Whether informing a potential client or just trying to balance your workflow, every writer needs project-planning tools.

Just for fun, the writer started pitching McSweeney’s. Then the editors gave him a blog. Then the blog led to a book.

Sure, the act of creating can be difficult, but it’s also a joyous exploration, our writer says. Plus, see Lori Ann Bloomfield’s sidebar for a series of first lines to inspire your own stories.

Spiritually themed poetry grapples with paradoxes, mysteries and moments of truth.

Here’s a guide for new and returning attendees to the huge annual affair for writers.

Charles Baxter, one of our top practitioners of literary fiction, stubbornly channeled his despair over repeated rejections of his work and succeeded.

Enjoy the bittersweet narration of an aging, one-time actress—the narrator of The Writer’s 2010 short-story contest winner. Read the entire story and judge Susan Breen’s comments, and learn more about its writer.

A longtime publishing insider gives straight advice for garnering the right kind of attention for your book manuscript.

What goes on in your characters’ minds is a valuable tool you can use to reveal people, build tension, and more.

Do you have a fresh idea for a novel but are feeling too intimidated to take the first step? Or have you started and soon become overwhelmed? The author has developed—and successfully used—a seven-step approach that guides you to the finish.

Elmore Leonard, a giant of crime fiction, looks back on a long career crafting novels full of great street talk and dry wit and easy on the “hooptedoodle.”

If you can’t enroll in a degree program, consider developing a self-guided curriculum to reach your writing goals. The writer offers tips on finding your way.

A writer who’s had a good experience with two print-on-demand novels shares some promotional advice with you.

The late Jorge Luis Borges’ advice for writers speaks to the shortcomings—and the prison—of exactitude.

Traditional publishing, self-publishing and POD each have their own sets of pros and cons.

To ease into the niche, target local travel magazines and build rapport with editors.

This month’s spotlight is on the literary journal Subtropics, describing its tone, preferences and contributors.

How do I know when I have enough short stories to make a book?

Review of The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Are So Important in a Distracted Time by David L. Ulin

Review of Essentials of Screenwriting: The Art, Craft and Business of Film and Television Writing by Richard Walter

This month, a list of agencies, and tips from agents at Bradford Literary Agency and Liza Dawson Associates. Plus, information on conferences and contests.

For memoirist and novelist Dani Shapiro, the messy freedom of developing an idea initially in longhand is actually quite appealing.