Writers Digest July-August 2012 Issue

HOW TO BUILD PAGE-TURNING CONFLICT INTO ANY PLOT
RuleBreakers
The
Issue
PUSH YOUR CREATIVE LIMITS:

8 STEPS TO BETTER WRITING
HOW TO PULL OFF A
KILLER PLOT TWIST
SMARTER SELF-PROMOTION:
TRICKS FOR GETTING
YOUR WORK NOTICED
WRITING CONFERENCES:
HOW TO BEAT THE ODDS
& BRING HOME SUCCESS
W D I N T E RV I E W
Adriana Trigiani
FROM THE COSBY SHOW TO

THE SHOEMAKERS WIFE: WHY IT PAYS
TO TAKE RISKS IN YOUR WORK
Andre Dubus III
US $5.99
08
01
02
03
04
FnL1
Qy1BDDA3NDQ3MDAyMzc5MQA=
JUYrVyBQdWJsaWNhdGlvbnMsIEluYyAo
SW9sYSBkaXZpc2lvbikPR3JlZ29yeSBL
cnVlZ2VyAE7vCSIEMTAuNAI4MAExBVVQ
04 0120
THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG

AUTHOR TALKS WRITING & LIFE
74470 02379
Display until July 16, 2012
JULY/AUGUST 2012 writersdigest.com
c1_wd0812Cover.indd US1
4/24/12 12:29:59 PM
write
anything
publish
everything
market
everywhere
Everything is simple with the full-service support of
Outskirts Press.
Writing services to help you start, nish, or edit a book.
Publishing packages to help you publish and distribute.
Marketing support to help you promote your book no
matter where or how you published it.
Visit Outskirts Press today. Its that simple!
.com
c2_wd0812.indd c2
4/24/12 11:03:15 AM
OCTOBER 19-21, 2012 LOS ANGELES

Looking to make your dreams of getting published come true?
Go west and get discovered!
Join Writers Digest in Los Angeles this fall to hone your writing
skills, meet agents and editors, and learn insider secrets to
navigating the modern publishing industry with ease.
Sign up
by July 19
Dont miss your chance to meet face to

face with agents who are actively
seeking new writers!
using prom
o code
WDCMAG
and
Get more details and register at
SAVE $100
WritersDigestWest.com
I attended the conference and got an agent!

What more is there to say? If youre looking for
an agent, attend the Writers Digest pitch session.
- Rose Auslander
An
01_wd0812.indd 1
&
Event
4/24/12 12:22:28 PM
F EATUR ES
The
Rule-Breakers
Issue
21 28
The Reluctant Pulling the Rug Out

it comes to your plot, playing it safe doesnt pay.
Risk-Takers Guide to When
Heres how to wow your readers with a plot twist.
Filling the Creative Well
BY STEVEN JAMES
Great writing begins with an appetite for life. Try these 8

approaches to get out of your comfort zone, break rules
and reap rewards.
BY ELIZABETH SIMS
25
Go Your Own Way

Forget what youve been told about how to get the most
out of writing conferences. The best experiences come
when you make your own rules.
32
Rewriting the Rules

of Marketing
You dont need a big promotional budget to get noticed
and make your own waves. Learn how a little creative
thinking can take you a long way.
BY KEVIN KAISER
BY TANYA EGAN GIBSON
2 I WRITERS DIGEST I July/August 2012
02_wd0812TOC.indd 2
4/24/12 12:34:56 PM
J U LY/AU GUS T 2 012 | VO LU M E 9 2 | N O. 5
INK W ELL
36
8 EXPLORING YOUR OPTION: Heres what you
need to know about selling the movie and TV rights

to your work.
THE WD INTERVIEW:
Adriana Trigiani
BY FRED ROSEN
The secret to Adriana Trigianis success begins with an

old family recipe: quality ingredients, attention to detail,
and good old-fashioned hard work.
10 PLUS: 5-Minute Memoir Poetic Asides: Quatern
Cash in on the Calendar The Winners of WDs

Annual Poetry Awards The Bolt From the Blue
BY JESSICA STRAWSER
C O LU M NS
40
Meet the Real Andre

Dubus III
He did not set out to follow in his famous fathers
footsteps, nor is he as dark and brooding as his own
House of Sand and Fog. And those are just the first of
many things that will surprise you about the bestseller.
18 BREAKING IN: Debut Author Spotlight

BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
2 0 ASK THE AGENT: John Rudolph, Dystel &
Goderich Literary Management

BY KARA GEBHART UHL
4 6 QUESTIONS & QUANDARIES: Defining
Denouement; The Keys to Finishing a Book
BY ZACHARY PETIT
BY BRIAN A. KLEMS
4 8 YOUR STORY: Homecoming
44
BY GREG LINDEN
Taking Flight
5 8 STANDOUT MARKETS: EDGE Science Fiction and
The winner of WDs Annual Short Short Competition

stumbled upon a one-of-a-kind subject to bring her
fiction to new heights.
BY MARIELLE MURPHY
Fantasy Publishing; Ploughshares; Smithsonian

BY TIFFANY LUCKEY
60
Colorado Gold
Conference; Women Writing the West; Emerald
City Writers Conference
CONFERENCE SCENE:
BY LINDA FORMICHELLI
WR ITER S WORKBOOK
7 2 REJECT A HIT: Charlottes Web

SPOOF-REJECTED BY GREGORY WALTERS
Cat Co
ON THE COVER
5 0 CLASSIC CONFLICT THROUGH RIVALRY
5 0 How to Build Page-Turning Conflict
BY RONALD B. TOBIAS
21
28
32
25
40
36
5 3 KEYS TO CONFLICT IN ROMANCE

BY JENNIFER LAWLER
5 5 5 TOOLS FOR BUILDING CONFLICT

COVER PHOTO TIM STEPHENSON
BY JAMES SCOTT BELL
PLUS:
4 online exclusives
5 editors letter
6 contributors
Into Any Plot

Push Your Creative Limits
How to Pull Off a Killer Plot Twist
Smarter Self-Promotion
Writing Conferences
Andre Dubus III
WD Interview: Adriana Trigiani
7 reader mail
Writers Digest (ISSN 0043-9525) is published eight times a year (which may include an occasional special, combined or expanded issue that may count as two issues) by F+W Media Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Ste. 200,
Cincinnati, OH 45242. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Writers Digest, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235. Subscription rates: one year, $24.96; two years, $49.92; three years, $74.88. Canadian
subscriptions add $10 per year for GST/HST tax and postage via surface mail. Foreign subscriptions add $10 for surface mail or $39 per year for airmail. Remit in U.S. funds. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement
No. 40025316. Canadian return address: 2835 Kew Drive, Windsor, ON N8T 3B7. Writers Digest, Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. Vol. 92, No. 5. Periodicals Postage Paid at Cincinnati, Ohio, and additional mailing offices.
WritersDigest.com I 3
02_wd0812TOC.indd 3
5/1/12 7:08:45 AM
Right Now at
Quote-Worthy Writing Advice

Once youve read our exclusive interview with acclaimed
author Andre Dubus III (best known for House of Sand and
Fog, and featured on Page 40) check out our favorite outtakes
in the form of his inspiring quotes on the art of writing.
Take a Short Short Story Break

After youve met the talented winners of WDs 12th Annual
Short Short Story Competition (Page 44), read the piece
that took the top prize: Nicole Lesperances The Callers.
PLUS: Visit WritersDigest.com/competitions to learn how
you can enter next years competition.
The Wild Story of Dear Sugar

Learn more about the secrets to the success of Cheryl
Strayed, profiled in this issues Rule-Breakers Spotlight
(Page 34) for her unconventional approach to her author
platform that made huge promotional waves.
To nd all of the above online companions to this issue in
one handy spot, visit WritersDigest.com/august-12.
Bring WD to Your Inbox!

Subscribe to our free email newsletter for weekly roundups of some of the best articles, information and advice for
writers. Get a free instant download just for signing up!
PLUS:
Visit WDs blogs every day for new advice & perspectives.
HOW TO FIND, RATHER THAN MAKE,
5 GREAT TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING
WHY LITERARY FICTION ISNT BORING
MORE WRITING TIME IN YOUR DAY
A selection of our favorite reader-
Vine Leaves Literary Journals Jessica
Tips for tting writing into your busy life.
submitted ideas and techniques.
Bell on the magic of beautiful prose.
http://bit.ly/GQuw
http://bit.ly/xmXJGJ
http://bit.ly/GZTzFy
COWBIRD PHOTO STEVE BYLAND/FOTOLIA.COM
WritersDigest.com/subscribe/free-weekly-newsletter
04_wd0812OnlineTOC.indd 4
4/24/12 11:06:23 AM
E DI TO R SL E TTE R
JULY/AUGUST 2012 | VOLUME 92 | NO. 5
EDITOR
Jessica Strawser
MANAGING EDITOR
Zachary Petit
SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
Daniel T. Pessell
WRITERS WORKBOOK EDITOR
Roseann Biederman
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Steve Almond, John Dufresne, Linda
Formichelli, Jane Friedman, Chad Gervich,
Steven James, Jerry B. Jenkins, Elizabeth
Sims, Art Spikol, Kara Gebhart Uhl
WRITERS DIGEST
WRITING COMMUNITY
PUBLISHER & COMMUNITY LEADER
Phil Sexton
ONLINE COMMUNITY EDITOR
Brian A. Klems
WRITING COMMUNITY EDITORS
Robert Lee Brewer, Scott Francis,
Chuck Sambuchino
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Tiffany Luckey, Marielle Murphy
ONLINE PRODUCT DIRECTOR
Winter Thielen
WRITERS DIGEST
EDITORIAL OFFICES
10151 Carver Road, Ste. 200,
Cincinnati, OH 45242
(513)531-2690, ext. 11483;
writersdigest@fwmedia.com
SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE
Subscription inquiries, orders and address
changes can be made at
writersdigest.com/contact-us.
Or by mail:
Writers Digest, P.O. Box 421751,
Palm Coast, FL 32142.
Or call: (800)333-0133 for U.S. orders,
(386)246-3372 for international orders.
Include your address with all inquiries.
Allow six to eight weeks for delivery.
PHOTO AL PARRISH
BACK ISSUES
Back issues are available for $5.99, with
an additional shipping and handling
charge (contact publisher directly for
overseas shipping), and may be ordered
at writersdigestshop.com. Or, send check
or money order (plus $2 for shipping) to:
F+W Media Products, 700 E. State St.,
Iola, WI 54990; or call toll free: (800)2580929. Please specify publication, month
and year.
Outside the Margins

We talk a lot about doing things by the
rulebook here in WD. Following proper
submission procedures. Conforming to
editorial standards. Doing what it takes
to show the pros in publishing you can
handle whats expected of you.
But writers, being a right-brained
bunch, are often quick to point out that
for every rule, you can find exceptions.
And its true. Some of the most successful
writers in history, in fact, have been the ones who took big risks, either in their
work (Im guessing Jack Kerouacs agent didnt recommended he write a book
manuscript on one long scroll) or in their careers (who would have thought
erotic Twilight fan fiction would go mainstream, as it did with Fifty Shades of
Grey?). Big risks are, well, riskyyoud be ill-advised to hinge all your hopes
on being an exception to a well-established rule, written or otherwise. But no
one can deny that big risks can also have even bigger payoffs.
And, fortunately for the reluctant risk-takers among us, there are plenty of
smaller ways to break the rulesor at least make up our own as we go along
and reap rewards. Thats why we decided to devote this WD to the rule-breaker
in all of us. As we were putting this issue together, we had to admit it was
refreshing to take a break from worrying about the right way to do things
and we have a feeling youll think so, too.
Get inspired to step out of your comfort zone and seek out the kinds of reallife experiences that add authenticity to your workand provide endless ideas
for future writing (Page 21). Push your plot beyond the predictable by daring
to attempt the kinds of jaw-dropping plot twists readers go crazy for (Page 28).
And find good reasons to ignore well-intended advice you might have heard
about things like building your platform (Page 32) and getting the most from
writing conferences (Page 25), and learn how to invent new strategies that will
serve you far better than the rules ever could.
We cant forget that while writing is a business, its also a creative outlet. We dont have to present ourselves as the human equivalents of doublespaced pages in plain typeface with one-inch margins. In fact, we shouldnt!
We challenge you to step outside those rules and see where it takes you. Then,
let us in on the funshare your adventures in rule-breaking by emailing
writersdigest@fwmedia.com with Reader Mail in the subject line. Select
responses will appear in a future issue.
05_wd0812EditorsLetter.indd 5
4/24/12 1:35:09 PM
CON TR IB UTO RS
F+W MEDIA INC.

CHAIRMAN & CEO
David Nussbaum
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
James Ogle
PRESIDENT
Sara Domville
TANYA EGAN GIBSON (Go Your Own Way,
Page 25) is the author of the novel How to Buy a

Love of Reading. Her work has appeared in The
Writer, Parents, Carve and Cicada. She lives in
Northern California, where she is penning her
second novel, teaching writing classes and working as a developmental editor. She loves presenting at conferences, where she encourages writers to break the rulesjudiciously. Visit her at
tanyaegangibson.com.
CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

Chad Phelps
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT,
OPERATIONS
Phil Graham
DIRECTOR, INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
Jim Kuster
DIRECTOR, FINANCE
Trent Miller
VICE PRESIDENT, EVENTS
Cory Smith
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Kristen Allen
KEVIN K AISER (Rewriting the Rules of

Marketing, Page 32) is senior brand manager at
Creative Trust, an entertainment management company based in Nashville, Tenn. He oversees creative
development, digital marketing and social media
strategy for international bestselling authors and
advises several of the Big Six publishers on effective grassroots marketing. He also is co-founder of
The American Fossil Company, which publishes the
popular Double Barrel series (authorgreywest.com).
ADVERTISING
ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVE
Jill Ruesch (800)726-9966, ext. 13223; fax:
(715)445-4087; jill.ruesch@fwmedia.com
ADVERTISING SALES COORDINATOR
Barb Prill (800)726-9966, ext. 13435; fax:
(715)445-4087; barb.prill@fwmedia.com
NEWSSTAND SALES
Scott T. Hill; scott.hill@procirc.com
JENNIFER LAWLER (Keys to Conflict in
Romance, Page 53) is the acquisitions editor and

imprint manager of Crimson Romance, a new
imprint from F+W Media (parent company of
WD). She is the author of several romances under
the pen name Jenny Jacobs, including the forthcoming Second Acts. Lawler is also the author or coauthor of more than 25 nonfiction books, including her popular and award-winning Dojo Wisdom
series. Visit her online at jenniferlawler.com.
PRIVACY PROMISE
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 the
magazine name to: List Manager, F+W
Media Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Ste. 200,
Cincinnati, OH 45242.
Printed in the USA
KRIS RADISH (An Audience of One, Page 10)

is the bestselling author of eight novels (including Tuesday Night Miracles, Hearts on a String
and Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn) and two
works of nonfiction. A former journalist, university
instructor, managing editor and worm pickerto
name just a fewRadish lives in Saint Petersburg,
Fla., where shes co-owner of The Wine Madonna, a
wine lounge, and where she is hard at work on two
new novels (and a great class of cabernet).
COPYRIGHT 2012 BY F+W MEDIA INC.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
WRITERS DIGEST MAGAZINE IS A REGISTERED
TRADEMARK OF F+W MEDIA INC.
RADISH PHOTO ALISON ROSA; LAWLER PHOTO COURTESY OF MARILYN NARON; EGAN GIBSON PHOTO LISA KEATING
ATTENTION RETAILERS
To carry Writers Digest in your store, please
contact: Curtis Circulation Co., 730 River
Road, New Milford, NJ 07646. Via phone:
(201)634-7400; via fax: (201)634-7499.
06_wd0812Contributors.indd 6
4/24/12 11:07:31 AM
READERMAIL
After 25 years of reading and learning from WD,

I nd you are still giving writers the best information.
ho-hum event and a smashing success.
T.S. Pessini
Friendsville, Md.
(BOOK) PARTY PEOPLE
I have been a WD subscriber since 1987. As

a writer, author and an
instructor of creative writing, I have often looked
to Writers Digest for support when I found myself
in a writing dilemma, and
WD usually comes through
with much-needed advice.
Your Life of the (Book
Launch) Party article in the
February 2012 issue is a primary example. I was preparing for the February release
of my second novel, This We
Will Defend, and a contact at
Garrett College had offered
to host a launch party. The
article was invaluable, providing insight into ways of
promoting a book event.
(As suggested in the article,
I selected a theme: Spend
an Afternoon With Spies!)
After 25 years of reading
and learning from WD, I
find you are still giving writers the best information.
Thank you, WD, and thanks
to Lela Davidson for her
timely article that will mean
the difference between a
Many thanks for the article

by Lela Davidson, Life of
the (Book Launch) Party.
Just days before this issue
arrived in my mailbox, I
was wondering about the
logistics of planning my
own book launch party.
Right there, on Page 10,
was the insight and motivation to get started. My book,
Speaking of Apraxia: A
Parents Guide to Childhood
Apraxia of Speech, made its
big launch in early April.
Keep up the good work.
Leslie Lindsay
Aurora, Ill.
POETIC LICENSE
In regards to the Poetic

Asides column by Robert
Lee Brewer in the March/
April 2012 issue: Please, I
beg you, Robert and other
poets, to leave the standard,
traditional poetry forms
alone. We would not dare
rewrite the Shakespearean
sonnet, or the cinquain, or
the sestina, with other lines
and syllables. Please leave
the haiku form as it should
be, which is three lines of 57-5 syllables about nature. If
one wants to create poems
with different lines and

syllables, he is free to do
sojust call the creation by
another name. Redefining
the haiku not only makes it
impossible to write one correctly, it also makes judging
contests impossible when
the submissions are not
standard. It is the responsibility of Writers Digest to
set and promote the standard, not defile it.
than an exact count of syllables is the presence of a

cutting word (kireji) as well
as the frequently used season word (kigo). These are
what really set haiku apart
from senryu, which are more
focused on human nature.
To ignore and disregard
how a form has evolved over
time would be a disservice to
poets and poetry lovers. It
would be like saying a
Lee Ann Russell Shakespearean sonnet is not
Springfield, Mo. really a sonnet (because its
not a Sicilian sonnet), when
ROBERT LEE BREWER
everyone knows it is.
RESPONDS: Thank you for
Keep poeming!
your note, Lee Ann. I understand when poets are resisALL IN THE NAMES
tant to multiple definitions of In your January issue,
a form of poetry, because it
Elizabeth Sims gave
makes the form itself a little
us an excellent assortblurry. For instance, you
ment of methods to use
mention the Shakespearean
when naming characters
sonnet, which is only one
(Namedropping). When I
type of sonnet form (and not
wrote Brute Heart, a novel
the original, I might add). As set in Oregon, I pored over
with other poetic forms, the
my Oregon road atlas and
rules of the haiku have been
gave every character the
bent over the yearsparfirst and last names of a
tially because traditional
county, park, geographical
Japanese haiku measure 17
feature, town or unincorsounds (called on), which are porated community on the
not the same as 17 syllables
map. I was amazed at the
in English.
rich storehouse of names
As a result, even the
I found there, includHaiku Society of America
ing Riley, Dusty, Cooper,
shares a definition of haiku
Jordan and Jude.
as a poem with 17 or fewer
Ginger Dehlinger
Bend, Ore.
syllables. More important
WRITE TO US: Email writersdigest@fwmedia.com with Reader Mail in the subject line. Please include a daytime phone number (for
verification purposes only) and your city and state. Submitted letters are considered for publication and may be edited for clarity or space.
07_wd0812ReaderMail.indd 7
4/24/12 11:08:16 AM
Exploring Your Option

Heres what you need to know about selling the movie and TV rights to your work.
BY FRED ROSEN
ve been in development hell for

16 years, but Im not complaining.
While Hollywood has not yet
made any of my books into a feature film, TV movie (known in the
trade as an MOW, or Movie of the
Week) or series, I still get paid for
my writing being optioned. In fact, it
forms part of my yearly income.
If youve ever wondered how something gets made into a filmand how
your work can be tapped for one, too
heres the inside scoop on options.
to write the script (though it probably

wont be youHollywood prefers to
use its own writers to adapt work).
WHAT CAN GET OPTIONED?
Just about anything. Published novels

and nonfiction books. Magazine articles. Short stories. Unpublished work
can break through, too, when some-
one who has a connection with a production company discovers something

and passes it on (Frank Capra based
Its a Wonderful Life on an unpublished short story by Philip Van Doren
Stern). But you should generally focus
on getting published firstbecause
the print imprimatur still demands
the highest price when optioned.
A rental. A production company or

studio reserves the right to make your
work into a film, MOW or TV show
for a specific length of time. In the past,
the standard option was for a year,
with two renewable one-year options.
Taking advantage of the recent recession, producers have now been able to
negotiate the first option to 18 months.
Regardless, each time a company picks
up the option, you get paid just for
sitting on your tushie. In the meantime, theyll try to secure the money to
make the adaptation and get someone
PHOTO PAVEL LOSEVSKY/FOTOLIA.COM
WHAT EXACTLY IS
AN OPTION?
08_wd0812Inkwell.indd 8
4/24/12 11:15:29 AM
HOW MUCH IS AN OPTION

WORTH?
Options start at $500 and go up.

In todays market, $5,000 is excellent. Its impossible to offer an average because it depends on so many
factors, the most important being
how much the production company
wants the work. As my professor
A.D. Art Murphy used to tell us,
the movie business operates on the
junkie/pusher principle: Someone
has something that someone else
desperately wants.
DO I NEED AN AGENT TO
MAKE THE OPTION SALE?
Generally, yes. As you may know,

there are both literary agents (who
specialize in book publishing) and
film agents. Many writers have both.
If you have a literary agent, look at
your contract and see if the agent
gets points for a film sale; if so,
encourage her to send your work to
a film agent shes familiar with (the
two will split the commission). If
you dont have an agent, its fine to
query film agents directly. Theyre
always looking for salable stuff to
pitch to Hollywood. Be straightforward in your pitch: Briefly summarize the work to be optioned, where
its publishedor notand your bio.
Its also possible, though less common, to make a sale yourself and
later obtain a film agent or lawyer to
negotiate the details. You can find
out what production companies
buyand get executives contact
infoby going to their websites.
No matter how you do it, in the
end, youll still be waiting for that
fateful green light.
WHATS THE GREEN LIGHT?
In the movie business, its the colossal step of money being put on the
table to produce a project. Few
options actually lead to a green light.
range. Premium cable doubles that

to $50,000. (If you luck into a series,
you also get paid per episode.) Then
again, like many writers, you could
find yourself in development hell
An option is a rental. Each time a company picks

up the option, you get paid just for sitting on
your tushie.
Hollywood has so much money, producers can afford to buy a lot more
than they need, and then cherry-pick
their projects. Thats why you want
to get as much as possible up front
for the option itself. In the rare cases
where you get a green light, you
will get paid the purchase price. For
now, think of it as Monopoly money.
When youre negotiating the option
amount, the producer will dangle
lots of zeros on the purchase price,
while trying to keep the actual option
figure at a minimum. (Good agents
will fight this. And for their services,
theyll get 10 percent of the option
and 10 percent of the purchase price.
A lawyer will get 5 percent across
the board.)
HOW MUCH DO YOU MAKE
IF YOU GET A GREEN LIGHT?
The purchase price is usually 23

percent of the productions budget, with a cap. So, at 2 percent, if a
film is budgeted at $10 million, on
the first day of principal photography you get a check for $200,000. If
the cap is $225,000, that means even
if the film is made for $50 million,
your fee is still $225,000. For MOWs,
a basic cable MOW is in the $25,000
the period when youre waiting for

the green light. But there are worse
places you could be.
SO WHATS THE KEY TO
GETTING YOUR WORK
OPTIONED?
The first rule in the business is

you need good product. And, on
a psychological level, if you believe
your writing is good enough to be
optioned, people will pick up on
your confidence. (On the flip side,
they also pick up on your desperationthis from a writer who has
been desperate on more than
one occasion.)
All told, you have to have the
innate belief that you are unique,
and are offering something that no
one else can. Frank Capra of Its a
Wonderful Life fame taught me that.
I knew him; he was a friend.
He once saved my writing life
when I was ready to jump off
that bridge.
Fred Rosens book Lobster Boy: The Bizarre
Life and Death of Grady Stiles Jr., the true
story of the carny, his murder and how
Rosens detective work led to the conviction of the killer, was just optioned by Sam
(Avatar) Worthingtons Full Clip Productions.
JOIN THE CONVERSATION: When it comes to movie adaptations of books, which do you think have been the bestand which do
you think have been the worst? Log on to the discussion forum at community.writersdigest.com/forum to share your thoughts.
4/24/12 11:15:36 AM
5-MINUTE MEMOIR
Tales From the Writing Life
An Audience of One
BY KRIS RADISH
I think of this woman when I

create new characters and imagine
them walking out of a dark spot and
back into the light. I think about
how important it is to be kind and
open and to never miss a chance
myself. I have had other audiences
of one, and I never walk away. There
is no room in my writing world
for an ego. I remain humbled with
each book sale, every time someone shows up to hear me speak. My
readers tell me my books are a gift to
them, but its the other way around.
My readers are a gift to me. Theyre
my daily inspiration.
When the woman in the bookstore was ready to leave I hugged
her for a very long time and then
watched as she turned and walked
down the sidewalk and away from
the alley.
I love happy endings. They are
everywhere. One at a time.
Kris Radish is a former journalist and the

bestselling author of eight novels (most
recently, Tuesday Night Miracles) and two
nonction books.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Submit your own 600-word essay reection on the writing life by emailing it to wdsubmissions@fwmedia.com
with 5-Minute Memoir in the subject line.
PHOTO RUFOUS/FOTOLIA.COM; JAHINA PHOTOS/FOTOLIA.COM
he lone woman looked terrified. She sat with her shoulders

hunched and her face down as if she were trying to turn her body
into a tent where she could hide.
I remember standing off to one side and looking at herreally
looking at her. She was clearly uncomfortable being in the bookstore, and
her ill-fitting clothes, dirty shoes and trembling hands made me want to drop
down and wrap my arms around her.
Before I could move, the bookstore manager came over and put her hand
on my arm. Kris, it looks like we picked a bad night for your presentation. Im
sorry. An audience of one isnt the greatest. What do you want to do?
I wanted standing room only, every book with my name on the cover sold,
and free beer for the rest of the night. But instead I had the trembling woman
who couldnt raise her head to look at me. I had a cold night, dashed expectations and a slight pounding behind my eyes. But I was staying.
Someone is here, and Im going to do the entire talk and sit right down
with her, I said. Ill be fine. This woman came to see me, and Im going to
honor that.
My novels are real stories about real women and the real problems and joys
they face every day. Some of these women wear ill-fitting clothes and some of
them wear high heels. Some of them look me in the eye and some cannot raise
their heads. One woman was all I really needed.
I sat down in front of her, pulled my chair close, and talked about my
novel and my life. And then I asked about her life, and as she talked I could
barely breathe.
A year ago I was homeless and living behind the bookstore, she told me. I
was a drug user and I watched people coming into the bookstore and authors,
just like you, and one day I told myself that I would get straight and come back
and sit here like this.
I took her hands and held them as she cried and told me how this moment,
me taking time to sit with her, was the
most remarkable thing that had ever
happened to her. I cried too as she told
me about her new life plans.
Here was a woman right out of one
of my novels. A soul seeking redemption, a second chance, fulfillment, joy
and a chance to follow a dream.
4/24/12 11:15:46 AM
No matter what you write, a bit of poetic license can

be a valuable asset to any writers arsenal.
BY ROBERT LEE BREWER
CR EATIV E CHA LLE NGE : T HE QU AT E RN
A quatern is a French poetic form comprised of four quatrains (four-line

stanzas). Its similar to the cascade form in that it has no rules for rhymes or
iambics, and it repeats a refrain throughout the poembut with a different
pattern and syllable count.
Ill mark the refrain pattern to the left of this example by Poetic Asides blog
participant Bruce Niedt:
Purple Heart
R
I gave away your clothes last week.

