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How to Prepare to Write Your Novel

By Wesley Thomas Whether you are a new writer or a seasoned author, it is crucial to prepare for your novel. But how exactly does an author prepare? Does the mere concept overwhelm you? Do not fear, once upon a time I felt the same way until I developed a list. With time the preparations will change…

Issue One Hundred Ninety Five Special Feature

Eight Free Writing Contests With Cash Prizes

By S. Kalekar This is a list of writing competitions with upcoming deadlines that award cash prizes – for short fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, and for various ages, genres and eligibility criteria. All are free to enter. Bodley Head/Financial Times Essay Prize 2016 The essay should be dynamic, authoritative and lively, and could address any…

issue One Hundred Ninety One Special Feature

Anthologies: How to Boost Your Writing Credentials

By K.N. Johnson “Oh, you’re a writer! Have you published a book?” For some writers, this question is easy to answer. Their Amazon or Goodreads author page confirms their writerly status with a list of traditionally or self-published books. For those still working on a first book, admitting we’re not yet published can feel like…

Issue One Hundred Ninety Six Special Feature

7 Ways To Stay Motivated In Your Writing

By Kelli Fitzpatrick A former student recently emailed me asking how I stay motivated to write. As a full-time teacher, I am under a constant barrage of demands on my attention, but writing is too important to let slip. The following are my best pieces of advice for keeping your eyes on the prize. Create…

Issue One Hundred Ninety Special Feature

10 Tips for Staying Active When Your Work Is Sedentary

Written By Jean Knight Pace For most of my married life, my primary job was to be an at-home mother. I played with my kids and managed our household, working on my writing at night and in the quiet crevices of my days. My first novel, Grey Stone, was written like this. And then, last…

Issue One Hundred Eighty Seven Special Feature

How to Write a Compelling Short Story

Written By Stephanie Norman Have you ever wondered what makes people so impressed by short stories? There is something magical about the ability of an author to capture so much wisdom in so few words. The sentences are magnetic. The reader may spend less than an hour with the story, but the effect will last…

Issue One Hundred Eighty Three Special Feature

4 Ways to Fund Your Self Published Novel

By Elizabeth Wangare Publishing should be the next step after writing your book, but is it? Many manuscripts have found their abode underneath beds and in drawers due to different constraints. Chief of these is lack of funds; whether actual or imaginary. Imaginary because some publishers have basic publishing option for about $78; even with…

Issue One Hundred Eighty Nine Special Feature

Writing Is My Job.

Written by Jen Jones Every writer, at some point in their career, has heard the words, “Writing isn’t a real job.” Only another writer can truly understand the frustration of hearing those words and being made to feel as if your dream is only a waste of time. It can be even worse if someone…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Seven Special Feature

3 Free Writing Residencies

Written By Tilly Horton “Every kind of creative work demands solitude, and being alone, constructively alone, is a prerequisite for every phase of the creative process.” ~ Barbara Powell Stepping out of our daily grind from time to time can help to refresh perspective and reinvigorate creativity, and residencies can be a great way to do…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Five Special Feature

How Walking Helped Me Become A Better Writer

Written By Julie Guirgis Modern studies have shown walking may be one of the most valuable means of achieving states of literary and philosophical enlightenment. Many writers have discovered a deep, intuitive connection between walking, thinking, and writing. When we walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen to all the organs, including…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Nine Special Feature

3 Essential Self-Publishing Skills Every Writer Should Develop

Written by Benjamin Cheah Successful self-published writers combine the skill sets of a writer and a publisher. The latter is often overlooked. This article focuses on three essential publishing skills self-published writers need to develop – before they publish their stories. Even if you’re not planning on self-publishing, having a solid grasp of these skills…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Four Special Feature

Five Reasons to Attend a Writers’ Conference

By Loretta Bolger Wish I had barely arrived at my first writers’ conference when I learned my most valuable lesson: it had taken me too long to attend one. If your inner skeptic has kept you away, you aren’t alone. You are, however, missing out on some of the best knowledge, motivation, and fun a…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Two Special Feature

Four Prestigious Fee Free contests

Written By S. Kalekar Here are four prestigious free-to-enter writing competitions. They cover literary fiction, arts writing, cultural diversity, and science fiction/fantasy. Note that three of the contests require already published books and one is only interested in unpublished work. PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction: This is one of America’s foremost awards for literary fiction, and…

Issue One Hundred Seventy One Special Feature

Three Anthologies Seeking Submissions: Science Fiction, Circus, and Superheros

Written by S. Kalekar The following three print anthologies are all paying markets and they are all seeking submissions on very different topics. Meerkat Press is accepting submissions for Behind the Mask, a superhero anthology with a twist; they are looking for ordinary, day-to-day issues faced by superheroes – growing up, relationships, growing old, career…

Issue One Hundred Seventy Special Feature

The Magic of Writing Groups

By Keith Gillison The first time I attended a writing group I was terrified. I’d never shared my writing before and there I was, reading out the first chapter of my novel to a room full of writers. It was the best decision I ever made. Writing groups have given me so much that I…

Issue One Hundred Sixty One Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author