim
being complicit in his or her own oppression. Good!
9/5/12 9:38 AM
 The discomfort comes from the fact that everybody
knows but doesn’t want to know that such perversion
of the human spirit exists; it’s real because self-deceit
is real. Break the taboo and use it to make your tale
breathtaking, like a ship breaking apart on a reef.
• PUT IN AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE. The women in Atwood’s
novel live an impossible choice every day: Do they go
along, or rebel? To go along is to destroy yourself from
within; to rebel is to invite certain destruction from
without. An impossible choice can confront someone
who’s being blackmailed, or someone who absolutely
must have two conflicting things, or any number of
other possibilities. And it can steer your story in new
directions like nothing else.
Strip it.
War has been the seed of innumerable creative works.
In developing War and Peace, Leo Tolstoy put in every-
thing he could think of because war is so big. To repre-
sent the French invasion of Russia and the accompanying
Napoleonic era, he wrote an epic that followed dozens of
characters. The sheer, pounding weight of detail in War
and Peace helps us understand the impact of war on indi-
viduals and the institutions they thought to be unshakable.
But Ernest Hemingway, a young man reeling from his
own experiences in World War I, stripped away every-
thing he could think of because war is as small as one
man. Confronted with the realities of war, he wrote what
came to him, then stripped it and sanded it until nothing
but hard, bright pieces were left. The result, In Our Time,
is a collection of vignettes and short stories that evokes
the immediate horror and lingering pain of that most
awful of human activities.
When it starts to seem as if no number of words can
truly represent the reality of anything, explore what might
happen if you strip your idea down to allow the miniature
to suggest the infinite:
• ADOPT A MINIMALIST ATTITUDE. If you’ve taken to heart
my BAD advice (!), you might have a notebook or
file with ideas, hunks of story, character notes, lists of
heart-clutching moments you want to put in. Great
material! Now, instead of trying to develop all that
further by squeezing out more, look closely at what
you have. Sort through it for gems, or what could
become gems with some tough love. Look for qual-
20_wd1112_SimsIdeaToStory.indd 23
BADS TO THE BONE
For a deconstructed example of the BADS technique in action,
visit writersdigest.com/dec-12.
ity over quantity. Continue to apply this mentality
throughout your writing and revision.
• CONVEY EMOTION THROUGH ACTION, NOT DESCRIPTION.
Inexperienced storytellers often try—alas, unsuccess-
fully—to do what Tolstoy did well: to not only show
what happens, but tell in deep, ruminative detail how
everybody feels about it. To Siberia with that! Do like
Papa Hemingway: When Joe’s dad in “My Old Man” gets
crushed to death on the horse track, Hemingway simply
lets Joe tell us that the cops held him back, and what his
father’s dead face looked like, and that it was pretty hard
to stop crying right then. You too can present life-and-
death emotion without saying a word about it. Adopting
this approach from the outset of your idea development
can save you a lot of writing and rewriting later.
• USE SMALL PARTICULARS TO BRING BIG THINGS TO LIFE.
A mushroom cloud, or a burned, crying baby? A wed-
ding with a cast of thousands, or the intimate taste of
a lover? A travelogue, or the feel of acceleration down
a mountain road? It’s not too early to start thinking
about your details. Be choosy. What makes your heart
quicken? Those glancing moments may offer up all
the description you need.
When you implement these techniques, don’t bear
down hard on any one; take a light, relaxed approach and
allow idea to build on idea. If you do that, your innate
creativity will take over. It knows what it’s doing! At times
when you’re really rolling, your ideas will seem to develop
themselves; they’ll pop brighter and bite deeper.
And like the best inventors who combine brilliant ideas
with the guts and drive to make them reality, you won’t be
stuck drumming your fingers on the drafting table. You’ll
be producing well-developed stories with the optimum
chance of success. WD
Elizabeth Sims (elizabethsims.com) is a prize-winning novelist as well
as a contributing editor for WD. She holds degrees in English from
Michigan State University and Wayne State University, and is currently
working on new fiction. Look for her forthcoming title from Writer’s
Digest Books: You’ve Got a Book in You: Write It and Change Your Life.
WritersDigest.com I 23
9/5/12 9:38 AM
 Overcoming
Writer’s Block I
Without
Willpower
In a modern world full of distractions,
writer’s block may just be at an all-time
high. Here’s a look at why our brains
freeze, and what we can do about it.
BY MIKE BECHTLE
24 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
24_wd1112_BechtleWritersBlock.indd 24
’ve had writer’s block since 1974.
Not all the time, of course, but it’s been a regular
visitor since I started writing professionally. I’ve spent
hours with my fingers motionless on a keyboard, wait-
ing for inspiration. When nothing happens, I escape into
email, solitaire or the fridge, hoping the muse will be there
when I return. I dust my office plants, make labels for file
folders and read inspirational quotes about the writing life.
The muse doesn’t come.
I’ve read dozens of articles about how to get the inspi-
ration back. One popular author said she gets motivated
when her checking account balance is low. Another said
you can’t wait for inspiration, any more than you’d call your
boss and say, “I’m not coming in; I have worker’s block.”
That made it worse. I felt like Rex, the dinosaur in Toy
Story who said, “Great. Now I have guilt!” Even with all that
expert advice, I still couldn’t get the words on the page. I’d
try to muster up willpower, but it was always short-lived.
That led to the only logical conclusion: I was the prob-
lem. If I were a “real” writer, I would have the discipline
to persevere, no matter what. Willpower would be my
default setting. When I got stuck, I would just power
through to literary success.
Sound familiar?
The Problem With Willpower
Occasionally, we all have one of those great days when we’re
“in the zone.” Words and ideas flow freely and we think, I
did it! I’m inspired! But the next morning we have trouble
walking upright or forming multisyllabic words. We thought
the muse had moved in, but it turned out to be a one-night
stand ending with a note that says, “I’ll call you sometime.”
Willpower always seems to be the obvious solution.
Whenever we’re stuck, we try to use willpower to get the
9/5/12 9:46 AM
 juices flowing again. We experiment with techniques that
are supposed to make us more disciplined, and some-
times they work for a while. But soon, we’re playing
“Angry Birds” instead of creating chapters.
Here’s the problem with willpower: It’s limited.
In their book Switch: How to Change Things When Change
Is Hard, researchers Chip Heath and Dan Heath share the
results of their revealing study that found we have a finite
amount of willpower available. Simply put, when we use it
up by resisting a chocolate doughnut all morning, there’s
none left to stay disciplined in our writing an hour later. The
“willpower tank” has to refill before we can use it again.
So if we use up our willpower for anything, it will be
hard to be disciplined in everything else for a while.
Discipline vs. Distraction
We’re living—and writing—in a different world than we
were 10 years ago. We used to be interrupted once or
twice an hour by the phone or a visitor. The mail came
once a day. It didn’t take up our willpower reserves just to
stay focused on a task.
Today, daily life is more like standing in a hurricane.
Cell phones make us accessible 24/7. Mail comes electron-
ically and constantly, often several times a minute—and
announces its arrival with a ping from our laptop, tablet or
smartphone. We’re surrounded by sound in our car, in our
office, at the gas pump, and everywhere else through tex-
ting, tweeting and social media. What used to be a gentle
breeze of information has turned into a Category 5 storm,
and we’re focused on survival instead of productivity.
Traditional approaches to writer’s block call for more
discipline. That might have worked when conditions were
calm. But it’s tough to maintain our creativity and focus
when trees are blowing by the window.
The problem used to be discipline; now, it’s distraction.
Technology makes our lives easier, but it also makes it
easier to lose focus. Every time we try to concentrate, some-
thing buzzes or rings and snatches our attention. When
doing something mundane such as standing in line, there
used to be nothing to do but think—and we all know how
much of the creative work of writing can be done at those
24_wd1112_BechtleWritersBlock.indd 25
times. But now, when we’re waiting our turn to unload our
groceries onto the belt, we grab our phone to see what’s
happening. We’ve trained our brains to spend every avail-
able moment reacting to what’s coming at us instead of
choosing what we think about. And the consequences
for those of us who rely on our creative processes can
be significant.
Reacting vs. Creating
Creating words takes concentration. If we’ve trained our-
selves to react to everything that makes “noise,” distrac-
tion becomes our default setting. When we’re stuck trying
to craft a sentence, our minds go to that default setting—
the path of least resistance.
We’ve rewired our brains to stop choosing our thoughts.
That’s bad news for writers.
That rewiring process has been well-documented in
brain research. Dr. Edward Hallowell, author of CrazyBusy,
has treated attention deficit disorder for years. He suggests
that many people in today’s world have the symptoms
of ADD: distractibility, impulsivity, restlessness, disorga-
nization, trouble planning and procrastination. But his
research has shown that many of those patients simply
have “a severe case of modern life.”
There are two parts of our brain: the creative part and
the reactive part. The reactive part makes automatic deci-
sions. It helps us go through our morning routine without
a checklist, or run from an angry dog without deciding if
it’s the right thing to do. The creative part is where we plan,
process information, weigh options and create solutions.
The problem comes when we get them mixed up. When
we constantly react to incoming stimuli, we train our reac-
tive brain to take over decision-making. The creative brain
gives way to the reactive brain, and we get distracted.
When we’re constantly distracted, it impacts our writing.
That’s why willpower doesn’t work; it doesn’t take the hur-
ricane into account. It’s like saying, “I just need to hang on.”
Here’s the good news: We can rewire our brain back to
where it belongs. And by following some simple strategies
that take the realities of modern life into account, we can do
it without using up our willpower reserves in the process.
WritersDigest.com I 25
9/5/12 9:47 AM
 Rewiring Our Creative Brains
We have two options for getting back in control and
conquering writer’s block:
1. We can limit the distractions.
2. We can change the way we handle the distractions.
The hurricane is real. Until we accept that reality and
find ways to handle it, we’ll remain victims of circum-
stance. We can’t just rely on willpower to overcome iner-
tia in our writing; we have to be more proactive.
Productivity techniques are valuable tools for over-
coming writer’s block, but only when they are based on
the reality of the distractions in our lives. We need practi-
cal solutions that help us rewire our brains in the process.
Brain-Friendly Ways to Limit Distractions
• DON’T START YOUR DAY BY CHECKING YOUR EMAIL
OR PHONE. When you do, your agenda is set by the
requests of others (reactive) instead of your own priori-
ties (decisive). Instead, make your writing the first work
you do each morning. Tony Schwartz, founder of The
Energy Project and author of Be Excellent at Anything,
says, “That’s typically when you have the most energy
and the fewest distractions. Build this practice into a
ritual, and you’ll take the choice out of it.” That’s doubly
important because when something becomes a habit, it
no longer dips into your willpower supply.
• LIMIT YOUR INFORMATION INPUT. In an attempt to stay
“current” and, ironically, to seek out inspiration, writers
often spend an above-average amount of time watch-
ing the news, reading the paper, browsing the Web and
listening to talk radio. Those aren’t bad in themselves.
But the more you take in, the more mental clutter you
have to sort through. Like sitting down to eat at a res-
taurant with a 20-page menu, you can get paralyzed
with so many good choices. When it comes to your
daily info intake, aim for quality instead of quantity.
• DON’T TAKE YOUR PHONE TO BED. Undistracted sleep
at night is essential for staying focused during
the day. It’s also the best way to invite your
creative process to continue as you rest. As
you’re drifting off, refrain from thinking
about anything that keeps you wound
up—text messages, even that hole in
your plot. The brain processes informa-
tion automatically at night.
• PLAN YOUR WEEK BEFORE IT BEGINS.
Put appointments for writing on
your calendar, and treat them as you
26 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
24_wd1112_BechtleWritersBlock.indd 26
would any other meeting. If someone says, “Want to
go out for coffee tomorrow morning?” and it’s a sched-
uled writing time, just say, “I’m sorry—I have a com-
mitment. But I’m free for lunch; would that work?”
• CHECK EMAIL AND SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS ONLY AT
SET TIMES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. If you check mes-
sages as they arrive, you’re losing momentum in your
writing. “But what if it’s an emergency?” you say. I’ve
noticed that most people don’t email when they have
a true crisis. They’ll find a better way of reaching you.
• KEEP A NOTEBOOK WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES TO
CAPTURE THOUGHTS AS THEY COME. You’ve heard this
tip before—but there’s science behind it. Our brains
are made for processing, not for storing. Jotting down
ideas when they come—whether they’re story fodder
or distracting worries—will get them out of your
mind. Use tools for archiving your thoughts, and
then access them when you’re ready to process. When
Albert Einstein was criticized for not knowing his
phone number, he said, “Why should I memorize
something if I can look it up?”
Brain-Friendly Ways to Handle Distractions
• KEEP YOUR WRITING SESSIONS SHORT. “Human beings
aren’t designed to operate like computers, at high speed,
continuously, for long periods of time,” Schwartz says.
“We’re meant to pulse between spending and renewing
energy, and the evidence strongly suggests that we can’t
work for more than 90 minutes at a time fully focused.”
Schwartz’s first three books took a year each to write, and
he often worked 10 hours per day. His last two were writ-
ten in six months each, and he worked no more than 4½
hours a day.
• STAY SEATED DURING THAT TIME. This might sound sus-
piciously like “discipline,” but it’s the most valuable sug-
gestion for overcoming writer’s block. It’s not about
putting pressure on yourself to produce something.
Instead, it’s about recognizing that it takes a while for
our minds to settle enough to create. If we jump up and
do something else when we get stuck, we’re getting in
the way of our creative space. I’ve found that I have
to commit to staying in my chair for at least 45
minutes, whether or not I write a word. It usu-
ally takes about 20 minutes for the sentences
to flow. I’m OK if nothing comes, but I don’t
do anything else during that time. Checking
Twitter, getting water, answering the phone—
those come after my 45 minutes are up.
9/5/12 9:47 AM
 Tools for Managing Distractions
While the Internet can itself be a
distraction for writers, it’s also home
to some great resources for regulating
your routine. Here are a few of the best:
Freedom (Mac or Windows) locks you
offline for a set time period, during
which the only bypass is to reboot—
hassle enough that you’ll be inclined to
keep writing. $10 at macfreedom.com.
Anti-Social (Mac) can turn off social
media sites for designated time
periods. $15 or a free trial version
at anti-social.cc.
LeechBlock (Mac or Windows) is a
tool for the free downloadable Mozilla
Firefox browser that lets you block
designated sites for certain times. Free
at addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/
addon/leechblock.
RescueTime (Mac or Windows) keeps
track of how much time you spend
working vs. browsing the Web, and
gives you a daily readout. Frighteningly
valuable. Free, or a pro version for $6/
month at rescuetime.com.
WriteRoom (Mac) and Dark Room
(Windows) set up your writing time so
you can use your computer for only
one thing: writing. Free at hogbay
software.com/products/writeroom
and download.cnet.com/Dark-
Room/3000-2079_4-10562359.html.
FocusWriter (Mac and Windows)
blocks everything on your screen
except the words you type on a gray
background. Includes daily writing
goal and typewriter sounds for key-
strokes. Free at gottcode.com/
focuswriter.
Concentrate (Mac) lets you desig-
nate activities (research, write, etc.)
and customize what you want to
happen when you begin each one
(assign programs to launch or quit,
open documents, block sites, play
messages to motivate you, set iChat
to “away,” etc.). When you’re ready
to work, just press the “concentrate”
button, and the actions take place
automatically. $29 or a 60-hour free
trial at getconcentrating.com.
Think (Mac) darkens your screen
except for the current window.
Free at freeverse.com/mac/
product/?id=7013.
focus booster (Mac and Windows)
is a timer that lets you work for 25
minutes at a time with a five-minute
break. Free at focusboosterapp.com.