A truck rolled up and took six bags
Quaterns contain four

quatrains, for a total of
16 lines.
to some forsaken warehouse where

theyd be passed on to people who
cannot afford to buy them new.
R
I gave away your clothes. Last week

I couldnt stand the closet full
of coats and dresses, hung like ghosts
The form incorporates

a refrain of the first line
from the first stanza
into each of the subsequent stanzas.
and so I yanked them off their racks,

stuffed plastic bags with memories
R
I gave away. Your clothes, last week,

went to a world that never knew
You can make the refrain

more interesting by varying its punctuation.
how ne you were, how beautiful

in that red dress, that silken blouse
some stranger walks the street in now.
PHOTO HUGH ONEILL/FOTOLIA.COM; ILLUSTRATION TONY CAPURRO
I gave away your clothes last week.
While there are no iambic rules,

each line in a quatern should
contain eight syllables.
INSPIRED TO GIVE IT A SHOT? Try your hand at a quatern, and then share your
work alongside other writers on the Poetic Asides blog at http://bit.ly/spa5aY.
POETIC PROMP T
Write a preparation poem.

The narrator could be preparing for something, or the poem could
chronicle preparations by someoneor somethingelse.
Robert Lee Brewer (writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides)
is the editor of Poets Market and a published poet. Hes been a
national featured poet at the Austin International Poetry Festival
and is the former Poet Laureate of the Blogosphere.
4/24/12 11:15:52 AM
hook. Target these findings first in

your queries, because well-known
anniversaries are where the competition will be toughest. Then
2. EXPLORE YOUR PERSONAL
We all have things were

passionate aboutand a lot of them
have pitch-worthy anniversaries.
One idea I wouldnt have found
on usa.gov: Im a big fan of writer
Edgar Rice Burroughs, so I knew
early on that 2012 was the centennial anniversary of the first appearance of Tarzan in All-Story Magazine.
I pitched various ideas pegged on
this seminal pop-culture event to an
array of magazines and so far have
received three assignments: a 12,500word oral appreciation for Filmfax;
a profile of Burroughs for Famous
Monsters of Filmland; and a feature
on Tarzan movies for VideoScope.
Im also a big military history
buff, and recently came across a
mention of the Navy Experimental
Diving Unit on The History Channel.
I did a little digging and found that
2012 was the 85th anniversary of
NEDUs founding. I pitched a story
to Military Officer magazine. While
the units history and accomplishments were certainly newsworthy, it
was the articles anniversary-based
hook that sealed the deal.
INTERESTS.
Cash in on the Calendar

Find pitch-perfect hooks for articles on virtually any
topic by targeting anniversaries.
BY DON VAUGHAN
1. STUDY UP, AND KNOW WHATS

GOING ON WHEN. Most writers
pitch ideas pegged to traditional
holidays such as Thanksgiving
and Christmas. Instead, ask yourself: What big, unique anniversaries
will occur this year and, even more

important, next year? This kind of
advance planning can pay off in a
major way.
The U.S. government provides a
good overview of upcoming holidays,
major anniversaries, and historic
The key is to uncover the happenings other

writers may not be privy toand have something
fresh to say about them.
dates of interest online at usa.gov/
Topics/Reference-Shelf/Calendars.
shtml. An Internet search of anniversaries + [specific year] can also
reveal many potential article angles.
The bigger and rounder the number of the anniversary, the hotter the
This is a rule
of thumb in most aspects of freelancing, but especially with anniversary pieces: You never know whos
planning to cover what, or what
special issues are being cooked up
that your piece might fit nicely into.
3. CAST A WIDE NET.
PHOTOS VLADIMIR VORONIN/FOTOLIA.COM
love anniversariesand not just

the one I celebrate each June
with my lovely wife. Newsworthy
milestones of all sorts can mean
big bucks for savvy freelance writers.
Over the years, Ive landed numerous anniversary-based assignments
from magazines large and small.
The key is to uncover the happenings other writers may not be privy
toand have something fresh to say
about them.
Heres how to do it.
4/24/12 11:16:02 AM
I pitched different aspects of the

centennial anniversary of Tarzan
to everyone from Boys Life to RT
Book Reviews. I knew I wouldnt get
assignments from them all, but I
increased my chances by pitching
broadly and appropriately. (Besides,
Ive found that even rejections can
open the door to future proposals.)
Whenever possible, target both local
and national publicationsand cater
each pitch to its specific market.
By
that, I mean the stereotypical ideas
the first ones that come to mind
that every hack will be pitching
related to a specific holiday or anniversary. Instead, find an innovative
way to spin the topic that will make
your pitch stand out from the others.
Rather than pitch a standard profile
of Burroughs to Filmfax, for example,
I decided to interview famous artists
and writers about their appreciation
of Burroughs works. The resulting
article was a unique tribute that also
provided me with the opportunity to
talk to creators Ive long admired.
Writers Conference
Edmonds WA
October 5-7, 2012

Pre-Conference October 5th
Keynote
CARLA NEGGERS
4. AVOID LOW-HANGING FRUIT.
Because of lengthy
editorial lead times, most magazines
want anniversary-related queries
at least four to six monthsif not
morein advance. If youre unsure
of when to pitch, consult the publications submission guidelines or
ask the editor how far out they work.
(Also, request the magazines editorial calendar for the coming year;
it could give you more great ideas
regarding appropriate anniversary
pitches.) The most successful writers
pitch early, and pitch often.
5. PITCH EARLY.
Don Vaughan (donaldvaughan.com) is

a North Carolinabased freelancer and
founder of Triangle Area Freelancers.
NYT & USA Today Bestselling Author
Love To Write
But Hate
The Paperwork?
You need
Writers Relief!
Since 1994, writers of books, short
prose, and poetry have been partnering
with Writers Relief for submission
management. We research, target,
track, proofread, create cover/query
letters, and more. Our targeting is
strategic and personalized. Full Service
clients by invitation only. See website for
submission guidelines.
We manage your submissions;
you focus on your craft.
Highly Recommended
References + Testimonials
Join the 30,000 writers who subscribe
to our FREE e-publication:
School of Fish by Buster Simpson
photo: Bruce Coxley
35 Workshops on
the Craft of Writing
Manuscript Critiques
Writing Contest
Reception/Book Signing
Onsite Bookshop
700 Main St. Edmonds WA 98020
City of Edmonds Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services
425-771-0228
wots@ci.edmonds.wa.us
www.writeonthesound.com
Submit Write Now!
Hot
publishing
leads and tips!
Learn more:
www.WritersRelief.com
(866) 405-3003
MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY ASSISTANCE FROM

THE SNOHOMISH COUNTY TPA FUND
4/24/12 11:16:10 AM
The Winners of
WDs Annual Poetry Awards
BY MARIELLE MURPHY
early 2,300 poems were submitted in the

seventh annual Writers Digest Poetry
Awards, and Linda Neal Risings An
Educated Woman Explains Why She Likes
Bluegrass claimed the No. 1 spot. Her prize: $500, a
copy of the 2012 Poets Market and a trip to the WD
Conference in New York City.
I fell for Risings poem from the opening lines, says
final-round judge Robert Lee Brewer, editor of Poets
Market and WDs Poetic Asides column (Page 11)
and blog. Whether through the repetition of because
to open every stanza or using perfect metaphors to
describe the individual elements of a bluegrass tune, this
poem takes a familiar topic and plays with itmaking
the whole enterprise more beautiful in the process.
The contest was open to original poems of any style
that were unpublished and 32 lines or fewer. The top 50
poems will be printed in a special collection, available
for $11.95 at wizehive.com/apps/products/WDPoetry.
To find out how to enter next years contest, visit
writersdigest.com/competitions.
An Educated Woman Explains

Why She Likes Bluegrass
by Linda Neal Rising
Because a ddle can cry honey
or shapeshift into the Wabash Cannonball,
chugging its arrival
or whistling through a crossing
in some by-passed Ozark town.
Because a banjo plunks
like hail on a tin roof,
covering a barn with weathered sides.
1.
An Educated Woman Explains Why She Likes

Bluegrass by Linda Neal Rising
Or like drops, fat and dull,

plopping into a zinc bucket, set below
the eaves to catch rain water.
2.
Last Chair by Maggie Morely
Because a guitar can speak
3.
A Holding Time by Barbra Simpson
with a country accent,
4.
Hands Together by Ace (A. Charles) Baker
hum about mockingbirds and murders,
5.
Listening to the Ocean by Kathleen Olive Palmer
long for girls with names
6.
34 by Jack Libert
like Sally Goodin, Liza Jane, Sweet Fern.
7.
This is how you ready for it by Roberta

Guthrie Kowald
8.
Prayer for Mother by Carol Despeaux
9.
Cracked by Chris Warner
10.
Grah Nade! by John J. Zerr
Because a mandolin quivers,

a timid soul, uttering
like the wings of a blackbird
trapped inside a stone chimney.
Because the voices lift so high
and lonesome they drift,
suspended like Blue Ridge fog
just before fading to sun.
PHOTO STEADLER/FOTOLIA.COM
The Top 10
4/24/12 11:16:21 AM
15_wd0812.indd 15
4/24/12 11:17:05 AM
The Bolt
From the Blue
BY CELIA JOHNSON
1. The Hobbit: J.R.R. TOLKIEN was

grading college exam papers, and
midway through the stack he came
across a gloriously blank sheet.
Tolkien wrote down the first thing
that randomly popped into his
mind: In a hole in the ground there
lived a hobbit. He had no idea what
a hobbit was or why it lived underground, and so he set out to solve
the mystery.
Creative
Writing
Classes
Acclaimed 10-week workshops

taught by professional writers
offered online in more than a
dozen forms of writing.
Best of the Web Forbes

Now in bookstores
WRITING
FICTION
A PRACTICAL GUIDE
Learn more
WritingClasses.com
1-877-WRITERS
2. Treasure Island: ROBERT LOUIS

STEVENSON painted a map to pass
the time during a dreary vacation
in the Scottish Highlands. When he
stepped back to admire his handiwork, a cast of imaginary pirates
appeared. Stevenson recalled, They
passed to and fro, fighting and hunting treasure, on these few square
inches of a flat projection. He
promptly traded his paintbrush for
a quill and began to write.
3. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz:

was telling his sons
a story when he abruptly stopped.
Hed been swept away to a land
L. FRANK BAUM
unlike any his imagination had ever

conjured. Baum ushered the young
audience into another room and,
page by page, began to document
Dorothys journey along the yellow
brick road.
4. Charlottes Web: E.B. WHITE

had decided to write a novel
about saving the life of a pig, but
wasnt sure who would be up to
the heroic task. He was walking
through an orchard, on his way to
a pigpen, when inspiration hit. He
thought back to a large gray spider
that had woven an intricate web
in his house: She was perfect for
the part.
5. The Lion, the Witch and the

Wardrobe: On an otherwise ordinary day, 16-year-old C.S. LEWIS
was seized by a peculiar daydream.
A frazzled creature, half-man and
half-goat, hurried through snowy
woods carrying an umbrella and a
bundle of parcels. Lewis had no idea
where the faun was heading, but the
image was still with him when, at
age 40, he finally put pen to paper to
find out.
6.
Around the World in Eighty

Days: JULES VERNE was flipping
through a newspaper in a Parisian
caf when an advertisement caught
his eye. It offered tourists the chance
to travel the globe in just 80 days.
PHOTO YURII BEZRUKOV/FOTOLIA.COM
deas often percolate and simmer over time, but every once
in a while lightning strikes
and a sudden flash of creativity
can alter a writers career forever.
Take, for example, these 10 famous
works inspired by unexpected bolts
of inspiration.
4/24/12 11:16:31 AM
Sierra Nevada College is pleased to

announce its new low-residency MFA
program in Creative Writing,
located on the shores of Lake Tahoe.
This was an amazing feat at the time,
and Vernes imagination immediately
began to fire.
7. Rip Van Winkle: WASHINGTON

had been suffering from
writers block. His brother-in-law,
Henry Van Wart, was trying to cheer
him up by reminiscing about childhood adventures in the Hudson
Highlands when, in the middle of
the conversation, Irving dashed out
of the room. The next morning, he
emerged with a new story inspired
by the talk.
IRVING
MFA FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Program Director Brian Turners poetry and
essays have been featured in The New York
Times and National Geographic. His most
recent book, Phantom Noise, was short-listed
for the T.S. Eliot Prize.
Kelle Grooms memoir, I Wore the Ocean in
the Shape of a Girl, was a Barnes & Nobles
Discover Great New Writers pick for Fall 2011
and an Oprah.com selection.
Freative nonFtion Ftion poetr\
8.
Animal Farm: GEORGE ORWELL

watched as a young boy steered
a massive cart horse along a narrow path, and he was struck by an
unusual thought: What if animals
realized their own strength? His
hypothetical question evolved into a
metaphorical novella about animals
taking over a farm.
866.412.4636
MFAinfo@sierranevada.edu
www.sierranevada.edu/mfa
9. Anna Karenina: As he lay on

a sofa after dinner, LEO TOLSTOY
had a vision of an elbow. The image
expanded into a melancholy woman
in a ball gown. The mysterious lady
haunted Tolstoy and he eventually
decided to write her story.
10. One Hundred Years of Solitude:

GABRIEL GARCA MARQUZ was
driving his family to Acapulco for a
vacation. As he gripped the steering wheel, the opening line to a
novel popped into his head. Garca
Marquz threw his foot on the
brake, turned the car around, and
cut the trip short to work on the
rest of the story.
Celia Johnson is the author of Dancing

With Mrs. Dalloway: Stories of the Inspiration Behind Great Works of Literature.
1ER]TISTPI
HVIEQEFSYX
WIIMRKXLIMVREQI
MRTVMRX
WSQIHE]
*SV8E]PSV9RMZIVWMX]
4VSJIWWMSREP;VMXMRK1ENSVW
WSQIHE]GSQIWXLIMV
JVIWLQER]IEV
[[[XE]PSVIHY`
4/24/12 11:16:37 AM
BREAKINGIN
Debut authors: How they did it, what they learned, and why you can do it, too.
BY CHUCK SAMBUCHINO
Natalie Bakopoulos
The Green Shore
(literary ction, Simon
& Schuster, June) The
portrait of a family
and the way in which
their stories of love and resistance
play out against the backdrop of
the military dictatorship that ruled
Greece between 1967 and 1974.
Ann Arbor, Mich. PREThis is my first novel,

and the past seven or eight years of
my creative life have been devoted
to it. My father is from Athens and
I fell in love with the country at a
young age. I knew I wanted to write
a novel and set it in Greece. TIME
FRAME: Eight years passed between
the writing of the books first sentence and its publication. ENTER
THE AGENT: My agent is the brilliant
Amy Williams [of McCormick &
Williams], whom I met when I was
[a Master of Fine Arts] student at
the University of Michigan. WHAT I
LEARNED: There were times when I
was rewriting the novel when I felt
that I was done. But I wasnt. I was
sick of it and I just wanted to get it
out there. Im glad I resisted that
urge. If anything, I learned patience.
WHAT I DID RIGHT: I worked hard and
I didnt rush it. But like everything
else in life, much of it was luck and
timing. PLATFORM: Im a contributing editor to Fiction Writers Review
WRITES FROM:
GREEN SHORE:
(fictionwritersreview.com), and
this community has been a huge
support. I also hope this book
will be well received by the GreekAmerican community, which has, so
far, been hugely supportive. WEBSITE:
on.fb.me/H9wzmS. NEXT UP: Some
short stories, a collection of essays,
and a new novel.
Nichole Bernier
The Unnished
Work of Elizabeth D.
(womens ction, Crown,
June) A woman
inherits the journals

of a close friend, and realizes she
didnt know her friend as well as
shed thoughtincluding where
her friend was really going when
she died.
The suburbs of Boston.

I had been a magazine writer for 15 years. In the years
after I lost a friend in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, I felt an urge
to express myself [through fiction]. In 2005, I wrote a scene about
a woman imagining her friends
last moments on a plane. That
WRITES FROM:
PRE-UNFINISHED:
scene became the beginning of my

Chapter 3, which is basically the
same as [it was] the day I wrote
it. TIME FRAME: That grueling first
scene sat on my computer for a day
or two while I shivered and wondered what on earth I was doing. I
had three children at the time, and
it was the strangest feeling, justifying to myself time spent on this
thing that might not amount to
anything. I finished the first draft
two years after I startednot realizing that this was just the beginning.
ENTER THE AGENT: Julie Barer [of
Barer Literary] is my agent. WHAT
I LEARNED: First, that being done
doesnt mean done, and there is a lot
of material you write that will never
see the light of day. The second surprise was how much Im enjoying
the business sidethe networking,
marketing and promotion. WHAT I
DID RIGHT: Finding a small community of trusted, valued writers for
feedback is tremendously important. I went to events alone and met
people. I invited people to my home
and threw book parties. I embraced
social media like the water cooler
and business conference I was
18_wd0812BreakingIn.indd 18
4/24/12 11:17:54 AM
lacking as a stay-at-home mom.

PLATFORM: I have a platform
as a magazine writer, which includes
a decade on staff and as a contributing editor to several magazines. I
also have a blog and Twitter account.
WEBSITES: nicholebernier.com;
beyondthemargins.com. NEXT UP:
A second novel.
Dianne Warren
Juliet in August
(titled Cool Water
in Canada)
(mainstream ction, Amy
PHOTO DON HALL
Einhorn Books/Putnam,
July) The story of several char-
acters on one ordinary hot summer day in a small Saskatchewan

community in the sand hills, caught
VIP
between its ranching heritage and

a new West.
Regina, Saskatchewan.
Ive written short stories
for many years, but this is my first
novel. In fact, the first draft of Juliet
in August was a short story called
Desert Dwellers, but I knew right
away that the world was too big for
the form and I didnt pursue publishing it as a story. TIME FRAME: Ten
years off and on, as I worked on other
projects. I think I was afraid to admit
I was actually working on a novelI
kept putting it away and going back
to stories. ENTER THE AGENT: My agent
is Dean Cooke at The Cooke Agency.
I sent the manuscript to him because
of other writers that he represents,
thinking my work might be a good
fit. WHAT I LEARNED: My biggest surWRITES FROM:
PRE-JULIET:
prise has been the number of people

that are working for you and the
book when youre fortunate enough
to publish with a large press. The
expertise and knowledge about the
contemporary realities of publishing
are astounding. WHAT I DID RIGHT: Im
glad that I took the time with it that
I did because its a better book for all
the thinking and revising that went
into it. NEXT UP: A new novel. WD
Chuck Sambuchino is the editor of Guide
to Literary Agents.
KEEP HOPE ALIVE

Get Nichole Berniers advice on viewing
rejection as encouragement at writers
digest.com/editor-blogs/guide-toliterary-agents (select Breaking In).
: You can get the best of Writers Digest for one low annual price, plus
extra discounts throughout the year with the Writers Digest VIP Program. Youll
receive a year of Writers Digest magazine, plus year-long access to our Writers Market
database, with more than 8,000 places to get your work published.
The Writers Digest VIP Program includes:
plus
One-year U.S. subscription to Writers Digest magazine
plus
One year of online access to WritersMarket.com, with up-to-date listings

for more than 8,000 book publishers, magazines, literary agents, contests,
scriptwriting markets and more
plus
equals
LOW
PRICE
Access to our most important webinar: The Essentials of Online Marketing &
Promotiona 1-hour tutorial on how to promote yourself as a writer and get the
attention of editors and agents
10% off Writers Digest University course registrations: Get one-on-one
attention and professional, personalized critiques of your writing, all on your
schedule and at home!
Plus 10% off all purchases made at the Writers Digest Shop throughout the year
Sign up today to become a VIP, and receive all of this for just $49.95a savings of 73%
off the $186.91 retail value! Become a Writers Digest VIP and take your writing career
to the next level!
This program is available only at the Writers Digest Shop,

online at www.writersdigestshop.com.
18_wd0812BreakingIn.indd 19
4/24/12 11:18:02 AM
ASK THEAGENT
BY KARA GEBHART UHL
John Rudolph
DYSTEL & GODERICH LITERARY MANAGEMENT
John Rudolph spent 12 years as an acquiring childrens book editor for Simon
& Schuster Books for Young Readers and the G.P. Putnams Sons imprint of the
Penguin Young Readers Group before joining Dystel & Goderich as a literary agent in 2010. Now, with a strong track record of deals in the young adult,
memoir, picture book and pop culture genres, he is expanding his client list
in other areas, too. Im looking for any and all narrative nonction, Rudolph
says. Thrillers and other commercial mens ction are up my alley as well. On
the childrens side, Im on the hunt for character-based middle-grade and
young adult ction, and I would dearly love to nd the next great picture book
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
writer/illustrator.
dystel.com/submission-requirements
Not sure if its the worst or best, but the greatest query I
got was the picture book about talking poopfully illustrated, of course. That
gem arrived my very first week as an editorial assistant at Simon & Schustera
suitably auspicious way to start a publishing career.
BEST/WORST QUERY:
HARDEST LESSON FOR WRITERS TO

LEARN: On the writing side,
regardless of genre, just
about every project involves
a show, dont tell discussion.
Publishing-wise, I think its the
waitingno matter how well
versed authors are in the publishing process, theres almost
always a Why the @%$! is this
taking so long? moment.
PERFECT DAY:
Any day that I sell a book!
BIGGEST PET PEEVE: You would think that with the enduring popularity of a
certain Christmas song, it wouldnt be that difficult to send a letter to John
Rudolphnot Randolph, Rudolf, or my all-time favorite, Rudlof.
DREAM CLIENT: Since Keith Richards is taken, Ill have to go with Springsteen.
Give me a call, Boss
BEST PUBLISHING ADVICE RECEIVED:
That at the end of the day, its the authors
name thats on the jacket.

Luckily, Ive been spared any
major conference craziness so farnever had anyone pass me a manuscript in
the restroom or anything like that. The best experience was about a year ago,
when I actually signed up a writer as a clientfirst time that ever happened!
STRANGEST WRITING CONFERENCE ENCOUNTER:
BIGGEST CAREER SURPRISE: That Im an agent! And that, after 12 years as a childrens book editor, half my list now consists of adult titles.
FAVORITE CONVERSATION WHEN AGREEING TO WORK WITH A NEW CLIENT: Short
of learning that an author already has an offer on the table, the best conversations end with the revelation that a client loves to bakeand that treats are in
the mail. WD
Kara Gebhart Uhl (pleiadesbee.com) is a freelance writer and editor based in Fort Thomas, Ky.
20_wd0812ATA.indd 20
4/24/12 11:18:40 AM
The Rule-Breakers Issue
t
n
a
t
c
u
l
e
s
R
r
e
e
Th
ak
T
k
s
Ri to Filling
e
d
i
u
e
v
i
t
a
e
l
l
the Cr
e
W
Great writing begins

with an appetite for life.
Try these 8 approaches
to get out of your comfort
zone, break rules and
reap rewards.
BY ELIZ ABETH SIMS
ot long ago I was standing in a hotel lobby, formally done up

in an evening skirt, sparkle top and lipstick, making small
talk and waiting for the doors to open for an elegant cocktail
reception and ceremony. There was, however, a delay. The doors did
not open. About 200 of us milled about, obediently, for 10 minutes,
20. The doors continued to not open.
I began to grow impatient, as I had particularly been looking forward to a glass of wine. I wanted one now. The ballroom down the
corridor, Id noticed, was teeming with wedding guests enjoying a
reception. Why not? I thought, and strolled in their direction.
I took a deep breath and glided in, smiling and making eye contact
with other guests, and made my way to the bar, where fountains of
pink liquid bubbled. The server handed me a stemmed glassful and
I tasted it. Pink lemonade? I asked, my heart sinking. Theres no
wine or anything?
No, maam.
Are these guys Mormons?
Either that or AA, I guess.
21_wd0812Sims.indd 21
5/1/12 7:09:25 AM
I thanked him and carried the

lemonade to my reception. Well, I
thought, I didnt get my wine, but at
least I crashed a wedding.
This is the kind of thinking writers need to do. I may or may not
use material from that night in my
fictioneither the actual incident
or my quickening heartbeat as I
talked myself into brazenly acting like the guest of people I didnt
knowbut thats not entirely the
point. The point is that I stepped
out of my comfort zone, did something a little outr, and got away
with it.
Lets face it: We writers tend
to be rule-followers. We were the
kids who turned in our papers on
time, played clarinet in the marching band, didnt have premarital sex.
(OK, two out of three.) As adults we
drive defensively, wear sunscreen
and consult experts before making
big decisions. We dont crash weddings or argue over the contents of
our carry-ons in the airport security
line. We weed out risk.
And we get stale.
But were writers! As such, our
chief goal is to produce work that
resounds with authenticity. We must
create exciting fiction; we must produce gripping nonfiction. And taking the safe path wont always cut it.
Comfort zones can hold us back in
life as well as in our work.
William Faulkner asserted, A
writer needs three thingsexperience, observation and imagination
any two of which, at times any one
of which, can supply the lack of the
others. Note that experience is first
on his list.
Ernest Hemingway surely agreed.
He was cut down by a hail of bullets in World War I, recovered and
skied the Alps, hunted lions on
foot in Africa, ran with the bulls in
Pamplona, and fought fish his own

size in the Caribbean.
Rebecca West, arguably the
most influential British writer
of the 20th century, took to the
streets of London to advocate for
womens suffrage, probed the guts
of Yugoslavia to write her nonfiction masterpiece Black Lamb
and Grey Falcon, covered the
Nuremberg Trials for The New
Yorker, and risked arrest while
exploring the slums and prisons of Johannesburg to report
on apartheid.
Those writers took chances. And
they used their experiences to
prime their creativity. I think that
deep down, we all wish to be Ernest
Hemingway or Rebecca West.
Great, you might be thinking. All
I have to do is find a war, live abroad
or put my life on the line against
nature, thugs or both.
Well, no. While I wouldnt dissuade you from leaping onto the
world stage, heres the great secret
Hemingway and West knew:
Great writing begins with an
appetite for life.
Too, they knew its corollary:
A glancing acquaintance with
something is often all you need to
extrapolate accurately in writing.
Heres how to get out of your
comfort zone, wake up your wild
side, break rules and reap rewards.
1 Know thyself.
Spend an hour writing your
thoughts on these questions:
What makes you quail? Disease,
poverty, a spider over your bed,
meeting new people, space-based
nukes, a plugged drain, heights,
defying your parents? Make a full
list. Delve into the feelings those
things inspire. What exactly does
the fear feel like?
Turn to a fresh page. What does

your wild side look like? (If youre
not sure you have much of one,
think of it this way: When you were
a kid, what did you like to do for
fun?) Is it happy, or is it listless and
neglected? Listen to it. What is it
asking for?
Read over your fears, then read
about your wild side. Which makes
you feel better? Remember: Fears
are only thoughts, but the world is
thrillingly real.
2 Say yes to opportunity.

