Finding a good mentor, our author says, is harder than landing a good spouse. Here are tips to increase your chances of making a perfect literary match.

The writer became an “overnight” success—after nearly six years of writing full time. But she learned a lot in those years.

Is writer envy (you know that emotion, don’t you?) only destructive, or can it fuel our own drive to succeed?

In the debut of a new bimonthly column that closely critiques a fiction opening, our analyst finds a first page to be flat and unrevealing. See why.

Evan S. Connell, author of the classic novels Mr. Bridge and Mrs. Bridge and a creative take on Gen. George Armstrong Custer, Son of the Morning Star, is still going strong—on a 50-year-old typewriter, no less.

Can such a protagonist still make interesting fiction? Yes, and the author shows you how.

A connoisseur of fine writing describes the small, subtle techniques that can add music, color and grace to your words.

Use the writer’s planning checklist to ensure that your story has a strong foundation.

The latter is an “absolute path to disaster,” says Steve Kloves, the acclaimed screenwriter of seven Harry Potter movies.

How can you put online networks to use without creating a monster that devours your writing time? We surveyed six writers for effective goals and strategies.

There are a lot of pros and cons to consider when deciding on your fictional setting. Our author lays them out for you.

Consider the advantages and disadvantages before agreeing to a retainer or other fee plan.

University presses have moved far beyond their old image as publishers of only esoteric or technical books. Their topical range is now very broad, and in that fact may lie opportunity.

This month’s spotlight is on the literary journal The Antioch Review, describing the tone, editorial preferences and contributors of one of the oldest continuously publishing literary magazines in the United States.

Book review: Bound to Last: 30 Writers on Their Most Cherished Book, edited by Sean Manning

Book review: Blur: How to Know What’s True in the Age of Information Overload by Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel

Book review: The Art of Description: World Into Word by Mark Doty

This month, a list of business, trade and literary publications; literary agencies; and publishers. Plus, information on conferences and contests and helpful tips from editors at MyBusiness and Woman Engineer magazines.

For Jewell Parker Rhodes, the appeal of writing is how it allows her to live other lives in her imagination.