• REPLACE YOUR AFTERNOON COFFEE BREAK WITH A
20-MINUTE NAP. Researchers have discovered that our
brains need a short rest period in the middle of the
day for maximum performance. It renews our energy
more than caffeine, snacks or energy drinks.
• SET IMPERFECT EXPECTATIONS. Dr. Kathleen Nadeau,
co-author of ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your
Life, suggests that “while we don’t require perfec-
tion of ourselves when we speak, many of us some-
how apply a completely different, impossible stan-
dard to our writing.” She notes that with writing, we
unconsciously compare ourselves with great writ-
ers whenever we begin to put our thoughts on paper.
Cardiologists need to be perfectionists; writers need
to be themselves.
• FUEL YOUR CREATIVE BRAIN—LITERALLY. Make it a rule
to start your day with a breakfast of protein, which
sharpens focus, rather than simple carbohydrates,
which lower it. (If you love pancakes, eat them for
dinner.) Then, throughout the day, drink water. The
brain operates on water, and becomes inefficient when
it runs low. The optimal intake depends on your size,
so instead of following the oft-suggested guidelines of
six to eight glasses per day, divide your body weight in
half, and drink that many ounces daily.
• WRITE WITH A SINGLE READER IN MIND, AND FOCUS ON
TELLING YOUR STORY TO THAT PERSON ALONE. Nadeau
says, “I often advise writers to imagine a particular
audience of one, then write to that real or imagined
individual. That gets us off the stage facing the ima-
gined crowd of critics and allows us to focus on com-
municating in a real and personal way.”
The Freedom to Create
We’re going to have writer’s block. But we don’t have to be
a victim of it. Martin Luther said, “You can’t stop the birds
from flying over your head, but you can keep them from
building a nest in your hair.”
If we take the initiative to minimize the incoming
information and learn to respond in healthy ways, we
won’t see writer’s block as a sign of failure. Instead, we’ll
recognize it as the natural byproduct of creative thinking.
Writer’s block means we’re encountering the challenges
that come when we’re producing something of value. It
means we’re doing something that matters.
And if we handle it correctly, it means we’re free! WD
Mike Bechtle is the author of three books, including People Can’t
Drive You Crazy If You Don’t Give Them the Keys. He is a consultant
for FranklinCovey and blogs at mikebechtle.com.

WritersDigest.com I 27

24_wd1112_BechtleWritersBlock.indd 27 9/5/12 9:47 AM

 Inside the
Creative Processes
of Real Writers
Where do ideas really come from?
Why are we compelled to put them
into words, and how do we do it?
In this essay series, writers share their
creative struggles, epiphanies and victories.

28 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 28 9/5/12 9:57 AM

 The Closet Writer
BY ROGER DUNLAP
H i, my name is Roger D. I am
a writer.
If you are a member of W.A.
(Writers Anonymous) please respond, “Hi, Roger,” in
a cheerful, understanding tone, and I will proceed.
My biggest difficulty with the W.A. process was achiev-
ing Step 1. That is, admitting that I could neither control
my compulsion to write nor call myself a writer.
For years I denied it by saying, “It was just something I
jotted down.” Or, “It’s not very good. I can’t submit that.”
In my youth, when presented with assignments to write
about your favorite relative or write a story about your pet,
I would protest. “I’m not a writer.”
My mother said I was. She liked the notes I wrote on
her birthday cards.
Some of my friends at school said I was. They’d com-
ment on the English paper I presented regarding Elvis, or
on my article in the school newspaper about the benefits
of smoking in the john.
Still I persisted. “I am not one of them.” In secret, I
hid reams of pages beneath my mattress, and folded sto-
ries away in a shoebox in my closet. Alone in the dark
recesses of libraries and coffee shops, I wrote about things
that I felt like writing about. I expressed the feelings that
welled up inside my clouded head. I read books, saw
beauty in the words, and dreamed that someday I could
write something as beautiful and meaningful as those
published mentors had. I continued writing stories about
people who existed in my head alone. Once on paper,
they were quickly covered and stashed away. My writing
was never good enough.
As time went by, it became harder to hide the truth from
those I loved. My wife suggested I take classes. She was an
English major. I was an engineer. After years of raising chil-
PHOTO © TONY GIAMBRONE
28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 29
dren and fighting schedules and contractors, I gave in.
The class was Creative Writing 101, held in the evenings
at the local high school. A woman, younger than I, stood in
front of a blackboard and began to unravel the mysteries of
basic writing. I listened that first night and went home con-
fused. If that was what writing was about, what had I been
doing all those years pouring out my heart and soul onto
coffee-stained pages? I went to the closet and retrieved
from the shoebox an old short story I had written. I read
it and began to understand: It could be better, much better.
More classes followed and more revisions and a few sub-
missions—and rejections.
The big question remained: Am I a writer? Answering a
question with a question always seemed safer; it gave me
time to think. What is a writer?
I found the answer on trips to New York and New
Orleans, where I discovered street musicians, sidewalk art-
ists, jugglers and singers. There is a saxophone player in
front of Macy’s who will tear your heart in two with his
rendition of the blues. There is a sketch artist on the banks
of the Mississippi who can make you feel the burning sand
and cooling surf of the Caribbean. I wouldn’t ask that sax
player if he were a musician. I could hear the answer. With
the artist, I could see the answer. Fame and money are not
the measure of their artistic identities. They do what they
do to the best of their abilities and they enjoy it.
Yes, I’m a writer. I write stories. Someday you might
read one.
Roger Dunlap is a writer based in Centerville, Ohio. His short
stories have won several regional fiction awards, and he’s currently
working on his first novel, a children’s
fable set in the Amazon rainforest.
WritersDigest.com I 29
9/5/12 9:57 AM
 Inside the Creative Processes of Real Writers
The Value of Failing (From
Someone Who Never Did)
BY JOANNA CASTLE MILLER
T ake it from Little Miss Perfect: Failure is a writer’s best friend.
I won a national writing contest when I was 10 years old.
The piece told a tug-at-your-heartstrings story about a homeless
man living in a family’s attic. I knew the judges would eat that
crap up.
From that day on, I learned to play the game like a pro. College
proved a breeze as I selected classes that showed off my skills
rather than challenging me. It was better to learn nothing than to
earn less than an A.
Because I was so used to playing the game, I interviewed well
for jobs and wound up in television. It was the perfect place to
hide as a young writer who wanted the best bang for her buck;
TV offered the most impressive résumé for the least amount of
quality work.
Graduation came and went. I finished, looking as good as any-
one. And sadly, that’s where the story ends for a lot of people like
me—perfectionists who have never failed.
30 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 30
I’d coasted on my talent for a while, but without having let any-
one criticize my work along the way, I reached a sudden halt upon
entering the real world, report card–free as it is.
Failing to fail left me a bit paranoid in that real world. I began
obsessively controlling my work, forever editing and never writing. I
worried all the time whether I was any good at all. My prior strategy
became my ruination: Maybe I’d worked the system so well that no
one had had a chance to tell me I was terrible.
I turned down opportunities out of lack of confidence and let
projects sit because of paralyzing writer’s block. I fled from people
who knew the craft well for fear they’d see me for the fake I was.
Then one day I whined to my husband about how I used to
write so much more confidently. He knew better than to put up
with my excuses; he demanded I start treating my block for what
it was: a phobia.
Over the next couple of years I practiced the skill of failing. I
pitched a provocative topic to a magazine and got a profanity-
Side
by Side
BY NANCY CLARK
A s a tactile artist as well as a writer, the handwritten
and the handmade go hand-in-hand for me, one
fine-tuning the other. I prefer a pen to a keyboard, and
a hand stitch to a sewing machine. Thoughts stream
more slowly but more clearly as I feel the words pass
MILLER PHOTO © DEVRON ENARSON; CLARK PHOTO © FRITZ CASS
through my hand when I write. Only afterward can I
type them out—and when I do, as I tap those keys, the
words line up at attention, and I feel my body become
more rigid in the process.
In my sculptures, too, I both embrace and reveal the
handiwork as much as possible. Sometimes the result
has an awkwardness like bad handwriting, but it’s
exactly this imperfect human touch that appeals to me.
I prefer the messy truth, the crossed-out words never
seen on a typewritten page. Moved by paintings in
which the underlying colors and forms seep through,
9/5/12 9:57 AM
 laden rejection. I received group feedback ranging from bored
apathy to personal attacks. I sent my once-impressive résumé to
TV networks and heard nothing.
Eventually I submitted a play for critique even though I knew
it wasn’t very good—a big step for me. I could barely bring
myself to read the notes. Sure, some of the criticism stung, but
most of it gave me great ideas. A few drafts later, that play
received a reading in New York City.
The event was rather unglamorous. An unpaid cast crowded
into a rented studio where ceiling fans drowned out the actors’
voices—but it became the highlight of my career thus far.
Sure, I’d accomplished many more dazzling things leading
up to that day; but that was the first moment I’d allowed myself
the possibility of failure and come through with some success.
Suddenly I was a writer not because I said so, but because other
people whose opinions I valued said so on my behalf.
Now I lead my own writing group. Surrounded by people
who understand how vulnerable it feels to be judged, the pos-
sibility of failure doesn’t seem so terrible.
In fact, these writers treat perfectionism as the real failure:
The longer you wait to submit something, the more your fear
revealing what was there before, I consciously leave the
imprints of the maker.
My first sculpture was a handmade book of vocabulary,
filled with words that were interesting to me in how they
looked and what they meant. Vividly I remember holding
in my hand that book, no bigger than a 7-year-old’s palm,
and appreciating the feel of the cardboard and paper and
the color of the ink. After more than 30 years of creating
art, that original feeling is intact. And I still need both
objects and words to satisfy my creative drive.
I can begin a sculpture once I have titled it, know its story,
and have worked through the concept on paper. The titles
themselves reveal a lot about the work, playing with hom-
onyms, alliteration and double entendres. As I write about
what I intend to do, my ideas get clearer. Once a sculpture
has been started, I begin writing about the concept in more
intimate detail—in a way that helps me not only visualize
the desired result, but feel the emotion that lends depth to
the experience. There is a natural structure to sculpture as to
writing: a beginning, a middle and an end. Only together do
the art forms help me make sense of what I am expressing.
Perhaps my Still Life in the Playground installation
would not exist today if I had not first written about the
28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 31
becomes an embarrassment until you eventually find yourself
peer-pressured into the unknown and underrated world of
being criticized.
I never thought it was possible, but now I enjoy writing even
more than I did as a 10-year-old girl who just wrote, secretly
and unedited.
If I could go back, I would beg the many encouraging teachers,
mentors and professionals in my life to be as honest with me as
possible, even if it meant learning I had failed every once in a while.
I would turn in a lot more drafts to a lot more people. I would
invite the toughest experts out there to pick apart my work for as
long as they’d be willing.
I would do all of this because failure is a short-lived necessity in
my creative life. It’s synonymous with learning, listening, editing,
collaborating and even, eventually, succeeding. In other words,
failing is synonymous with the writing process.
And I have to admit, I’m getting pretty good at it.
Joanna Castle Miller (joannacastlemiller.com) is a dramatic writer
and journalist based in Arlington, Va. She is currently learning how
to fail at writing musicals.
pathos of an empty playground at twi-
light, the power of the empty swings. I
may never have created Party of Three, a
mobile of three seemingly disparate objects,
if I had not first been called to express in words
that sometimes each one of us is the odd one out.
One of the beauties of writing is its weightlessness, its
portability—something I envy every time I drag my sculp-
ture material around. But writing is harder in another way:
To get a visceral effect from words is more challenging to
me than to get it from color. And when creative blocks
come around, I often have the luxury of resolving them by
simply switching from one medium to the other.
It is the personality of the artist that dictates the
method of expression, the look, the feel, the thought
and the material. And I’ve found I need both art forms
to express myself. Sculpture stands on its own. Writing
stands on its own. In this artist’s case, they stand side
by side.
Nancy Clark (artbynancyclark.com) is a New York–based artist who
has exhibited in galleries and museums, and writes narratives about
her sculpture. She is working on a book about her creative process.
WritersDigest.com I 31
9/5/12 9:57 AM
 Inside the Creative Processes of Real Writers
Finding Drama Where
There Should Be None
BY DEBORAH HALL
A s a humor writer I should spend the majority of my
time looking for trouble, subscribing to the adage that
comedy equals tragedy plus time. But I find myself in a bit
of a cognitive dissonant conundrum since, by nature, I’m a
compulsive rule-follower who prefers that her drama unfold
in the halls of Seattle Grace on must-see TV. Perhaps I was
married to Noah in a past life, but I’m compelled to plan for
any and all possibilities. Which is helpful if you’re sitting next
to me on a plane, because I’ll secure my oxygen mask before
affixing the extra parachute I brought for you, while we
snack on the trail mix from my purse, but our story won’t be
nearly as newsworthy as the one of the woman who decided
to fly two days after she was due to give birth to triplets.
So my biggest challenge as a writer has been not
so much getting the words out as mining for material.
Fortunately, in spite of my relentless preparation—or in
one case, because of it—I’ve managed to get a few lucky
breaks by finding drama where there should be none.
My first sale came after back surgery. Years of figure
skating had taken its toll and I found myself on a gurney
outside an operating room. Naturally I’d read every page of
the War and Peace–length preparation manual they’d sent
home with me, which insisted I ask every single person
who came near me if they had washed their hands. This
was not received with near the enthusiasm I was promised.
I should have stopped there, but instead decided to
have a chat with the anesthesiologist. “Will I wake up in
the middle of surgery like the literature said I might?” I
asked. “And if so, how would they rectify that?”
Clearly these are questions designed to seek reassurance.
I thought some things were universally understood. Seems
32 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 32
the doc didn’t get the memo. The answer—“Yes, that can
happen. It’s a problem we’re working on”—was not what I’d
hoped for. Mercifully, I didn’t wake up until they’d put the
staple gun away. But I sold the story to a medical magazine.
Apparently back surgery is the gift that keeps on giv-
ing, because after spending a year convalescing, watching
endless hours of TV populated by people who are spray-
tanned, alarmingly enhanced and seemingly always
startled, I forgot what normal people looked like. So I
wrote a piece about how even those of us who think we
know better can still fall prey to the never-ending media-
driven quest for perfection, and sold it to More magazine.
Eventually I recovered. Good for me, but not so much
for my writing. I was back to eating broccoli, fish and wal-
nuts per Dr. Oz’s instructions. While good cholesterol may
be something to aspire to, it’s snooze-worthy reading. I
contemplated buying a new living room set from Ikea and
recycling the instructions before even looking at them, but
it seemed like too much work. I briefly took up baking,
but my relentless need to read no fewer than five recipes
before breaking out the spelt flour and chia seeds pro-
duced a digestively friendly, but drama-free cookie.
Then came perimenopause to the rescue! Can’t remem-
ber why I walked into a room? Second base moving pre-
cariously closer to third? Producing a chin hair in less time
than it takes Oprah to give away a car? I’ll take it! I ranted,
sold it to More and upgraded my magnifying mirror.
Now if you’ll excuse me, my low-fat sugar-free flaxseed
Bundt cake is ready. …
Deborah Hall became a freelance writer six years ago when chronic
pain forced her to leave the work force and she needed to find
a way to sound more interesting at dinner parties. Her work has
appeared in Happy Woman Magazine, Canadian Teacher, Today’s
Bride and More. She lives in London, Ontario.
9/5/12 9:57 AM
 We Can’t Stop Ourselves
BY DESERÉT BAKER
W hen my first-grade counterparts were
learning to write with their pencils
tucked obediently against their middle fingers,
I somehow got off-track and moved mine to my ring finger. There it
bent the nail, ridging it and producing a great callous. I might have
taken warning then that in the years ahead of me, writing would
leave all kinds of indelible, irreversible marks in its wake. But I don’t
recall noticing it. Life, at the tender age of 6, was full of high adven-
ture. Self-reflection stole time from scientific inquiry. Who would
commit such a profligate act?
Thirty years later as I sat at my desk, wrestling with the razor-cut
between tragedy and ecstasy that is writing, I pulled a book from
my shelf and read a line by William Styron.
I certainly don’t [enjoy writing]. I get a fine warm feel-
ing when I’m doing well, but that pleasure is pretty much
negated by the pain of getting started each day. Let’s face
it: Writing is hell.
I get it.
I get why writers hate writing.
I also get why they go back to it again and again.
Writing, for me, is something I’m impelled to do. Impelled—as
in, against my will. My nagging inner hag will not silence herself,
no matter the efforts I make at overscheduling, cleaning house or
HALL PHOTO © WILLY VAN KLOOSTER; BAKER PHOTO © KATE KAE MYERS
checking email.
No. No amount of avoidance or even imitation writing will quiet
the internal harpy who demands to be heard.
The problem, at its very center, is this: Once I’ve buckled, suc-
cumbed and allowed myself to be grabbed by the shoulders and
pushed up to the keyboard, the hag says, “So?”
“So what?”
“Don’t ask me. You’re the writer.”
Crying won’t help. Neither will kneeling and begging Deity
for this burden to be removed. You can get up again and sneak
away from the computer, but you will find yourself shoved back
into your seat.
28_wd1112_CreativeProcesses.indd 33
“So?”
“So what?”
“Don’t ask me. You’re the writer.”
In my experience, one of the dangers, one of the nasty reali-
ties of writing, should be announced right off, lest we deceive our
readers, or worse, ourselves. And that is this: Writing is a form of
self-cannibalism.
Once you remove a memory or idea from the confines of your
own dark consciousness, it becomes story. Whether or not it hap-
pened or originated that way, we no longer know. We’ve cannibal-
ized our personal histories, our innermost thoughts, and regur-
gitated them as something other than memory or emotion or
intimate truth.
Now the written account is what you remember. What you
believe. Much like a pinned and mounted butterfly is no longer the
butterfly itself, but only a shell of what it was.
Therein lies the danger. One’s memories are pinned and
mounted, on display. But like the butterfly, they’re disconnected
from their life force. And that life cannot be reclaimed.
So why? Why do we do it?
Perhaps it is because if we don’t put those ideas into words, like
living butterflies they will flutter away, lost to us forever.
Perhaps.
But my greater suspicion, my verging indictment is that we write
because we can’t stop ourselves.
So? WD
Deserét Baker grew up speaking both English and Spanish. When
her daughter lost her hearing as a result of illness, Deserét learned
American Sign Language, going on to teach it as an adjunct
professor at Boise State University. Her work has appeared in The
Arbiter, the state of Idaho’s Hymns of Thanksgiving and the online
fiction journal Three Words One Story.
WritersDigest.com I 33
9/5/12 9:57 AM
 Have a
PERFECTLY
INSPIRED
Week
The Creative Writer’s
Day-to-Day Guide
BY THE WRITER’S DIGEST STAFF
W
e’ve all had those magi-
cal moments—closing
our laptops with a satis-
fied snap, relaxing after
dinner with a glass of wine, or drifting
off to sleep with a sigh of contentment—
when we think back and realize, with a
flush of pure pleasure, that we’ve just had
a perfect writing day.
If you’re like most of us, chances are
that feeling is a rare one—but it doesn’t
have to be. Inviting more creativity into
your writing life is a matter of discovering
what lies at the heart of it, and purpose-
34 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
34_wd1112_InspiredWeek.indd 34
fully taking small steps toward those dis-
coveries. Setting aside a week to focus on
ideas and inspiration is a great start.
Chances are, the perfect day in your
writing life really consists of simple
things: an opportunity to write and to
write well, a chance to actively seek out
inspiration, the initiative to do something
that makes you feel like a writer, a push to
do something new or different in hopes of
informing your work in unexpected ways.
Here are some small but powerful
ways you can achieve all that and more,
beginning now.
9/5/12 9:58 AM
 ■ Day 1
Set a word count goal
for the week ahead.
Writing toward a weekly quota, rather than a daily one,
allows you the flexibility to embrace the inevitability that
some days will yield more (and/or better) writing than
others. It also puts less constant pressure on your creative
brain to produce. This week, you’re going to make real
headway on your work-in-progress, or on that story you’ve
been wanting to start. Hold yourself accountable. The
supplementary ideas you’ll find suggested here will add
inspiration and balance to your days, and what you learn
will make its way into your work—but there’s no substitute
for the time you spend in that chair. It’s all up to you.