The main thing is to be ready.
The best way to be ready is to
get stronger, physically as well as
mentally. If youre out of shape, get
active and eat healthier food (you
know youve been meaning to anyway!). If youre in decent shape,
challenge yourself to get to the level
where you really want to be. Having
a strong body boosts your confidence and automatically makes you
feel more adventurous.
Recognize opportunity. It might
come in the form of a hint from a
friend (or hey, even an enemy), or
you might feel a vague impulse to
do something new. Pay attention to
these subtle suggestions; get quiet
and listen. The instant you start
thinking No, counteract that with,
What if I did? No might still be the
5/1/12 7:09:58 AM
As w
goa riters,
o
l
wor is to pr ur chie
k
f
o
with that re duce
Tak authen sounds
in
t
won g the s icity.
a
'
Com t alway fe path
s
hold fort zon cut it.
wel us bac es can
l as
k
in o in life
ur w
a
ork. s
right answer, but it shouldnt be a
knee-jerk one.
When I was facing a milestone
birthday (not telling), I started thinking I should do somethinganythingto counteract that horrible
number. Listening to me whine, a
friend challenged me to join him
on a rigorous backpacking trip in
Washingtons Olympic Mountains.
I hadnt slept outdoors in 20 years,
but realized this was what I had to
do. Five weeks later, with a body in
(somewhat) better condition and a
willing spirit, I forged through muck
holes and inched along sheer dropoffs. The knowledge I gained of the
Olympic backcountrythe harsh
terrain, the sound of gushing streams,
the emotions stirred by isolation and
exposurebrought authenticity to
my novel On Location. Reviewers
noted its realism, and readers tell me
they find certain passages appropriately harrowing.
3 Go backstage.
If all the worlds a stage, theres got
to be a lot of stuff hidden behind the
scenes. Walk backstage after a show.

Walk backstage anywhere. Talk to
the people you find there. Trespass
mildly. Open doors that interest
you, even if they say STAFF ONLY:
WRITERS KEEP OUT. Simply
open them and walk through. At
worst, someone will notice and ask
you to leave (apologize and/or play
dumb as needed, remembering
these magic words that always work
for me: Sorry, I was just looking for
the bathroom). Youll still catch a
glimpse of something you havent
seen before.
Cops essentially live backstage,
know what I mean? Talk to them.
The first time I nervously walked up
to a police officer with an off-thewall question, I was curious about
why there were so many people begging for money on the main drag
in Berkeley, Calif. I got a respectful,
long answer that sparked a deeper
interest in street people. That interest led me to write realistic passages
about street life in my novels Lucky
Stiff, Easy Street and The Extra. Now
I talk to cops all the time.
4 Get a press pass.

My first job out of university was as
a reporter-photographer for a small
newspaper. The work extended my
education tremendously; I learned
how newspapers and city governments really work, plus I got to do
unusual, cool things like ride in a
police boat and watch dynamite
blow up a rock face.
I was reminded of this when I did
some freelance work for my local
daily recently. Within just six weeks,
Id met and written about performance artists, homeless mothers,
sand sculptors, kids with autism,
botanists, volunteers, police personnel, an Army sergeant (and an Army
wife) and social workers. Pitch an
article or offer your services as a freelancer or part-time stringer and see
where it takes you. It takes nerve to
ask questions (especially if you dont
have any journalistic background),
but its proportionately rewarding.
Invariably youll learn off-the-record,
juicy stuff that suggests nonfiction
book and article ideas as well as fictional plotlines.
5 Learn something new.

Take a class in anything. Build or
make something unusualsay, a
potato cannon or a paper model
of the Forbidden City. Follow an
interest to its deeper conclusion.
Do it yourself.
A while ago I said yes to a friend,
a retired military commander, who
invited me to go target shooting in
an abandoned quarry. He brought a
number of guns. One was a beautifully made hunting rifle with a
high-resolution scope. That gun
was a smooth joy to fire, accurate
and powerful, designed to make a
clean kill of big game from a distance. Another was an AK-47. As I
5/1/12 7:10:47 AM
handled it, feeling the clunky action,

the haphazard finish on the metal
and stocks, the clumsy open sights,
the loose tolerances, I felt a chill as
I realized the gun was meant to do
only one thing: kill people at fairly
close range, and not cleanly. So
simple even a drunk terrorist could
drop it in the mud and still destroy
with it! Without handling both guns,
one after the other, I wouldnt have
known that, wouldnt have gotten
that visceral cold feeling that Ill
never forgetand that I fully intend
to evoke in my future crime novels.
Do something that makes

your palms sweat.
Scared of public speaking? Go to a
busy street corner and start orating
about something. Express a strong
opinion. You will be terrified at
first, but if you put your heart into it
you will experience a breakthrough.
Your fear will transmute to a whynot sort of joy.
Like my fictional series character Lillian Byrd, I play the mandolin.
Along the lines of my interest in street
people, Ive had a strong interest in
buskers (street performers).
Purely as a test of guts, Ive
busked for money in several cities. Its surprisingly terrifying to
stand on a street corner, open your
case, tune up and begin playing. Ive
been photographed by alternative
city papers and questioned by passing musicians who think maybe
they should try busking too. Its
like getting paid to practice! one
exclaimed. One time I was challenged by a belligerent panhandler
who felt I was hurting her business.
That was an interesting conversation.
If youre considering doing
something dangerous, like walking alone in a tough part of town,
think it through first. What are you
really after? An accurate representation of dread? Maybe itd be just as

scary, and way safer, to walk alone
through a cemetery at night. Or
maybe you dont have to be alone to
get the experience youre after.
7 Eavesdrop.
Eavesdropping is illicit, its impolite,
and its great fun.
When I lecture on writing terrific dialogue, I advise my students
to eavesdrop to gain a sense of how
people really talk. But you must do
more than listen; you must be systematicyou must bring your
notebook. How often have you
heard somebody say something
imperishable, but when it came
time to recount it, you could only
weakly paraphrase? When you
take a minute to write it down, it
becomes yours.
Coffee shops are the clich place
to eavesdrop, and theres good reason
for it. Often people who havent seen
each other in a long time meet over
coffee to talk their heads off, or people meeting for a not-exactly-a-date
first date, or to discuss something
important, will do it in a coffee shop.
I used to do a lot of writing at a
particular Starbucks in my town.
Once in a while Id see a certain type
of couple: a young man sitting drinking coffee with a much older woman.
Their conversations were quiet and
remarkably intense. And I saw this
over and over, with a different youngguy-older-woman combo every time.
I started to wonder. And I started
to purposefully, stealthily eavesdrop. I started to look at the bigger
picture, and realized that the coffee shop happened to be across the
way from an armed forces recruitment centerand these young men
and their mothers had just been
there. Theyd come out and seen the
Starbucks and decided to come in

and talk it over.
The faces I saw and the conversations I overheard there were too
intimate to recount here, but they
informed me as a writer.
Eavesdrop. Write it down. Repeat.
Do something repugnant
to you.
Challenging your assumptions
will result in a broader worldview.
Never been to a strip club? Go.
Feel uncomfortable about stadiumsized churches? Attend a service.
Despise the [fill in the blank] political party? Show up at a rally and
watch without judging. Skeptical
about mediums? Attend a sance.
Do nursing homes creep you out?
Walk into one, find a lonely person
(which will take eight seconds) and
hang out awhile. Do these things
and feel them. Avoid labeling or categorizing the resulting experiences,
because doing so will keep them on
the surface. Instead, let them sink
in deep.
Busting out of your comfort zone
to seek out unique experiences
will not only make you a more
complete person and bring authenticity to your writing, it will suggest new ideas and new work. If
you extend yourself, youll have an
advantage over the couch potatoes
and Web addicts.
I invite you to share my current
motto:
Impulse control is overrated. WD
Elizabeth Sims (elizabethsims.com) is
an award-winning novelist who has been
writing for WD since 2006. She also teaches
webinars for WD University and is working
on a new book, Youve Got a Book in You,
forthcoming from WD Books. Shell be
presenting at the Writers Digest Conference West in Los Angeles in October.
5/1/12 7:11:34 AM
Go Your Own Way

Forget what youve been told about
how to get the most out of writing
conferences. The best experiences
come when you make your own rules.
B Y TA N YA E G A N G I B S O N
ouve saved up money and vacation days. Youve hoped and

daydreamed. Youve rewritten pages
and pitches. And youve absorbed
countless conference rules from
websites, publications and fellow
writers about making the most of it.
Only one problem: Those rules can
sabotage you.
If taken too literally, the making the most it rulebook, while full
of well-intended advice, can actually
encourage self-serving, short-sighted
and inauthentic behavior that can
end up leaving you feeling empty
and disappointed at the conferences
end. Consciously looking beyond
these rules, on the other hand, can
leave you feeling like youre part of
somethinga literary community
that promises collaboration, ongoing
connections and career-long support.
THE RULEBOOK APPROACH:
Get as much face time

as possible with Famous
Somebodies.
resources, says author Molly Giles,

who has taught workshops at the
Community of Writers at Squaw
Valley, and whose own conference
roommate later became an editor
at Playgirlthe magazine that first
published Giles fiction. Many of
your fellow writers are going to get
discouraged long before you will
and will go into editingwhich is
just where you want them. So be
nice. To everyone.
THE BET TER APPROACH:
Spend more time getting

to know fellow attendees.
Sure, its fun to eat lunch at the
same table as an editor whos telling a behind-the-scenes story about
a bestseller. But getting acquainted
with fellow attendees is more important to your writing career. Some
of these folks are Future Famous
Somebodies. More important, they
are your present writing community,
people with whom you can trade
manuscripts, exchange tips and
find support.
Your peers are your best
friends, supporters
[and]
Put yourself out there every

chance you get.
Listen more than you talk

and be willing to share the
floor when you get it.
While listening to participants
practice speed-pitches at the San
Francisco Writers Conference this
year, I kept interrupting to ask why
they were planning to talk for nearly
all of their allotted three minutes
with each agent. Be
brief, I suggested.
Then be quiet.
Youre at a conference, after
all, to get feedback and advice. So
make time for listening. If the agent
or editor wants to hear more, hell ask.
If an author thinks your work might
be a good fit for her agent, shell offer.
Dont ask. And dont force things.
If you do end up chatting
with a Famous Somebody at the
25_wd0812Gibson Egan.indd 25
4/24/12 11:23:25 AM
conference bar, make an effort to

include fellow attendees (see Future
Famous Somebodies). Rather than
expounding further upon how
Prousts work influenced your zombie novel, you might say, Dave here
wrote a hilarious yet touching story
about Shakespearean vampire iguanas. Our workshop adored it.
People who celebrate and support
their peers project confidence. So
share the floor, take it slow and leave
people wanting to hear more. Who
knows, Mr. Famous Somebody might
just seek you out later to learn more
about your ennui-riddled undead.
Be assertive.
Be human.
People make the mistake of trying to
make connections happen instantly
instead of trying to connect over
time, says author Kim Culbertson, a
frequent conference presenter. Its
that instant gratification thing that
gets them into trouble. And if they
only have 15 minutes, they think
they need to cram everything in and
forget to act like a person.
Twice, when I was a conference
attendee and it was time for my
one-on-one manuscript evaluations, I offered the editor and agent
I was meeting with a chance to take
a breakputting their needs before
my immediate desire for their time.
The first time, the editor had just
been dealing with an attendee who
was loudly objecting to her feedback.
The second time, the agent was running behind with appointments and
it was past lunchtime. Both reacted
with surprise at my suggestionand
took me up on it. And both later

spent much more than the required
15 minutes with me. Treating presenters the way youd want to be treated
can set you apart from the pack
especially if the pack is acting rabid.
Always aim to impress.

Be yourself.
While its important to put your best
self forward, that self should be real
(even if that self is awkward or shy).
Creating a conference persona is
counterproductive to making genuine connections. Plus, pretending to
be something or somebody youre
not is uncomfortable. Dont be afraid
to act, talk and even dress like you.
I once heard a conference speaker
say you should dress to impress, says
writer Amanda Conran, who attends
Society of Childrens Book Writers
and Illustrators conferences. But
thats just not me. If I try to dress up,
I just end up feeling self-conscious.
Conran, who has a flair for jewelry,
pairs her jeans and casual tops with
distinctive pieces that reflect her personalityand shes been rewarded
when her selections have drawn editors who complimented them into
conversation. If I want to approach
them again later that weekend, I wear
that piece again so theyll remember
me, she says.
Even more off-putting than a
fake persona is someone who tries
to impress by defending his writing. As somebody who enjoys reading work and takes careful time to
comment on it, reread and attempt
to offer humane, respectful and
positive feedback, I have been on
occasion interrupted by participants

who, feeling defensive, tell me, suddenly: Oh, that piece was already
published! or, alternatively, I forgot! I have made significant changes
to the version of the manuscript I
gave you, says Andrew Tonkovich,
an author and editor whos on
the Writers Workshop staff at the
Community of Writers at Squaw
Valley. Since the point of a professional critique is to learn to improve
your work, such reactions shortchange youand impress no one.
Focus conversations on what

youve written.
Focus conversations
on writing.
Dont know what to talk about? No
worries. Youre at an event where
everyone shares an interest: You
love words on paper. So talk about
what youve read lately, what moves
you, what youre really into. A
shared passion is magnetic.
You know whats not magnetic?
A 10-minute recitation of your writing credits. Also uninteresting: how
Remember that
some of your fellow
attendees are
Future Famous
Somebodies.
4/24/12 11:23:49 AM
many Facebook, Twitter or blog

followers you have, and other explanations of your personal platform.
Save it for your query or proposal.
People who think platform end
up pelting you with their rsum
without coming up for air, warns
Culbertson, who enjoys helping
writers who try to build relationships naturally. They forget to have
a conversation.
Make a plan for the conference and stick to it.

Do as much research as
possible, then prepare to
be flexible.
Spend plenty of time at home learning about the presenters. Knowing
which agents represent what (and
whom) and having read work by
authors in attendance allows you to
ask more meaningful questions when
the opportunities present themselves.
At the conference, ask returning attendees about sessions youre
interested in attending so you can
learn which Famous Somebodies
are famously fabulous (or notoriously bad) presenters. If your conference includes appointments with
staff members of your choice, ask
past participants about their experiences. (Very Famous Somebody may
be known to give not-so-thorough
manuscript evaluations. Less Famous
Somebody might have a reputation
for being generous with her time
and feedback. Aim for quality of
the experience youre likely to have
over perceived quality of its source.)
And if youve been pre-assigned for
a consultation and are disappointed
by the pairing, go into the appointment with an open mind. You may
have been assigned to this person
because he can best provide you
with what you need right now in
your writing career.
(No.) Should you pitch in the restroom? (Of course not, yet people
do.) We pay attention to more than
just the book idea, Warnock says.
[Inappropriate pitching] speaks
volumes about how a person would
handle the author/agent relationship.
Learn to pitch, and do it

at every opportunity.
Confine pitches to appropriate settings.

There are so many bad ways, bad
times and bad places to pitch that
some publishing pros, like Andy
Ross of Andy Ross Literary Agency,
hope you wont do so unless asked.
I prefer to hear about a project in
a writers own words, Ross says.
Pitch in a can sends me the message
that the writer doesnt have enough
confidence in the project to speak
about it candidly and with authority.
Chat, rather than pitch, at meals.
And avoid the disguised-as-aquestion pitch at presentations
and panels. If you hijack a conference Q&A to talk about your
book, the agents in the room will
be on Facebook. When agent
Gordon Warnock, of Andrea Hurst
& Associates Literary Management,
posted this line to his Facebook
page during the San Francisco
Writers Conference, he got an
immediate like from another agent
in attendance. (Is that how you want
to make an impression?)
When faced with a tempting
opportunity to pitch, stop for a
moment and ask yourself if this
is the appropriate place. Should
you elevator pitch an unsuspecting agent in an actual elevator?
Make sure you get what

you paid for.
Be a gracious guest.
What if something goes wrong? Of
course, its appropriate to speak to
the conference directors or staff if
the food keeps running out before
the waiters get to your table, or the
agent you were paired with for your
one-on-one keeps referring to your
manuscript as a horror novel, when
its in fact a picture book about a
puppy. But even if your experience
isnt everything you had hoped it
would be, spend far more time on
thank-you notes and emails than
on complaints.
Monte Schulz, author and director of the Santa Barbara Writers
Conference, suggests participants
bring sticky situations to an administrator discreetly during the event
rather than afterward, when its
too late to rectify the situation. He
emphasizes that everyone appreciates and remembers writers who
navigate problems with graciousness,
patience and humor. By acting this
way, you advertise yourself as flexible and easy to work withqualities
attractive to fellow participants and
Famous Somebodies alike. WD
Tanya Egan Gibson is the author of the
novel How to Buy a Love of Reading.
4/24/12 11:24:15 AM
Pulling the
s
Rug Out
When it comes to your plot,

playing it safe doesnt pay. Heres how
to wow your readers with a plot twist.
BY STE VEN JAMES
ttempting to create a jawdropping twist might seem

intimidating or feel like its
stepping too far out of your comfort zone, but the truth is, readers
of all genres love twistsand fortunately for you, the process of crafting them is not as mysterious as it
may seem.
It takes courage to venture into
this territory; its much easier to
simply follow the typical conventions of your genre. But in todays
hypercompetitive marketplace,
if youre going to get noticed, you
need to do more than deliver what
people expect. You need to exceed
their expectations.
As a thriller writer, Ive included a
single-, double- or triple-twist ending to all of my novels. Over the past
seven years, through trial and error
and thousands of pages of manuscript revisions, Ive learned some
practical, easy-to-implement keys to
creating great twists.
Heres what Ive picked up.
Key #1: Understand the elements that make a plot twist.

For a twist to work, it needs to be
1) unexpected, 2) inevitable, 3) an
escalation of what preceded it and
4) a revelation that adds meaning to
what has already occurred.
Great twists are more than just
believablethey are, in retrospect,
the only possible ending to that
scene, act or story. In essence, twists
pull the rug out from under your
readers but give them an even better foundation to stand on: Youre
telling readers theyve been wrong
about what was going to happen,
but youre doing so in a way that
satisfies them.
A well-executed twist doesnt just
move the story forward; it unravels it and then rethreads it at the
same time, adding new meaning.
Readers find out that the story is
deeper, richer and more multilayered than they ever imagined.
When attempting to pull off a
twist of any kind, putting it to the
test of these four elements can help

you identify its weaknesses and find
ways to fix them. If readers arent
surprised by your twist, you need
to make it more unpredictable; if
theyre disappointed by it, you need
to make it more believable.
So, as you develop your story, ask
yourself these questions:
1. Where do I need to shade the
details and foreshadowing so that
the twist is the most credible, inevitable ending to my story?
The story
that precedes
the twist must
not depend
on the twist for
its meaning,
context or
value.
28_wd0812James.indd 28
4/24/12 11:25:19 AM
2. What clues or evidence do I

need to include to escalate the events
logically toward this unexpected
revelation?
3. How can I use this twist to both
turn the story on its head and propel
it in a more satisfying direction?
Key #2: Create multiple

worlds of inevitability.
Apart from the choice or action
that initiates the story (sometimes
called the inciting incident), all
the events in your story are tied
inextricably to the ones that precede them. Everything must follow logically. Breakdowns in logic
result in breakdowns in both continuity and believability, neither of
which will serve your twist.
So the story that precedes the
twist must not depend on the twist
for its meaning, context or value.
The bigger the twist, the more
essential it is that the story make
sense up until that point. I like to
think of a twist as the icing on the
cake, not the icing on the liver. The
story needs to taste good without
the twist.
That means that for every twist,
youll need to create a parallel story
to the one youre telling on the surface. Then, when the twist occurs,
readers will see that the other world
actually seems truer to the story
events than the one theyd believed
was the only thing going on.
Lets say youre writing a crime
novel without a twist. Youll obviously need to make it believable that
at least one person was responsible
for the crimes. Now, if you add a
twist, youll have to make sure that
at least two people could plausibly
be responsible. If you want a double
twist, youll need to make sure at
least three people couldve believably committed the crime. And so
on. The more twists you include, the

bigger your cast of characters will
be, the more clues therell be, and
the longer your story will become.
Identify the clues that support the
logic and believability of one world
and use them to prove that the second (or third or fourth parallel narrative) makes even more sense after
the twist is revealed.
Or, she snatches the wooden

stake from him, and then bites him
on the neck. OK, hmm so actually
shes the vampire and he was trying
to slay her.
Or, after the vampire bites
her, she spins to face him and he
exclaims, Its you! and then keels
over and dies. Whoa, her blood is
Key #3: Turn expectations

on their head.
Great twists are

more than just
believablethey
are, in retrospect,
the only possible
ending to that
scene, act or
story.
Readers approach books with certain genre expectations.

At first, youll play to those
expectations so readers will think
they know where things are going;
then, youll play those expectations
against them to create twists.
For example, lets say the cover
copy of your book sets the genre
expectation that this is a horror
novel about vampires. In the first
chapter, a woman is walking home,
alone, at night. She doesnt see it,
but we do: Theres someone on a
branch just above the path. As she
passes by, he drops soundlessly onto
the ground behind her, then moves
in closer and closer until all at once
he lunges forward and grabs for her.
Now, if hes a vampire and bites
her, turning her into a vampire, or if
he kills her, well, yawn. No readers
are going to be surprised or blown
away. Its just another predictable, bythe-numbers vampire story. Instead,
youll want to twist things so that
after your readers have made a prediction, youll reveal to them that
they were wrong, but youll satisfy
them more than if they had been right.
Maybe the woman pulls out a
stake, whips around and violently
drives it through the vampires heart.
Oh, she was luring him away from
his lair to kill him. Huh. Lets see
where this goes.
lethal to vampires. Thats an interesting concept

You get the idea.
Key #4: Eliminate the obvious.

When coming up with the climax
to your story, discard every possible solution you can think of for
your protagonist to succeed.
Then think of some more.
Discard those too.
Remember, youre trying to tell
a story with an ending thats so
unforeseen that if a million people
read your book, not one of them
will guess how it ends (or how
it will get to the end)but when
they finally come to it, every one
of those people will think, Yes!
That makes sense! Why didnt I see
that coming?
4/24/12 11:25:34 AM
Yes, this is difficult. Thats why so

many writers play it safe and dont
give it a shot. But if youre willing to
chance it, the rewards are worth it.
In my novel The Bishop, two killers abduct a woman and take her
to a hotel. When my protagonist,
FBI Special Agent Patrick Bowers,
arrives, the kidnappers flee. Bowers
knows that the victim didnt leave
the hotel, but shes not in the room
the kidnappers were using.
When hes telling his team
where to look for her, he lists
everything he can think of: Take
the room apart. Check under the
bed frame, move the furniture,
assume nothing. A maids cart?
Could they have put her in a laundry cart? The freezers at the hotel?
The roof? What about the elevators?
Check on top of them Then,
thinking in a more grisly direction,
he adds, Any document shredding machines at the hotel? Large
ones, I mean industrial-sized? The
task force checks each of these
areas and finds nothing, no sign
of the woman.
So where was she?
I had no idea.
Every day for two months as I sat
down to work on the novel I tried
to figure out what the kidnappers
had done with that woman. Finally,
after all that time, I stumbled upon

a solution that was unexpected and
inevitable, that propelled the story
forward and wouldnt let readers
down. (Sorry, itd be a spoiler if I
gave it away here!)
Be open to the movement of the
story and be ready to discard your
outline. This will be the biggest risk
of all for those of you who swear
by outlines, but its essential that
you truly respect your readers and
assume that theyre at least as smart
as you are. If it turns out that youre
not that surprised by the twist in
your novel, its a safe bet that many
of your readers wont be either. And
if theyre not surprised, they most
likely wont be clamoring for your
next book.
Key #5: Redirect suspicion.

As you work on your story, constantly ask yourself what readers are
expecting, hoping for, wondering
or worrying about at this moment.
Then keep twisting the story into
new directions that both shock and
delight them.
To keep readers from noticing
clues, bury them in the emotion or
action of another section. For example, in an adventure novel, offhandedly mention something during a
chase scene while readers attention
To keep readers from noticing

clues, bury them in the emotion
or action of another section.
is on the action, not the revelation.

Conversely, here are three ways
to make someone look suspicious.
Remember, youre not going to
make this person the guilty party
in the end. Its all misdirection.
IN SPY/INTRIGUE: Have him tell
your protagonist, Be careful out
there. Dont trust anyone. Readers
will immediately suspect this guy is
the traitor.
IN COMEDY/ROMANCE: Have the
protagonist suspect that her friend
is her secret admirer, but then
decide that it couldnt possibly be
him. The more certain she is that
its not him, the more suspicious
your readers will become that it is.
IN CRIME/MYSTERY: Have a
person show up all-too-conveniently at the crime scene(s) (perhaps to write about the murders
for the newspaper or as the
doctor on call when all three victims kidneys disappear or as
the custodian cleaning the reptile
house when the cobras escaped).
Keep this person around, but on
the fringe of the story. The less suspicious you make someone appear,
the more readers will be guessing the person is guilty. Use that
dynamic to your advantage.
Key #6: Forgo gimmicks in

favor of real twists.
Readers want their emotional
investment to pay off in a satisfying
way. The twist should never occur
in a way that readers feel tricked,
deceived or insulted. Great twists
always deepen, never cheapen,
readers investment in the story.
For example, showing a character experiencing a harrowing
or frightening experience and
then having him wake up from a
dream is not a twist, its a tired clich. Dream sequences arent twists
4/24/12 11:25:48 AM
because they almost never escalate

the story, but actually do the very
opposite, revealing to readers that
things werent really that bad after
all (de-escalation).
Instead of resorting to a clich,
try implementing one of these five
types of twists to create your own
great stories:
IDENTITY: Your protagonist realizes hes not who he thought he
was (or your reader does, or they
both do): Hes really the one whos
insane, or a robot, zombie, werewolf, ghost, clone or character in
someone elses dream, movie or
novel. This discovery could come at
the beginning of your story and set
it up for a redemptive ending, or
at the climax, creating a dramatic
plunge in the final pages.
AWARENESS: The world isnt what
your protagonist thought it was:
Hes not on Earth, hes on another
planet; he thinks hes arrived in
heaven in the afterlife but discovers
hes really in hell.
COMPLEXITY: The heist, confidence game or sting operation turns
out to have a whole level of intrigue
that wasnt evident throughout the
story. (In this case, the protagonist
is one step ahead of the bad guys
and the readers. Curiosity about
how things will play out drives readers to keep flipping pages.)
CLEVERNESS: The detective (or
villain) was really onto the villain
(or detective) the whole time and
has set a trap that the other guy
and the readersdidnt see coming. (Remember: The detective must
solve the crime before readers do
or theyll think theyre smarter than
she is.)
PERIL: The real danger isnt
where you thought it was: The
hunter is really the hunted, the
secret agents partner is really a
Great twists
always
deepen,
never
cheapen,
readers
investment
in the story.
double agent, the protagonists
daughter is really the terrorist, the
only person who knows your protagonist has been buried alive was
really out to get him (perhaps for
sleeping with his wife) and not
helping him escape from the slave
plantation after all.
Key #7: Write toward the

readers reaction.
The way you want your reader to
respond will determine the way you
set up your twist. Different types of
twists all result in different reactions from readers: 1) No way! 2)
Huh. Nice! and 3) Oh, yeah!
When aiming for the No way!
response youll want to lead readers
into false certainty. You want them
to think that theres only one possible solution to the story. The more
you can convince them that the
story world youve created is exactly
as it appears to bethat only one
outcome to the novel is possible
the more youll make their jaws
drop when you show them that
things were not as they appeared at

all. If the twist is satisfying, credible
and inevitable based on what has
preceded it, readers will gasp and
exclaim, No way! I should have
seen that coming!
For the Huh. Nice! ending, you
want to lead readers into uncertainty. Basically, theyll be thinking, Man, I have no idea where this
is going. When writing for this
response youll create an unbalanced, uncertain world in which
many conceivable outcomes are
possible. You dont want the reader
to suspect only one person as the
villain, but many people. Only
when the true villain is revealed
will readers see that everything was
pointing there all along.
Finally, if youre shooting for
the Oh, yeah! reaction, youll
want to emphasize the cleverness
with which the main character gets
out of the seemingly impossibleto-escape-from climax. Often we
do that by allowing him to use a
special gift, skill, emblem or gadget that has been shown to readers
earlier but that they arent thinking
about when they reach the climax.
Then, when the protagonist pulls it
out, readers remember: Yes! Thats
right! He carries a can of shark
repellent in his wetsuit! I forgot all
about that!
Relentlessly escalate your story,
keep it believable, surprising and
deeper than it appears, and your
readers will thank you all the way
to your next novel. WD
Steven James is the author of many books,
including the critically acclaimed Patrick
Bowers thrillers: The Pawn, The Rook,
The Knight, The Bishop, The Queen and
the forthcoming Opening Moves. He is a
contributing editor to WD and is a sucker
for stories he cant guess the ending of.
4/24/12 11:25:59 AM
s an author, you stand at a

unique moment in human
history.
Its the best of times:
Technology has shattered all barriers to entry.
Anyone can be a published author,
and thats irresistibly intoxicating.
You can reach practically anyone on
planet Earth with your art. All you
need is something to say and a com-
taken you to read this far, more than

100 new websites have been created.
Creating meaningful work isnt
the biggest challenge for most
authors anymore. Getting it into
the worldone way or anotheris
no longer a mountainous challenge
either. These days, the toughest
obstacle you may face is finding a
way to rise above the noise so that
your work can be discovered. In an
g
n
i
i
r
t
w
Re
find creative, smart ways to be

found by readers. Its about making them popular. Getting noticed
begins with three key strategies that,
on the surface, seem very simple,
but go widely neglected.
#1: Know whos on the other end.
Everything we do is based on
relationships, including marketing. As an author youre connecting with people, not demographics. Yet most authors who fail at
promoting themselves fail first at
this point. They spend more time
s
e
l
u
R
the
g
n
i
t
e
k
of Mar
You don't need a big promotional
budget to get noticed
and make your own waves. Learn
how a little creative
thinking can take you a long way.
BY KE VIN K AISER
puter with Internet access. Infinite

possibilities exist.
Its also the worst of times:
Anyone can be a published author,
which makes the world a very noisy
place. There are over half a billion
websites in existence right now, and
so much content was generated
today alone that itd be easier to
catch Niagara Falls in a teacup than
to keep up with it all. In the time its
attention economy you have to beat

the odds. Sometimes it might seem
like trying to do the impossible. But
the truth is, you canyou just need
to make your own waves.
3 Strategies for Smarter

Self-Promotion
For years Ive worked as a marketing strategist for publishers and
authors. My job is to help authors
developing character profiles for a

story than they do understanding
their audience.
Doing the impossible starts with
realizing that speaking to a nameless, faceless demographic is a losing proposition. Youll be so busy
trying to speak to everyone that
youll end up speaking to no one.
Instead, try this: Imagine that
you have one reader. Dream up
32_wd0812Kaiser.indd 32
4/24/12 11:31:39 AM
one person who is representative of

what you believe to be your target
audience, give that reader a name
(yes, really) and bring him to life in
your mind.
A musician friend of mine started
doing this and it changed how he
both wrote and marketed his songs.
For him, his audience is a 34-year-old
Midwestern woman named Becky.
She has two kids in grade school,
listens to XYZ radio station (where,
of course, his own songs fit right
in), drives a Dodge mini-van, and
cares about global warming. His list
goes on and on. See how speaking to
Becky is different than focusing on a
nameless 18- to 34-year-old female?
Write down your own readers profile. Take the time to create a complete personality sketch.
Research who this person really
is, where he goes, how he interacts
with the stories he likes.
All of your commercial success
starts with this, yet so few authors
(and publishers) are doing it well.
Understand this first, and base every
decision you make on speaking to
your Becky, and everything else will
be easier.
#2: Forsake the millions.
Everyone wants to sell millions

of books, but the days of reaching
consumers efficiently through mass
media are over. Technology has
fragmented the market. Remember
when there used to be three major
TV networks? Now there are hundreds of channelsand exponentially more if you count Internet,
video on demand, satellite, and
crowdsourced outlets such as
YouTube and Vimeo.
People no longer have to default
to any one distribution channel.
They can find exactly what theyre
interested in and ignore the rest.
Whats exciting is that you dont

need to sell millions of books to
make a living by writing. Small is
the new big.
Consider the theory known as
Dunbars number, named after
the British anthropologist Robin
Dunbar. He suggested that theres a
limit to the number of people with
whom we can maintain a meaningful relationship, and that number is
probably somewhere around 150.
Kevin Kelly, co-founder of Wired
magazine, wrote an article based
on a similar idea a few years ago. In
1,000 True Fans, he theorized that
an artist who would like to make a
living creating art needs only 1,000
true, passionate fans to make that
a reality.
You dont have to speak to everybody. In fact, you shouldnt. Think
as narrowly as you can and find a
pocket of readers who are passionate about the same things you are.
sages, period. Instead, we made

every interaction about them, the
readers. We sold them nothing. We
reached out individually and talked
to them like people. What an idea!
You can imagine the responses
we got. People not only noticed, but
they felt more valued, and that created authentic connections between
them and the author. By the time
our marketing message later came
down the pipeline, they were much
more receptive than they would
have been otherwise.
Many publishers and authors see
online spaces and social media as
just another megaphone, much like
the ad companies did when banner ads were invented. They want
impressions, not relationships.
Thats how the vast majority of marketers think. But which are you
looking for?
The time to change how you think
is when everyone else is thinking
the same way.
#3: Stop marketing.
You read that right. Stop marketing.

Each of us encounters 3,5005,000
marketing messages daily. The reality of this dawned on me over lunch
the other day. If I wasnt looking at
a label on a bottle or a sign on the
restaurants wall, it was a message
out the windowon the sidewalk,
across the street and even driving by.
The readers youre trying to
reach dont care about you or me.
Thats a hard fact to accept, but its
the truth. People arent waiting for
the great ideas we have to share
with the world, and they arent
starved for our insight. They are,
however, starved for something
else: relationships.
I experimented with an author
over a six-month period on
Facebook. For that time frame we
had one rule: No marketing mes-
Creative Marketing
in Real Life
Many numbered lists like this are
too general to be useful, but here are
two case studies of authors who, like
you, started from zero and, adopting
these principles, did the impossible.
The simplest ideas create the greatest results. Heres proof that you can
do it, too.
Case Study #1: Tim Ferriss
Before the release of The 4-Hour

Workweek, Tim Ferriss was a complete unknown. He was just one
more entrepreneur with a business book coming out in an already
cluttered release cycle.
Like most first-time authors, he
was a risk to his publisher, and the
marketing budget reflected that fact.
He was on his own, which required
4/24/12 11:31:52 AM
him to think like an entrepreneur

launching a startup. It was him
against the world.
Whats unbelievable is that his
book hit No. 1 on the New York
Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists without any offline advertising or PR. How did he do it?
He says it all came down to
capturing the imaginationsand,
therefore, the supportof a small
group of influencers. It sounds so
outlandish that you might shrug it

off, except for the fact that he actually did it when he was in the same
position as most of the writers who
are reading this right now.
He went where the right influencers were (see Strategies 1 and 2).
In his world, those right influencers were bloggers who focused
on the things his core audience
cares about. He didnt just send
them emails or try to friend them
on Facebook. Everybody does that.

Instead, he identified the top bloggers he wanted to meet, people he
actually followed, then attended the
conferences where they went and
found an organic way to meet them.
Face-to-face interaction was crucial
to the success of his plan.
Every industry has them: the 20
percent who generate 80 percent of
the buzz and set the trends for an
audience. It doesnt matter if youre
Rule-Breakers Spotlight:
Cheryl Strayed
B Y C H R I S T I N A K AT Z
Why did you agree to write Dear Sugar?

There were all these great reasons not to do it. It didnt
pay anything. It was just another thing on the Internet
among so many things on the Internet. I was already
busy. But I felt sparked when I wrote that first Sugar
column. I said yes because it made my heart thump.
Was it a stroke of marketing genius or a

happy accident? Even Cheryl Strayed
herself doesnt seem sure. But whatever it
Sugar is weekly, and often lengthy. Did you ever
was, it workedbig time.
question the time it took from your other writing?
Three years after the publication of her
Sometimes I would think it was crazy spending so much
2006 debut literary novel, Torch, to critical
time writing Dear Sugar for no pay, but I kept going. I
acclaim but not much fanfare, Strayed was
take the long view. Writers are like farmers: The harvest
quietly working on a memoir of self-discomes, but only after you toil for a few seasons.
covery under contract with Knopf when
she was approached about taking over as
The column gave you new opportunities for interacthe writer of an online advice columnwith a few catches.
tions with readers. Did that inform your other writing?
No byline. No pay. No small time commitment. And no
Absolutely. They emboldened me to experiment with the
apparent connection (not in tone, subject matter or even
form. My most popular columns all have long sections
audience) to the literary career she was focused on building.
that are essentially memoir. Getting positive feedback gave
But she said yes.
me confidence to push in new directions in Wild, as well.
The columnthe thoughtful, honest and sometimes irreverent Dear Sugar from The Rumpustook off. (The title
Your recent wave of publicity is almost unprecedented.
of one installment, her bold encouragement to a depressed
Was it all planned?
writerWrite Like a Motherf**ckerwent so viral that
I suppose it looks like one big great wave that happened all
coffee cups bearing the phrase sold out at this years
at once. But the experience itself is incremental. It started
Association of Writers and Writing Programs Conference.)
with writing the book, and it ended with people liking it
As her memoir, Wild, neared completion, Strayed parenough to say to others, Youve got to read this. Thats
layed interest in a Sugar compilation into a second book
all that matters to me. Everything good that has happened
deal and decided to reveal her identity as the top-secret
Wild (and Dear Sugar) can be traced back to the fact
for
columnist. The result was a huge promotional wave that
that I wrote something I would have written regardless of
drew thousands of thank-you emails from Rumpus readers,
what sort of splash it did or didnt make. That doesnt mean
launched Wild to bestseller status and built anticipation for
I dont work hard to help my writing find an audienceI
the July release of Sugars book, Tiny Beautiful Things. Wild
do. But that promotional work has to rise from an authentic
has been optioned by Reese Witherspoons production
place or its going to fail.
company. And many are predicting Strayeds success could
rival Elizabeth Gilberts Eat, Pray, Love.
Christina Katz (christinakatz.com) is the
So how did one author assemble an
author of, most recently, The Writers
army of fans almost by accident? And
For more Q&A with Strayed,
Workout (WD Books).
what can you learn from her approach?
visit writersdigest.com/august-12.
5/1/12 7:12:21 AM
writing romance, zombie stories or

cookbooks. There is a small group
of people who define what The Next
Big Thing will be. Ferriss connected
with the right people, and it made all
the difference. In fact, a single mention from a blogger ended up moving his sales ranking more than an
appearance on The Today Show later
did! It pays to make the right friends.
He appealed to their interests, not
his (see Strategy 3).
Once he got to the right people,
he didnt bombard them with how
great he was. Instead, he focused on
what interested them. Everybody is
selling something these days, which
is why its important to be genuinely
helpful to those you want to be in
relationships with. Most people have
I, I, I syndrome. They only want
to talk about their thing. Ferriss
avoided that like the plague, and
people took notice. When you help
others, theyll want to help you.
He built relationships with his
readers (see Strategies 1 and 3).
Perhaps most important, Ferriss
created a landing pad for his audience via his blog, where he could
connect with them on an ongoing
basis. He realized that building a fan
base didnt matter if he had no way
of going back to them consistently.
Its now one of the most visited
blogs on the Web.
Case Study #2: Ted Dekker
Ted Dekker is a New York Times

bestselling author who got his start
by running his small business during the day and writing at night.
Only after finishing the writing of
his fifth novel did he score his first
publishing contractand at that
point, he decided to take a big risk
and go full time.
This was in the days before
Facebook, Twitter or even MySpace,
The time
to change how
you think is when
everyone else
is thinking
the same way.
but even then, he saw the power
in building direct relationships
with his readers and realized that
it would be the key to becoming
a bestseller.
He relentlessly engaged his fans
online. First came email newsletters
and a website with a message board.
Then, when technology changed, he
expanded to social networks. With
each one he learned how to use the
tools to listen to his audience and
find out what they wanted. Then he
gave it to them. And that gave him
the credibility to ask for their support when the time came.
In June 2010, such an opportunity arose when NPR asked its
audience to nominate the top 100
Killer Thrillers of all time. I was
managing Dekker and had stumbled upon the story while catching
up on the news that morning. An
idea for a social experiment hit
me: I wonder if we can mobilize
Teds fans and get his new book on
that list?
Now, keep in mind that his
thriller, The Bride Collector, had
come out less than two months
before, and he was up against the
likes of Stephen King, Ken Follett,
Dean Koontz, Stieg Larsson and
even Agatha Christie. Remember,
the list was naming the greatest of
all time.
That afternoon I hijacked
Dekkers Facebook page and asked
his fans if they thought he deserved

to be on that list. And, if so, would
they let the good folks of NPR
know by nominating him? They
said yes.
About 300 of his fans (a small
percentage) clicked on the link and
overwhelmed NPRs voting forum.
They were, by a wide margin, the
most vocal fans of any author,
and they sent a message loud and
clear: They love Ted Dekker and so
should you.
In total, more than 600 titles
were nominated for the list and
more than 17,000 ballots were cast.
And The Bride Collector came in at
No. 43, beating out Dean Koontz,
Michael Crichton and Suzanne
Collins. Thats what 300 fans can do.
Doesnt sound so impossible anymore, does it?
It truly is the greatest time in history to be an author, but succeeding will require that you think like
an artist and act like an entrepreneur. Like getting to The End, you
do it inch by inch. With enough
perseverance, though, youll look
back and see that it wasnt so hard
after all. WD
Kevin Kaiser is a writer, speaker and
brand strategist who advises international
bestselling authors and publishers on
effective marketing. Follow @KevinSKaiser
on Twitter.
5/1/12 7:12:31 AM
Adriana Trigiani
MADE BY HAND
The secret to
Adriana Trigianis
success begins with
an old family recipe:
quality ingredients,
attention to detail,
and good oldfashioned hard work.
PHOTO TIM STEPHENSON
BY JESSICA STRAWSER
36_wd0812WDInterview.indd 36
4/24/12 11:51:51 AM
driana Trigiani is a readers dream. For starters, shes funnybefore the publication of her
debut novel 12 years ago, the self-described
theater-person-turned-scriptwriter already
had an enviable career writing for The Cosby Show, A
Different World and other popular comedies. (Of her first
novel attempt, she now says, I didnt even know how.
After a pause, she laughs. Of course, I didnt know how
to write television either, and I wrote TV!) Shes down to
earth, despite living a Greenwich Villagebased life that
many writers would consider glamorous. (I write about
working people, she says, with conviction. When I was
young, I was stupid, and I thought maybe I would write
the fancy stuff. Im not interested in the fancy stuff!) Shes
generous with her time, interfacing with book clubs every
week. (Book clubs are the best thing that has happened
to the world of publishing, she once said in an interview
with Good Housekeeping.) And she keeps her readers at
the forefront of everything she does. (Talk about being
able to prioritize! she says. If it doesnt serve her, I dont
do it. Its so easy.)
And, while worldwide audiences flock to her three
popular seriesthe bestselling Big Stone Gap, set in her
Virginia hometown and featuring a charming cast of
eccentrics; the bestselling Valentine trilogy, following a
woman working to save her Italian familys designer shoe
company in Greenwich Village; and the Viola books for
young adults, starring a quick-witted teenage filmmaker
from Brooklynshes still not afraid to try something new.
Shes written two nonfiction titles (Cooking With My Sisters,
sharing her familys recipes alongside anecdotes from their
kitchens, and Dont Sing at the Table: Life Lessons From
My Grandmothers), a handful of stand-alone novels, and
scripts for venues large and small (among her recent projects: a big-screen version of Big Stone Gap, and a play thats
been commissioned for her local Cherry Lane Theater).
Her new novel, The Shoemakers Wife, is her biggest
departure yeta multigenerational epic inspired by the
love story of her grandparents, a seamstress and a shoemaker who immigrated to America from the Italian Alps.
Its been touted as the book she was born to write, and
its instant bestselling success is a testament that when it

comes to art, risks can be worth taking.
With several successful series, what made you decide
to write a stand-alone book of this magnitude?
Mostly I sit alone in a room and cry and do my jobso

when they let me out of my cave to go on tour, I really
listen to my readers. And two things kept coming up:
When are you going to write a big novel? And, they really
wanted me to challenge myself. One reader wrote to me
and said, You know, I think youre good, but I think you
could be a lot better. Most people might be insulted by
that, but I ruminatedI really thought that through for a
whileand I thought, Shes right.
This novel was over 20 years in the making with the
research. I would noodle with the timeline in between
things; I would write scenes. This was really kind of a lifelong projectit had a whole different feeling to it. When
I gave the first few chapters to my editor, I was sick to my
stomach. I thought, Oh my God, is she going to think this is
the worst thing she ever read?
So when did you actually begin work on the book?
Easily 25 years ago. When I was young, I would have conversations with [my grandmother] and then write down
everything she said, cause I didnt want to forget it. At that
point I just thought, This is information I can give to my
children [one day]. But then it became this. The timeline
is truthful, and many aspects of the story are truthful.
This is clearly your most research-intensive book. What
were the challenges of making it historically accurate?
To be fair to my other books, research is always a big part.

But you are 100 percent correct: This is a whole different, giant undertaking. I had great researchersI use
students as interns because I know I would have appreciated that while I was young, to have a job like that. Id
assign [each one] very specific aspects. For example, Id
say I want to know about this particular battle in France
in World War II need the uniform, I need the this and
the that.
5/1/12 7:13:51 AM
Adriana Trigiani
When you clear away the cobwebs of the description of every

job in the world, at the bottom of that job is service. Its
service. And I took that ethic and applied it to my writing.
Heres the great thing: I live in New York, so I could
go and stand where the characters lived. I could feel
it. I really had an opportunity to do something special,
because I live here, with the research.
But then, you take it all in, and you throw it out, and
you write. You have tonot forget it, but its in your
psyche, and what gets in gets in, and what doesnt doesnt.
Did the interns give you written notes to work from?
Yeah, we had an amazing file. Also, we had all of the

research regarding my grandparents. I did a lot of that in
Italy, and youd be stunned at how much I have. Wonderful
records were keptthe wartime elements, their ships
manifests, I had everything. I [even] used the actual name
ofin 1913, when my grandmother came overthe doctor that took care of [her] when she was very ill.
She was actually seasick, like the character in the book?
Very much. And it ended up to be something far more

serious, that she just never went home. That always
haunted me from the time I was littleI couldnt understand that. So this novel was about sorting all these things
out that troubled me. And then as a novelist I could let my
imagination soar, and write the version of it that I thought
was most satisfying, and hopefully is for my readers.
What does your family think of your books?
Theyre pretty great about it. They know Im not writing memoirs. Dont Sing at the Table is very accurateits
my paintbrush, though, and I say that at the beginning:
Look, this is how I saw it. As an artist thats what we
do: We take it in, and we impart the story through our
own lens. In so doing, its very personal to that particular
artist, and thats as it should be.
Youre very meticulous about describing your characters work at their craftsshoemaking, garment making, cooking. Can you compare those processes to
the crafting of your stories?
Absolutely you can draw that line. You know, when my

grandmother showed me a nightgown that her mother had
madeyou cant even see the stitches, thats how beautifully
made this isI was probably 20 years old, and I thought,

I dont know how to do anything. I really dont know how
to make anything! Thats what I thought then, and now
I understand that Im making somethingIm just not
doing it with a needle and thread, or leather and a knife.
Im doing it with the thing that I know how to work with,
which is language, and memory, and emotion. We tend not
to value the gifts were givenbecause theyre given to us,
you know what I mean? And Ive learned that I really value
that I see the world in this way, and that its incumbent upon
me to do my best by it, whatever small gift Ive been given.
Your books are very atmospheric. How do you go
about bringing a place to life, and why do you feel
that descriptive quality is so important to a story?
When I was a kid I read a lot I live in New York because

I read Harriet the Spy a thousand times. I can tell you that:
A childhood book completely shaped me. I was always
attracted to real-people characters. Heidi is one of my
favorites, and when I read Heidi for the first time I could
really taste when grandfather gave her a slice of cheese
and that bread and a glass of milk. That was the worst diet
ever! But the point was, I remembered the details.
And so, when I was a young writer I always worked
hard on imagery, and I knew that the roots of imagery
were the sensesand that if my readers could feel, taste
and see what I was talking about, I would be able to tell
them a story. Sometimes I get criticized, because there are
readers that dont want all that [description], but I think
its important. Its the hallmark of my work, and I would
never change that. It sets the stage for those real characters to come through and tell their story.
Youre a very diverse writer. Did you set out from the
beginning hoping to work in so many forms?
I really try to stay in the moment, and I go where Im led. I

dont ever try to have a master plan and then beat myself
up when it doesnt happen, to be perfectly honest. [Laughs.]
I understand the terror that we put ourselves through.
I know what its like to be having to put in eight hours
somewhere, sometimes 12 hours somewhere, and have
this calling within myself to just want to be in a room writ-
4/24/12 11:52:18 AM
ing. Thats why I work so hard, and thats why Im relentless. It doesnt have anything to do with some big plan.
I try to listen to the moment. Im interested in how
we survive by the labor of our own hands, and who we
choose to love. Those are my two themestheyre in every
book I write. When I started, the stories I was telling were
just kind of complete complete, you know? But when times
are difficult and people are making choices, I think they
want to immerse themselves in a place and a time and
a world that satisfies them and takes them awaypure
escape. Thats why I decided at this moment it was The
Shoemakers Wife. There hasnt been a weekend or a holiday
or a day off in three years, but the readers totally inspire me.
You chat via webcam with three to ve book clubs
every week. Why do you feel its important to connect with readers that way?
Well, you know, I had every job in the world. I was a temp
on Wall Street, I sold tickets in a movie theater, I worked in
retail, I was a nanny, I was a cook. And when you clear away
the cobwebs of the description of every job in the world, at
the bottom of that job is service. Its service. And I took that
ethic and applied it to my writing craft. So, what my reader
wants, she shall receive. Knowing that the more people that
read my books brings the price down makes me work harder.
And my mother is a librarian, and thats the ultimate service
of thought, ideas and education, so Im big into libraries.
Has it helped you as a writer to interact with readers
on that level?
Absolutely. I care what my reader thinks. There is no fancy

recommendation you can give me that would matter to me
as much as Mary Jane from Youngstown writing me a letter.
There is not one. Dont need it, dont want it, dont require it,
does not fill up my soul. Its about her, not about the rest of it.
You mentioned you havent had a day off for three
years. Whats your writing routine?
I have a daughter in fourth grade, and Ive learned that

when she is at any activity I have to seize it. I cant wait, Ive
got to just do it. I get up very early, and then when shes in
bed I work again. And during the day if shes doing something I can sit by and do what Ive got to do. I dont like to
do that, but this book required it, and the wonderful thing
about my job is that I can be with her as I do it a lot of
timesyou know, the nuts and bolts of it, the editing and the
note-taking and all that. I cant sit there and write with her in
the room, thats too hard, but I can do the things around it.
Tell me about your travel tours. How did you decide

those would be a natural extension of your writing?
Adriana Trigiani Tours sprung from five years ago when

we were in Italy doing research on shoemaking. I have a
friend, Gina Casella, who works in Italy in importing and
exporting and knows everybody. I mean, hotels, head of
the fashion instituteeverybody. So I called her up and
said, I need to learn how to make shoes, and she put
together an amazing tour for me that was off the beaten
trackbest hotels, best food, on a budget. So I said to
her, Could you do this for my readers? She put the plan
together, and we came up with walk-in-the-steps-of-thecharacters boutique tours for women. We have tours
named after the novels, and its just a booming business.
Whats up next for you?
Im directing and writing the Big Stone Gap movie. I have

Ciao, Valentine coming out and a new Viola in the young
adult genre, later this year and early next year. Then Ive
got another big one to put out. And Im just going to try
to continue, as is my fashion, a book a year until Im dead.
So you think youll stick with books? You dont see
yourself returning to TV?
I try to do it all, to be perfectly honest, because it requires

different aspects of myself. I have a lot of things in the oven,
all of which will get done, and beautifully, in time. But I try
to look at art like its daily sit in that chair and get it done
and live in the world at the same time. Thats the challenge.
I could not have written this without the rich life experience that I have when I walk in the door. I couldnt do it.
Writing is writing. Its an abiding, wonderful talent,
craft, gift that stays with you your whole life. And you
can go in different forms, and you can try them. Look at
me: Im writing novels because I found something I love
because I tried it. Dont be afraid to shake it up.
What do you tell writers who struggle to nd
the time?
Youve got to make it. I cant do what I do and be out

on the town. Ive got to have my hiney at home working. Thats the way it works, for me. I have to work
hard. Im not naturally great at anything. I have to work
really, really hard. And you know what? I can do that. If
thats the requirement, I can do it; if I end up with The
Shoemakers Wife, I can do that. WD
Jessica Strawser is the editor of Writers Digest.
4/24/12 11:52:24 AM
Did they send the right guy?