Visit a library or bookstore

and pick up a book you’ve
“been meaning to read.”
Start it today, whether that means you devote five min-
utes to the first few pages or an hour to the first few chap-
ters. If it truly belongs on your wish list, you won’t be able
to stop there.
Order a drink
you’ve never tried
before.
A new herbal tea blend instead of
your usual English breakfast. A
local microbrew draft instead of
your go-to lite in a bottle. Scotch
on the rocks instead of your cus-
tomary gin and tonic. As you sip
it, imagine a person who drinks
this every day. Who is she?
■ Day 2
Do field research
for a potential story.
Visit a shooting range to learn to fire a gun like the char-
acter in your novel. Have lunch at a new restaurant you’d
like to make the subject of an article pitch. Stop and chat
with firemen you see washing their truck outside the
firehouse. Real-life experience can both influence and
enhance your work like nothing else.
Meet a writing friend
for coffee.
No agenda, just camaraderie.
Tune in to an unfamiliar
radio station.
In the car or at home, spend some time listening to a style
of music you don’t normally listen to, or an AM talk pro-
gram you wouldn’t typically seek out. Who else might be
listening, and what kind of day are they having?

WritersDigest.com I 35

34_wd1112_InspiredWeek.indd 35 9/5/12 9:58 AM

 ■ Day 4
Register for a writing
retreat, conference or
other event.
Put it on your calendar—in pen. Whether it’s a free after-
noon seminar at your local library or a weeklong work-
shop by the sea, it will give you something to look for-
ward to, something to work toward, something to solidify

Day 3
your identity as a writer.
■
Visit a newsstand and
Take a risk make a list of publications
with your writing. you’d like to see your work
Submit a story or query you’ve been sitting on, post a
work-in-progress to an online critique forum, or take in someday.
some other step that scares you. You can’t get rejected Consider both magazines and literary journals. Then get to
if you don’t put your work out there—but you can’t find a computer and look up their submission guidelines. Which
success if you don’t try, either. one seems the most attainable, or sparks the best story idea?
Formulate a submission strategy that starts there.
Attend a reading or book
signing at a bookstore or Assume the attitude of a
coffee shop. curious bystander—at home.
Turn on the TV (yes, really, the TV!) and choose a sitcom,
Strike up a conversation with a fellow attendee. Make a
drama or sporting event that’s never really appealed to you.
point of congratulating the author at the end of the event.
Watch it from start to finish. How is it different from what
you expected, and what can you learn from it?
Walk in someone else’s
shoes—literally.
Borrow an item of clothing from a family member or
friend that you would never have
picked out for yourself. See how it
feels when you wear it around the
house. Then go somewhere. How does
it feel not to feel like yourself?

36 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

34_wd1112_InspiredWeek.indd 36 9/5/12 9:58 AM

 ■ Day 5
Learn a new word.
Browse a dictionary and pick one. In conversation and/

Day 6
or in your work, use it in a sentence no fewer than three
times today. ■
Contribute to a blog. Ask a friend to
Pitch a guest post to a writer whose blog you enjoy. Include
your bio and links to where others can find you online.
read something
you’ve already written
Do something you haven’t but haven’t shown anyone.
done (or wanted to do) Request honest feedback.

since you were a kid. Write a poem.

Grab a kid’s meal from a drive-thru for dinner (don’t forget
Yes, even if you haven’t so much as read one since
to do the activities on the box and play with the toy that
high school. For your eyes only.
comes inside). Watch cartoons. Read under the covers with
a flashlight past your bedtime.
Engage in a form of
physical activity you
don’t usually do.
If you like long walks, try a short run. If you’re a runner,
dust off your bike, or rent one for an hour. When was the
last time you were on roller skates?

■ Day 7
Write collaboratively, just for fun.
Respond to a creative prompt challenge on your favorite writing website.
Or join in a creative, community-style writing exercise, such as WD’s own
#storyfriday on Twitter.

When you’ve met your weekly

word count goal, treat yourself.
Buy a beautiful new journal, notebook or pen. Spring for that upgraded writing
app you’ve been coveting for your smartphone. Get that custom cover for your lap-
top that would make you actually want to carry it everywhere you go. It’s worth it.

Write a letter to an author you admire.

Tell him so. Make her day. WD

WritersDigest.com I 37

34_wd1112_InspiredWeek.indd 37 9/5/12 9:59 AM

 George R.R. Martin
AT THE TOP OF HIS GAME

Who says you have to write a book

a year to succeed in publishing
today? For the author behind
A Game of Thrones, the best things
come to those who wait.
BY RICH SHIVENER

PHOTO © PM C BM

38 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

38_wd1112_Interview.indd 38 9/5/12 10:05 AM

 “S
ometimes you have to wait.”
It’s a Tuesday afternoon and George R.R.
Martin is talking about A Song of Ice and Fire,
his epic fantasy series that began in 1996 with A
Game of Thrones, now a hit HBO series of the same name.
He knows that fans are clamoring for the series’ final two
books, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring, and
he knows that a very vocal batch of them want them
now—rendered impatient by the five-year gap between the
third and fourth books, and the six-year wait for the 2011
release of the fifth. But they’ll have to be patient. After all,
the books are heavy volumes, averaging 850 pages.
“I’ve never been a fast writer, and I’ve never been good
with deadlines … and the vast majority of my fans seem
fine with that,” Martin says. “I get tons of great letters say-
ing, All we care about is how good the books are. Take as
long as you want.”
For Martin, 64, the path to bestselling success was not a
rush to the finish, either. Early in his career, he wrote short
stories and novellas, graduating in 1977 to his first novel,
Dying of the Light, which garnered Hugo and Locus nomi-
nations. He wrote two more to similar praise, but the big
commercial failure of his fourth, 1983’s The Armageddon
Rag, soured his outlook on the form, and he shifted his
focus to teleplay writing for CBS. There, he penned episodes
of “The Twilight Zone” and “Beauty and the Beast,” and
between TV gigs edited short-story collections and antholo-
gies. All of that work and more, plus a love for medieval
history, would ready Martin to return to novel writing and
create his magnum opus: A Song of Ice and Fire.
His flagship series about rival kingdoms unravels in a
universe riddled with lust, treachery and family affairs—
and has racked up a mountain of accolades and awards
along the way. His new home at the top of bestseller lists
led Time to brand him “The American Tolkien” in 2005,
and by 2011 had even earned him a spot on Time’s 100
“most influential people in the world” list.
Martin writes with a certain magic that transcends
fantasy and science fiction, roping in audiences far
beyond the usual genre boundaries. As a result, the series
has transformed the writer into a living pop culture
38_wd1112_Interview.indd 39
phenomenon. These days, it can be nearly impossible
to catch up with him. Here he’s at home, writing the
next Ice and Fire books and editing anthologies. Here
he’s at Comic-Con, posing for a curious Random House
photo-op with Fifty Shades author E.L. James. Here
he’s at BuboniCon. ChiCon. ConQuest. LoneStarCon.
ConCarolinas. MystiCon. The Clarion Writers Workshop.
Still, he generously found time to talk with WD and
share some words for writers wondering how they might
tap into Martin’s kind of magic.
A Song of Ice and Fire has such complex story lines.
How do you juggle them so deftly?
With a certain amount of difficulty. Sometimes I think
I threw one too many balls in the air, and I rather wish
that instead of juggling 12 story lines, I were juggling six.
Once you have thrown a ball in the air, you are obliged to
keep on juggling it as best as you can. Sometimes this is
where rewriting comes in—especially if I neglect some-
thing or a contradiction sneaks in. Not to beat the jug-
gling metaphor to death, but it’s like I drop the ball and
have to pick up the material.
On a good day, how much do you write?
Probably no more than four or five pages. I think on the
best day I’ve ever had in my life I wrote 20 pages, and that
was 20 years ago. I’m happy if I can finish a few pages in
a day.
The process with the Ice and Fire books involves a
great deal of rewriting. The first thing I do when I get
up in the morning is pull up what I did yesterday and
start revising it, polishing it and making it a little bet-
ter. Hopefully, by the time I’ve dealt with whatever I did
yesterday, I’ve built up some momentum, then I can go
in and add some new pages.
Do you spend more time revising and editing
than writing?
It’s all kind of continuous. I don’t write a first draft and
then go back and write a second draft. I’m writing new
pages as I write old pages; I’m restructuring, etc., etc.
WritersDigest.com I 39
9/5/12 10:05 AM
 George R.R. Martin
“You get these visions in your head of what the scene is
going to be. It’s great to see the cathedral, but you
still have to build it one stone at a time. A tremendous
amount of effort goes into finding the right words.”
It’s interesting for a guy my age to reflect on how dif-
ferent my working methods have become since the ’70s,
when I was writing everything on a typewriter. There was
a great deal less revision then because it was so cumber-
some. I think the ease of restructuring and repolishing
on a computer leaves one to do more of it.
Are stories ever really finished?
You could always use more time, but sooner or later you
have to pry it out of your hands and get it out there. …
The question is, When is it finished? I think every writer
faces the situation where you’re suddenly two weeks away
from the book being due, and what do you do? Some
writers slap on an ending and work very hard to wrap it
up. I decided long ago not to do that. I wish I could make
the deadlines, but I’m a slow writer, and I think I’m over-
optimistic when I sign contracts. The question is, When
is the book ready? When is the book in the condition that I
want it to be in? That’s when I send it in.
A segment of your fans is known for being vocal
that you’re not releasing books as fast as they’d
like. How do you respond to that?
There is really no answer that will satisfy anyone,
which is something I learned more than 10 years ago.
Ultimately, the only thing that is going to matter is how
good these books are. If people are still reading me 50
years from now, as they’re still reading Tolkien, the people
who pick this up in 2070 are not going to be saying,
“How long did he take to write these books?” They’re just
going to be judging if the books are good or not. That’s
my criteria.
In addition to the hit TV show, A Game of Thrones
has also been adapted into popular games and even
a graphic novel series. Have those adaptations influ-
enced your writing?
They haven’t, really. All of these secondary projects—be
it the TV series, the critical essays, the games—have their
value, and fans seem to enjoy them, but the only canon is
40 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
38_wd1112_Interview.indd 40
the books. The stories have their own demands, and the
characters and the worlds are very real to me.
Your prose is often praised for being so vivid, and for
its flow. Can you describe how you craft a sentence?
In my first drafts, I tend to be wordy, and then in my
final drafts, I tend to be cutting things. I probably
over-describe. I’ll write, John got up from the chair
and walked across the room and pulled up the Venetian
blinds, then lowered the window, latched it, and returned
to his chair. Then I change it to, John got up and closed
the window. [Laughs.]
Your characters are also strikingly multifaceted.
What’s your best advice for crafting characters?
One of the big things that distinguishes the strongest fic-
tion from writing that’s perhaps without depth is a real
understanding of what real human beings are like. From
my point of view, I don’t see heroes and villains; I see
very flawed human beings. All of us have good in us; all
of us have evil in us. All of us are capable of acts of hero-
ism, acts of selfishness, cowardice, or what we might call
villainy. We all have reasons for what we do. You don’t
just have people who wake up in the morning and say,
“What evil things can I do today, because I’m Mr. Evil?”
People do things for what they think are justified reasons.
Everybody is the hero of their own story, and you have
to keep that in mind. If you read a lot of history, as I do,
even the worst and most monstrous people thought they
were the good guys. We’re all very tangled knots.
You’ve been a faculty member of the Clarion West
Writers Workshop. What do you find aspiring fic-
tion writers most often need to focus on improving?
Plot? Character?
It really depends on the writer. I do think with a lot of
them it’s the structure of the stories. You see a lot of
young writers who have interesting ideas and a certain
skill with words, but their story is not a story … it’s more
a vignette.
9/5/12 10:05 AM
 Writing is something very hard to teach in the abstract.
That’s a great virtue of Clarion [which facilitates intense
critique sessions with students and instructors]—you’re
dealing with actual stories. You’re not giving general
lectures. You’re dealing with a specific work of art, and
saying what works about this story and what doesn’t. It’s
a great process for pulling people apart and putting them
back together so they work better.
Over the course of your career, what have you
learned about the business of writing?
The field is constantly changing—that’s the one thing
about a career in writing. Just when you reach the stage
that you understand how publishing works, and how to
build your career, then all the rules change. I had it all
figured out by 1977, but then the rules changed com-
pletely, and they have several times since. And now
with e-books and self-publishing, we’re seeing another
watershed change. It’s not a career for someone who
likes security. You have to constantly adapt—whether
it’s to new modes of publishing, or a new subgenre,
fashion or entertainment. A writer needs to be flexible,
and I think I am.
You also edit collections and anthologies. What do
you look for in a story? What makes a story great?
I think the characters. I think it’s the setting, too. I want a
story to take me to a place that I’ve never been to before
and make it come vividly alive for me.
I hate stories that are predictable. I want to get en-
grossed in a story and not know what’s going to happen
next. I always try to make my own fiction a little unpre-
dictable, and as a reader, I love stories that surprise me
and delight me.
Where do you think science fiction and fantasy
are heading?
Right now, science fiction is in a down cycle—it has been
for a decade, but I think it’s coming back. There are some
very popular and accomplished young science-fiction
writers who are bringing back classic space opera, and
tales of spaceships and aliens. I think epic fantasy is a
major genre, and I think it will continue for quite a while.
How has your experience writing for TV shaped your
other work?
As William Goldman said in his book Adventures in the
Screen Trade, structure is everything. And I think my
38_wd1112_Interview.indd 41
sense of structure has improved and so has my ear for
dialogue. Writing dialogue that actors are going to have
to speak aloud is very different than writing dialogue that
just appears on the page. I think my dialogue got sharper,
funnier and better, all told.
Also, the act-break technique that I learned from
“Twilight Zone” and “Beauty and the Beast” is a technique
I carried over to Ice and Fire. Even though we don’t have
commercials between the chapters, I do alternate between
points of view. I end each chapter with a cliffhanger, reso-
lution, a turn, a reveal, a new wrinkle … something that
will make you want to read the next chapter of that char-
acter. But of course you can’t, because now you have to
read about the other six characters, so you’re always anx-
ious to read more. At least, that’s the theory.
Where else would you like to take your writing?
I have a lot of other books that I want to write. Science fic-
tion books, fantasy books, horror novels. … I have ideas
for hybrids that don’t fit anything, and I would like to try
something different.
What’s the hardest part about writing a series, and
this series in particular?
It’s all hard. The juggling of all the plotlines and char-
acters is hard, and maintaining the chronology also has
some difficulty. Meeting my deadlines is extremely hard,
so hard that I haven’t done it for years. Fortunately, I have
very forgiving editors and publishers who are willing to
cut me some slack. … In the early part of my career, I did
everything possible to avoid having deadlines. I wrote my
books before I sold them. Nobody even knew I was work-
ing on a novel until it was finished, and that worked very
well for me.
It doesn’t work with a long series like Ice and Fire,
unless I wanted to vanish from public sight for 20 years
while I finished all seven volumes.
What else is hard? The words are hard. You get these
visions in your head of what the scene is going to be.
You have a big battle scene, let’s say, or a feast, or a love-
making scene. It doesn’t matter what the scene is. You
can see it and you can hear it, but you’re still staring at
a blank screen. That’s the nuts and bolts of writing. It’s
great to see the cathedral, but you still have to build it
one stone at a time. A tremendous amount of effort goes
into finding the right words. WD
Rich Shivener is a teacher and journalist based in Cincinnati.
WritersDigest.com I 41
9/11/12 6:41 AM
 8 1 ST A N N U A L W R I T E R ’ S D I G E S T W R I T I N G C O M P E T I T I O N