Andre Dubus III writes serious, literary, heavyoften very heavystuff.
At his book signing, I watch as the jovial, immensely likable author high-ves a
readers kid.
Andre Dubus III grew up bullied, and learned to knock peoples teeth out with a
single punch. What many readers know of the House of Sand and Fog authors life
comes from his latest book, a memoir about his rough childhood around Boston
following the departure of his famous writer father.
He chats up a priest, and then warmly demands that a reader give him a hug.
Andre Dubus III entered his teen years on a wave of booze, marijuana and vandalism. Later, he got by cleaning ofces, worked as a carpenter, bartended, even
did a stint as a bounty hunter.
At the start of our interview, he smiles and raises his pint of Guinness. Here,
brother, he says.
Cheers, I say.
To words! he beams in his Boston accent.
He sips.
Aw, thats good, innit? And do you know its loaded with bioavonoids, which
are a natural cholesterol lowerer?
Wait a second. Andre Dubus III: Who are you?
NDRE DUBUS III DIDNT

HAVE ANY LITERARY
ASPIRATIONS.
Sitting at a high-top table in a tavern,
the 52-year-old even looks the part
of a successful writersport coat,
sharp collared shirt, gray-twinged,
windswept hair. (A Boston Globe
reporter described him as a literary cross between Kurt Russell and
He did not set out to

follow in his famous
fathers footsteps,
nor is he as dark
and brooding as his
own House of Sand
and Fog. And those
are just the rst of
many things that will
surprise you about
the bestseller.
BY ZACHARY PETIT
40_wd0812Petit.indd 40
John Mellencamp.) But though

many are quick to assume that the
son of critically adored short-story
writer Andre Dubus (and cousin of
Pulitzer Prizenominee James Lee
Burke) followed a predetermined
path, the truth is Dubus had no big
publishing dreams.
I never wanted to be a writer, he
says. I am just still stunned that Ive
sold millions of books and make my
living doing this.
The younger Dubus was always
more preoccupied with protecting himself and his family while his
motherfinding herself divorced
from an unfaithful and absent husbandstruggled to pay the bills and
raise Dubus and his three siblings. A
small-statured kid, Dubus was the
target of bullies in his Boston neighborhood (he also took a few hits for
PHOTO MARION ETTLINGER
Meet the Real

Andre Dubus III
4/24/12 11:57:54 AM
sprinkling his speech with too many

adverbs), and eventually he reacted
by turning to obsessively bodybuilding and boxing.
Still, he always loved language,
and secretly relished writing assignments at schoolthough hed never
have admitted it on the street. And
at 22, having been on a violent path
likely to land him in jail or dead,
Dubus experienced a catharsis. He
was on his way to go box, and had a
strange urge to sit down and write
instead. So he did.
He felt alive. Awake. Like steam
had been released from a valve.
It was a semi-spiritual, life-saving
moment where I found something
that just made me feel like me, and
that was not destructive, he says. I
dont want to paint the picture that
I was some badass who discovered
creativityit was more it was always
in me. I was always a sensitive,
sweet kid, but I got brutalized and I
became brutal. And frankly, I dont
think it was my natural makeup.
I dont think its anyones natural
makeup to be a violent brawler.
Now, at the tavern, the man who
never wanted to be a writer (but
who would become a finalist for the
National Book Award and win a
Guggenheim Fellowship, National
Magazine Award, Pushcart Prize
and an American Academy of Arts
and Letters 2012 Literature Award)
sips his beer and does what he does
numerous times over when discussing his crafthe reaches into his
encyclopedic vat of writing quotes
and selects the perfect one.
I like what Janet Burroway says,

he says. Writing isnt hard; not
writing is hard. Thats only true if
youre a writer.
ANDRE DUBUS III IS NO
LONGER HAUNTED BY HIS
FATHERS LONG SHADOW.
Does your father help you? Does he
help you get published?
When he was starting out, this
is what Dubus heard time and
againabout a man he hadnt even
grown up with. If anything, having a

famous father may have meant that
he had to work that much harder to
prove himself.
He says his first book, the fiction collection The Cage Keeper and
Other Stories, was submitted to 38
publishers over five years before it
found a home. His second, the novel
Bluesman, was turned down by more
than 30. His third, House of Sand
and Fog, collected 24 rejections over
two years.
4/24/12 11:58:01 AM
Dubus developed a growing sensitivity and even resentment about

his nameand a distinct sympathy
for the children of other prominent
people with shared monikers.
I go and buy Hank [Williams] Jr.
just to buy Hank Jr., he laughs. And
now Hank III. And frankly, I like
those guys a lot. There are a lot
worse hands to get dealt in life, but it
can be a difficult hand.
His breaking point came when a
reviewer for a prominent publication wrote that his novel Bluesman
was by Andrew Dubus IIIauthor
of and went on to list his fathers
books. The younger Dubus felt as
if the book itd taken him two and
a half years to writein a van by
a construction site where he was
working 10 hours a dayhad been
stolen from him.
And then I realized, after swearing and screaming for an hour, I
dont really care. I dont really care.
Its time to start practicing what I
preach. I truly believe the arts larger
than the artist. Who cares about
John Steinbeck? I care about the
Joad family. So does it really matter who the reader thinks wrote this
book? And that freed me at that
moment. I let go of the world ever
noticing, I let go of anything ever
happening in a worldly way with my
writing, and I frankly had no expectation in the first place. And once
its interesting on an energetic spiritual levelas soon as I let go of any
of thathe lowers his voiceI
had a No. 1 fu**ing bestseller.
He laughs. What the hell?
That bestseller: 1999s House of
Sand and Fog, the story of the intertwined lives of a former Iranian
army colonel and a former drug
addict. It was anointed by Oprah
Winfrey, and went on to be made
into an Academy Awardnominated

film. Dubus followed with the novel
The Garden of Last Days and now
his latest, the bestselling memoir
Townie, telling the full story of the
past weve touched upon here.
And what of his father? Hed been
confined to a wheelchair after being
struck by a car in 1986, and following the accident, the two Dubus
writers finally fully connected, and
grew close. Before the elder died (in
1999, right after the publication of
House of Sand and Fog), he told his
son hed seen a financial statement of
all his own books hed sold throughout his lifeand was depressed by
how small the number was.
Thus, these days, when one of
Dubus IIIs new releases prompts a
spike in his fathers salesa testament to how big the younger author
has really gottenhes glad on all
counts. The name resentment of the
past is gone.
One of the accidental joys of my
writing life has been that Ive had
some lovely, surprisingly good
fortune with readers, and Ive
brought readers to my dads work,
he says. I cant tell you the joy that
gives me. Because my fathers work
was masterful.
ANDRE DUBUS III IS
THE HAPPIEST MAN
WHO WRITES THE
SADDEST BOOKS.
It may surprise you to learn that for
a writer who exudes so much charisma and confidence, when Dubus
finished House of Sand and Fog, the
story had taken such a dark turn that
he felt like apologizing for it.
I felt about the way I feel about
everything I write, which is a better
writer would have done a better job
with this bookbut its the best I can
DOUBLE THE DUBUS

For outtakes from our exclusive interview in the form of inspiring quotes
on the art and craft of writing, visit
writersdigest.com/august-12.
do right now, and thats all I could

ask for.
So why does such a delightful
mannot entirely unlike a motivational speaker in the animated way
he engages a crowdgo to such
heavy depths in his work?
I dont know, he says. But you
know, I think its important for a
writer not to be too conscious about
it. I think this is a descent into the
dream world. I mean, the irony is
House of Sand and Fog is probably
the darkest book Ive written, and
when I wrote it, I was never happier.
I do think that so much of what
writers wrestle with is our demons
and our fears, and the dream world
is dark and its not always painful,
but its mysterious.
With such serious subject matter,
he was all the more shocked when the
novel broke out in the way it did. The
first paperback print run was 30,000
copies. Six months later, 160,000 copies had sold. The publisher was going
back for another 20,000 when Oprahs
people called, wanting to feature the
book in her book club (an out of
body experience). The print run was
bumped to 900,000 copies. It sold
another million.
Still, the man who used to get
paid to clean toiletsI tried to do
that job as well as if I were operating
on someones heartsays he didnt
alter his work ethic.
Ive had a lot of glamour come
my way in the last 10 yearsyou
know, movie stars and mansions
and red carpets and trips to Europe
and crazy stuff I never would have
5/1/12 7:14:33 AM
I really think that if theres any one enemy to human creativity,

especially creative writing, its self-consciousness.
imaginedand I look at them as if
Im the bartender in the corner of
the room, he says. Theyve never
gone into my psyche. I look at them
with distance, and wonder.
ANDRE DUBUS III IS BOTH
ARTIST AND BUSINESSMAN.
Its methodical: Every morning,
Dubus wakes up and takes his kids
to school (he lives in Massachusetts
with his wife, who is a professional
dancer, and two of his three children). He returns home. Its empty of
everyone except the dog. He takes a
cup of black dark roast coffee down
to the basement, where hes built a
5-by-11 sound-proofed room. He
sits at a desk in front of a blank wall,
types the previous days longhand
writing into the computer, then turns
the machine off. He sharpens a pencil with a knife, reads three or four
poemsfor the high bar of language
that poets always give us prose writersand then stares at the page.
I try to put myself in a state of
openness and receptivity and not try
to say anything and not think it, but
dream it. And then I pick up where
I left off.
He writes for two to three hours,
goes to the gym to clear his head (he
still works out like a demon), and
thats it.
When it comes to creating a piece
of writing, Dubus believes the story
has to percolate in your mindand
that you shouldnt write it too early.
Theres a profound difference
between making something up and
imagining it, he says. Imagining it
instead is falling into your psyche,
your imagination, and finding some-
thing thats there already that wants

to come outinstead of you pushing
it out into the world.
He adds that just because something is salable, that doesnt make it
good. Which brings up the issue of
craft versus businesssomething
Dubus is passionate about. When an
aspiring writer asks him a career question, he says he gets uncomfortable
hes happy to help, but wants to know
if the person has done the real work
first: painstakingly crafted the words.
I really think that if theres any one
enemy to human creativity, especially
creative writing, its self-consciousness,
he says. Do not think about what
publisher likes this; do not think of
even if readers like it. Just be honest.
Dubus teaches writing at the
University of Massachusetts Lowell,
and his philosophy in leading a class
is this: Lets just try to find a way to
do this as deeply as it can be done.
Then, he says with a laugh, well talk
about getting you a freaking agent.
But were not talking about that first.
Itll pollute it! Itll pollute it!
That doesnt mean he shuns
the business side of being a writer,
thoughafter all, he is on a book
tour right now, and its undeniable
that hes good at it. Hell shake your
hand, ask your name, and call you
by it when he takes your question in
front of the audience.
Still, I want my books to be
read, I work hard on them, but I
never bring the author into my writing room, he says. I just bring the
writer in.
He says the trick to detaching the two goes back to how he
found his way to writing in the first
placehow alive he feels when he

does it, and how far away he feels
when he doesnt.
Even a day writing badly for me
is 10 times better than a day where I
dont write at all.
Moreover, he points out, he owes
$100,000 in tuition for his kids every
yeara first-world problemand
youd think hed write something
with the highest sales potential to
offset that. But whats he working on
now? A collection of novellas.
Novellas?
Its a completely noncommercial
book, but I dont care, he says. I
think I may be actually writing well
about whats going on. Maybe.
And thats all I try to do.
At the book signing, I watch the
once-violent man hug his readers.
Listen to him crack wise. Watch him
smile and talk about how he loves
rapper 50 Cent.*
Did they send the right guy?
Yes, they did. A writer who never
wanted to be one. A seemingly
happy man who writes sad books. A
craftsman who refuses to compromise but makes the bestseller lists
anyway. A writer whos nothing like
the one youd imagine in the clich
corridors of the mind.
Meeting Dubus reminds you that
its not all supposed to make sense.
Life is contradictory. Its messy. Its all
about gray zones. And if youre wondering how this writer broke out in the
way he did as an artist, maybe thats
just itthats how he paints it. WD
Zachary Petit (zacharypetit.com) is the
managing editor of Writers Digest.
*Dubus once saw Curtis 50 Cent Jackson in New York and got an autograph for his daughter. When I tell him Jackson
has a new young adult book out about bullying (Playground), he lights up. Im gonna go buy it for my daughter. You
kiddin me? Im gonna go ask them if they have it. That is so cool.
5/1/12 7:14:41 AM
The winner of Ever heard of a crested auklet? A bronzed cowbird?

WDs Annual A black-capped gnatcatcher?
Neither had we.
Short Short
And when it came to Nicole Lesperances short story The Callers, that was a
Competition great thing. The piece does what some of the most captivating shorts do: It invites
into a foreign world you might not think you have any interest inbirdcalling
stumbled you
and then proves you completely, amazingly wrong, as it brings the story to life with
upon a one- vivid detail.
Lesperances tale of a long-lost prodigy [who] stuns the competitive birdcalling world
of-a-kind
when she returns to reclaim her title soared (pun intended) above 4,000 other pieces to
subject to claim the grand prize in WDs 12th Annual Short Short Story Competition.
A 33-year-old Massachusetts native, technology research copy editor, and selfbring her
proclaimed voracious reader, Lesperance always casually wrote, but had never tried to
fiction to
publish anything until after the birth of her daughter in 2010, when she felt a wave of
new heights. inspiration and decided it was time to give it a go. One of the pieces that emerged was
The Callers.
At the risk of sounding like Stephenie Meyer, Id had this intensely detailed dream
about all these weird people who didnt exist in my real life, and they felt so vivid and real
that I felt like theyd be perfect characters, Lesperance says. So I started writing little
snippets while my daughter was napping, and pretty soon, I got sucked into it.
As the grand prize winner, Lesperance receives $3,000, a trip to the 2013 Writers
Digest Conference in New York City, and other prizes that could come in handy for her
latest project: a young adult fantasy novel.
[Writing] felt almost like a drug in the beginning, and to be honest, I dont know how
Id ever be able to go back to not writing again; it just feels right.
To read the winning story and an extended interview with Lesperance, visit writers
digest.com/august-12.
BIRDS PHOTO PETR KOVAR
BY MARIELLE MURPHY
44_wd0812Murphy2.indd 44
4/24/12 11:59:47 AM
WD SHORT SHORT
Story Competition
The Winner:
Nicole
Lesperance
How did this story come
about?
I got the idea from the Sunday Scribblings blog
[sundayscribblings.blogspot.com], which posts
a weekly writing prompt. The prompt for the
week was The Call, and the first thing that
popped into my head (after a phone call) was a
birdcall, so I went with it. I found a couple of websites where you can
listen to sound bites of birdcalls, and I had a lot of fun going through
them and picking out the most interesting sounds and bird names. As
far as I know, there arent any competitions quite like the one in my
story. I got a kick out of making it up as I went along.
What did you find to be the biggest benefits and challenges of short fiction?
I like being limited by word count because it forces you to get right
down to the meat of your story. I wrote this story in the midst of revising a novel, and it felt like a breath of fresh air to just do something fun
and short that didnt require a ton of plot juggling. On the other hand,
it was a tricky balance to get enough character and story development
into such a short piece.
Whats the best writing advice youve ever
been given?
The line about butts in chairs. The best way to learn is to sit down
and write.
What do you feel are your strengths as a writer?
Coming from an editing background, Im not shy about cutting, revising, slashing out entire huge sections of work. I dont get too attached
to things because I know they can always be reworked and made better.
That can also be a problem, though, because I often cant stop revising.
What are the keys to a successful short story?
Keep it engaging 100 percent of the time. You really cant waste a
single sentence.
The Short List

The 12th Annual Writers Digest Short
Short Story Competition drew nearly
4,000 entries. Authors Gina Ochsner,
Debby Mayne and Michael Vaughn
served as rst-round judges, and the
WD editorial staff selected and ranked
the nalists.
1. The Callers
Nicole Lesperance, Arlington, Mass.
2. Grace
Liz Longfellow, Deereld, N.H.
3. Hell in Your Own

Backyard
Roberta Anthes, Fairfax, Calif.
4. Forgiveness
Deborah Boller, Oakland, Calif.
5. A Flock of Birds
Andrew Weaver, Middlebury, Vt.
6. The Blackbird
Marci Stillerman, Los Angeles
7. Cat
Natalie Morrill, Vancouver, B.C.
8. Time
R. Mills, Pearland, Texas
9. The Laundry Basket

Ruthanne Connell, Lithia, Fla.
10. A Love Like

Pocket Water
Lyn Nihart, Black Mountain, N.C.
YOU COULD BE THE NEXT WINNER! Enter your smart, striking and sharp ction (1,500 words or fewer) in the 13th Annual Writers
Digest Short Short Story Competition. The deadline is Nov. 15, 2012, and the entry fee is $20 per story. For more information or to
enter online, visit writersdigest.com/competitions.
To purchase an anthology of the top 25 stories from the 2011 competition, log on to writersdigest.com/short or send a check or money
order for $11.95 to: The 12th Annual WD Short Short Story Collection, 8469 Blue Ash Road, Ste. 100, Cincinnati, OH 45236.
44_wd0812Murphy2.indd 45
4/24/12 11:59:57 AM
QUESTIONS&QUANDARIES
BY BRIAN A. KLEMS
IN THIS ISSUE:
Defining denouement, and the keys

to finishing a book.
WHAT IS A DENOUEMENT?
I keep coming across the

term denouement in some
of the writing materials Ive
been reading. What exactly is
a denouement?
Anonymous
Denouement is a hard word to pronounce (and a harder word to spell!).

But the role of the denouement in
literature is not hard to comprehend,
and once you understand its definition, youll be able to spot it quite
easily in most novels.
The denouement is the final outcome of the story, generally occurring just after the climax. Often its
where all the secrets or outstanding key elements of the story are
revealed and loose ends are tied up.
For example, the denouement of
William Shakespeares Romeo and
Juliet comes just after Romeo and
Juliet take their own lives. When the
families find their bodies, Escalus
explains that their deaths are a result
of the family feud, leaving members
of both sides to feel guilty. That is
the denouement.
As a writer, its important to
keep this concept in mind when
crafting your own story. While you
want to give away bits of information about your plot (and subplots)
throughout, you also want to save

the juiciest revelations for the very
end, rewarding readers for staying
the course.
Thats the ultimate goal of any
good denouement.
HOW CAN I COMPLETE
MY MANUSCRIPT?
For years Ive been telling

myself that Im going to write
a book, but Ive used excuse after
excuse to put it off. Now Im ready,
but I just dont know how to go
about it. Can you give me advice
on how to write a manuscript and
stick to it?
Anonymous
Getting started on any writing project is always the toughest part. For
years I talked about turning an idea
I had from college into a novel so
amazing that Oprah would beg to
have me on her showperhaps
twice! I had notes for the novel in
my head and, once in a blue moon,
Id actually sit down to try to write
the thing. But the most I could ever
hammer out was about 2,000 words.
Considering most first-time novels
fall between 80,000 and 100,000
words, I think its safe to say that I
was more likely to publish a sneeze
than this book.
It wasnt until I got serious about

writing that I started to make real
progress (not on that novel, as it
turned out, but on a nonfiction project). I dont think I would have had
any luck if I hadnt learned these five
tips. I recommend them to anyone
who is serious about completing a
manuscript or has even toyed with
the idea of writing a book.
1. DONT WORRY ABOUT FORMAT UNTIL
Details like this

only stand in your way of writing
a great story. Worry about cooking the meal before concerning
yourself with presentation. You
can wait until much, much later
to adjust your manuscript and
adhere to formatting guidelines.
YOURE FINISHED.
2. SET ASIDE 4560 MINUTES A DAY

TO WRITE. Who are we kidding?
We all have busy lives of driving kids to soccer, caring for sick
parents, paying bills, posting
witty Facebook status updates
(after all, we are writers, so our
updates are the best), and who
knows what else. But the dirty
truth is if you cant carve out at
least a short portion of your day
to dedicate to writing, then you
arent serious about finishing a
manuscript. Its time to take
it seriously.
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 WDand Brians blogfor answers.
46_wd0812QQ.indd 46
4/24/12 12:01:05 PM
Yes, some
people are able to freewheel it
and write from beginning to
end with just a general idea. But
people who keep getting stuck
at the beginning are not among
them. By creating an outline, you
not only give your story structure, you also give yourself a
much-needed map. Its easier to
stick with your goal of writing
a manuscript when you have a
predetermined route to follow.
3. CREATE AN OUTLINE.
5.
you through each section of your

manuscript. As they do on any
trip, the coordinates may change
a bit, but by having them youll
have a better chance of getting
where you need to go.
LIGHTEN UP AND HAVE FUN. No
one is forcing you to write.
to bump people off without the

threat of serious jail time.)
Even during the most difficult
times (like when stubborn writers block sets in, or when you
realize a scene isnt working and
you need to rewrite it), youll
realize that youd still rather be
If you cant carve out at least a short portion

of your day to dedicate to writing, then you
arent serious about fi nishing a manuscript.
4. WRITE THE FIRST AND LAST SEN-
Much
like a road trip, your goal of each
chapter is to get from point A
to point B. Write up and plug a
first sentence and a last sentence
into your Chapter Writing GPS,
and then watch as they guide
TENCE OF EVERY CHAPTER.
Youre doing it because you want

to create, inform and inspire.
You love the twists and turns you
imagine out of thin air. You love
the challenge of making interesting characters grow and change.
(You also secretly love being able
writing than working at your day

job. Remember that. Itll help
you make it through even the
toughest of writing days. WD
Brian A. Klems is the online community
editor of WD.
We Tr a i n Wr i t e r s
Courses t Conferences t Contests t Critiques
Learn the secrets it took professionals a lifetime to uncover
Receive personal instruction from an experienced mentor
Take your idea from the creative spark to the finished page
Our students sell. Enroll today.
For a brochure, call 866.495.5177.

Or go to www.ChristianWritersGuild.com
46_wd0812QQ.indd 47
4/24/12 12:01:12 PM
YOURSTORY
CONTEST #39
Homecoming
You return to the house where you grew up, only to learn
it has been condemned.
PROMPT:
Out of more than 800 entries, WD forum members and editors chose this winner,
submitted by GREG LINDEN of Stockton, Calif.:
e stared at the X on the

wall. The bright orange
spray paint in stark contrast against the faded
blue of what had been his home.
The marking wasnt new to him. He
had seen it on every house they had
passed on their way through the city.
Seven months on and hardly anyone
had bothered painting over them.
They were a morbid curiosity for a
few and a soul-cutting reminder for
the rest, and for him they just simply
hadnt been real until this very second.
Honey? He felt her hand give his
shoulder a tentative squeeze. I know
where the boxes are. You dont have
to come in if you dont want to. He
shook his head as if to answer no, but
the tension in his body remained.
Her hand slid down until it found
his sweaty palm. He squeezed, took
a breath, and with a large exhale
pushed the door open.
The stench was overwhelming.
It rolled over him, penetrating the
cheap masks that the news reports
had suggested they buy. His stomach rebelled and attempted to relieve
itself of its contents. He swallowed
back the vomit. His wife did not. As
she retreated back outside, he fought
through the wall of foul and into the
living room.
The plaster on the walls fell away

like diseased flesh to reveal beams of
decayed timber. Fungus grew around
the room like so many varicose veins,
throbbing color tracing the lines of
a deeper sickness. The living rooms
title was now a misnomer. There was
nothing alive here. The roof had collapsed on the far side of the room.
The special spot where his mother
had insisted they place the Christmas
tree year after year was now filled
with rubble. There was no sign of the
couch where he had stolen his first
kiss. He wondered what might have
claimed it: the storm or the flood;
rescuers or looters.
He continued onward through
the debris and into the master bedroom. It was a task easier said than
accomplished, but after a few minutes, he was there climbing over his
parents upturned mattress and his
fathers spare oxygen tank. His dad
had smoked for 40 years, from the
day he joined the Army to the day he
got that tank. His father, the toughest
bastard he had ever known.
The closet wasnt in any better
shape than the rest of the house, but
the boxes were there. The moldy
cardboard held together long enough
for him to get them down before they
succumbed to their own flimsiness.
He could feel strain throughout his

body and realized that he was clenching his teeth. There were a half-dozen
of them, leather bound, with the
words Our Family hand-stitched
with the corresponding volume on
each album. He could already tell that
they were water damaged. Silently,
with tears rolling down his cheeks, he
prayed that he was wrong and that
what was inside had fared better.
It had not. Generations of photographs were gone.
He gathered the albums anyway
and made his way back outside. His
wife had cleaned herself up and was
waiting for him. Letting her take the
albums from his arms, he turned
again to look at the orange X.
They had done a news special
explaining these after the storm. The
writing on the left indicated who had
done the searching, and the date at
the top let others know when they
had safely exited the building after
the search was complete. The right
quadrant contained a list of potential hazards that the searchers had
encountered while inside.
The bottom quadrant held two
numbers. The first was the number
of survivors found inside. It was a
zero. He stared at the second number.
The tears came againthis time, not
silently. He sobbed uncontrollably as
his eyes refused to look away. The second number was the number two. WD
48_wd0812YourStory.indd 48
4/24/12 12:02:10 PM
ENTERYOURSTORY
FIRST THINGS FIRST: WRITE THE OPENING SENTENCE (25 words or fewer) to a story based on the photo 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.

com/your-story-competition or via email to
yourstorycontest@fwmedia.com (entries
must be pasted directly into the body of the
email; attachments will not be opened).
CONTEST #43
PHOTO C&L DIGITAL/BRUCE COBB
43
NOTE: WD editors select the top 10

entries and post them on our website
(writersdigest.com/forum). Join us online
in mid-August, 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 Writers Digest.

DONT FORGET: Your name and mailing address. One entry per person.
DEADLINE: August 10, 2012
Could you be the NEXT Hay House Author?
Reid Tracy,
Hay House President & CEO
Cheryl Richardson,
#1 New York Times
best-selling author
Michelle Phillips, The Beauty Blueprint
THE WRITERS
WORKSHOP
SPEAK, WRITE
& PROMOTE
Los Angeles Denver

Asheville New York
San Diego New York
Michael Chase, am i being kind?
Win a $10,000 Book Publishing Advance!

Hay House Can Help Build Your Brand!
Heather Wilson, Seeds of Freedom
Lectures, interactive exercises, and live coaching from industry experts who Walk the Walk & Talk the Talk
These intensive workshops are YOUR opportunity to:
Absorb over 50 years of writing & publishing experience from industry experts
Quickly learn how to bring your message or story to the world
Act on your dream today!

Register Early Seats are Limited - Winners are GUARANTEED!
Call 800-654-5126 or visit www.hayhouse.com and click on Event Tours
www.healyourlife.com
Over 20
Winners
to Date!
www.hayhouse.com
48_wd0812YourStory.indd 49
4/24/12 12:02:17 PM
W R I T EWRI
R STER S
EXERCISES AND TIPS FOR HONING SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING
Cat Co
CLASSIC CONFLICT THROUGH RIVALRY
B Y R O NA LD B. TO BI A S
iterature is overflowing with rivalries: Captain Ahab

and Moby-Dick; the children who revert to savagery in Lord of the Flies; The Virginian and Trampas
in The Virginian. Every superhero has his nemesis, every
Montgomery his Rommel. Some rivalries are the classic
struggle between good and evil, as in Herman Melvilles
Billy Budd, and some struggles are between opponents
who are both deserving. The tension (or conflict) comes
from their opposition. Whether its a pitcher facing a batter or politicians squaring off to run for office, two people
cannot occupy the same space. One must win, one must
lose (with all its variations of winning and losing). Rivalry
is competition.
That competition can take many forms. It can be Felix
Unger vs. Oscar Madison of The Odd Couple; the old
man vs. the fish in The Old Man and the Sea; or Captain
William Bligh vs. Fletcher Christian in Mutiny on the
Bounty. Rivalries are familiar ground for romance, as well:
Literature is filled with comedies about two people competing for the love of a third in everything from the comedies
of Shakespeare to Jules and Jim by Henri-Pierre Roche. The
classic love triangle is, at a base level, a rivalry plot.
ESTABLISHING A CREDIBLE OPPOSITION
If the basic premise of the rivalry plot is what happens
when an immovable object meets an irresistible force,
structure your characters and situations accordingly. First,
establish two conflicting and competing characters who
vie for the same goal. The characters should be equally
opposed; if one character has superior strength in one area,
the other character should make up for it in another area.
Its more interesting to the reader if the strengths between
characters arent exactly matched. Your first character may

be stronger physically while your other character may be
more clever. Create circumstances that test your characters
according to those strengths. In some cases, let one character win; in other cases, let the other win. The pendulum
should swing both ways. This increases the tension and
makes the reader wonder who will triumph in the end.
In crafting that outcome, dont be obvious. The
physically stronger character may actually lose a contest of strength to her opponent because the opponent
is smarter. This adds a twist and keeps the action from
being predictable.
Lew Wallaces Ben-Hur is a compelling example of
rivalry as conflict because of the depth and breadth of the
rivalry between its two principle characters, Judah BenHur, a Jew, and Messala, a Roman. The novel has been in
print for more than 100 years; the 1959 film version (starring Charlton Heston) won 11 Academy Awards. Lets see
how the story can illustrate the three dramatic phases of
rivalry as conflict.
CRAFTING THE FIRST DRAMATIC PHASE:
INITIAL POINT OF CONFLICT
The story starts at the point of conflict. Messala, a boyhood friend of Judah Ben-Hur, returns from his apprenticeship in Rome as an officer in the imperial service. The
two men embrace, recalling their childhoods together.
Immediately their competitive spirit surfaces as they hurl
javelins at a wooden crossbeam. This moment is typical of
the first dramatic movement: The two rivals have a common ground. They meet and are perceived as equals. They
eat and drink together, and Judah gives Messala a beau-
50_wd0812wkbk.indd 50
4/24/12 12:03:32 PM
Cat Co
tiful Arabian horsea gift that foreshadows what will
come later.
There is no conflict up to this point, and the writer
shouldnt spend too much time reconstructing the past.
Once the common ground has been established, the conflict should be introduced.
Messala wants to return Judahs gift by advancing his
friend in the favor of the emperor. But to do this, Judah
must reveal the names of other Jews who have been resisting Roman rule.
Enter conflict: Judah refuses to turn over his friends.
Messala issues an ultimatum: Either youre with me or
youre against me. All right, says Judah, Im against you.
The challenge issued, they take sides.
Now its time for a catalyst episode to occur, something that pits the rivals against each other in action, not
just threats.
Shortly after the initial confrontation between Messala
and Judah, the Roman governor arrives. As Judahs family watches the procession from a rooftop, a tile slips
and crashes onto the governors head. Messalas men
break into Judahs house and arrest the entire family for
attempting to assassinate the governor.
Judah makes a daring escape and forces his way to
Messala, threatening to spear him if he doesnt release
his family. Messala, being a true macho Roman, swears
hell kill Judahs mother and sister if he doesnt surrender.
Judah throws his spear into the wall behind Messala (an
action that parallels the spear he threw in friendly competition a little while ago).
Messala knows Judahs sister and mother are guiltless, yet
he plans to make an example of them. As is typical of the
rivalry plot, one rival moves to gain the advantage over the
other. This is a struggle for power. One rival acts to overcome or overwhelm his competition. In this case, Messala
manipulates both events and people for his purposes.
Judahs mother and sister are sent to prison and Judah
is sent to row in a Roman galley ship as a slave. One rival
has attained momentary superiority over the other. If we
were to look at what we might call the power curves of
each of the two rivals, we would usually find that they are
inversely related to each other. As one rival moves up the
power curve (that is, becomes more powerful and has a
distinct advantage over his competitor), the other rival
moves down the same curve. Messalas rise in power and
influence is matched in reverse by Ben-Hurs descent
into anonymity and slavery. This matching of opposites
is important for developing audience sympathy. Usually
thats done by clarifying the moral issues within the

story line.
In Ben-Hur, Messala is unscrupulous and ambitious;
therefore, hes the antagonist. Judah Ben-Hur is conscientious and honest, so hes the protagonist. The antagonist usually takes the initiative in the rivalry and gains
the advantage. The protagonist suffers by the actions of
the antagonist and is usually at a disadvantage by the first
dramatic phase. That is the function of the first dramatic
phase: to separate the rivals on the power curve, with the
protagonist at the bottom and the antagonist at the top.
Its more interesting to the reader if

the strengths between characters arent
exactly matched. Your first character
may be stronger physically while your
other character may be more clever.
INTRODUCING THE SECOND DRAMATIC
PHASE: REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
In the second dramatic phase, events occur that reverse
the protagonists descent.
Judah spends three years shackled to an oar of a Roman
flagship. During a battle in which their ship is rammed,
Judah escapes, but not before he saves the life of the Roman
commander, Quintus Arrius. Thankful to Judah for saving
his life, Arrius frees Judah and adopts him as his son.
This is the reversal of fortune necessary for Judah to
rise to the level at which he can compete with Messala.
Judah goes to Rome, learns the arts of war, and becomes
an expert charioteer. Once Judah has gained power, he is
in a position to challenge his rival.
Notice how the motion has reversed itself: In the first
phase the antagonist challenges the protagonist; in the
second phase the protagonist challenges the antagonist.
Judah has ascended on the power curve. The rivals have
reached parity; they have equal power, which sets the
stage for their conflict.
But the protagonists house must be in order first (after
all, hes a moral person). Judahs mother and sister are still
unaccounted for, so he goes in search of them.
The antagonist is often aware of the empowerment of the
protagonist. (It heightens the tension if the antagonist continually looks over his shoulder, anticipating the inevitable
confrontation.) Messala, whos completely forgotten about
4/24/12 12:03:38 PM
WRITERS WORKBOOK
Judahs mother and sister, knows Judahs back in town and

starts to worry. He checks on the two women only to find
they are both lepers. He retires them to a leper colony.
CHECKLIST:
Cate a B
e R
As you develop your characters rivalry, use this checklist to ensure that the ensuing conict is believable:
The source of your conict should come as a result
of an irresistible force meeting an immovable object.
The nature of your rivalry should be the struggle for
power between the protagonist and the antagonist.
The adversaries should be equally matched.
Their strengths should differ, one rival should
compensate to match the other.
Begin your story at the point of initial conict,
briey demonstrating the status quo before the
conict begins.
Start your action by having the antagonist instigate against the will of the protagonist. This is the
catalyst scene.
Craft the struggle between your rivals to be a
struggle on the characters power curves. One is usually inversely proportional to the other: As the antagonist rises on the power curve, the protagonist falls.
Have your antagonist gain superiority over your
protagonist by the end of the rst dramatic phase.
This usually occurs when the protagonist suffers the
actions of the antagonist and is at a disadvantage.
Clarify the sides by making clear the moral issues
that are involved.
The second dramatic phase should ip the
protagonists standing on the power curve through
a reversal of fortune.
The antagonist is often aware of the protagonists
empowerment.
The protagonist often reaches a point of parity on
the power curve before a challenge is possible.
Build up to the nal confrontation between rivals
in the third dramatic phase.
Judahs girlfriend hides this fact from Judah, insisting that

his mother and sister are dead. This reinforces Judahs
intent to avenge his familys wrongful deaths.
ENTERING THE THIRD DRAMATIC PHASE:
CONFRONTATION AND RESOLUTION
The stage is set. The empowered protagonists motivation is
morally justified. The antagonist prepares to defend. Enter
the third dramatic phase: the inevitable confrontation.
An Arab sheik convinces Judah to race his team of
horses against Messala in the Circus Maximus. The sheik
gets Messala to bet his entire personal fortune on the race,
thus giving Judah even more reason to beat him.
Anyone whos seen the 1959 film remembers those 11
minutes as the two men pit strength and cunning against
each other. Messalas chariot is outfitted with hubcaps that
have revolving blades that chew up the competition. But
the hubcaps dont work on Judah, and Messalas chariot
crashes. He gets trampled by the other teams behind him
and lies in the sand bleeding. Before he dies, Messala tells
Judah what really happened to his mother and sister. Now
Judah must find his family.
In the movie, Christ comes in and out of the action,
affecting Judah and his family. After Messalas death,
Christ is crucified, and Judahs mother and sister are
cured. The Ben-Hurs have found a new faith. But the
film version leaves out the greater depth of the rivalry.
Ben-Hur wants Jesus to be the head of a revolution
against Rome, and even raises an army for him to lead.
The rivalry extends beyond Judah and Messala; it is
pagan against Jew; Rome against Jerusalem. The forces
that oppose each other extend beyond individuals; they
incorporate religions and cultures. The third point of the
triangle is Jesus. Jesus doesnt affect Messala, but he does
affect Judah, who finally realizes that Jesus isnt the rebel
he wants him to be. By the end, Judah and his family have
been raised to a higher moral consciousness.
As the conflict between Judah and Messala in Ben-Hur
illustrates, rivalry isnt just about forces and objects. Its
about human nature, too. The intent of the rival is to
overcome his opponent. But what is the characters motivation? What fuels his ambition? Is it anger, jealousy, fear?
Examine the characters involved in your contest. Round
out action with an understanding of what motivates them.
We want to get a sense of the source of their obsession.
With the resolution, let the protagonist restore

order for himself and his world.
Excerpted from 20 Master Plots 1993 by Ronald B. Tobias, with

permission from Writers Digest Books.
4/24/12 12:03:48 PM
KEYS TO CONFLICT IN ROMANCE

BY JENNIFER LAWLER
s a romance acquisitions editor, I find that one of the

biggest problems writers struggle with is creating a
believable conflict, or series of conflicts, that will sustain
the novel its entire length. Conflict is the core of any work
of fictionits what makes your readers care what will
happen next.
In romance, everyone already knows how the book is
going to end (happily ever after), so there is no tension
over the outcome; the tension (and the page turning)
must come from some other source. At least some part
of the conflict must be between the hero and the heroine.
No romance reader wants to read about how the plucky
heroine met the strong, sexy hero and they realized they
were right for each other and everything was awesome
once they got rid of those pesky cattle rustlers. That might
make an interesting story, but it is not a romance.
A romance must have something (a conflict!) that keeps
the hero and the heroine apart. And what keeps the reader
turning pages is wondering how on earth youre going to
get them to overcome that obstacle and reach the happily
ever after. Use these three key questions to achieve just that.
WHAT DO YOUR CHARACTERS WANT, AND
HOW DOES IT BRING THEM INTO CONFLICT?
In romance, your two main characters must have internal goals and external goals that theyre trying to reach.
If you can bring your characters goals into conflict, and
thus the hero and heroine into conflict, you have a good
chance of creating believable tension that will keep your
readers engaged.
Suppose Greta has always loved her grandmothers
quilts, which remind her of her grandmothers house, the
only place she ever felt safe and loved. She has the internal
goal, perhaps never explicitly stated, but certainly implied,
of finding a way to feel safe and loved again.
For her character to be powerfully motivated through
the story, Gretas internal goal will need to drive her external goal that will lay the foundation for the plot. Suppose
she learns that the old general store on Main Street has
finally come up for sale, and she realizes that she can
buy it to start a quilt shop. Shell be able to share all thats
wonderful about quiltsespecially the love that goes into
themplus, owning her own business will help her feel
more secure, because shell be in charge of her own career.
She can already imagine her cozy future, surrounded by

things her grandmother once loved so deeply. The quilt
shop becomes the external goal that can help her reach
her internal goal.
If you can bring your two main

characters goals into conflict, and
thus the hero and heroine into conflict,
you have a good chance of creating
believable tension that will keep your
readers engaged.
Of course, it cant be easy: She must have obstacles to
reaching this goal. Suppose Hank also wants to buy the
building, to house the hobby store hes always wanted to
run. His internal goal is to feel connected, and the one
time he felt that way was when his dad, who died very
young, used to build model ships with him. This need is
amplified by the fact that hes been feeling more disconnected than ever these days because hes newly divorced
from his cheating ex-wifeand doesnt know if he can
ever really trust anyone again.
With this rich backstory, he already has lots of internal conflict beneath the surface when his internal goal of
feeling connected becomes an external goal of wanting to
start a hobby shopand brings him into direct conflict
with Greta.
The pair vies for the property. Each is emotionally
invested in his or her external goal because it is a reflection of his or her internal goal. Each step of the way, being
thwarted causes them both not just mere frustration, but
real emotional pain. That is the key to conflict in romance:
It must have a deep emotional source, even when the
story is lighthearted.
As the author, you need to recognize from the start that
for Hank and Greta to resolve the conflict between them
(their external conflict) they must each resolve that internal conflict first. Greta may eventually realize that she
doesnt need to always feel safeshe is strong enough to
weather whatever storms may come, because the conflict
with Hank has shown her this is true. Hank must learn to
4/24/12 12:03:56 PM
WRITERS WORKBOOK
trust again in order to feel connectedness, and perhaps he

realizes that despite their conflict, Greta has never lied to
him or let him down, and so he learns to trust her. When
they fall in love and realize they can both get what they
want, they open the Main Street Hobby and Quilt Shop.
Ta-da! A believable conflict and a satisfying resolution.
WHATS AT RISK IF YOUR CHARACTERS
DONT REACH THEIR GOALS?
This has to matter. Make the consequence big. Your hero
will lose his job or your heroine, her freedom. A character
racing just to win a $20 bet doesnt have much in jeopardy. However, she does if the bet is the external manifestation of something hugely important to the character
for example, proving that she is not a failure. Suppose
LouAnns awful ex-boyfriend says, I bet you $20 you
cant get a job by the end of summer, and she takes that
challenge. Its not the money thats really at risk.
In romance, when you have two main characters trying to reach their goals, their competing goals must be of
similar importance. Make sure your reader cares about
both of them succeeding.
Your characters should be working toward something
important and meaningfulsaving the ranch, winning
the election, bringing the bad guys to justice.
Suppose you have a story where the Greek shipping
magnate spearheads a hostile takeover of the financially
imperiled business that the spunky heroine is trying to
save. Are we expected to believe that once he does her
out of a job and destroys her dreams, shell fall in love
with him?
Her goalsaving the businessis meaningful and
we can sympathize with it. But what about his? He has
to have a sympathetic reason for wanting to take over
the heroines company. One way to accomplish this is to
give him a misguided external goal based on an internal
goalfor example, suppose all he wants is to make his
father proud of him, and so he follows in his fathers footsteps by launching hostile takeovers of vulnerable companies. Readers can sympathize with his internal goal while
disliking his external goal. And then the conflict can be
resolved when he realizes that his father was proud of him
all along, or that his father will never be proud of him
but thats OK, or whatever will serve to help him meet
his internal goaland free him to confess the admiration
that hes been developing for our spunky heroine.
Remember, its romance. Readers have to love your
hero, just as they have to respect your heroine.
DO YOUR CHARACTERS TAKE REALISTIC

STEPS TOWARD THOSE GOALS?
As your plot unfolds scene by scene, be sure your characters respond and react in ways that readers will understand. If your hero meets the heroine on Page 1, is promising his undying love on Page 2, and tries to prove it by
stalking her as she goes about town on Page 3, hes not
going to come across as a roguish charmer readers will
root for. Make things unfold naturally and logically.
If you still find your characters acting in unbelievable
or unsympathetic ways, the problem may be that your
characters goals are too small, trivial or contrived. Weve
all read some form of frivolous conflict along the lines of,
Sorry, I dont date blue-eyed men. If the conflict relies
on a misunderstood email, or some malicious third party
interfering with the couples road to happiness, or could
be cleared up if the heroine would just ask one nine-word
question, it isnt believable for very long.
In romance, when you have two main

characters trying to reach their goals,
their competing goals must be of similar
importance. Make sure your reader cares
about both of them succeeding.
It isnt enough to set up a believable conflict in your
story; you also have to resolve it. A conflict, however
believable, is not successful if it does not end in a way that
satisfies the reader.
That does not mean the resolution should be predictable. The resolution should not rely on divine intervention, the wise third party who sets everyone straight, or
the clock striking midnight. The conflict must be resolved
by a change that occurs in each character that sets them
on the path of mutual love and cooperation. Think of it
like focusing a camera; the characters are muddled, and
must reach clarity in order to reach their happily ever
after. For example, Hank and Greta realize that their goals
are not mutually exclusivethey can join forces, and
reach their goals together.
By making sure your two main characters have a
believable conflict, youll keep readers turning the pages
to the end.
Jennifer Lawler is acquisitions editor for Crimson Romance (a new
e-book imprint from F+W Media) and the author of several romances
under a pen name.
4/24/12 12:04:06 PM
5 TOOLS FOR BUILDING CONFLICT

BY JA M E S SCO TT BE LL
ust like anyone else who builds things from scratch,

writers need tools. And the more you use them, the
better you become at using them. The more tools youre
exposed to, the greater your skill.
So herein are some tools for you in this matter of creating conflict. Use them to build a great-looking book with
plenty of horsepower.
Heres what a NOP journal entry might look like for a

novel about a character named Roger Hill. Notice how
Im asking for more troublefrom the book, not life.
OK, Jim, youre feeling pretty good today, arent you?
Pretty chipperyoud think youve got this thing nailed.
But you dont. You dont think theres enough trouble for
Roger. You better come up with some things.
THE NOVEL JOURNAL

I picked up one of the best ongoing writing tools for
conflict from Sue Grafton. Its the novel journal. This is a
document you keep, almost like a diary, jotting things in
it every day before you begin to write.
One of my theories about writing, Grafton says, is
that the process involves an ongoing interchange between
left brain and right. The journal provides a testing ground
where the two can engage.
Grafton begins by writing a few lines on whats happening in her own life. Next she writes about any ideas that
occurred to her in the dead of night.
Then she writes about where she is in her book. She
talks about the scenes shes working on, or trouble spots.
And that begins the What If game. She writes
down story possibilities and the pros and cons for these
possibilities. Then she lets those ideas simmer for a day or
two. When she checks back on them, she can determine
which ones have stood the test of time.
This journal idea works for both OPs (Outline People)
and NOPs (No Outline People).
For the NOPs, its pure gold because youre tiptoeing
through the tulips of your imagination. Every day I fall
in love again with my writing, you sayright before an
OP slaps your face.
You OPs, on the other hand, are practically military in
your position. You scoff at the NOPs from your structurally sound edifice of steel girders and industrial wiring.
The NOPs shake their heads, lamenting the beauty you
might have created if you were in the tulips, too.
Strike back by using the novel journal to coax out
deeper scene ideas, to discover surprises that you can
work into your outline, and to find solutions to problems
that inevitably arise in the writing of a novel.
The journal may be the item that enables NOPs and
OPs to get along.
Fine. Dont talk smack.

Hey, its your butt thats got to be kicked. Look, Roger
has just walked out of the bank and nobody has recognized him. What if you change that? What if he runs right
into the worst possible person at this time? Maybe that
cop from Chapter 1?
Or maybe his old friend from high school who wants to
hold him up. Like that Ned character in Groundhog Day.
This could be a little comedy but also tension because
Roger has got to get out of there.
Good, good. What else could we do with this high
school friend?
Maybe hes got another assignment hes keeping secret
from Roger. Maybe this wasnt a chance meeting at all.
Could said friend, well call him Ned for now, be CIA?
Or something of that nature?
Or would that be too predictable? Come on, Jim,
youre the writer here. Make it unpredictable.
Show Ned to be just as boring and incompetent as
the guy in the movie. Make him seem like comedic relief,
truly. And then maybe he dispatches an assassin with cool
quickness in one shocking scene.
Or maybe Ned is married to an ordinary woman and
SHE is the one with the skills.
Keep thinking, Jim. Turn this over to your subconsciousthe boys in the basementand sleep on it
tonight.
Now, while the NOPs are falling in love with their journals, you OPs can be using it to give depth and surprises
to your well-thought-out plans. Your entry might look
something like this:
OK, Jim, you nished that scene yesterday with Roger
about to leave the bank. Just like you pictured it. Hes got
all that fear inside him now.
4/24/12 12:04:13 PM
WRITERS WORKBOOK
By the way, did you exploit that moment? Did you

give enough description there of Rogers insides? You
better look at that, because heres a real chance to
deepen reader sympathy with ole Rog. Hes got the plot
thing going on pretty good now. Make the reader wait a
little longer before he leaves the bank.
Now hes going to meet Ned outside, and Ned is
going to appear to be his old friend from high school. Of
When you have the chance to interview an expert, go

beyond the standard-issue questions. Ask things like:
What makes your job hard?
What conflicts do you face in the day to day?
What war stories can you tell me?
What kinds of people complicate your work?
Look for the friction points of a profession, not just the
duties. The friction is where youll find fodder for conflict.
course, hes a CIA-trained killer who is living what seems

like a mild suburban life in Sherman Oaks, a total front.
What are you going to do to sell the surface story to
the reader? You have Roger stepping out of the bank
and Ned recognizing him.
What if you change that? Have Roger be the one to
recognize him and make the rst move? Have that be
Neds plan all along, to avoid suspicion. Also it will help
convince the readers that this is a chance meeting with
Ned, not something Ned has set up.
Man, youre good. Have I told you that lately?
Yes, a little pep talk never hurts.

So there you go. The novel journal. A tool that helps
you to keep your mind in the book, no matter how you
approach the material. Put it to use to make sure your
conflict is as strong as it can be, every step of the way.
Youll find it also stimulates your thinking when youre
not writing. Ideas will start popping like cameras at a
red carpet.
QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED
Keep a running list of questions to be answered. This is,
primarily, for research purposes.
Writers differ in their approach to research. Some
believe that research done up front reveals areas of conflict youd never have come up with on your own. Others
like to write the story and, as areas that require more
research pop up, save them for later.
Like the NOP and OP approaches, each has its
strengths. If you like research, by all means start there.
But dont do so much that you never get around to writing. If you like to wing it, put a symbol in your text
where you are going to need research and keep writing.
Make your best guess about what should go there and
move on.
When in doubt, make it up and make it seem real.
You write fiction, after all. Youre a liar by trade.
If its a fact you must ultimately get right, keep writing
and come back to it later.
DREAMS
Dreams in fiction are often misused.
One way they are misused is when they open a novel.
The writer thinks, Wow, I can write this really gripping
opening, with all sorts of big-stakes conflict right off the bat!
The readers will be totally sucked in and then Ill spring
it on themits just a dreambut by that time theyll be
hooked. Man, what a great idea.
No. Its not.
Its a rip-off, a scandal, a con.
Do not open with a dream. (Yes, I know you can point
to an author or two who has done this and sold a gazillion
copies. And when you sell a gazillion copies, guess what?
You can do it too! And I know Daphne du Maurier did it
in Rebecca, but that was first-person narration, and she
told us it was a dream and related it to us in past tense, so
well let Daphne get away with it, OK?)
Watch out also for the recurring premonition dream.
This is where the character has a mysterious dream
that keeps repeating and holds obvious significance the
character cant figure out but is afraid of. As the dream
repeats, we know that at some future moment all will
be revealed.
When you have the chance to interview

an expert, go beyond the standard-issue
questions. Ask things like: What makes
your job hard? Look for the friction points
of a profession, not just the duties.
It seems like a way to keep the readers attention, but
its a bit like having the narrator (you) write, Little did
she know that danger lurked just up the road. Yes, it gets
the point across, but will the readers respect you in the
morning? One reason they might not is that this type
4/24/12 12:04:22 PM
Cat Co
of dream has been used so many times in thrillers and
speculative fiction. Im not going to say you should never
do it, but think twice before you do.
Almost as overused is the past psychological mask
dream. This is where the character keeps having a
dream about a traumatic experience in the past. All
the symbolism is explained at some point in the proceedings. Hitchcock did this well in The Paradine Case,
in 1947. But it was starting to show its age in Marnie
(1964). Yes, you can do the same, but once again Id
consider alternatives.
The best way to use a dream is sparingly (once per
novel as a general rule) and then only to give a window
into what the character is experiencing, emotionally, at
the moment. It is a method to get us inside the character
and show us just how the conflict is getting to her.
In Rebecca, the ongoing mystery is Rebecca herself,

the dead wife of Maxim de Winter, whom the books
unnamed narrator has married. What is Rebeccas hold
on this man? What is her hold on the imperious Mrs.
Danvers? Was she so perfect that Maxim can never truly
love another?
The new bride fights her way through all these doubts
and expectations and youthful mistakes, until finally the
mystery is resolved in a most shocking way. But until that
point, the mystery has a hold on the narratorand, thus,
the readers.
Try working a background secret of some kind into
your story with the end goal of heightening your conflict.
The secret can be something in the lead characters life
or in the life of another. But the secret has to be asserting
itself in some fashion, unexplained but very real.
In the dream Sarah saw the gure in the distance, behind
GUY WITH A GUN

This was a Raymond Chandler idea. If youre writing
along and the going gets dull, he said, just bring in a guy
with a gun.
Justify it later.
Its a great trick. (Yes, its OK to call these things tricks
of the trade. If youre angling for a position on the Yale
faculty, you can call them advanced literary operandi.) It
brings instant conflict, and juices up your story.
Of course, it doesnt have to be a literal gun. It can be
almost anything:
An unexpected guest
Someone from the past
An upsetting phone call
An accident
A cop
A nun
A con artist
A news item
A death
A sudden shock (Youre fired! or Will you marry
me?)
And so on. Its up to you, as always.
Try stuff. See what happens.
Let the justification come later.
Just continue to think trouble, trouble, trouble. Make it
worse. Turn up the heat.
Thats conflict, your best friend as a writer. WD
her, coming closer. It was dark, she could not see his face,
but she knew who it was just the same.
It was him, and he wanted her.
She tried to run.
The sidewalk below her feet became hot tar. She tried
to move but her feet wouldnt go.
She tried to scream but no sound issued.
Then the buildings, the tall glass buildings where
her friends worked, began to melt like ice. The water
gathered around her and came up to her knees, then
her thighs.
The man was still there, walking on the water.
Dreams can be part of your toolbox but should be

among those specialized gadgets that dont come out
very often.
ONGOING MYSTERY
The ongoing mystery is a technique of suspense. It is the
unanswered question that everyone is thinking about,
everyone is concerned with. The opening line of Ayn
Rands Atlas Shrugged is: Who is John Galt? That question haunts the characters in the book for quite some
time (and I do mean quite some time in a book of that
size). It keeps us going.
Indeed, whole dramas can be built on the ongoing
mystery. What else keeps us watching Waiting for Godot?
Can you work a mystery into your book that keeps the
readers guessing for many pages to come? Its not that
difficult to do and can pay big dividends in readability.
Excerpted from Conict & Suspense 2011 by James Scott Bell,

with permission from Writers Digest Books.
4/24/12 12:04:28 PM
STANDOUTMARKETS
An exclusive look inside the markets that can help you make your mark.
BY TIFFANY LUCKEY
FOR BOOKS:
EDGE Science Fiction

and Fantasy Publishing
THE INSIDE STORY FROM:
MISSION:
Brian Hades, publisher
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing encourages, produces and
promotes thought-provoking and well-written science ction, fantasy and horror

literature. Our authors are both seasoned and upcoming writers who have a personal and professional vision of their own future as a writer, and who are not afraid
to become media personalities and Internet sensations.
WHAT STANDS OUT & WHY:
EDGE is one of the few large

independent book imprints in North
America that focuses solely on
fantasy, horror and science ction.
Its rst-ever release, Marie Jakobers
The Black Chalice, took rst place in
the Fantasy/Sci-Fi category of the
2001 Independent Publisher Book
Awards. More recently, EDGEs
Stolen Children, the last book in the
Children of the Panther trilogy by
Amber Hayward, was nominated
for a 2012 Hinton Alberta Literary
Award. T L
FOUNDED: 1998 (as an imprint of

Hades Publications Inc.). PUBLISHES:
10 books a year. FOCUS: We publish speculative fiction (anthologies
and novels)science fiction, fantasy and horror. KEY TO SUCCESSFUL
SUBMISSIONS: A unique story concept,
written for the genre reader (not
mainstream, so the author must
be well versed in the genre) and, of
course, well-written and compelling plots and character development. WHAT MAKES US UNIQUE: Our
mandate includes introducing new
authors/voices as well as publishing seasoned professionals. We are
Canadian, but publish for the North
American market. Our books are
distributed in Canada and the U.S.
and are available through retail
booksellers as well as online stores.
2,00010,000 copies. RANGE

Typically 5 percent
of the net projected first-run sales.
HOW TO SUBMIT: Send query/cover
letter, synopsis, title page, prologue
(optional) and first three chapters
by mail to: P.O. Box 1714, Calgary,
AB T2P 2L7, Canada. No simultaneous submissions; no previously
published work. All work must be
original and not derivative. No fanor media-based fiction. DETAILED
GUIDELINES: edgewebsite.com/
authors.html.
RUNS:
OF ADVANCES:
What types of stories are you

actively seeking?
WE MIGHT BE A GOOD FIT FOR YOU IF:
Urban fantasy, dark fantasy, werewolf [stories], science fiction mashups, cross-genre, historical fantasy.
No epic fantasy or multi-volume
series at this time.
You are a serious writer with more

than one idea to offer who wants
to be a career writer, and you are
working to establish yourself using
social media and author marketing
tools/techniques. RANGE OF PRINT
It takes time [to respond]; we

receive hundreds of submissions a
year. Please be patient with us, but
stay in touch with gentle reminders.
Describe your selection process.
58_wd0812StandoutMarkets.indd 58
4/24/12 12:06:29 PM
FOR SHORT STORIES, POEMS AND ESSAYS:
Ploughshares
MISSION STATEMENT:
Ploughshares, published three times
Founded in 1971 by DeWitt
a year (April, August and December), is a journal of new
Henry and Peter OMalley in a
writing guest-edited by prominent poets and writers to
Cambridge, Mass., pub called Plough
reect different and contrasting points of view. Our mission
and Stars, this literary journal has
is to present dynamic, contrasting views on what is valid and

important in contemporary literature and to discover and
advance signicant literary talent.
FOUNDED: 1971. CIRCULATION: 6,000. PAYMENT: $25 per
printed page; $50 minimum, $250 maximum. Also
offers the Emerging Writers Contest, which awards
a $1,000 prize in three categories: fiction, nonfiction
and poetry. HOW TO SUBMIT: Send fiction, poetry and
creative nonfiction submissions during the reading
period June 1Jan. 15 by mail to Ploughshares, Emerson
College, 120 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116-4624; or
submit online at www2.pshares.org/submit. Submit
queries for critical essays year-round via the online submission form. DETAILED GUIDELINES: pshares.org/submit/
guidelines.cfm.
played host to an impressive list of

guest editors, including Nobel Prize winners Seamus
Heaney and Derek Walcott, and Pulitzer Prize winner
Yusef Komunyakaa. Numerous works originally appearing in Ploughshares have been selected for The Best
American Short Storiesmore than any other literary
journal in the past decadeas well as The Pushcart Prize
anthology and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories.
Ploughshares also is more than just short stories and
poetry. It publishes critical essays about underappreciated
writers; past subjects have included Richard Yates, Sybille
Bedford and Dawn Powell. T L
FOR NONFICTION WORK:
Smithsonian
MISSION STATEMENT:
To inspire fascination with all the
Theres a little part in all of
world has to offer by featuring unexpected and entertain-
us that wants to know the history
ing editorial that explores different lifestyles, cultures and
and specic details about every-
peoples, the arts, the wonders of nature and technology,
thing around us, from food, art and
and much more. The highly educated, innovative readers of

Smithsonian seek the timely and timeless, the artistic and
the academic, the thought-provoking and the humorous.
1970. CIRCULATION: More than 2 million.