Mr.
Appel
THE WINNER
STRONGMAN ILLUSTRATION © CSA IMAGES/ARCHIVE

of our Annual Writing Competition

PROVES
that no matter how busy you are,
ANYONE HAS
the time to pen a spectacular story.
BY MARIELLE MURPHY

42_wd1112_MurphyAnnual.indd 42 9/5/12 10:06 AM

 Appel’s Top Tips for Busy Writers
1. Make a list of priorities in life. Most

M ost of us know how hard it can be to find enough people’s lists include family and pro-
time to sleep, eat, exercise, think—let alone write— fession (or some similar permutation).
with a full-time job. Writing should be No. 3. So that
But get this: New Yorker Jacob M. Appel is a doctor at means cutting back on all of the other
Mount Sinai Hospital and a teacher at the Gotham Writers’ extraneous endeavors that keep you
Workshop (among other places). He has earned a master’s from writing.
in European history from Brown, a master’s in philoso- 2. Let your friends and family know that
phy and U.S. history from Columbia, a master’s in bioeth- you’re serious about writing. That will enable you to
ics from Albany Medical College, an M.D. from Columbia, tell them you can’t meet for breakfast because you’re
a Master of Fine Arts from New York University and a J.D. working on a story. And it will generate social pres-
from Harvard Law School. sure for you to get the job done when they keep ask-
… And he still finds time to not just write, but ing you: “Is your story finished yet?”
3. Set deadlines for yourself—even if you can’t always
write well.
meet them. Writing groups can be helpful for this, as
His work has won numerous accolades, including the
long as they don’t meet so often that they interfere
North American Review’s Kurt Vonnegut Fiction Prize and
with writing time. I suggest once or twice monthly to
The Missouri Review’s Editors’ Prize. It has been published in
my students. Taking an adult education class can also
more than 200 literary journals. His short-story collection,
be helpful, even for the established writer, as it gener-
Scouting for the Reaper, won the 2012 Hudson Prize and is
ates deadlines.
forthcoming from Black Lawrence Press.
4. Try to do as much writing as possible when you’re
Now, to add to that list: Appel is the grand-prize win-
away from your desk or computer. Keep a note-
ner of the 81st Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition
book to jot down ideas.
(in addition to claiming a whopping four of the other top
5. Give your TV to charity.
10 spots in the stage play category). His play A Marriage of
Inconvenience—the humorous story of a 90-year-old widow
who doubts the romantic virtues of men and threatens to fills in the middle: “It’s much easier to get someplace when
burn her entire fortune if her granddaughter doesn’t marry a you know where you’re starting and where you’re going.”
woman—beat out 9,369 entries across 10 categories to earn And, in the midst of his busy schedule, he keeps his
Appel $3,000 and a trip to the Writer’s Digest Conference writing brain in gear.
to meet with four editors or agents. What’s more: This is “I do my best writing when I’m not actually putting
actually the second time Appel has won the competition, an words to paper. While I’m working in the hospital or jog-
unprecedented (as far as we know) feat, and a shock to staff- ging or even walking to meet a dinner date, I’m writing in
ers who learned the results after the blind judging. my mind. I never sit down to a blank screen not knowing
Something we’ve wondered ever since Appel first took what I’m going to write about. Thinking should be a pro-
home the gold in 2008: How the heck does he do it all? cess of discovery, [and] writing, for me, is simply the act
“I’d like to say I do all this stuff because I have a lot of of putting on paper what has already been discovered.”
interests and passions, which is true, but probably it’s also Currently, Appel is working on a novel. Among his
because of deep insecurities about not living up to my other long-term goals: run a clinical ethics service at a
potential,” Appel says. “Most aspiring writers don’t fail hospital, achieve fluency in Dutch, and take a seat on
because they lack talent or good ideas or time to write. the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical
They fail because they give up. In fact, Issues—to name just a few.
the only way to truly fail as a writer
is to stop writing.”
YOU COULD BE NEXT For much more on Appel’s
amazing writing life and to read his
Think you have what it takes to win our
A self-professed “strong believer annual writing competition? Visit writers grand-prize script, visit writers
in relentless perseverance,” Appel digest.com/competitions/writers-digest- digest.com/dec-12. And to meet our
annual-competition to enter. And to
does most of his writing early in other winners, turn the page. A list of
purchase a collection featuring all 10 first-
the morning. He starts at the begin- place winners from this year’s contest for
the top 100 in each category can be
ning of his story, writes the end, and $10, visit writersdigestshop.com. found at writersdigest.com/dec-12.

WritersDigest.com I 43

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 8 1 ST A N N U A L W R I T E R ’ S D I G E S T W R I T I N G C O M P E T I T I O N

The Winners
All first-place winners receive $1,000; second place, $500; third, $250;
fourth, $100; fifth, $50; sixth through 10th, $25; in addition to other prizes.

CHILDREN’S/YOUNG ADULT FICTION 8. Courtney Grier Williams, “A Lesson in Grace”

1. Brooke Hartman, “A Unicorn’s Horn Tastes 9. Michael Lee, “Evolutions of Exodus”
Like Vanilla” 10. Deirdre Assenza, “Light in the Dark”
2. Heather Sappenfield, “Dead Girl Finds Home”
JUDGE: Ann Byle is a freelance journalist for Publishers Weekly
3. Kim Tomsic, “And the Elephants Came” and The Grand Rapids Press, and the author of The Making of a
4. Charity Tahmaseb, “The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty” Christian Bestseller. She is also a literary agent and co-founder of
5. Athena Franco, “Lucky Strike” the Breathe Christian Writers Conference.
6. Yael Tischler, “Epic High”
7. Rick Keuning, “Leprechaun Tours Australia”
8. Adeaze Simmons, “Why I’m in Detention” MAGAZINE FEATURE ARTICLE
9. Claude Gauthier, “Chef Harry Dickens” Elaine K. Howley, “Greek Goddess of Kitchen and Block”
1.

10. Barb Miller, “Black Water” David B. Whitlock, “There’s a Cat in Our House!”
2.
3. Garrett A. Hughes, “From Lawn to
JUDGE: Holly M. Alder has taught writing since 1973. She directed
the writing certification program at Principia College, taught writing Wildflower Meadow”
classes for the University of Cincinnati, and currently teaches for 4. Sandrine Marlier, “A Perfect Trip”
Writer’s Digest University. She has degrees in English, education and 5. Lisa Cahn, “Matt Savage: A Cracker Jack Jazz Pianist”
psychology; won a National Society of Arts and Letters honor award
6. Mark Ray, “Remembering the Fallen”
for her first play; and reads and collects children’s books (she has
more than 6,000). 7. Klex Carmichael, “The Veteran, Thank-You!”
8. Paul Fein, “The Escape Artist”
9. Marina DelVecchio, “Getting Kids to Love Reading”
GENRE SHORT STORY 10. Jennifer Bridgman, “Letting Go of Fear”
1. Ann M. Sligar, “Making Good Neighbors”
JUDGE: Susan Reynolds began her 30-year publishing career as
2. Conner Jefferson Bennie Jones II, “Baneberry Fire”
a journalist and a magazine editor. She has written or edited more
3. John Brizzi, “Cereal Killer” than 25 nonfiction and fiction books. Recently, she co-authored Train
4. William Dunkerley, “In the Beginning” Your Brain to Get Happy, Train Your Brain to Get Rich, Meditation
5. Melanie Stringham, “Betrayal” for Moms and Healthiest You Ever, and was the creator and editor
6. Karen Rought, “The Body” of the My Hero anthology series (four volumes) and Woodstock
Revisited. Reynolds also founded Literary Cottage, through which
7. Bryan Alexander, “Water’s Breadth Apart”
she offers writing, editing and coaching services.
8. Laura L. Farnsworth, “Jello”
9. Annette Kohlmeister, “Year of the Bright Star, on the
Day of Salt” MAINSTREAM/LITERARY SHORT STORY
10. Irene Hsu, “Catching Sparks” 1. Yoon-Ji Han, “Silent Movies”
JUDGE: Michael J. Vaughn is the author of 13 novels, including 2. Bonnie Engstrom, “The Photo Under the Pantyhose”
The Popcorn Girl, recently released on Amazon Kindle. His short 3. Meghan Barrett Cousino, “Loop”
stories and poetry have appeared in Many Mountains Moving, 4. Ann Robson, “Mandela’s Soldier”
The Montserrat Review, Terrain.org and other venues. He lives in
San Jose, Calif., and has contributed some two dozen articles to
5. Ilene Goldman, “Thicker Than Blood”
Writer’s Digest. 6. Mary Nugent, “Sold!”
7. Sheryl L. Ricigliano, “Daddy’s Pride and Joy”
8. Tom Juergens, “One Little Rabbit”
INSPIRATIONAL WRITING
9. Robert G. Rentz, “Second Chances”
1. Edward A. Hara, “The Song of the Saw-whet Owl”
10. Jeff Mathison, “A Snag of Hope”
2. A.E. Wasserman, “There Are Three of Us”
3. Diane Tarantini, “The Woman in Red” JUDGE: Debby Mayne is the author of more than 30 novels and
novellas. Waiting for a View from B&H Publishing is her latest
4. Sherri Gragg, “Sacrifice of the Zwasos”
book in the quirky Bloomfield series written by eight authors. Next
5. Marielena Zuniga, “The Gift” to debut is Mayne’s Class Reunion series with Pretty Is as Pretty
6. Joanne Cameron, “Welcome to Paradise” Does (June 2013), Bless Her Heart (August 2013) and Tickled Pink
7. Janis H. Coverdale, “The Nature of Rain” (September 2013).

44 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

42_wd1112_MurphyAnnual.indd 44 9/5/12 10:06 AM

 MEMOIR/PERSONAL ESSAY 7. Susanna Grady, “Break then”
1. Randy Osborne, “Natural Science” 8. Vicki L. Weavil, “depression, explained”
2. Joseph Walls, “Saucer Eyes” 9. Jessica Wierzbinski, “The Thanksgiving”
3. Jocelyn Cerrudo Sese, “If Tomorrow Never Comes …” 10. Katy Regnery, “Canis Domesticus (aka ‘An Ode
4. Gypsy Martin, “What Lies Beneath” to Dagmar’)”
5. Donna Emmary, “Can I Stay?” JUDGE: Nancy Susanna Breen (nudged2write.com) is a poet, free-
6. Melissa Ambrosino, “The Dancing Skeletons” lance writer and editor. Her poetry is available in e-chapbook form
7. Sondra Raines Brooks, “The Magic Tumor Theory” at Smashwords.com, as is an e-book of writing prompts, Nudged
8. Derek Mohn, “Surviving Myself in Spite of Myself ” by Quotes—20 Writing Prompts Inspired by the World’s Best Poetry,
Volume 10: Poetical Quotations. She is the former editor of Poet’s
9. Teri Byrd, “The Cheetah” Market and judges poetry contests at the state and national levels.
10. Sarajoy Van Boven, “Car Keys for Children”
JUDGE: Hollis Gillespie is an award-winning humor and travel
writer who pens a monthly column in Atlanta magazine. She is also STAGE PLAY
a bestselling memoirist, NPR commentator, professional speaker 1. Jacob M. Appel, “Helen of Sparta”
and comedian. She has been featured on scores of TV shows and 2. Jacob M. Appel, “In The Floodplain”
blogs, and runs Shocking Real Life (shockingreallife.com), the largest
writing school in Atlanta, which offers workshops on blogging and
3. Jacob M. Appel, “Arborophilia”
social media. 4. Anthony Hall Seed, “Confessionall”
5. Steve Purcell, “The Book of Lost Fathers”
6. Laura Zlatos, “3½ Minutes”
NONRHYMING POETRY 7. Dina Laura, “Elephants and Other Worldly Dilemmas”
1. Claire Elizabeth Scherzinger, “Ethereal Existence” 8. MJ Daspit, “Acting Funny”
2. Dawn Manning, “Burning the Bodies” 9. Ben Steele, “Purgatory”
3. Nikki Pencak, “A Rented Yard on a Gulf Coast Morning” 10. Jacob M. Appel, “The Kindness of Strangers”
4. Suzanne Burns, “This Crucifix of Need” JUDGE: Joe Stollenwerk is the author of Today in History: Musicals.
5. Marla Alupoaicei, “Snow Falling on Venus” He teaches script analysis at Indiana University, and his stage
6. Gladys L. Henderson, “In the Quiet” adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale premiered
7. Suellen Wedmore, “Eating at the Museum of Fine Arts” in Cincinnati in 2011 to wide acclaim.

8. George Handy, “Up From the Chinese Cabbage”

9. Martha Hanneman Whitfield, “A Beloved Introduction”
TV/MOVIE SCRIPT
10. Suellen Wedmore, “When I Haven’t Been Kissed”
1. Danielle Barros, “The Executioner”
JUDGE: Kelli Russell Agodon (agodon.com, ofkells.blogspot.com) 2. Michael Balin, “Gray Matter”
is the author of Letters From the Emily Dickinson Room, winner of
3. Erik R. Slagle, “Gone South”
the 2010 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award in Poetry, and
a finalist for the 2011 Washington State Book Award. She is also the 4. Matthew Minson, “Sun City”
author of Small Knots and the chapbook Geography. Recently she 5. Jeff Ingram, “Blistered Moon”
co-edited the first e-book anthology of contemporary women’s poetry, 6. Linda Niccol, “Looking for Lila Ray”
Fire on Her Tongue. Agodon is also the co-editor of Seattle’s literary
7. Garry Berman, “Barkers Upon Tyne—Pilot”
journal, Crab Creek Review, and the co-founder of Two Sylvias Press.
8. Janson Mancheski, “Shoot for the Stars”
9. Jon James Miller, “Garbo’s Last Stand”
RHYMING POETRY 10. Jason Ford, “Stealing Shakespeare”
1. Michelle Perez, “Painted Postcard from Japan, 1944” JUDGE: Jessica Dercks received her degree in theater from the
2. Melissa Cannon, “My Cousin’s Son Renounces California Institute of the Arts, and has worked on script development
His Nativity” and production on such films as Growth, Hold On Loosely and Look
3. Mary Flynn, “As One Delighted” At Me. Dercks began in story development, continuity and production,
and has since taken that knowledge and experience and transferred
4. Diana H. Kolaczkowska, “Himalayas” it to script development and consultation. Over the years she has
5. Michael R. Burch, “Come!” worked closely with writers, directors and producers to help improve
6. Suellen Wedmore, “Ode to Dame Agatha” their scripts and get their projects up and running. WD

WritersDigest.com I 45

42_wd1112_MurphyAnnual.indd 45 9/11/12 6:42 AM

 82nd ANNUAL

WRITING COMPETITION

Exposure Credit: Keith Levit/pixmac

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Not to mention $3,000 and a trip to the Collection and will gain
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Top winners will be listed
in the November/December
2013 issue of Writer’s Digest
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Memoir/Personal Essay Stage Play Digest Conference in
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FOR COMPLETE RULES, AN ENTRY FORM OR TO ENTER ONLINE, VISIT US AT WRITERSDIGEST.COM

wd1112_Ads.indd 46 9/6/12 12:36 PM

 SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
1. You may enter as many manuscripts as you like in each of the following categories:
Memoirs/Personal Essay, Children’s/Young Adult Fiction and Magazine Feature Article: 2,000 words maximum.
Mainstream/Literary Short Story and Genre Short Story: 4,000 words maximum.
Inspirational Writing: 2,500 words maximum.
Rhyming Poetry and Non-rhyming Poetry: 32 lines maximum.
Stage Play and Television/Movie Script: send the first 15 pages in standard script format, plus a one-page synop-
sis. Stage plays and television/movie scripts— original or written for any series in production on or after Jan. 1,
2013 — are eligible; adaptations will not be accepted.
2. Enter online at writersdigest.com or submit via regular mail to the address below. Mailed entries must include
your name, address, phone number, email, line or word count and competition category in the upper left
hand corner.
3. Your entry* must be original, unpublished, unproduced, written in English and not accepted by any other publisher
or producer at the time of submission. Writer’s Digest retains one-time publication rights to the Grand Prize and First
Place Winning Entries in each category to be published in a Writer’s Digest publication.
*Entries in the Magazine Feature Article category may be previously published.
4. Top Award Winners will be notified by mail before Oct. 14, 2013. The top 10 winners in each category will be
listed in the November/December 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest. All winners will be listed in the 82nd Annual Writer’s
Digest Writing Competition Collection and on our website at writersdigest.com. Prizes will be sent by Nov. 15, 2013.

82nd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition OFFICIAL ENTRY FORM

EARLY BIRD DEADLINE: MAY 6, 2013 Early Bird Entry Fees: Poems $15 for first entry; $10 for
each additional. All other entries $27.50 for first
Entry Deadline: June 3, 2013
manuscript; $20 for each additional.
Early Bird Entries receive a $5 per entry discount
After May 6: Poems $20 for first entry; $15 for each
Name additional. All other entries $32.50 for first manuscript;
$25 for each additional.
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and ____ additional manuscripts at . . . . $_______
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82nd Annual Writer’s Digest Writing Competition Collection
Phone ( )
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email Writer’s Digest Writing Competition Collection
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updates. plus $1.95 shipping and handling for each collection
Number of Entries in Each Category: ordered.
Please enter the following number of my manuscripts Total enclosed (U.S. funds) $___________________
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Enter Online, or Mail Completed Entry Form, Manuscript(s), and Fee to:
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wd1112_Ads.indd 47 9/6/12 12:36 PM

 QUESTIONS&QUANDARIES
IN THIS ISSUE:
Which vs. that, and why word counts in
magazine queries matter.
WHEN TO USE WHICH
VS. THAT?
Q I’ve been writing for a long
time and always assumed
which and that were interchange-
able, but I’ve recently been told
that isn’t the case. How do I make
sure I’m using the right word?
—Anonymous
The battle over whether to use which
or that is one many people strug-
gle to win. It has become the most
common Q&Q question, with many
writers looking for a quick rule of
thumb to help them get it right.
Here it is:
If the sentence doesn’t need the
clause that the word in question is
introducing, use which. If it does,
use that. (Pretty easy to remem-
ber, isn’t it?) Let me explain with a
couple of examples.
Our office, which has two lunch-
rooms, is located in Cincinnati.
Our office that has two lunch-
rooms is located in Cincinnati.
These sentences are not the same.
The first sentence tells us that you
have just one office, and it’s located
in Cincinnati. The clause which
has two lunchrooms gives us addi-
tional information, but it doesn’t
change the meaning of the sentence.
HAVE A QUESTION? Post it in the comments section of the Q&Q blog (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/questions-and-quandaries), or
email it to writersdigest@fwmedia.com with “Q&Q” in the subject line. Then, check every issue of WD—and Brian’s blog—for answers.
48 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
48_wd1112QQ.indd 48
Remove the clause and the location
of our one office would still be clear:
Our office is located in Cincinnati.
The second sentence suggests
that we have multiple offices, but
the office with two lunchrooms is
located in Cincinnati. The phrase
that has two lunchrooms is known as
a restrictive clause because another
part of the sentence (our office)
depends on it. You can’t remove that
clause without changing the mean-
ing of the sentence.
Let’s look at another example:
The time machine, which looked
like a phone booth, concerned Bill
and Ted.
The time machine that looked like a
phone booth concerned Bill and Ted.
In the first sentence (thanks to
the use of which), the time machine
concerned Bill and Ted. It also hap-
pened to look like a phone booth. In
the second sentence (which uses the
restrictive clause), Bill and Ted are
concerned with the time machine
that looks like a phone booth. They
aren’t concerned with the one that
looks like a garden shed or the one
that looks like a DeLorean (though
Marty McFly may have
reservations about that one).
Now that you’ve learned the rule,
let’s put it to a test:
BY BRIAN A. KLEMS
1. The iPad (which/that) connects
to the iCloud was created by Apple.
2. The issue of Writer’s Digest
(which/that) has Brian A. Klems’ pic-
ture on the cover is my favorite.
The correct answers are:
1. The iPad, which connects to
the iCloud, was created by Apple.
(All iPads connect to the iCloud, so
it’s unnecessary information.)
2. The issue of Writer’s Digest
that has Brian A. Klems’ picture on
the cover is my favorite. (Your favor-
ite issue of Writer’s Digest isn’t just
any issue, it’s the one with me on
the cover.)
OK, so I haven’t been on the
cover of Writer’s Digest (yet!), but
that doesn’t change the fact that it’s
necessary for you to understand
the context of your clauses. If the
information is essential, use that. If
it’s just additional information that’s
useful but unnecessary, use which.
WHY INCLUDE WORD
COUNT ESTIMATES IN
MAGAZINE QUERIES?
Q Why is it important to include
a suggested length for a
magazine article in a query? Isn’t it
the editor’s decision to determine
length? —Greg W.
9/11/12 6:44 AM
 You’re 100 percent correct that it’s
up to the editor to decide how long
she wants the article to be. But when
you are querying an editor, she
needs to know what you believe you
can deliver on the topic you’re pitch-
ing. That’s where the estimated word
count comes into play.
Good freelance writers do leg-
work before shooting off a query.
They look into the topic to make
sure there’s an angle, and then esti-
mate how much space the informa-
tion will occupy. They also study
the magazine they’re pitching to get
a clear picture of where their idea
fits best, and the typical length of
articles in that section. Freelancers
then use their estimated word
count as a selling point to editors
when querying.
For example:
Dear Writer’s Digest editor,
I’m a big fan of Writer’s Digest
and one of my favorite sections
is InkWell. I’d like to pitch you an
800-word interview with Stephen
King, focusing on the challenges
of writing a sequel to The Shining.
My writing credentials are below.
Sincerely,
Dream Writer
OK, so this example is overly
simplistic, but you get the point. By
mentioning the section you want
to write for (InkWell) and the word
count (showing you know pieces in
that department ballpark around
800), you not only have given the
editor a clear idea of how this pitch
fits in the magazine but also have
shown that you’re confident you can
reach that goal. This is why it’s key
to include a tentative word count in
your pitch.
It’s certainly possible that the
editor will look at the idea and say,
“I’m not sure I want a short inter-
view, but I think it’d make a nice
1,500-word profile,” and then offer
the assignment under those condi-
tions. Or, perhaps, the editor will
already have a profile subject that
month, so she will assign it as a
2,400-word feature interview. Either
way, by including the word count
estimate you’ve given yourself a bet-
ter chance at landing the gig. WD
Brian A. Klems is the online community
editor of WD.

“Come in tomorrow night and read. See what happens.

It’s an experience I can’t even describe. …”
Life has always been a little lonely for twelve-year-old Casey Parker,
an obsessive reader who makes up for her lack of friends with her
books. In fact, the only attention she gets at school is from the local
bully. But when Casey’s great uncle Walter moves back to town and
takes over a mysterious little bookshop called Moonglow’s, things
begin to get interesting.

He gives her an old iron key and tells her to come back to read at
night when something truly magical happens—Casey can physically
enter the story of any book she reads. But if she’s not out by midnight,
or if she forgets her key, she’ll be trapped inside the book forever.

As the first day of junior high approaches, Casey knows she’ll have to
face the bully again; disappearing into her favorite novel forever is
beginning to sound like a great idea.

Midnight at Moonglow’s is the recipient of a Writer’s Digest Mark

of Quality as well as an honorable mention in the 2011-2012 Los
Angeles Book Festival.

For more information, visit the Abbott Press bookstore (bookstore.abbottpress.com),

Amazon.com, BN.com, and other fine online retailers.

WritersDigest.com I 49

48_wd1112QQ.indd 49 9/5/12 10:08 AM

 YOURSTORY
The Safe Zone
PROMPT: Write a short story of 750 words or fewer that begins with the following
line of dialogue: “I’ve got to get out of these clothes—fast.”
Out of more than 600 entries, WD forum members and editors chose this winner,
submitted by PATRICIA S. COOK of Henderson, Colo.:
“I
’ve got to get out of these
clothes—fast,” I say to
myself, my voice break-
ing. I obey the man holding
a cattle prod inches away from my
half-naked body. When the electrified
stick crackles close to my ear, the fine
hair across my skin raises. I twitch.
“Lift your arms and keep your dis-
tance, girl,” he roars. “Good. Lift your
head. Let me see your neck. Good.
Turn around, bend over, touch your
toes and spread your legs.”
I move fast and follow orders.
Besides, what choice do I have? If
the man with the prod doesn’t get
me, I’m sure one of the others with
the M16s will. All the guards look
the same with their yellow bodysuits,
black gloves, clear face shields and
nervous looks in their eyes.
“This one’s clear,” he shouts and
then nods at me. “Move along.”
With one last checkpoint ahead, I
see the lucky clothed people behind
the barbed wire fence huddling in
groups with army green blankets. I
join a woman in line and watch her
try to cover her naked body with her
hands. I hug my arms, rubbing them
in hopes the friction will warm me.
Puffs of smoke laced with the
aroma of grilled meats drift by. My
stomach aches for food. I don’t dare
look down because I imagine it
looks as if an alien perches inside,
ready to burst through.
50 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
50_wd1112YourStory.indd 50
Icy winds bite at my flesh. I squat,
wrap my arms around my legs and
rest my head on my knees. Tears
prick my eyes. It’s dusk, and all
those who don’t pass the check-
points by dark will have to start all
over again tomorrow.
The cry from the woman in front
of me draws my attention. She
winces as the man scrapes her head
with clippers. The buzzing shears
moan in protest against her thick
blond hair, which falls in strips at
the guard’s feet. I see his eyes widen
right before he jumps back—and I
realize she’s infected. He screams and
races toward a decontamination tent.
I don’t know if I hear the shots
first or see her body jerk under the
impact of the bullets. As she falls to
the ground, three men holding meat
hooks run up to inspect the spot
above her ear. I strain to hear what
they say, but can’t make out their
muffled words. With blunt force
they sink the metal talons deep into
her flesh and drag her away to a pit
full of other lifeless bodies.
My mouth gapes and my body
heaves from the sight, but no tears
fall. My humanity is denied all
because of dehydration.
The pain in my chest deepens
when I glance at the people behind
the fence, and they seem not to
notice or care for the fallen. I’m not
sure which.
CONTEST #42
“This one has been in line with her
all day,” I hear a guard announce to
a new man at the post.
The words rip through me and my
chest tightens. “I’m fine.” I raise my
hands in a submissive position. “I’ve
kept my distance. I didn’t touch her
or even talk to her,” I plead.
“No.” He grabs me to brand my
arm with a rejection mark. “Don’t
come back for nine days.”
“Please, I’ve traveled so far.” I pull
against his tight hold. “Don’t send
me back out there,” I sob.
“How old are you?” he asks as his
brow creases.
“Twelve.”
The man drops my arm and I
overhear his whisper. “I don’t want
to do this any more.” He stares at me.
“My daughter was 12, too.” A tear
betrays his appearance of control.
“Where is your family?”
“They died in the first wave of
bio-attacks. I’m all alone.”
He looks to the sky. “Damn it,”
he mutters.
I don’t move or say a word. But I
do smile for the first time in three
years when I hear the gentle hum of
the clippers.
It’s dark as I stumble through
the last checkpoint. A guard leans
down and strokes my cheek. “Don’t
be scared, little girl.” He hands me a
blanket and grins. “You’ve made it
to the safe zone.” WD
9/5/12 10:09 AM
 ENTERYOURSTORY
FIRST THINGS FIRST: WRITE THE OPENING SENTENCE (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the prompt below. You can be funny,
poignant, witty, etc.; it is, after all, your story.

TO ENTER: Send your sentence via the

online submission form at writersdigest.
CONTEST #46
com/your-story-competition or via email to
yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com (entries

46
Write the first line to
a story incorporating
these three words:
fresh, hair and tangled.
must be pasted directly into the body of the
email; attachments will not be opened).
NOTE: WD editors select the top 10
entries and post them on our website
(writersdigest.com/forum). Join us online
in early December, when readers will vote
for their favorites to help rank the winners!
(Simply register or log in to the free WD
forum to participate.)

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: November 26, 2012

“An absolutely wonderful novel … beautifully realized.”

—Lee Smith, author of Mrs. Darcy and the Blue-Eyed Stranger

By the time Sylvia Richardson is eighteen, she has buried her

parents, given birth to a daughter, and become a widow. It is
1942, and World War II has destroyed Sylvia’s dreams of a life
outside of the coal mining town she vowed to leave behind.
Instead, she’s raising her daughter, Sassy, alone.
By 1955, thirteen-year-old Sassy has been brought up on
a stiff dose of her mama’s lessons on how to be a lady. But
everything changes when Sylvia is accused of trying to steal
another woman’s husband and only the support of kith and
kin can rescue her from her mistakes.
Spanning twenty years, Mama’s Shoes is a haunting saga
of love, despair, and forgiveness that defines family as far
more than blood kin.

“An intriguing tale of buried
secrets at times both haunting
and humorous.”
—Amy Greene, author of Bloodroot
The recipient of a Writer’s Digest Mark of Quality, Mama’s
Shoes was also a semi-finalist for the Amazon Breakthrough
Novel Award and a nominee for the Library of Virginia Literary
Award for Fiction.

For more information, visit the Abbott Press bookstore (bookstore.abbottpress.com),

Amazon.com, BN.com, and other fine online retailers.