PAYMENT: Varies; up to $1,000 for short pieces and for
the humor column. HOW TO SUBMIT: Fill out the form at
smithsonianmag.com/contact-us/article-submit. No
email or postal submissions or queries. Departments
open to freelancers include Points of Interest,
Phenomena & Curiosities, and The Last Page. DETAILED
GUIDELINES: smithsonianmag.com/contact-us/submissionguidelines.html.
FOUNDED:
culture to nature, the arts and, of

course, other people. Thats why the ofcial journal of
the Smithsonian Institute sets out to quench our thirst
for fascinating and quirky knowledge. While a tad
eccentric, articles in Smithsonian are highly intellectual
and thought-provoking, giving writers the opportunity
to turn out fun and interesting stories without losing
insight or acumen. With a huge circulation, great pay
and a high percentage of articles from freelancers,
Smithsonian is a sure-re place for a writer to advance
his career. TL
Tiffany Luckey is an assistant editor for WD and the Writers Market series.
58_wd0812StandoutMarkets.indd 59
4/24/12 12:06:36 PM
CONFERENCESCENE
Events to advance your craft, connections and career.
BY LINDA FORMICHELLI
Colorado Gold
Conference
Want to strike gold with your genre
writing? You wont have to dig for
long to nd just what you need at
this conference, which boasts more
than 70 workshops for writers at
every stage of their careers.
and weaving conflict with plot; an I

Hate to Write a Synopsis Workshop,
which covered the specific story elements to include or leave out; and
Contracts and Copyrights: How to
Read and Understand a Publishing
Deal. IF YOU GO: We publish our
roster and teaching schedule ahead
of time so that you can plan ahead
[and decide] what workshops will
work best for you, conference
chairperson Susan Brooks says. FOR
MORE INFO: rmfw.org/conference.
Women Writing
the West
Saddle up! If your writing features stories or characters of the
American West, youll lasso inspiration as well as valuable information
at this event staged in the heart of
Albuquerques Old Town.
Oct. 1921, 2012. WHERE:

Hotel Albuquerque, N.M. PRICE: By
June 30: $210 for WWW members;
$235 for nonmembers. After June
30: $235 for WWW members; $270
for nonmembers. WHAT MAKES IT
UNIQUE: WWW kicks off on Friday
with a walk to the Albuquerque
Museum and a docent-guided
walking tour of the historic Old
Town. Also, winners of two prestigious Western writing awards
are announced during the conference: the WILLA award, which
honors the best books featuring womens or girls stories set in
the West; and the LAURA award,
which honors Western-themed
short stories. WHO ITS PERFECT FOR:
Writers of all genres, from historical fiction to YA, whose work is set
west of the Mississippi River. HOW
MANY ATTEND: 120130. FACULTY:
WHEN:
COLORADO PHOTO DAVID LIU; ALBUQUERQUE PHOTO IVANASTAR; BELLEVUE WESTIN PHOTO FLUXPHOTO
WHEN: Sept. 79, 2012. WHERE:

Denver Renaissance Hotel. PRICE:
Before July 31: $275 for Rocky
Mountain Fiction Writers members; $320 for nonmembers. From
Aug. 131: $300 for RMFW members; $345 for nonmembers. After
Aug. 31: $325 for RMFW members;
$365 for nonmembers. WHAT MAKES
IT UNIQUE: With 7080 workshops
over three days, theres something
for every writer. And though its
impossible to go to every session,
attendees can buy recordings of
the ones they dont make it to. WHO
ITS PERFECT FOR: Writers of massmarket fiction, from steampunk to
thrillers to young adult. HOW MANY
ATTEND: 350400. FACULTY: Around
40 noteworthy presenters, including bestselling authors Jodi Thomas
and Debra Dixon; literary agents
Beth Miller (Writers House) and
Chelsea Gilmore (Maria Carvainis
Agency); and Harlequin senior editor Erika Imranyi (Mira Books).
HIGHLIGHTS: Last year, popular sessions included Discovering Story
Magic, which detailed a three-step
technique for developing characters
60_wd0812ConferenceScene.indd 60
4/24/12 12:10:41 PM
Speakers include literary agents

Susan Schulman, Liz Trupin-Pulli
and Sandra Bond; editors and
publishers from the University of
New Mexico Press, Treble Heart
Books and LPD Press & Rio Grande
Books; and writers Virginia Scharff,
author of The Women Jefferson
Loved and director of the Center
for the Southwest at the University
of New Mexico, and adventurer
Page Lambert, author of Shifting
Stars. HIGHLIGHTS: Attendees can
make appointments with agents
and publishers to pitch their work
or even just to chat. Workshops
include Breakthrough Book Buzz:
Trendspotting Toward a Faithful
Following and Will This Book
Ever Be Published? IF YOU GO:
Come prepared to meet lots of
people and talk with everyone, conference president Linda Jacobs says.
People say you shouldnt bother
[agents and publishers] in the elevatorbut its not a bother at Women
Writing the West, because [the conference] is small enough that everyone is always ready to talk to somebody. FOR MORE INFO: women
writingthewest.org.
Emerald City
Writers Conference
Whats your genre? At the Emerald
City Writers Conference, it doesnt
matterbecause this welcoming
event covers them all.
WHEN: Oct. 2628, 2012. WHERE:
Bellevue Westin, Wash. PRICE: Before
Aug. 15: $239 for Greater Seattle
Romance Writers Association members; $259 for nonmembers. After
Aug. 15: $269 for GSRWA members; $289 for nonmembers. WHAT
MAKES IT UNIQUE: From the welcome
reception hosted by New York Times

bestselling author Cherry Adair
to the Newcomers Roundtable,
youll feel surrounded by friends
at this conference. WHO ITS PERFECT FOR: Although GSRWA is an
arm of the Romance Writers of
America, this conferences focus is
on the business and craft of writing in all genresand all writers are
welcome. HOW MANY ATTEND: 300.
FACULTY: The conference boasts such
bestselling authors as Jane Porter
(The Frog Prince), Susan Andersen
(Present Danger) and Victoria
Alexander (My Wicked Little Lies),
and agents including Holly Root
of the Waxman Literary Agency,
Alexandra Machinist of Janklow
& Nesbit Associates and Nicole
Resciniti of The Seymour Agency.
Editors include Amanda Bergeron
of Avon, Carrie Jackson of Elloras
Cave and Kelli Martin of Amazons
Montlake Romance. HIGHLIGHTS:
Youll find workshops for writers of
all levels on career, branding, contracts, dialogue and plotting, as well
as chats with well-known authors.
At the editor/agent industry roundtable, writers have the opportunity
to join a discussion about the business. Attendees can also sign up for
three-minute pitch sessions with
editors or agents. Agents will head
up a query clinic to help writers polish their pitches. IF YOU GO: This
year were offering a Conference
Mentor program for new attendees, so anyone who wants a personal connection will have a mentor
who will spill the conference beans,
event chair Shelly Shellabarger says.
FOR MORE INFO: gsrwa.org. WD
Linda Formichelli (therenegadewriter.com),
co-author of The Renegade Writer, teaches
an e-course on breaking into magazines and
offers writers phone mentoring.
60_wd0812ConferenceScene.indd 61
4/24/12 12:10:48 PM
C O NF E RE NCEG U IDE
CONFERENCE GUIDE
JULY/AUGUST 2012
Keep in mind that there may be more
than one workshop in each listing.
These workshops are listed alphabetically by state, country or continent.
Unless otherwise indicated, rates
include tuition (T) only. Sometimes the
rates also include airfare (AF), some or
all meals (M), accommodations (AC),
ground transportation (GT), materials
(MT) or fees (F).
When you find workshops that interest
you, be sure to call, email or check the
website of the instructor or organization for additional information.
All listings are paid advertisements.
CALIFORNIA
THE SANTA BARBARA WRITERS
CONFERENCE, sponsored by The
Writer. June 914, 2012 at the beachfront
Hyatt Santa Barbara. SBWC has been an
institution in the writing community for
40 years, attracting aspiring writers and
famous authors. This years speakers
include: Dorothy Allison, Christopher
Buckley, Miles Corwin, Gar Anthony
Haywood, and Fannie Flagg. Monte
Schulz, John H. Ritter, Marla Miller,
Elfrieda Abbe, Barnaby Conrad III, and
dozens more, instructors. All levels.
$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
WRITERS DIGEST CONFERENCE

WEST. Be ready for publishing success:
Join other writers, agents, editors and
publishing experts October 1921, 2012
at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel &
Spa in Los Angeles! Youll learn to excel
at the craft of writing; find out how to
market yourself effectively even before
you get published; and get up-to-date
insights on the publishing trends that
affect your writing career. And dont
forget the Pitch Slam, your chance to go
face-to-face with more than 20 literary
agents who could shift your writing
career into high gear! Get the tools and
inspiration you need to make your writing
better than ever. Thriller author James
Scott Bell is just one speaker who will
provide insights into the art of developing
suspense in any genre of fiction. Register
by July 19 and save $70!
Contact: writersdigestconference@
fwmedia.com
www.writersdigestwest.com
SCREENWRITERS WORLD
CONFERENCE. Join us in Hollywood
October 1921, 2012 at the Renaissance
Hollywood Hotel & Spa where youll be
guided through the steps of writing,
marketing and selling your next
blockbuster movie, television pilot or Web
series. You will also come face-to-face
with over 80 agents and execs who are
actively looking for new writers to
represent at the Pitch Slam. Register by
July 19 and save $70!
Contact: screenwritersworld@fwmedia.com
www.screenwritersworld.com
COLORADO
WRITING FOR THE SOUL, sponsored

by The Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers
Guild. February 1417, 2013, at the
Broadmoor Hotel & Resort in Colorado
Springs. The Writing for the Soul
conference will equip and inspire you.
Youll 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
WASHINGTON
WRITE ON THE SOUND WRITERS
CONFERENCE, October 57, 2012,
Edmonds, Washington. Over 30
workshops on the craft of writing with
noted authors, educators and trade
professionals. Keynote speaker Carla
Neggers, New York Times and USA
Today bestselling romantic suspense
author. Presenters include WA State Poet
Laureate Kathleen Flenniken and
internationally known travel writer Rick
Steves. Themed writing contest, critique
appointments, and half day preconference workshops on Friday. All
levels. Located 20 minutes N of Seattle,
presented by City of Edmonds Arts
Commission. $70 (pre-conf), $80 (1 day),
$127/$147 (2 days early/reg).
Contact: Frances Chapin
700 Main St.
Edmonds, WA 98020
Ph: 425/771-0228
Fax: 425/771-0253
wots@ci.edmonds.wa.us
www.writeonthesound.com
INTERNATIONAL
MEXICO
SAN MIGUEL WRITERS

CONFERENCE AND LITERARY
FESTIVAL, sponsored by San Miguel
Literary Sala. February 1417, 2013 in
San Miguel de Allende. Plan now to
FLORIDA
attend 2013s most enchanting Writers
FLORIDA HERITAGE BOOK
Conference! San Miguel de Allende is
FESTIVAL & WRITERS
a magical, historic town and a mecca
CONFERENCE, September 1315, 2012,
for the arts. The entire town is a World
St. Augustine, Florida. Writers Conference
Heritage Site of preserved 1700s
with multiple craft and marketing
buildings. It is an isolated mountain town,
workshops, top professional faculty.
worlds away from border violence. Hotel
Book Festival features noted authors.
rooms only $65, double or single! Pitch
$170 early discount (July 31).
sessions with top agents; 42 workshops
Contact: Kathy Dvornick
Ph: 904/940-0194
(choose six); keynotes and panels; open
kdvor@bellsouth.net
mic; individual consultations; optional
www.fhbookfest.com
intensives; spectacular Mexican Fiesta;
explore San Miguel excursions. Several
meals included. All genres; fully bilingual:
NEW YORK
The
Creative Crossroads of the Americas.
THRILLERFEST VII, INCLUDING
Previous keynote speakers include
THRILLERFEST/CRAFTFEST/
Margaret Atwood, Barbara Kingsolver,
AGENTFEST, sponsored by International
Tom Robbins, Naomi Wolf, Sandra
Thriller Writers. July 1114, 2012 at the
Cisneros, Todd Gitlin, Erica Jong. Join our
Grand Hyatt in New York City. Meet over
mailing list to hear our plans for February
800 authors, hone your craft, pitch to over
50 agents, learn the secrets of many NYT
2013. Instructors TBA. Beginning to
bestsellersand much more. Sign up
Advanced. (T, M, MT, F, parties!) Special
today! Jack Higgins, R.L. Stine, Lee
group rates. Bring your entire Book Club
Child, Catherine Coulter, John Sandford,
or Writing Group.
Richard North Patterson, Ann Rule, Karin
Contact: Susan Page
Slaughter, Joseph Wambaugh, Sandra
220 N. Zapata Hwy. #11
Brown, Steve Berry, David Morrell, Gayle
Laredo, TX 78043
Lynds, Douglas Preston, and many, many
Ph: 510/295-4097
more.
susan@susanpage.com
Contact: Dennis Kennett
www.sanmiguelwritersconferenceblog.org
P.O. Box 311
Eureka, CA 95502
Ph: 905/426-8010
dpkennett@sbcglobal.net
www.thrillerfest.com
JulAug12WD Classifieds.indd 62
4/30/12 4:38:25 PM
C L AS S IFIEDS : READ ING NOT ICES
Why do you
need to join a
professional association?
rConnect with readers, clients, agents,
and publishers through your own member website and blog.
r/FUXPSLwith other members through
the social features of the NAIWE site.
rLearn how to market your books, price
your freelance services, use social media
and more in NAIWEs exclusive members-only training teleclasses.
r#FBHVFTU on The Freelance Life online
radio show. Its a free, members-only
marketing opportunity.
rLearn how other writers and editors
have created multiple streams of income, and how you can too.
Best of all, youre welcome in NAIWE
even if youre just getting started, because your member website and blog,
along with all the NAIWE training and
marketing opportunities, will help you
strategically build your career, and we
want to help you succeed.
NAIWE is the
professional association with
a career-building difference.
Join online
at www.NAIWE.com.
P.O. Box 549, Ashland, VA 23005
www.Facebook.com/NAIWENews
www.Twitter.com/NAIWENews
Get our e-mail newsletter at
www.NAIWE.com.
W
Wha
h tte
hate
teve
ver your
ver
your spe
sp
peci
cific
fi fi
fiel
ed
el
eld,
d,,
iff theres
the
here
res
re
ss a Nat
a io
ational
iona
nall Associat
na
Assso
soci
ciat
ci
atio
at
ation
ion
n
...
join it.
jo
it.
Frrom
From
m Zen
Zen and
annd the
the Art
Art of Making
Mak
akin
kin
ingg a Living
Livi
Li
viingg
byy Laurence
Lauure
renc
ncee G.
nc
G. Boldt
Bol
Bol
oldt
dt
CLASSIFIED/DISPLAY ads (cuts, head-
lines, illustrations, rules, etc.) of 13

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 addresses 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 literature

you plan to send must accompany your
order. Literary Services and Editing/Revising advertisers must send a rsum
and sample critique. Send ad with check
or money order to: Writers Digest Reading
Notices, 700 E. State St., Iola, WI 54990.
To learn more, call Jill Ruesch at (800)7269966, ext. 13223. Fax: (715)445-4087.
jill.ruesch@fwmedia.com
CLOSING DATE FOR THE OCTOBER 2012 ISSUE
IS JUNE 26, 2012. To advertise, call Jill Ruesch:
(800)726-9966, ext. 13223.
BOOKS
FREE! PUBLISHING BASICS- Navigating the
Self-Publishing Minefield a must for the serious
self-publisher. www.SelfPublishing.com or 800/479-1870.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
MAKE $500 WEEKLY. E-Z assembly work. Many
categories to choose. Free information. Send SASE to
JDK-W, P.O. Box 635, Hopkins, MN 55343-0635.
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

CO-PUBLISHING OPPORTUNITIES. We edit,
proofread, design, illustrate, print and distribute your
book; you provide the manuscript and share the profits.
Children, poetry, novels. www.laredopublishing.com or
call 201/408-4048.
TRAVELLING POETS SOCIETY needs quality
poems/prose (in both English and Spanish) about
love, relationships, vows, oaths, weddings, wedding
members, for new web site. If your work is used,
you will be compensated. Send to:
travellingpoetssociety@gmail.com
CONTESTS
NO FEES! Short story contests 3x/year since 2006.
1st $180, 2nd $140, 3rd $100, hon. mention $40.
www.OnThePremises.com
EDITORIAL SERVICES
Need help with your writing?

Published Author, Ghostwriter & Editor
of 27 bestselling books is skilled at
book doctoring/editing and rewrites.
Heart & Soul Writing Center

615-279-8144 dpeerce@comcast.net
www.DonnaPeerceWriter.com
From Creation to Contract

Quoted on CNN and
international media
Ghostwritten/rewritten
nearly 200 projects
Fiction and nonfiction
Ghostwriting
Rewriting
Proposals
Queries
Agents
Editing
Clients consistently receive the attention

of top publishers and premium agents.
Eighteen years of experience provide you
with the professional, tailored services you
need to succeed.
Writers Resource Laine Cunningham

Toll-free 866-212-9805 | writersresource.us
New York Times Best-selling Author
DAVID COMPTON
David
Full-time professional with 13 years experience

Fiction/Nonction editing + ghostwriting
MBA, former Fortune 100 marketing executive
SAMPLE CLIENT TESTIMONIAL:

Thanks for the valuable feedback. Your critique is
rst-rate. You did a fabulous job editing this novel.
It was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot
more than is taught in school.
My objective: Your sellable manuscript

DETAILS: www.authoredit.com
compton@authoredit.com Tel. 919.809.7643
THE COACH
Every player needs a coach.
Let a professional with 30 years
experience help you take your
novel, short story, screenplay,
teleplay, memoir, blog, article
or non-ction book and shape
it up for publication. With
David Bischoff
contacts in the industry, this
Evaluation, Proong, Line Editing,
Content
Agent Search, Social
coach can get your work over Media andEditing,
Traditional Promotion and
the goal line. E-mail, or call Publicity--Facebook Twitter Specialist,
Self-Publishing Guidance, Cover
for a free chat about our
Design, Layout. Print and Ebook
services and affordable rates.
Production and Publishing.
1-888-785-2415 ...Toll Free!

david.bischoff@gmail.com
Credit list? Amazon.com! David Bischoff!
www.davidbischoff.com
Professional Line Editing $
www.profpress.com
00
per page
800-277-8960 PROFESSIONAL PRESS
4/30/12 4:38:35 PM
C L A S S I F I E DS: R EA DIN G N OTIC ES
AFFORDABLE, COMPREHENSIVE, EFFECTIVE

Professional editor and published author provides
personalized editorial services. In-depth evaluation,
development, editing, rewrites. Fiction/non-fiction.
Contact Helga Schier, Ph.D., 310/828-8421
withpenandpaper@verizon.net
PROFESSIONAL EDITOR, award-winning author
(Bantam, Berkley/Ace, others) offers extensive
critiques, in-depth editing. Fiction, nonfiction,
juvenile/YA. Carol Gaskin, 941/377-7640.
Carol@EditorialAlchemy.com;
www.EditorialAlchemy.com
CRITIQUING, EDITING. HARVARD Ph.D., Blair
Kenney. Former Professor, Psychotherapist. Fiction,
Nonfiction. Conservative, Christian Welcome.
Recession Fees! bkeditor@aol.com;
www.bkeditor.com, 941/955-8488.
Mike Sirota Writing Services

Let a writing professional and author of more than
twenty published novels help you make your book
Better Than Good. Services include detailed manuscript
critique, editing, revisions, and submission guidance.
For full details visit www.mikesirota.com

Call (619) 807-7975 or e-mail Mike at
mike.sirota@yahoo.com
appy customer of Constructive

Critiques speaks up!
I was completely satisfied with the
service. I feel that I got what I paid for plus
extra, due to the critique that Karlyn Thayer
included. It was a pleasure working with
her via e-mail. She answered questions that
were with me throughout the writing of my
novel. I feel confident that by incorporating
the line-by-line edit into my book, it will present itself with a clean and polished look for
its return to the submission process. I had
spent a lot of time trying to find a proofreader. It was an exhausting experience.
Believe me, I had doubts handing over my
money and my book! I will definitely use this
service again when I am finished with my
second novel.
--Gail Marcello
Constructive
Critiques
www.constructivecritiques.com
EDITORIAL SERVICES (CONT.)
WORD-BY-WORD, TOTAL STRUCTURAL EDITING.
Respect for your voice. Get that competitive edge
for publication. Professional editor, published author,
BA UCLA, Masters work. Detailed revisions; grammar,
style, critique explained in margins. Electronic edit
available. 30 years experience. Free sample edit.
$2/page. Kathleen_editor@yahoo.com or
www.bookeditor-bookcovers.net
EXPERT EDITING by The Editor Who Goes That
Extra Mile. Very reasonable. Arlene Uslander.
uslander.arlene@gmail.com. Outstanding references.
www.uslander.net
EDITING. ANY MANUSCRIPT. $2/page.
30 yrs. experience. Joyce Standish,
2000 N Rampart Blvd #118, Las Vegas, NV 89128.
702/456-9344; fax: 702/434-2725.
ELECTRONIC EDITING. Free five-page sample.

40-year professional. Line/content editing;
proofreading. Reasonable, competitive rates.
References. 605/725-0121.
www.theweisrevise.com; weisrevise@nvc.net
PUBLISHED AUTHOR, OVER THIRTY YEARS
editorial experience. Manuscript analysis, editing,
revisions. DanaRae Pomeroy, 864/834-7549.
E-mail: danarae@charter.net; www.dana-rae.com
PERSONALIZED, IN-DEPTH, comprehensive,
developmental editing for fiction and nonfiction.
Turning writers into published authors, and
manuscripts into great books.
www.maloneeditorial.com;
maloneeditorial@hotmail.com
THE MANUSCRIPT DOCTOR: book author, magazine,
newspaper writer-editor/writing instructor.
THOROUGH editing: $2.00/page; including margin
notes. Also, rewrite, critiquing, ghosting, PR help.
M. Lewis Stein: mlsteinav@aol.com; 714/838-8149.
www.iedityourwork.com
WRITING COACH/EDITOR. Nurturing but
whip-cracking, well-connected author of Bang the
Keys (Penguin) will help you unleash the true
fabulosity in your projects and bring them to fruition
in the real world before depression or drink destroy
your nerve! Fiction, non-fiction, scripts, poetry,
doctoral dissertations and MFA theses. E-mail:
Jill@JillDearman.com. For more (including writing
exercise app): www.bangthekeys.com
WRITING FOR PUBLICATION OR SCREEN?
Before contacting agents, publishers, producers or
self-publishing, you need a professionally edited
manuscript. Whatever your ability, I will make your
work shine. Character, plot, structure critique. Full
editing services. Extensive polishing (rewriting) as
needed. Call Lois 858/521-0844.
www.editorontap.com
EDITING SHORT STORIES, MEMOIRS AND
MANUSCRIPTS. $2/page + postage. Rewriting
$20/hour. 25 years experience. Jan Burge Pushkar.
954/680-0916. jan0016@gate.net
FRUSTRATED BY STRUGGLES WITH YOUR
MANUSCRIPT? Having trouble moving to the
next level? Try Writer Advices Manuscript
Consultation Service,
www.writeradvice.com/manuscriptconsultation.html
LITERARY SERVICES
DIANE RAINTREE, FORMER SENIOR EDITOR at
major NYC publisher, welcomes new and experienced
writers. Edits novels, nonfiction, childrens books,
poetry, memoirs. SASE: Diane Raintree, 360 W. 21st
St., New York, NY 10011. 212/242-2387.
MANUSCRIPTS TO GO
Formatting & design for self-publishing authors.
Manuscript typing. Editing, transcription. My personal
attentionalways! Cris Wanzer, 707/894-9231
Spuntales@gmail.com
MISCELLANEOUS
FREE SUBMISSION LEADS/GUIDELINES. New and
established markets. Cover/Query letter tips. Join
30,000+ writers subscribing to Submit Write Now!
Best for poetry, short prose, book projects.
866/405-3003. www.WritersRelief.com
In Our 18th Year!
POETRY
THE GREATEST INSPIRATIONAL EPIC LOVE POEM
EVER WRITTEN: www.lovethefallows.com or
www.the-fallows.com
PRINTING
Compose.
Create.
1-800-537-6727
Connect.
bookmasters.com
48HrBooks .com
www.
800-231-0521
info@48HrBooks.com
After years of work writing your book,

you deserve some Instant Gratication!
9
Fastest Books in the World
9
9
9
Exceptional Quality
Low Prices
We even ANSWER our phones
Our Normal turnaround is just:

2 days for Perfect Bound books
5 days for Casebound and Spiral Bound
Get instant answers via phone or email.