WritersDigest.com I 51

50_wd1112YourStory.indd 51 9/5/12 10:09 AM

 WRI TE R ’ S
EXERCISES AND TIPS FOR HONING SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING
C
 Matn
4 WAYS TO MOTIVATE CHARACTERS AND PLOT
BY NA NCY KR E SS
S ome of your characters will change during the
course of your story—let’s call them changers.
Others—stayers—will not change significantly in
personality or outlook, but their motivations may none-
theless change as the story progresses from situation to
situation. Both changers and stayers can have progres-
sive motivations.
Confused? Don’t be; it’s simpler than it may seem.
Characters come in four basic types:
• Characters who never change, neither in personality
nor motivation. They are what they are, and they want
what they want.
• Characters whose basic personality remains the same;
they don’t grow or change during the story. But what
they want changes as the story progresses (“progres-
sive motivation”).
• Characters who change throughout the story,
although their motivation does not.
• Characters who change throughout the story as their
motivation also progresses.
When you know the key motivation(s) behind your
character and plot, you can write scenes that not only
make sense to you and your readers, but also add depth
to your story. Because character and plot are intertwined,
we’ll refer to the above four as character/plot patterns.
Let’s further explore each one.
STATIC PERSONALITY, STATIC MOTIVATION
Sometimes a character will have a single overriding
motivation for the entire length of a story or novel, plus
a strong personality that does not change much. James
Bond is a good example. He’s a stayer who starts out
52 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 52
resourceful, suave, unflappable and smart. At the end of
each of Ian Fleming’s novels, Bond is still resourceful,
suave, unflappable and smart.
Nor does his motivation change. At the start of the
book he receives a mission, and his goal is to pursue
this mission until it’s over, at which point the book ends.
There may be interim temporary goals (not getting eaten
by alligators, protecting the girl), but they are all part of
the single overriding motivation.
Your job is to present to us the character
and the goal clearly and forcefully fairly
early on.
It isn’t only adventure fiction to which this applies. In
John Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice and Men, both protago-
nists, George and Lennie, retain the same motivation
throughout. They want to earn enough to buy a small
farm of their own. Their personalities, too, remain the
same: George the planner and caretaker, Lennie the well-
meaning bumbler who brings them both to tragedy.
If you are writing this type of book, your job is to pres-
ent to us the character and the goal clearly and force-
fully fairly early on. Then unfold your tale; we’ll know
who your man is and why he’s doing what he’s doing. This
leaves us (and you, the writer!) free to complicate other
things besides the hero, such as the plot, the conspiracies
or the hardware.
Please note, though, that an unfaltering character with
an unfaltering goal can still feel more than one emotion
at a given moment. James Bond might, for instance, feel
9/5/12 11:27 AM

attraction to one of the “Bond girls” at the same time that
he distrusts her (often with good cause). If your charac-
ter feels two conflicting things toward another character,
bring this to life in the scene in which it happens. Then—
and this is the important part—return in the next scene to
the main goal.
This tells us that the basic situation is unchanged.
Although Bond, for instance, has just made love with a
woman, she hasn’t fundamentally changed him. He is not
altered in either his personality or motivation as a result
of her attractions.
STATIC PERSONALITY,
CHANGING MOTIVATION
This type of story features a character who doesn’t change
in basic personality or beliefs, but what she wants changes
as a result of story events.
These characters are often of two types: heroes or vil-
lains. The heroic ones are essentially admirable characters
from the get-go. They don’t change because the author
clearly doesn’t feel they need to; they embody virtues he
wishes to advocate. Two disparate examples are Charlotte
Brontë’s Jane Eyre (Jane Eyre) and Ayn Rand’s Howard
Roark (The Fountainhead).
Jane is spunky, plain, passionate and moral, even
as a child. She believes in the dignity of all individuals,
including those at the bottom of the Victorian power
structure. We see this early in the book when she stands
up for herself, for her friend Helen Burns, or anyone
being abused. At the end of the book, she’s still doing it.
However, as Jane grows up, her immediate motivations
change. At first, she merely wants to survive the brutali-
ties of her terrible aunt and then of the boarding school
that the aunt sends her to. Later, she falls in love with her
employer, Mr. Rochester, and wants him—until she learns
the truth about him and wants to escape his home. Still
more motivations follow.
If your character feels two conflicting
things toward another character, bring
this to life in the scene in which it happens.
Howard Roark, even more resolute and heroic than
Jane Eyre, never really changes, either. He just rises, with-
out flinching, above the failures and stupidities of the rest
of the world. His initial motivation is to design buildings
that suit him, with no outside influences dictating his
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 53
C
 Mat n
designs; his next motivation is to blow up those build-
ings because the builders changed some of his architec-
tural plans. Both actions proceed from an unchanged and
unshakable conviction of his own superiority.
The point is that if your character is basically heroic,
you may not want him to change. In that case, you con-
struct the story this way:
• Your character is trying to live his life, but the outside
world imposes an obstacle.
• The obstacle gives the character a motivation: fight it,
flee it, change it or adapt to it.
• That first motivation is met by a consequence,
which in turn supplies another motivation (the
consequence of Jane’s seeking a new teaching post
is meeting Mr. Rochester).
• That motivation encounters obstacles, etc.
You may recognize this pattern; it’s sometimes referred
to as “the classic plot pattern.” (But as we’re discussing
here, you know it’s actually one of four basic character/
plot patterns.) Its success, as in the first character pat-
tern, depends on a strong, interesting character. Once
you have that, you set up initial circumstances for her to
cope with and then have her motivation change as conse-
quences flow.
However, as with the first type of character, a basi-
cally unchanging personality may nonetheless experience
changing or conflicting emotions at any given moment.
When Jane Eyre’s cousin, St. John Rivers, asks her to
marry him in order to accompany him to India on his
missionary work, Jane has mixed reactions:
Of course (as St. John once said) I must seek another inter-
est in life to replace the one lost: Is not the occupation he
now offers me truly the most glorious man can adopt or
God assign? Is it not, by its noble cares and sublime results,
the one best calculated to fill the void left by uptorn affec-
tions and demolished hopes? I believe I must say, Yes—and
yet I shudder. Alas! If I join St. John, I abandon half myself.
During the rest of this scene, Jane will also feel awe,
disdain, humility, dread, rebellion, scorn and hurt. Mixed
emotions indeed! But her basic personality and beliefs do
not waiver: She wants more than a loveless marriage,
even if that marriage is dedicated to God’s work. Jane
wants love.
At the other end of the heroism spectrum, some vil-
lains have unchanging personalities but changing moti-
vations. They start out venial, greedy, evil or destructive,
WritersDigest.com I 53
9/5/12 11:27 AM
 WRITER’S WORKBOOK
and they end up the same way. This is true whether
they win or lose. Along the way, however, their motiva-
tions often enlarge: They become greedier for greater
things, destructive on a larger scale, or want to suc-
ceed at different, grander schemes of evil. Or, as with
heroes, their motivations may change as a result of
story events.
Thus, your villain may start out wanting to rob an
armored car. He succeeds, but in the course of the rob-
bery kills a police officer. Now his goal is to elude capture.
While pursuing him, your detective is forced to shoot the
villain’s nephew and protégé, who has drawn a gun on
the cop. Now your villain has an additional motivation:
revenge on the detective. The stakes have risen with each
story event and its consequence—and that’s key to mak-
ing this type of plot pattern compelling.
CHANGING PERSONALITY,
STATIC MOTIVATION
In many stories, a major character changes significantly.
The character has a single motivation and may expend
enormous effort to reach it, like those covered-wagon
pioneers who risked everything to trek west. However,
during the process of achieving (or not achieving) this
overriding goal, the character’s basic personality and/or
beliefs change. In fact, this change is often the point of
the story.
For example, a young woman has as her motivation the
desire to get out of prison. She forms this desire as soon
as she is incarcerated, in the first chapter. The book ends
when she gets out, for whatever reason: Her time has been
served, she successfully escapes or her lawyer wins the
appeal. However, this character is a changer, which means
that while her goal has stayed constant, her personality/
belief structure has not.
You must think up those plot events that
will affect your characters enough for
them to react with genuine change.
For instance, as a result of her interactions with the
other inmates, maybe she’s changed from a superior,
scornful snob to one who feels that she and the other
women are basically the same. She’s gone from scorn to
empathy, from disdain to friendship. All the while that
she’s been working on getting out of prison, prison has
also been working on her.
54 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 54
When you write this type of character, there are a few
critical points to remember:
• Her character change must come about in response
to story events. Create events that could logically
lead the character to change in the ways you want.
“Devise incidents,” W. Somerset Maugham said about
the secret of writing. This is what he meant: You must
think up those plot events that will affect your charac-
ters enough for them to react with genuine change.
• Your character must have emotional responses to
these events.
• The character change, too, must be dramatized. We
can’t simply be told, “Abby now sympathized with her
cellmate.” We must be shown Abby’s change of heart
through things she does that she didn’t do before, such
as giving and accepting help from this once-despised
cellmate. This is called validation, and it is essential for
all changing characters.
• You must include a final validation at the end of the
story so we know that your character’s change is not
temporary. Usually this ending validation is on a
larger scale than what has gone before. For instance,
instead of just helping her cellmates with daily frustra-
tions, your protagonist, now out of jail herself, does
everything she can to improve the situations of those
still inside.
Readers find this kind of story intrinsically satisfying.
The single motivation throughout gives the book unity
and comprehensibility, and the changing character satis-
fies the need for fiction to make a comment on life. In the
case of the prison story, that comment is positive: People
can grow nicer.
You might, however, also use the same character/plot
pattern to make a negative observation about the world.
In that case, the character with a single goal would, in the
course of failing to achieve it, change from naive inno-
cence to “sadder but wiser.” For example, this is the struc-
ture of Edith Wharton’s The House of Mirth. Protagonist
Lily Bart sustains the same motivation throughout the
book: to marry for money. She does not succeed. Only at
the end, both of the novel and of her life, do events force
her to change and then she realizes that she might have
had a better life if she’d paid less attention to luxury and
more to love. By then, however, it’s too late.
The single-motivation, changing character also works
in stories in which the character succeeds in getting what
he wants but is disappointed in his success. These are the
“be-careful-what-you-wish-for-because-you-might-get-
9/5/12 11:27 AM
 C
 Mat n

EXERCISES: p
 C

G  
Exercise 1
Pick one of the following: a bank robber, a kidnapper, a
war hero, a war deserter or a poor man marrying a rich
woman. Write down three different motivations some-
one might have for this action. Which would be the most
interesting to write about?
Exercise 2
Pick a second character from the list above. Try to
imagine a person committing this action for a single
strong reason.
Now list three different consequences this action
might have. Study the possible consequences. Might any
of them lead to a change in motivation? To what?
Exercise 3
Think of a person in your life toward whom you have
mixed emotions. Write down the feelings you have
about him.
Now consider how you express these emotions: what
it” stories. The change in the character can be one of two
types. In one, he realizes that he’s paid too high a price for
success, at which point he may or may not change his life.
Or, he never realizes this (or at least never admits it), but
changes to grow regretful or bitter as a result of getting
what he thought he wanted.
CHANGING PERSONALITY,
CHANGING MOTIVATION
This is the most complex fictional pattern. A character’s
goals change throughout the story, and so does her per-
sonality/belief system. Obviously, this is confusing for the
character. Your goal is to keep it from also hopelessly con-
fusing the reader.
Consider, for instance, Ensign Willie Keith from
Herman Wouk’s Pulitzer Prize–winning novel about
World War II, The Caine Mutiny. Willie undergoes a lot of
personal change during the war. He also changes motiva-
tion often. In sequence:
• Willie wants to avoid being drafted, so he joins the Navy.
• Willie wants to avoid difficult duty, so he tries to avoid
dangerous ships like minesweepers.
• Willie wants to transfer off the minesweeper Caine.
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 55
actions you take, what you say to him, what thoughts
you have, how your body reacts when you interact.
Do you ever express both emotions during the same
interaction? Are you sending mixed messages? (Note:
The point of this exercise is not personal therapy; it is to
make you more aware of human complexity in order to
portray it in fiction.)
Exercise 4
Think of someone you know who has genuinely changed
in some significant way over the course of your acquain-
tance. How do you know that person has changed?
What validating actions proved it to you?
Now answer these questions for one of your favorite
fictional characters.
Exercise 5
Think of someone you wish would change. What
validating action would be enough to convince you
that she has?
• Willie wants to survive the Caine’s tyrannical, irratio-
nal Captain Queeg.
• Willie wants to get rid of Queeg and joins a mutiny.
• Willie wants to avoid court-martial and a dishonor-
able discharge.
• Willie wants, finally, to become a good naval officer
and defend his country as well as he can.
From these changing motivations, you can also see Willie
Keith’s internal changes. He moves from being self-centered,
looking for the easy way out, to an assumption of duty and,
even more important, to feeling that duty is worthwhile.
If you have a character with both progressive motiva-
tion and internal changes, congratulations. You’ve got
a strong character to carry an ambitious book. To keep
all these changes from seeming arbitrary, however, it’s
important to follow all the guidelines set out above for
single-motivation changers. Your character’s changes
must be dramatized, come about as a result of dramatized
events, be accompanied by plausibly rendered emotions,
and be validated by subsequent actions on his part.
Excerpted from Write Great Fiction: Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint
© 2005 by Nancy Kress, with permission from Writer’s Digest Books.
WritersDigest.com I 55
9/5/12 11:27 AM
 HOW TO MAKE ORDINARY CHARACTERS COMPELLING
BY STE VE N H A R PE R
A lways keep firmly in mind that people read any
novel, no matter the genre, to find out what is going
to happen to a fascinating set of characters. And no,
throwing something like magic into an otherwise dull-as-
dirt character won’t make her fascinating. She needs to be
a fascinating person on her own. So how do you do that?
ADDING DIMENSION
First, remember that fascinating doesn’t necessarily mean
unusual. Regular people can end up on the fascinating
end of the scale. Cinderella and Aladdin start out as per-
fectly ordinary people, but their stories have lasted for
generations. Terry Pratchett’s Unseen Academicals relies
on Glenda, a relentlessly ordinary baker. The people who
buy the country home in Raymond E. Feist’s Faerie Tale
are a perfectly ordinary blended family. Charlie Asher of
Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job is dreadfully ordinary. It’s
part of the point of his character.
To craft fascinating characters, you have to know them
inside and out, and know them so deeply that you know
what motivates them—what causes them to act. Here’s how
to do just that.
STEP 1: KNOW YOUR CHARACTER’S HISTORY. You need
to develop your protagonist fully and completely. On one
level, this means she should have a totally documented
life, from birth to present. As the author, you should know
nearly everything about her before you even begin: where
she was born, where she went to school, the first time she
fell in love, and more. I say nearly because more ideas and
possibilities will crop up as you write the story. Old lovers,
photographs from long-ago vacations and other detritus
from the past can show up at any time to create conflict—
or help the character in a moment of crisis.
STEP 2: GO BEYOND THE BASIC FACTS. While those kinds
of background details are important, remember that they’re
merely facts. You also need to develop the character’s atti-
tudes. Consider this: Two kids survive Mrs. Futz’s awful
third-grade class. One shrugs the whole thing off, and
the other comes away hating school for the rest of his life.
Which attitude would your main character have?
Glenda from Unseen Academicals leads an ordinary life
doing an ordinary job. A homely, slightly overweight young
woman, she runs the night kitchen at a university, reads
piles of romance novels when no one’s looking, and still
56 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 56
has a teddy bear named Mr. Wobble. Except for the teddy,
there’s nothing extraordinary, or even interesting, about
her. Pratchett makes her interesting through her attitudes.
Glenda is eminently practical. She runs the night kitchen
with an iron fist because she knows in her heart there is one
right way to make pies, and that’s how it shall be done.
You need to develop your protagonist fully
and completely. This means she should have
a totally documented life. You should know
nearly everything about her.
STEP 3: ENDEAR YOUR CHARACTERS TO THE READER.
Glenda’s practicality extends to keeping a close eye on her
assistant, Juliet, who is beautiful and therefore not quite
trustworthy, in Glenda’s estimation. Glenda also sees to it
that the elderly people in her neighborhood are checked on,
fed and aired out from time to time because someone has to
do it, and if she doesn’t, who will? All this endears her to the
reader and makes her interesting to read about long before a
hungry goblin shows up in her kitchen and things get a little
strange. No matter what you’re writing or who your charac-
ters are, use this strategy to help readers connect with them.
STEP 4: DIG EVEN DEEPER TO UNCOVER MOTIVATIONS.
Your own characters need to have the same sort of depth
as Glenda. This extends beyond work and hobbies. How
does your main character see the world? What does she
expect when something good happens? When something
bad happens? How does she react to a challenge? To a loss?
How does she fit into her neighborhood or other commu-
nity? Knowing all this and more will allow you to write a
three-dimensional character who will draw readers in.
PLANNING AHEAD
Take some time right now to look at the worksheet on the
next page. Fill it out. You don’t need to know everything
on it, but you should be aware of most of it.
It might not seem like it now, but chances are good
that every bit of this brainstorming and research will
make it into the book. Your character may never men-
tion that her parents divorced messily when she was 8 and
that her mother dated a string of men thereafter, leaving
9/5/12 11:27 AM
 C
 Mat n

C
 D Wor‫ה‬

Early Life Friends

• Conception circumstances: • Current best friend (bio):

• Birth circumstances: • Former best friend(s):

• Babyhood anomalies, if any:

Romance
• First crush:
Close Family
• Mother’s bio: • First dating relationship:

• Father’s bio: • First sexual encounter:

• Parents’ relationship at time of conception: • Important romantic relationship(s):

• Parents’ current relationship: • Currently involved with someone?:

• Siblings (bio for each):

Education
• Elementary:
• Junior high:
• Relationship with siblings: • High school:
• College/grad school:
• Attitude toward school:

Extended Family Hobbies and Talents

• Family members: • Loves to:
• When bored, likes to:

• Relationship with each: • Good at:

• Terrible at:

her with a subconscious uncertainty about relationships.
But you will know, and this knowledge will tell you exactly
what to do when Victor Vampire sweeps into Norma
Normal’s life, all handsome and delicious—and completely
transient, from her perspective. Norma herself may not
be aware why she keeps breaking it off with Victor even
when it’s clear she loves him, but you, the author, have
worked it all out. Her reactions will come across as more
consistent, and therefore much more realistic.
The most fully developed, deeply motivated characters
are always the most compelling, no matter how ordinary
they might be. So flesh them out now, and your readers
will thank you later.
Excerpted from Writing the Paranormal Novel © 2011 by Steven
Harper, with permission from Writer’s Digest Books.

WritersDigest.com I 57

52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 57 9/5/12 11:27 AM

 DEEPEN MOTIVATIONS THROUGH ARCHETYPES
B Y VI CTO R I A LYNN SCH M I D T
A rchetypes are the core character models of storytell-
ing, found in nearly all books. The famous psychologist
Carl Jung is known for his work on archetypes, and he also
developed a personality typology that sheds light on how
humans approach life and do what they do. This information
can be adapted and applied to the task of creating motivated,
compelling characters.
For example, we all know that James Bond likes martinis.
But let’s go a step further: Deep down, who is Bond, really?
Bond’s identity as a spy is the most important thing in
his life. He’s a real workaholic and is highly observant and
analytical. He sets several traps, and in different rooms. He
calmly checks all of them. He anticipates what the villain
might do, drawing on his years of experience. His deep inner
world is that of a man who is suspicious yet professional.
Bond is an archetype: the Businessman.
Knowing the archetypes and their traits is key to decod-
ing what motivates your characters—and bringing them to
life for readers. Here are some of the main archetypes.
FEMALE HEROES AND VILLAINS
THE SEDUCTIVE MUSE
• Loves to be the center of attention, is smart and creative,
enjoys sex, loves her body and feels deeply. Think Cleopatra.
• As a villain, the Seductive Muse becomes the Femme
Fatale who deliberately uses her charms to control men.
• Physically centered, extroverted, great at listening.
• Occupations: artistic type (poet, sculptor, actress).
• Belief: All acts of love and pleasure are sacred.
• Motivated by: self-actualization.
THE AMAZON
• Loves nature and animals, values womanhood, is
unafraid, willing to fight to the death, wants to be self-
sufficient. Think Xena.
• As a villain, the Amazon becomes the Gorgon, who
rages against injustices and is merciless.
• Physically centered, extroverted, intuitive, evaluates
situations via her emotional response.
• Occupations: realistic type (laborer, activist, gardener,
soldier, store owner).
• Belief: No one can make you feel inferior without your
consent. Face your fears head on.
• Motivated by: survival.
58 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 58
THE MATRIARCH
• Loves to be with family, enjoys entertaining, commit-
ted to her marriage, dreams about her wedding day. If she
isn’t married, she may run a business as if it were her fam-
ily. Think Roseanne Conner in “Roseanne.”
• As a villain, the Matriarch becomes the Scorned Woman
who is passive-aggressive and needs to be in control.
• Physically centered, extroverted, receives information by
means of the senses, great at looking and listening, evalu-
ates situations via her emotional response.
• Occupations: enterprising type (politician, lawyer, judge).
• Belief: Always make time for your mate.
• Motivated by: love, belonging and respect.
THE MYSTIC
• Loves to be alone, tries to keep the peace, pays attention to
details, spiritual, spacey. Think Phoebe Buffay on “Friends.”
• As a villain, the Mystic becomes the Betrayer who snaps
and uses a fake persona to deceive others.
• Spiritually centered, introverted, evaluates situations via
her emotional response, intuitive.
• Occupations: artistic type.
• Belief: Stop the chatter of your mind, listen to the silence
and follow your own path.
• Motivated by: aesthetic need for balance.
THE FEMALE MESSIAH
• Cares more for others than herself, has strong beliefs, inner
strength and conviction that never dies. Think Joan of Arc.
(Messiah characters can also embody other archetypes.)
• As a villain, the Female Messiah becomes the Destroyer,
who may hurt the few to save the many.
• Spiritually centered, introverted, intuitive.
• Occupations: enterprising type.
• Belief: One person alone can change the entire world.
• Motivated by: aesthetic need to be connected to some-
thing greater.
THE MAIDEN
• Loves to play and go to parties, loves variety, sensitive,
needs protection, may be close to her mother, adventur-
ous. Think Lucy Ricardo in “I Love Lucy.”
• As a villain, the Maiden becomes the Troubled Teen
who’s self-centered, irresponsible and out of control.
9/5/12 11:27 AM

• Emotionally centered, introverted, receives information
by means of the senses, great at looking and listening.
• Occupations: conventional type (cashier, flight atten-
dant, bartender).
• Belief: Returning to my innocence feeds my soul.
• Motivated by: safety and security.
MALE HEROES AND VILLAINS
THE BUSINESSMAN
• Has a strong will to get things done, thrives on order,
loyal, trustworthy, loves work and being part of a team,
very logical thinker. Think James Bond.
• As a villain, the Businessman becomes the Traitor who
will do anything to bring order into his life.
• Mentally centered, extroverted, receives information
rationally or logically, intuitive.
• Occupations: investigative type.
• Belief: I am as solid as a rock. I am very decisive.
• Motivated by: self-esteem.
THE PROTECTOR
• Is very physical, will fight to save others, adventurous,
enjoys travel, in touch with his body. Think Rocky Balboa
in Rocky.
• As a villain, the Protector becomes the Gladiator who is
out for the lust of battle and blood.
• Physically centered, extroverted, evaluates situations by
his emotional response, receives information by means of
the senses, great at looking and listening.
• Occupations: realistic type.
• Belief: I am independent and don’t care about approval.
• Motivated by: survival.
THE RECLUSE
• Prefers to be left alone, sensitive, philosophical,
reliable, discerning. Think Raymond Chandler’s
detective Philip Marlowe.
• As a villain, the Recluse becomes the Warlock who
uses his knowledge to harm others.
• Spiritually centered, introverted, receives information
by means of the senses, great at looking and listening.
• Occupations: artistic type.
• Belief: Listen to the still quiet voice.
• Motivated by: the need to know and understand.
52_wd1112_WKBKrevised.indd 59
C
 Mat n
THE ARTIST
• Loves to create and change things, instinctual, full of
passion, intense, street-smart. Think Stanley Kowalski in
A Streetcar Named Desire.
• As a villain, the Artist becomes the Abuser who’s only
out for revenge. He’ll never let it go.
• Emotionally centered, typically extroverted (but can
be introverted).
• Occupations: artistic and social type.
• Belief: My work reflects what I feel inside, good or bad,
tragic or magic.
• Motivated by: survival.
THE MALE MESSIAH
• Questions authority, is disciplined, has inner strength,
will sacrifice himself for the good of all, has strong beliefs.
Think Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
• As a villain, the Male Messiah becomes the Punisher
who kills a man’s spirit in order to transform that man.
• Spiritually centered, introverted, intuitive.
• Occupations: enterprising type.
• Belief: Stay focused on your goals, persevere and you will
be rewarded.
• Motivated by: the aesthetic need to be connected to
something greater than himself.
THE KING
• Needs family or group to rule over, forms alliances eas-
ily, loyal, giving, decisive, strong. Think Tony Soprano in
“The Sopranos.”
• As a villain, the King becomes the Dictator whose need
to control others becomes an obsession.
• Mentally centered, extroverted, receives information
rationally or logically or by means of the senses, great at
looking and listening.
• Occupations: enterprising type.
• Belief: Speak your mind and hold steady when others
are unstable.
• Motivated by: self-esteem and self-respect. WD
Adapted from A Writer's Guide to Characterization © 2012 by
Victoria Lynn Schmidt, with permission from Writer’s Digest
Books. Visit writersdigestshop.com and enter the code “Workbook”
for a 10 percent WD reader discount on this and other books to help
you hone your craft.
WritersDigest.com I 59
9/5/12 11:28 AM
 STANDOUTMARKETS
An exclusive look inside the markets that can help you make your mark. BY TIFFANY LUCKEY

FOR BOOKS:

The Countryman Press

THE INSIDE STORY FROM: Kermit Hummel, editorial director
MISSION: “The Countryman Press is dedicated to publishing great books that
celebrate region and a sense of place, whether that’s travel, photography, cook-
ing, nature, outdoor activities or history. We publish a distinguished line of cook-
books, gardening and country lifestyle books, as well.”

WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
If you’re searching for a
publisher that specializes in non-
fiction, then take a close look at
The Countryman Press. Part of the
legendary W.W. Norton & Co., this
imprint focuses on everything from
fishing and hiking to hobbies and
cooking. Countryman also boasts
an impressive advance range, and
many of its titles have won a bevy of
awards. Most recently, David Page’s
An Explorer’s Guide to Yosemite &
the Southern Sierra Nevada won the
title of a Best Travel Guidebook
from the Bay Area Travel Writers,
and a Lowell Thomas Travel
Journalism Award.
FOUNDED: 1974. PUBLISHES: 60
books a year. KEY TO SUCCESSFUL
SUBMISSIONS: A clear and concise
presentation of concept and a dem-
onstrated understanding of the
intended audience. WHAT MAKES US
UNIQUE: We are small enough to
give our books a boutique level of
attention while having the reach of
a national sales organization. WE
MIGHT BE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU IF:
You have a unique knowledge of
some aspect of your home turf.
RANGE OF PRINT RUNS: 3,000–10,000.
RANGE OF ADVANCES: $1,000–5,000.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Submit [a packet
that includes] a [proposal], table of
contents, one or two sample chap-
ters and an analysis of the mar-
ket and competing titles for the
proposed book to: Submissions,
The Countryman Press, P.O. Box
748, Woodstock, VT 05091.
DETAILED GUIDELINES: countryman
press.com/about/guidelines.html.
What common mistake in the
submissions process do you
often see?  including the coveted Cookbook
[That authors sometimes fail] to
account for what other books have
been done and how this new pro-
posal differs or improves upon those
other efforts.
Besides a polished proposal,
what should authors bring to
the table?
We have a publicity staff and a
national sales force behind the
books we publish. [But] because
so much of what we do is of local
interest, it’s critical that authors help
us at the sales and marketing end
of the publishing process to iden-
tify and get their book into those
local retail outlets that may be off
the radar of a nationally focused
selling effort.
What awards or praise have
your titles received?
We have won several Outdoor
Writers Association Awards,
have had multiple International
Association of Culinary
Professionals Cookbook Awards
finalists and have won multiple
James Beard Cookbook Awards—
of the Year [in 2004 for The King
Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion].

60 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

60_wd0112StdtMarkets.indd 60 9/5/12 10:34 AM

 FOR SHORT STORIES:

The First Line

WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
MISSION: “The purpose of The First Line is to jump-start
Coming up with an intrigu-
the imagination—to help writers break through the block
ing story idea can sometimes be
that is the blank page. … The First Line is an exercise in
tthe bane of a writer’s existence.
creativity for writers and a chance for readers to see how
Fortunately, The First Line is
many different directions we can take when we start from
here to help get your imagina-
the same place.”
tion
t flowing. The premise is
simple: Every story in an issue begins with the same
FOUNDED: 1999. PUBLISHES: Quarterly. CIRCULATION:
sentence. Although these first lines are identical,
2,000. PAYMENT: $30 per story. HOW TO SUBMIT: Email the
the individual stories are unique: Each possesses
completed manuscript (300–3,000 words) attached as a
distinctive and compelling plotlines, characters and,
Microsoft Word or WordPerfect document to submission@
of course, endings. The First Line is more than eager
thefirstline.com. Include your name, contact info and a
to publish new and unpublished authors (along with
short bio (two to three sentences) as part of the attach-
well-established ones)—and all contributors have
ment. Submissions can also be mailed to: The First Line,
a chance of seeing their work published in a “Best
P.O. Box 250382, Plano, Texas, 75025-0382. DETAILED
of TFL” anthology. —TL
GUIDELINES: thefirstline.com/submission.htm. Visit
the website for first lines and submission deadlines for
upcoming issues.

FOR FREELANCE WRITING:

Yoga Journal
MISSION: “For more than 30 years, one magazine has
reported on the expansion and revolution of the yoga move-
ment. Yoga Journal has been there, serving yoga teachers
and the ever-growing yoga community.”
FOUNDED: 1975. PUBLISHES: Nine times a year.
CIRCULATION: More than 300,000. PAST NOTABLE WRITERS:
Colleen Morton Busch, Nora Isaacs, Baxter Bell, Stacie
Stukin, Hillari Dowdle. PAYMENT: $50–2,000. BEST
DEPARTMENTS TO BREAK IN: Om, Eating Wisely, Well
Being. PERCENTAGE OF FREELANCE ARTICLES: 75%. HOW
TO SUBMIT: Send a query, which should also include your
writing credentials, to queries@yjmag.com, pasted in the
body of the email; no attachments. DETAILED GUIDELINES:
yogajournal.com/general_customer_service/about/
editorial_subs_guidelines.
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
Started in the mid-1970s by
members of the California Yoga
Teachers
T Association, Yoga Journal
has become the go-to guide for yoga
enthusiasts. As yoga has become less
of an exercise routine and more of a lifestyle choice, the
magazine has transformed itself and expanded: It focuses
on the practice and philosophy of yoga, while also cover-
ing fashion, beauty, nutrition, travel and all-around well-
ness, giving writers lots of places to break in. Yoga Journal
stands out for its high circulation, attractive pay rate and
award-winning record, having earned Western Publishing
Association’s Maggie Award for Best Health and Fitness
Magazine nearly every year since 2003. —TL

Tiffany Luckey is an assistant editor for WD and the Writer’s Market series.

WritersDigest.com I 61

60_wd0112StdtMarkets.indd 61 9/5/12 10:34 AM

 CONFERENCESCENE
Events to advance your craft, connections and career.
Blue Flower Arts
Winter Writers’
Conference
Tired of being just another face in the
conference crowd? At this intimate
event, you’ll be one of only 39
writers getting intensive instruction,
assignments and attention from criti-
cally acclaimed authors.
WHEN: Jan. 6–11, 2013. WHERE:
Atlantic Center for the Arts, New
Smyrna Beach, Fla. PRICE: $1,350.
WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE
UNIQUE: With award-winning
authors running the show, even the
most advanced attendees will come
away from the workshops with new
perspectives, skills and confidence.
WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Writers of
memoir, fiction and poetry, at all
levels. HOW MANY ATTEND: Each of
the three workshops (memoir, fic-
tion and poetry) is capped at 13
students. FACULTY: Amy Bloom,
author of The New York Times best-
selling novel Away, will teach the
fiction workshop; Da Chen, author
of The New York Times bestsell-
ing memoir Colors of the Mountain,
will focus on memoir; and Marie
Howe, author of three volumes of
poetry, will lead the poetry work-
shop. HIGHLIGHTS: Attendees can
expect to free write, participate in
writing exercises, draft and edit.
They’ll explore new styles and tech-
niques, discuss one another’s work,
and read representative works by
62 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
62_wd1112ConfScene.indd 62
well-known authors. Workshops
take place for 2½ hours in the
morning, followed by individual
conferences, open studio time
for writing and craft discussions.
IF YOU GO: “Writers should come
prepared to work and rework, and
help their fellow writers do the
same,” says Alison Granucci, presi-
dent of Blue Flower Arts. “Writers
should be prepared to let go—to
give in to the editing process and
the opinions of their peers and
allow themselves to fully explore
their creativity.” FOR MORE INFO:
blueflowerarts.com/wwc.
Aloha Writers
Conference
Take a much-needed vacation from
winter without neglecting your
writing. Combine work and play
BY LINDA FORMICHELLI
at a conference held on Maui,
one of the most beautiful islands
in the world.
WHEN: Jan. 18–21, 2013. WHERE:
The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui,
Hawaii. PRICE: $695 before Oct. 1;
$795 after Oct. 1. Special hotel rate:
$245–285 per night for attendees.
WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE
UNIQUE: Hosted by a native
Hawaiian nonprofit, the Aloha
Writers Conference is designed
to motivate and inspire creativity.
Make a vacation of it by taking time
to explore the grounds with your
family, smell the fields of exotic
BLUE FLOWER PHOTO © ERICWHITE.NET
flowers, and gaze at the Pacific.
WHO IT’S PERFECT FOR: Writers at
all levels interested in everything
from poetry to children’s fiction
to journalism. HOW MANY ATTEND:
300. FACULTY: You’ll find a unique
9/5/12 10:35 AM