Instant Pricing on our website
Easy ordering
48HrBooks .com
www.
800-231-0521
info@48HrBooks.com
PUBLISHING
PUBLISH for LESS
100 Books only
$
(800)726-9966, ext. 13223.
Design & Book Printing
380 *
Accept VISA / MC with your FREE WEBPAGE
ColorPageOnline.com
FREE EBook
FREE ISBN Barcode 800-836-7581
4/30/12 4:39:22 PM
SCRIPTWRITING
Get Your Stor y Produced as

Novels, Stories adapted to Screenplays
Screenplay Critiques & Re-Writes
WORKSHOPS
Writers Digest Special Issue
ELIZABETH AYRES CENTER FOR CREATIVE

WRITING offers an online workshop program proven
to expand your imagination, dissolve blocks, enhance
productivity, build confidence, maximize skills.
Exercises and techniques for all genres. Five-week
sessions. Take separately or combine as an on-going
course. Visit www.CreativeWritingCenter.com. Call
800/510-1049 or eayres@creativewritingcenter.com
Or write to
1437 Rising Glen Rd., Los Angeles, CA 90069
WRITERS ORGANIZATIONS
SELF-PUBLISHING
WRITERS YEARBOOK 2013

Our most popular annual guide is back
again, with its cornerstone listing of the
100 Best Markets for Writers.
Filled with secrets for success in our
changing industry, this continues to be
THE must-have publication for freelance
writers and book authors alike.
Look for the Writers Digest
Writers Yearbook
in bookstores November 13th.
Career-Focused Writers & Editors
Learn what works NOW in

publishing, marketing, freelancing. Join the professional association that gets you online
and into the 21st century! Visit our website for free ezine and list of best free resources.
http://naiwe.com/bonus/wd.php
NAIWE P.O. Box 549 Ashland, VA 23005
Interested in advertising?
Call 800-726-9966 ext. 13223
and ask for Jill
We print all kinds of books!

We offer:
low prices and many options
production time of 20 days
low minimum of 100 books
assistance from start to finish
C L AS S IFIEDS :
WE TY PE M ANUS CRIPT S
For a FREE Guide, call 800-650-7888, ext. W D7
www.morrispublishing.com
SONGWRITING
Note from Writers Digest: Songwriting can be a rewarding experience, even though most songwriters dont
sell enough songs to recoup their investment in subsidy
song services. The fun and creative satisfaction of a professional song recording can easily be worth the cost.
Advertising rates for a WE TYPE MANUSCRIPTS (6 line listing): $200 for

one issue; $450 for three issues; $650 for
six issues; $800 for eight issues. Payment
in full must accompany the order. Rates
apply to consecutive issues. A sample
typed manuscript page must accompany
initial order. Prices quoted in listings refer
to a standard manuscript page doublespaced with 114" margins on all sides. To
order or to obtain more information, contact: Writers Digest Typists, 700 E. State
St., Iola, WI 54990, (800)726-9966, ext.
13223. Fax: (715)445-4087.
PAYMENT by credit
card accepted with

advertising orders
of three or more
consecutive issues.
MISSISSIPPI
CURIOUS CAT PRODUCTIONS (Writers Service)
825 Graveline Road, Gautier, MS 39553
Ph: 228/497-5874; janepete@datasync.com
From $1.50 ds pg + post. Sp/gram/punc/laser. Storage.
MS Word, WP, Typesetting/Quark, PgMkr, Screenplays/
Movie Magic. Dependable. Great! No inmates!
MISSOURI
THOMAS MULLIGAN
6171 State Road H, De Soto, MO 63020-4836
Ph: 636/586-0794; tom2776@yahoo.com
Type all manuscripts, etc. All subjects. Typed,
handwritten, tape, etc. $1.75 ds page typed + post.
Free CD & disk storage. Spelling/grammar/punct corr.
NEW JERSEY
WANTED BY MUSIC COMPANY. GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR
YOUR WORKS, NEEDED BY AMERICAN HIT SONGWRITERS.
WIN CASH, RECORDING & PUBLISHING AWARDS! SEND
YOUR BEST POEMS/LYRICS FOR FREE EVALUATION TO:
EDLEE MUSIC
BOX 23878, DEPT. A, FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33307

(800)726-9966, ext. 13223.
THE WORDSTATION (Patty & Brian Shannon)

526 Main St., Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ 07717
Ph: 800/538-8206; pattyshannon@optonline.net
Friendly service since 1989. Any subject, any format.
Free sample pages; spelling/grammar/punctuation corr.
Med. specialty. Visa/MC/AmEx. Call for rates/brochure.
ARIZONA
QUALITY, INEXPENSIVE DEMOS made from Your
Poems. New Customer Discount! Song Partners, Inc.,
P.O. Box 19143, Sarasota, FL 34276-2143.
Order: songpartners@comcast.net
www.songpartners.com
FEATURED ON PBS! Magic Key Productions.
Song-Poems Wanted for recording. You-Tube Possible
Royalties. 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #608, Hollywood,
CA 90028; magickey@redrockrecords.com
NASHVILLE MUSIC PRODUCER, Reviewing lyrics/
poems for upcoming recording projects. Send your
submissions to: Box 110117-WD, Nashville, TN 37222.
www.NashvilleMusicProductions.com
BARBARA ALLEN MANUSCRIPT TYPING

9462 N. Albatross Drive, Tucson, AZ 85742
allen9462@comcast.net
Ph: 520/744-9318
Typed, handwritten, tape.
Experienced in meeting publishers requirements.
MICHIGAN
TYPISTS ON DEMAND
P.O. Box 341, Mt. Clemens, MI 48046
Ph: 313/772-0761
typistsondemand@gmail.com
Any subject, any format accepted. Let our experience
guide you. From $1.50/pg + post. All states.
SD SECRETARIAL SERVICE (Susan Dougherty)

250 W. 2nd Ave., #305, Roselle, NJ 07203
Ph: 908/445-8387; sueyousueme@aol.com
Psych bkgrnd; legal research & editing avail.
Hndwrttn/type/transcription Most Sub, No Porn.
MS: $2.50$3/pg; Free Quotes for other svcs.
PENNSYLVANIA
JUST MANUSCRIPTSwww.justmanuscripts.com
P.O. Box 6, Sunbury, PA 17801 Ph: 570/259-6059;
e-mail: dlouise@justmanuscripts.com
All states. Any size/subject. Call for rates.
Manuscript prep from handwritten/typed 29 yrs exp.
Spell/grammar check. Accurate and dependable.
4/30/12 4:39:51 PM
SAVE UP TO 65%
on Great Writing Books!
DEEP EVERYDAY DISCOUNTS on hundreds
of books, magazines, CDs and downloads
FREE SHIPPING on all U.S. orders
(use code JLAGFSS)
SAVE AN EXTRA 10% with our VIP program
Save With Writers Digest Shop!

EASY ORDER OPTIONS
1. For fastest service, best selection and the deepest
discounts, order online at WritersDigestShop.com. Be
sure to enter OFFER CODE JLAGFSS in the website
Shopping Cart to activate free shipping on any U.S.
order. This offer code expires on September 1, 2012.
2. Call us at (800)258-0929 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m. Central Time. Outside the U.S. call (715)4452214. Please mention Offer Code JLAGFSS when calling.
NEW LOWER PRICES!

Save even more with our new lower online prices! No need to
search around for the best prices on writing booksyoull nd
fantastic discounts at WritersDigestShop.com.
FREE STANDARD SHIPPING!

For all orders placed by September 1, 2012, using Offer Code
JLAGFSS (U.S. addresses with U.S. Postal delivery only).
SAVE 10% ON YOUR ORDERS FOR A FULL YEAR

JOIN THE WRITERS DIGEST VIP PROGRAM
FIND OVER 700 PRODUCTS ONLINE AT
For a full year, you can receive an additional 10% discount off
all orders through our shop, plus receive 1-year subscriptions to
Writers Digest magazine and WritersMarket.com. For more info,
visit WritersDigestShop.com/product/writers-vip.
ADVERTISEMENT
Your One-Stop Shop for Great

Books, Magazines, Downloads &
More at Incredible Savings!
AND LOOK FOR US ON:

Find great tips, networking and
advice by following @writersdigest
Become a fan of our page:
facebook.com/writersdigest
USE OFFER CODE JLAGFSS WHEN PLACING YOUR ORDER BY PHONE OR ONLINE AT WRITERSDIGESTSHOP.COM
66_wd0812Resource.indd 66
4/24/12 12:17:13 PM
10 Must-Have Books for Your Writing Life

The Writers Idea Book
10th Anniversary Edition
Item # W3606
RETAIL: $19.99 YOUR PRICE: $13.39
By Jack Heffron
Jump-start your muse with a free

download of 50 Writing Questions
to Consider: WritersDigest.
With help from over 800 fun prompts and exercises in this book, youll generate intriguing ideas and learn to plumb their possibilities to turn them into
something amazing.
Writers Digest Grammar Desk Reference

By Gary Lutz & Diane Stevenson
This comprehensive resource on grammar and usage is a necessity for every
writers desk. It presents balanced instruction and real-world examples that
will ensure professional and flawless writing.
BONUS ONLINE COMPANION:
com/50-questions
Item # X3957
READ AN EXCERPT! Using
Adjectives: WritersDigest.com/
writing-articles/by-writing-goal/
improve-my-writing/grammar-deskreference-excerpt
How to Blog a Book

By Nina Amir
Item # W7407
Learn how to build a book-worthy blog with a well-honed and uniquely

angled subject using targeted blog posts. Youll also discover how to develop
a blog readership large enough to get noticed by a literary agent or publisher.
Writing Your Way

By Don Fry
This book teaches you how to rethink the standard rules of writing in favor
of a practice that works for you. Author and writing coach Don Fry guides
you through the five stages of the creative process (idea, gather, organize,
draft and revise) and teaches you how to customize them.
Writer for Hire: 101 Secrets

to Freelance Success
Item # W6571
BONUS ONLINE COMPANION:
Download a Get It Down, Get

It Right for free: WritersDigest.
com/write-your-way-download
Item # W7416
By Kelly James-Enger
Written by a veteran freelancer whose work has been published in more than
60 national magazines, this comprehensive resource provides you with practical and proven advice for establishing a freelance writing business. Youll
discover how to target top-paying markets, work more efficiently, and make
more money from your writing.
FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING ON U.S. ORDERS WITH OFFER CODE JLAGFSS. EXPIRES SEPTEMBER 1, 2012.
4/24/12 12:17:22 PM
The Writers Little Helper, Revised Edition

By James V. Smith, Jr.
Item # W6570
Completely updated, this book is jam-packed with story ideas, tips for effective writing, and easy-to-use charts to help you conquer the writing process.
Youll find everything you need to create characters, pace a story, craft believable dialogue, revise, and attract the attention of agents and editors.
The Writers Digest Guide to Science Fiction

& Fantasy
By Orson Scott Card & The Editors of Writers Digest
Item # Z4828P
READ AN EXCERPT!
WritersDigest.com/qp7-migration-
Two complete books in one, this comprehensive guide includes invaluable

and timeless advice for writing and selling speculative fiction from bestselling author Orson Scott Cards How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, as
well as world-building information and instruction from the indispensable
classic The Writers Complete Fantasy Reference.
books/sci--fantasy-excerpt
How to Write a Book Proposal, 4th Edition
Item # Z5261P
By Michael Larsen
From your books hook, to your outline and sample chapters, to your promotional plan and author bio, veteran literary agent Michael Larsen shows
you step-by-step how to create, polish and submit a proposal that stands out.
Each section in this newly revised edition offers examples from real-life proposals to guide you.
Rogets Super Thesaurus

By Marc McCutcheon
Item # 29241P
Rogets Super Thesaurus is a perennial favorite among writers, and this latest edition has more than 1,000 new and expanded entries. This timesaving
reference will help you find the perfect synonym or antonym to give your
writing precision and color. From aback to zydeco, youll find the exact word
you need.
By James Scott Bell
Item # 24273P
Featuring timeless, innovative and concise writing strategies and focused

exercises, this book is the ultimate battle plan for novelists. Tactics and exercises are provided for idea generation and development, character building,
plotting, drafting, submitting, dealing with rejection, and much more.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Art of War for Writers
4/24/12 12:17:33 PM
Expert Writing Instruction On Demand

Now you can access the best in writing instruction on your own schedule and from the comfort of homeall
for one low subscription fee!
Access top instructional videos on the craft of writing
Find step-by-step instructions for self-publishing, building a platform, and more
Get genre-specic tips and techniques for all types of ction and nonction
Watch the videos in the comfort of your home as often as you like
Join risk freepreview the rst 5 minutes of each video before you buy!
Popular tutorials include:
Breaking Into Publishing: Part 2

In Breaking Into Publishing: Part 2, Writers Market
editor Robert Lee Brewer provides a comprehensive overview
of the process of submitting and promoting your print or ebook in todays marketplace. Youll learn how to set short- and
long-term goals for your writing, how to determine if your
work is ready to send to editors and agents, and how to get the
most mileage out of the submission process.
What youll learn in this 48-minute video:
The many definitions of book in todays marketplace
from print books, to e-books, to multimedia products and
services tied to books
When to send a query letter versus a complete manuscript
How to pitch your ideas and negotiate with editors
Tips for building your writing platform
How to Land a Literary Agent

In this one-hour presentation from Chuck
Sambuchino, editor of the bestselling book Guide to Literary
Agents, you will:
Learn to identify and thoroughly research literary agents
who are most open to reading and responding favorably to
your work
Learn how to initiate contact, including writing a query letter and pitching your ideas in a way that will spur a request
for your manuscript or proposal
Get the inside scoop on what agents really look for in a
new author
Discover key websites and resources that will keep you
on top of the newest developments in the literary agent
community
Build Your Author Platform

Through Blogging
In this session, youll learn how and when blogging can benefit
you. Media expert and former Writers Digest Publisher Jane
Friedman discusses the different models of successful blogging,
how to focus your blog when youre looking for a book deal,
and how to continue blogging (or start blogging) for promotion and marketing when you already have a book deal and
release date. Even if youve never blogged before, youll leave
this session with the tools and resources you need to get started
within a few days.
What youll learn in this 75-minute tutorial:
How to develop strategic content for your blog that will
benefit your career as an author
What kinds of blogs attract the attention of editors and
agents
5 ways to grow your blog trafficand how to know when
your blog has a visitor count worth talking about
Subscribe to WD Tutorials Today!

Watch every video whenever you like and as often as you
likeand be the first to watch the new tutorial we post
each week!
MEMBERSHIP OPTIONS:
12 Months: $129.99 (BEST VALUE!)

6 Months: $99.99
1 Month: $79.99
LEARN MORE:
tutorials.writersdigest.com/c-3-subscriptions.aspx
4/24/12 12:17:42 PM
Our online classes, webinars and critique forums combine the best of world-class writing instruction with
the convenience and immediacy of the Web to create a state-of-the-art learning environment. You get all
of the benets of a traditional workshop settingpeer review, instructor feedback, a community of writers
and productive writing practiceon a schedule that works for you at writersdigestuniversity.com!
Essentials of Mystery Writing

WORKSHOP LENGTH:
6 weeks
TUITION:
$295
($265.50 for VIP Members)

Do you read mysteries and think, I wish I could write that?
Now you can. Work with a published mystery writer to learn
the fundamentals of the mystery genre, and begin working on
your own page-turning mystery. By the conclusion of the workshop, you will have written and critiqued up to 2,500 words of
your mystery novel or short story.
How to Balance Showing and

Telling in Your Novel Writing
5 weeks
WORKSHOP LENGTH:
TUITION: $195
The most popular gospel preached by creative writing instructors, agents and editors everywhere is Show, dont tell! Its the
First Commandment of writing and is scribbled in the margins
of more manuscripts than any other comment. For many writers, telling becomes a handy crutch rather than a precision tool,
which often results in the story becoming passive, slow and
dull. In this workshop, youll spice up your fiction by learning
when its best to show and when telling is more appropriate.
Write Great Fiction: Dialogue

WORKSHOP LENGTH:
6 weeks
TUITION:
$299
WORKSHOP LENGTH: 8 weeks

TUITION: $399
Audience is an especially important consideration when drafting a young adult (YA) novel. In this course, youll become
familiar with the YA genre and audience, learn specific strategies for improving the core components of your YA book
such as character, plot and settingand discover strategies for
querying agents and editors. By focusing on specific writing
techniquesand using K.L. Goings Writing & Selling the YA
Novelyoull learn how to turn your idea for a YA book into a
finished, and salable, novel.
Story Mapping: Take

Your Novel From Concept
to Completion in 7 Stages
WORKSHOP LENGTH: 7 weeks
TUITION:
$305
Utilizing The Writers Compass by Nancy Ellen Dodd, this

course teaches you how to visualize your novels progress by
examining its various components, determining where theyre
leading your story, and identifying what key components are
missing. The 7-stage approach of Story Mapping allows you to
focus on one aspect of your novel at a timeincluding forming and developing ideas, building strong structures, creating
vibrant characters, and structuring scenes and transitions.
Make Money Writing Short

WORKSHOP LENGTH:
6 weeks
TUITION:
$290
($261 for VIP Members)

Are you ready to make money from your writing? Get a critical
glimpse into todays broad freelance writing landscape and a
detailed tutorial about how to make the most of it.
Based on IJ Schecters 102 Ways to Earn Money Writing
1,500 Words or Less, the course shows you how to generate
income writing short marketing copy, travel pieces, interviews/
profiles, presentations and technical documents.
ADVERTISEMENT
Dialogue may be the most important (and most difficult to

master) characterization tool at a fiction writers disposal. Stiff,
unnatural or overdone dialogue will doom the liveliest characters or stall an exciting plot. Effective dialogue propels your
characters and story off the page, deep into the imagination of
your reader. In this workshop, youll gain a thorough understanding of effective dialogue in fiction, including the functions
of dialogue to develop characters, expose motives, reveal setting, create tension and suspense, speed up scenes and more.
Writing the Young Adult Novel
4/24/12 12:17:53 PM
SHOW US YOUR SHORTS.
13th Annual WRITERS DIGEST
SHORT SHORT STORY COMPETITION

WERE LOOKING FOR FICTION THATS BOLD AND BRILLIANT... BUT BRIEF.
Send us your best in 1,500 words or fewer.
But dont be too long about it deadline is Nov. 15, 2012.
PRIZES:
t'*3451-"$&$3,000 AND A TRIP TO THE WRITERS DIGEST CONFERENCE
t4&$0/%1-"$&$1,500t5)*3%1-"$&$500
t'0635)5)306()5)1-"$&$100
11th through 25th Place: $50 towards the purchase of WRITERS DIGEST BOOKS
The names and story titles of the First- through 10th-place winners will be printed
in the July/August 2013 issue of Writers Digest.
Winners will receive the 2013 Novel & Short Story Writers Market and 2013 Guide to Literary Agents. Plus, all First- through 25th-place winners will
receive a free copy of the 13th Annual Writers Digest Short Short Story Competition Collection.
.com
&/5&30/-*/&"5
The first- through 25th-place manuscripts will be printed in a special competition collection. Use the entry form to order your copy at the pre-publication
special price! (Publication date: May 2013. You are not required to purchase the collection to
enter the contest.)
&/53:'03.t%FBEMJOF/PW
I am entering _____ Manuscript(s) at $20 per entry.
I am ordering _____ Competition Collection(s) at $11.95 each.
(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
e-mail address.
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.
(includes $1.95 S&H)
5PUBM ___________
.FUIPEPG1BZNFOU
Check or money order enclosed (U.S. funds only)
Charge my
VISA
MC Exp. ___
Card No. _____________________________________________________________________
3. All entries must be in English, original, unpublished (in print or online, with two allowable
exceptions: 1. on a personal blog maintained solely by the author, and/or 2. on a private critique forum that requires registration to access) and not submitted elsewhere at the time of
submission. Writers Digest retains one-time publication rights to the 1st through 25th-place
winning entries to be published in a Writers Digest publication. No refunds will be issued
for disqualified entries.
Signature _____________________________________________________________________
4. All mailed in entries must be typewritten and double-spaced on one side of 8 x 11 or A4

white paper. Manuscripts will not be returned. Entries must be stapled.
City __________________________________________________________________________
5. Entries must be submitted by or postmarked by Nov. 15, 2012.

6. Winners will be notified by Feb. 28, 2013. If you have not been contacted by this date, you
may assume that your entry is not a finalist and may be marketed elsewhere.
7. Enclose a self-addressed, stamped postcard with your entry if you want to be notified of
its receipt. We cannot notify you personally of your storys status before the winners are
announced.
8. Winners names will appear in the July/August 2013 issue of Writers Digest magazine. Their
names and story titles will be posted at writersdigest.com after that time.
*The charge will appear as F+W Contests.

Name ________________________________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________________________________________
State/Prov._________________________ ZIP/PC ____________________________________

Country____________________________Phone (
)_________________________
E-mail ______________________________________________________________________
Please send me information via e-mail about future

Writers Digest competitions.
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.
and their immediate families, and Writers Digest contributing editors and correspondents
as listed on the masthead.
in U.S. funds, drawn on a U.S. bank.
PRIVACY PROMISE
The Writers 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.
#MVF"TI3E4VJUFt$JODJOOBUJ 0IJP
71_wd0812.indd 71
.BJMNBOVTDSJQU T
BOEFOUSZGFF T
UP
WD812
4/24/12 12:18:29 PM
Charlottes Web by E.B. White

SPOOF-REJECTED BY GREGORY WALTERS
Aug. 12, 1951

Dear Mr. White,
t
I regret to inform you that CHARLOTTES WEB is not the right
wrong
the
just
story,
for our publishing house. Ill admit it was some
.
tale to weave in a market that demands realistic ction for children
I am
Your choice of a spider as a central character perplexes. Surely
n will
libraria
not the only one who suffers from arachnophobia. What
meswant to order this? Making a spider the hero sends a dangerous
to
sage. Boys like Avery all over the world will rush in from recess
imagine
can
You
esh.
the
in
tte
Charlo
with
s
present their teacher
the ensuing mayhem. Spiders are for waterspouts, my friend.
ng
It is also irresponsible to portray the pig Wilbur as an endeari
parents
of
ns
intentio
good
the
es
farm animal. This depiction sabotag
st to
who strive to feed their sons and daughters a healthy breakfa
Bacon
of
form
new
a
ate
start the day. Your manuscript may precipit
lardus,
Rebellion, a youthful resistance to consuming nutritio
ets step once again into the

role of the unconvinced,
perhaps even curmudgeonly
or fool-hearted editor:
What harsh rejection letters might
the authors of some of our favorite hit
books have had to endure?
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: If
youd like to be the one doing the

rebufng, channel the most clueless of
editors by humorously rejecting a hit in 300
words or fewer. Then, submit your letter via
email to wdsubmissions@fwmedia.com
with Reject a Hit in the subject line.
simmered slabs of breakfast meat.

te
Beyond the books fatal character aws, the plot will not captiva
truth,
young readers. Consider Charlottes superpower: She spells. In
shes not much of a speller. She copies words retrieved by a rat
(another questionable animal choice).
If you wish to salvage your story, I suggest you age Fern a few years,
irsty
change Avery to a doomed love interest and transform the bloodth
vampire
for
market
the
believe
I
While
.
spider into a seductive vampire
ction has run dry, other publishers might bite.
Sincerely,
Arnold Hunter, Editor

Red Barn Publishing
72_wd0812RejectAHit.indd 72
4/24/12 12:18:59 PM
CALL FOR ENTRIES

8TH ANNUAL
POPULAR FICTION AWARDS

A Short-Story Competition by WRITERS DIGEST
CALLING ALL FANS OF ROMANCE, MYSTERY AND MORE:
Enter the competition that celebrates short stories

in todays most popular genres!
GRAND PRIZE:
A feature in the May/June 2013 issue of Writers Digest,

a trip to the Writers Digest Conference in New York City,
$2,500 cash and more.
ENTER IN ANY OR ALL OF THESE CATEGORIES:
Just make sure your stories are 4,000 words or fewer,

and submit your entries by September 17, 2012.
For more information or to enter online, visit
WritersDigest.com/popularfictionawards
c3_wd0812.indd c3
4/24/12 12:19:51 PM
WE BRING COPYRIGHT LAW
INTO FOCUS
Protect your rights. Register your artistic work with the copyright office before
you send it to an agent, publisher or even a trusted friend. Be certain your
work is protected by hiring experienced counsel to represent you.
Steve Kennedy provides counsel and
assistance on matters including:
Original Copyright Registrations
Derivative Work Registrations
Supplemental Registrations
Original Trademark Applications
Nom de Plume Trademark
Applications
Copyright Litigation
Trademark Litigation
DMCA Take-Down Proceedings
Stephen A. Kennedy
1700 Pacific Ave, Suite 1280
Dallas, TX 75201
Direct Dial: 214-389-5141
skennedy@mkwpc.com
www.mkwpc.com
c4_wd0812.indd c4
4/24/12 12:21:02 PM

Writers Digest July-August 2012 Issue

Загружено:

Сведения о документе

Оригинальное название

Авторское право

Доступные форматы

Поделиться этим документом

Поделиться или встроить документ

Параметры публикации

Этот документ был вам полезен?

Это неприемлемый материал?

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

Writers Digest July-August 2012 Issue

Загружено:

Авторское право:

Доступные форматы

HOW TO BUILD PAGE-TURNING CONFLICT INTO ANY PLOT

PUSH YOUR CREATIVE LIMITS:

FROM THE COSBY SHOW TO

Andre Dubus III

THE HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG

Display until July 16, 2012

JULY/AUGUST 2012 writersdigest.com

OCTOBER 19-21, 2012 LOS ANGELES

Dont miss your chance to meet face to

Get more details and register at

I attended the conference and got an agent!

The Reluctant Pulling the Rug Out

Great writing begins with an appetite for life. Try these 8

Go Your Own Way

Rewriting the Rules

BY TANYA EGAN GIBSON

2 I WRITERS DIGEST I July/August 2012

J U LY/AU GUS T 2 012 | VO LU M E 9 2 | N O. 5

8 EXPLORING YOUR OPTION: Heres what you

need to know about selling the movie and TV rights

The secret to Adriana Trigianis success begins with an

10 PLUS: 5-Minute Memoir Poetic Asides: Quatern

Cash in on the Calendar The Winners of WDs

Meet the Real Andre

18 BREAKING IN: Debut Author Spotlight

2 0 ASK THE AGENT: John Rudolph, Dystel &

Goderich Literary Management

4 6 QUESTIONS & QUANDARIES: Defining

Denouement; The Keys to Finishing a Book

4 8 YOUR STORY: Homecoming

5 8 STANDOUT MARKETS: EDGE Science Fiction and

The winner of WDs Annual Short Short Competition

Fantasy Publishing; Ploughshares; Smithsonian

7 2 REJECT A HIT: Charlottes Web

5 0 CLASSIC CONFLICT THROUGH RIVALRY

5 0 How to Build Page-Turning Conflict

5 3 KEYS TO CONFLICT IN ROMANCE

5 5 5 TOOLS FOR BUILDING CONFLICT

BY JAMES SCOTT BELL

Into Any Plot

Quote-Worthy Writing Advice

Take a Short Short Story Break

The Wild Story of Dear Sugar

Bring WD to Your Inbox!

HOW TO FIND, RATHER THAN MAKE,

5 GREAT TIPS FOR BETTER WRITING

WHY LITERARY FICTION ISNT BORING

MORE WRITING TIME IN YOUR DAY

A selection of our favorite reader-

Vine Leaves Literary Journals Jessica

Tips for tting writing into your busy life.

submitted ideas and techniques.

Bell on the magic of beautiful prose.

COWBIRD PHOTO STEVE BYLAND/FOTOLIA.COM

4 I WRITERS DIGEST I July/August 2012

Outside the Margins

F+W MEDIA INC.

TANYA EGAN GIBSON (Go Your Own Way,

Page 25) is the author of the novel How to Buy a

CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

KEVIN K AISER (Rewriting the Rules of

JENNIFER LAWLER (Keys to Conflict in

Romance, Page 53) is the acquisitions editor and