combination of successful new writ-
ers, such as The Descendants author
Kaui Hart Hemmings, and long-
time favorites including Luanne
Rice, author of 22 consecutive New
York Times bestsellers; Jacquelyn
Mitchard, author of The Deep End of
the Ocean (chosen as the first book
for Oprah’s Book Club); and John
Lescroart, New York Times bestsell-
ing author of 23 novels. HIGHLIGHTS:
If workshops with bestsellers aren’t
enough, for extra fees you can join
the preconference Whale Watch
and Cultural Exploration ($165);
the Authors’ Tea, an opportunity to
discuss writing with award-winning
authors over tea and pastries ($195);
a post-conference retreat, which
offers serious writers an opportunity
to work under the mentorship of a
bestselling author or screenwriter at
the historic Pioneer Inn in Lahaina
($1,095); and the Gala Banquet
($95). IF YOU GO: Conference coor-
dinator Vicki Draeger says to bring
business cards to share with agents,
editors and attendees, and your tab-
let computer or laptop (but to make
sure they’re charged at the start of
every day and ready to go). “Don’t
try to lug a full manuscript with
you,” she says, “[but] you might
want to have it on a flash drive just
in case.” FOR MORE INFO: alohawriters
conference.com.
South Coast Writers
Conference
Writing, beautiful scenery, music:
check, check, and check. Some of
the Northwest’s best scribes help
attendees explore and celebrate all
aspects of writing at this confer-
ence on the scenic Oregon Coast.
WHEN: Feb. 15–16, 2013. WHERE:
62_wd1112ConfScene.indd 63
Love To Write
But Hate
The Paperwork?
Event Center on the Beach, Gold
Beach, Ore. PRICE: Friday (one six-
You need
hour workshop): $55; Saturday Writer’s Relief!
(four 90-minute sessions): $60 Since 1994, writers of books, short
prose, and poetry have been partnering
before Jan. 31, $70 after Jan. 31. with Writer’s Relief for submission
WHAT MAKES THE CONFERENCE management. We research, target,
track, proofread, create cover/query
UNIQUE: Each workshop is lim- letters, and more. Our targeting is
ited to just 30 students to keep the strategic and personalized. Full Service
clients by invitation only. See website for
atmosphere inviting and personal- submission guidelines.
ized. On Friday choose from one of We manage your submissions;
you focus on your craft.
three six-hour intensives; Saturday
Highly Recommended
offers a more varied selection of References + Testimonials
shorter workshops. WHO IT’S PERFECT Join the 30,000 writers who subscribe
FOR: Beginning or intermediate to our FREE e-publication:
writers who want to learn the craft Submit Write Now!
and business of writing. HOW MANY Hot
ATTEND: 100–115. FACULTY: Among publishing
the instructors are freelance book leads and tips!
editor and author Elizabeth Lyon, Learn more:
who will discuss proofreading; poet www.WritersRelief.com
Linda Barnes; and musicians Kate (866) 405-3003
Power and Steve Einhorn, who will
present on songwriting. HIGHLIGHTS:
Creative
Don’t miss Authors’ Night on
Friday—Stefanie Freele will deliver
her keynote “Writing Is Dangerous,”
Writing
and all presenters will read a short
selection of their work, followed by
book signings—or Saturday night’s
Writers’ Circle, where attendees read
and critique one another’s writing,
and network. Other events include
Classes
a book sale, a fish fry, and a con- ®
cert by Power and Einhorn. IF YOU
GO: “Come prepared to listen, write Acclaimed 10-week workshops
and network,” says Karim Shumaker, taught by professional writers
coordinator of the Gold Beach offered online in more than a
Center. “A preconference reading dozen forms of writing.
list is provided, so read some of “Best of the Web”— Forbes
the works of the presenters whose
Now in bookstores
workshops you’ll be attending. For
in-depth instruction, plan to attend WRITING
a six-hour Friday workshop.” FOR
MORE INFO: socc.edu/scwriters. WD FICTION
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
Linda Formichelli (therenegadewriter.com),
co-author of The Renegade Writer, teaches Learn more
an e-course on breaking in to magazines and
offers writers phone mentoring.
WritingClasses.com
1-877-WRITERS
WritersDigest.com I 63
9/5/12 10:35 AM
 CO NF E RE NC EG U IDE
CONFERENCE GUIDE
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2012
• Keep in mind that there may be more
than one workshop in each listing.
• These workshops are listed alphabeti-
cally 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 organiza-
tion for additional information.
• All listings are paid advertisements.
CALIFORNIA
2013 SAN FRANCISCO WRITERS
CONFERENCE, February 14-18, 2013 at
the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco,
is a Celebration of Craft, Commerce and
Community. Major names in publishing
(authors, editors, literary agents, and
publishers) attend the SFWC and take
personal interest in projects discovered
here. Presenters will include R.L. Stine
(Goosebumps series), Meg Waite Clayton
It’s our 10th Anniversary!
2013 SAN FRANCISCO
WRITERS CONFERENCE
A Celebration of Craft, Commerce & Community
Featuring: R.L. Stine (Goosebumps),
Barbara Taylor Bradford,
Meg Waite Clayton...and
Chuck Sambuchino (Writer’s Digest)
100+ well-known authors, editors,
publishers & literary agents from
New York, L.A. & S.F. Bay Area.
SFWC’s Indie Writing Contest and
single-day workshops, too!
Join us Feb. 14—18, 2013
InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel
Details & Online Registration:
www.SFWriters.org
A 501(c)3 nonprofit organization
Can’t attend in person?
Join a community of writers 24/7/365
www.SFWritersU.com
64 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012
Dec12WD Classifieds.indd 64
(The Wednesday Sisters) and Chuck
Sambuchino (Writer’s Digest). All
levels/genres. $745 (with substantial
early discounts available).
Contact: Barbara Santos
1029 Jones St.
San Francisco, CA 94109
Ph: 415/673-0939
barbara@SFWriters.org
www.SFWriters.org
SANTA BARBARA WRITERS
CONFERENCE, sponsored by The
Writer. June 8–13, 2013 at the beachfront
Hyatt Santa Barbara. SBWC has been an
institution in the writing community for
41 years, attracting aspiring writers and
famous authors. This year’s speakers
include: Sue Grafton, Elizabeth Berg, and
others. Monte Schulz, Laurel Corona,
Gar Anthony Haywood, Elfrieda Abbe,
Barnaby Conrad III, and dozens more,
instructors. All levels. Before March 16th,
2013: $550 (T); after March 16th: $625 (T).
Contact: Nicole Starczak, SBWC Director
27 W. Anapamu St., Ste. 305
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Ph: 805/568-1516
info@sbwriters.com
www.sbwriters.com
COLORADO
WRITING FOR THE SOUL, sponsored
by The Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers
Guild. February 14–17, 2013, at the
Broadmoor Hotel & Resort in Colorado
Springs. The Writing for the Soul
conference will equip and inspire you.
You’ll get top-notch writing instruction,
meetings with editors and agents, and
unparalleled spiritual enrichment. Jerry
B. Jenkins, James MacDonald, Liz Curtis
Higgs, Steven James, Deborah Raney,
Dennis E. Hensley, instructors. All levels.
$850 nonmembers, $625 members (T, M).
Contact: Leilani Squires
5525 N. Union Blvd., Ste. 200
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Ph: 866/495-5177
Fax: 719/495-5181
contactus@christianwritersguild.com
www.christianwritersguild.com
NEVADA
LAS VEGAS WRITERS’
CONFERENCE, sponsored by
Henderson Writers’ Group. April 18-20,
2013 at Sam’s Town Hotel and Casino.
One-on-one pitch sessions with agents
and publishers. Over 20 workshops and
Q&A panels. Learn from the pros in
fiction and nonfiction. 150 maximum
attendees. Our annual premier event
offers expert faculty for advancement in
your writing career of all levels and genres. Luis Urrea, Lawrence Hill, and Juan
Full attendance costs $450 after January 1,
2013, $500 on-site registration, $275
one-day attendance (T, M).
Contact: Ph: 866/869-7842
joawilkins@mysticpublishers.com
www.lasvegaswritersconference.com
Or Henderson Writers’ Group,
www.hendersonwritersgroup.com
NEW JERSEY
WINTER POETRY & PROSE
GETAWAY - 20TH ANNIVERSARY!
Presented by The Richard Stockton
College of New Jersey and Murphy
Writing Seminars. January 18-21, 2013
at Stockton Seaview Resort at the Jersey
Shore. Advance your craft and energize
your writing at the Winter Getaway.
Enjoy challenging and supportive
workshops, insightful feedback, and
encouraging community. Choose from
small, intensive workshops in memoir,
novel, YA, nonfiction, and poetry. Early
registration discount available - claim
yours today!
Contact: Peter Murphy, Director
Ph: 609/823-5076
info@wintergetaway.com
www.WinterGetaway.com
NEW YORK
THE BUSINESS OF PET WRITING
CONFERENCE, sponsored by Charlotte
Reed, The Pet Socialite Inc., held on
Saturday, February 9, 2013 at the Hotel
Pennsylvania in New York City. The fifth
annual pet writing conference, designed
for all levels, offers seminars, workshops
and panel discussions that address the
latest trends in the publishing, social
media and pet industry news. Take
advantage of one-on-one pitch sessions
with top agents and editors. Meet
representatives from notable animal
organizations. Keynote by Writer’s Digest’s
Chuck Sambuchino. Early Bird $175 (T, M).
Networking luncheon is $50.
Contact: Charlotte Reed
362 Broome St., Ste. #20
New York, NY 10013
Ph: 212/631-3648
info@petwritingconference.com
www.petwritingconference.com
INTERNATIONAL
MEXICO
SAN MIGUEL WRITERS’
CONFERENCE AND LITERARY
FESTIVAL, sponsored by San Miguel
Literary Sala. February 13–17, 2013 in
San Miguel de Allende. Plan now to
attend 2013’s most enchanting Writers’
Conference! San Miguel de Allende is a
magical, historic town and a mecca for the
arts. The entire town is a World Heritage
Site of preserved 1700s buildings. It is an
isolated mountain town, worlds away from
border violence. Hotel rooms only $65,
double or single! Pitch sessions with top
agents; 50+ workshops (select seven);
keynotes and panels; open mic;
individual consultations; optional
intensives; spectacular Mexican Fiesta;
explore San Miguel excursions. Most
meals included. All genres; fully bilingual:
“The Creative Crossroads of the Americas.”
2013 Keynote speakers: Cheryl Strayed
(author of WILD, NY Times #1 bestseller),
Villoro. Previous keynote speakers include
Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver,
Tom Robbins, Naomi Wolf, Sandra
Cisneros, Todd Gitlin, Erica Jong. Join
our mailing list to receive updates for
February 2013 and beyond. Beginning to
Advanced. (T, M, MT, F, parties!) Special
group rates, perfect for Book Clubs and
Writing Groups.
Contact: Susan Page
220 N. Zapata Hwy. #11
Laredo, TX 78043
Ph: 510/295-4097
susan@susanpage.com
www.sanmiguelwritersconferenceblog.org
9/5/12 10:57 AM
 CL AS S I F I E DS: R EA DIN G N OTIC ES
CLASSIFIED/DISPLAY ads (cuts, head-
lines, illustrations, rules, etc.) of 1–3
inches in depth: $375 per inch for 1 issue;
$350 per inch for 3; $325 per inch for 6;
$300 per inch for 8. Typesetting charges
$15 per inch. Larger ads up to 5 inches
will be accepted at special rates; ask for
details. Ad prices are calculated on a per
word, per issue basis (20 word minimum).
All contracts must be prepaid at the time
of insertion. $7.25 per word for 1 issue;
$5.75 per word for 3; $4.75 per word for
6 or more consecutive issues. Street and
number, city, state and ZIP code count
as 4 words. Area code and phone number
count as 2 words. Email and website ad-
dresses count as 2 words.
PAYMENT by credit
card accepted with
advertising orders
of three or more
consecutive issues.
A sample of any product and/or litera-
ture you plan to send must accompa-
ny your order. Literary Services and
Editing/Revising advertisers must
send a résumé and sample critique.
Send ad with check or money order
to: Writer’s Digest Reading Notices, 700
E. State St., Iola, WI 54990. To learn
more, call Jill Ruesch at (800)726-
9966, ext. 13223. Fax: (715)445-4087.
jill.ruesch@fwmedia.com
CLOSING DATE FOR THE FEBRUARY 2013 ISSUE
IS NOVEMBER 13, 2012. To advertise, call Jill
Ruesch: (800)726-9966, ext. 13223.
AUTHOR SERVICE
FREE SUBMISSION LEADS/GUIDELINES. New and
established markets. Cover/Query letter tips. Join
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CONTESTS
SPIRITUAL MEMOIR CONTEST: 2,500 to 10,000
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through March 15th. www.catharsisjournal.com
Dec12WD Classifieds.indd 65
EDITORIAL SERVICES
Need help with your writing?
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WORD-BY-WORD, TOTAL STRUCTURAL EDITING.
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EXPERT EDITING by “The Editor Who Goes That
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Carol@EditorialAlchemy.com;
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WritersDigest.com I 65
9/11/12 6:47 AM
 CL AS S I F I E DS: R EA DIN G N OTIC ES

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66 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

Dec12WD Classifieds.indd 66 9/7/12 12:15 PM

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course. Visit www.CreativeWritingCenter.com. Call IS NOVEMBER 13, 2012. To advertise, call Jill
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WritersDigest.com I 67

Dec12WD Classifieds.indd 67 9/5/12 10:58 AM

 SHOW US YOUR SHORTS.

13th Annual WRITER’S DIGEST

SHORT SHORT STORY COMPETITION
WE’RE LOOKING FOR FICTION THAT’S BOLD AND BRILLIANT... BUT BRIEF.
Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.
But don’t be too long about it — deadline is Nov. 15, 2012.
PRIZES:
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$1,500 $500
$100
11th through 25th Place: $50 towards the purchase of WRITER’S DIGEST BOOKS
The names and story titles of the First- through 10th-place winners will be printed
in the July/August 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest.
Winners will receive the 2013 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market and 2013 Guide to Literary Agents. Plus, all First- through 25th-place winners will
receive a free copy of the 13th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.

.com
13th Annual WRITER’S DIGEST 13th Annual WRITER’S DIGEST
SHORT SHORT STORY COMPETITION SHORT SHORT STORY COMPETITION
The first- through 25th-place manuscripts will be printed in a special competi-
tion collection. Use the entry form to order your copy at the pre-publication I am entering _____ Manuscript(s) at $20 per entry.
special price! (Publication date: May 2013. You are not required to purchase the collection to I am ordering _____ Competition Collection(s) at $11.95 each.
enter the contest.) (includes $1.95 S&H)
(You are not required to purchase the collection to enter the contest.)

___________
THE RULES
1. The competition is open to manuscripts of 1,500 words or fewer. Entries outside the
word limitation will be disregarded. If entering by mail, please type the word count on the
first page of your entry, along with your name, street address, daytime phone number and Check or money order enclosed (U.S. funds only)
e-mail address. Charge my VISA MC Exp. ___
2. The entry fee is $20 per manuscript. You may enter as many manuscripts as you wish.
You may send one check (in U.S. funds) and one entry form for all entries. Card No. _____________________________________________________________________
3. All entries must be in English, original, unpublished (in print or online, with two allowable Signature _____________________________________________________________________
exceptions: 1. on a personal blog maintained solely by the author, and/or 2. on a private cri-
*The charge will appear as “F+W Contests.”
tique forum that requires registration to access) and not submitted elsewhere at the time of
submission. Writer’s Digest retains one-time publication rights to the 1st through 25th-place Name ________________________________________________________________________
winning entries to be published in a Writer’s Digest publication. No refunds will be issued
for disqualified entries. Address ______________________________________________________________________
4. All mailed in entries must be typewritten and double-spaced on one side of 8½ x 11 or A4 City __________________________________________________________________________
white paper. Manuscripts will not be returned. Entries must be stapled.
State/Prov._________________________ ZIP/PC ____________________________________
5. Entries must be submitted by or postmarked by Nov. 15, 2012.
Country____________________________Phone ( ) _________________________
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may assume that your entry is not a finalist and may be marketed elsewhere. E-mail ______________________________________________________________________
7. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard with your entry if you want to be notified of Please send me information via e-mail about future
its receipt. We cannot notify you personally of your story’s status before the winners are
announced. Writer’s Digest competitions.
8. Winners’ names will appear in the July/August 2013 issue of Writer’s Digest magazine. Their
names and story titles will be posted at writersdigest.com after that time. Please make check or money order payable to Writer ’s Digest
9. The following are not permitted to enter the competition: employees of F+W Media, Inc. in U.S. funds, drawn on a U.S. bank.
and their immediate families, and Writer’s Digest contributing editors and correspondents
as listed on the masthead.

PRIVACY PROMISE The Writer’s Digest Short Short Story Competition

Occasionally we make portions of our customer list available to other companies so they
may contact you about products and services that may be of interest to you. If you prefer we
withhold your name, simply send a note with your name, address and the competition name
to: List Manager, F+W Media, 10151 Carver Road, Suite 200, Blue Ash OH 45242. WD1212

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 How the Grinch Stole Christmas! by Dr. Seuss
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PHOTO © AL PARRISH

72 I WRITER’S DIGEST I November/December 2012

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