October 2004

The Writer

The essential resource for writers

Join thousands of successful writers when you subscribe to The Writer magazine. Each month The Writer is full of features you can use to improve your writing, including before-and-after examples of improved writing, more literary markets than ever before, practical solutions for writing problems, selected literary magazine profiles, tips from famous authors and hands-on advice.

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Features
Attract teen readers with an edgy plot
By Melissa Hart
What young-adult readers want these days, our writer says, is not patronizing or preaching, but compelling stories that honestly reflect their lives.
Connecting with kids
By Sharon Miller Cindrich
After 22 books and a smash success with Holes, Louis Sachar still chips away at his stories like a sculptor, shaping them into offbeat, sensitive stories that resonate with children.
Know your young audiences
By Laura Backes
If you're writing for children, knowing where your manuscript fits in that genre's many niches isn't always an easy call. Here's a guide to help you.
Meet our Sylvia K. Burack Scholarship winner
By Carl Knickerbocker
Read the winning entry in our first scholarship contest. Our essayist describes how he came to see writing as a way of entering a dialogue with the physical, emotional or social landscape.
Vivid characters hook readers
By Nan Leslie, Jack Smith
Well-drawn characters wedded to well-done prose are often the winning ticket for a fiction writer. Here are some tips on creating memorable, complex characters.
10 things you must know about literary magazines
By Gregg Rosenblum
Many top writers have gotten their start by publishing in literary journals. Here, from a top editor at one of the best, Ploughshares, are 10 tips on submitting.
Make e-publishing work for you
By Cathi Stevenson
These days, you can publish an e-book for a few dollars. Interested? Well, read on for tips on how to format, publish, distribute and promote an e-book.
Departments
Letters
Editor's notes
Take note
Novelist Kent Haruf on having confidence in yourself, plus other literary notes, Dear Writer, and information on contests and conferences.
Get started
Diminish your doubts and get to work
By Polly Campbell
People not taking you seriously can, unfortunately, be a trying part of a new writer's life. Here are some tips on handling them.
Breakthrough
A 'crash course' in writing at the Times
By Christine Contillo
How a full-time nurse without any writing background managed to become a regular freelancer to The New York Times.
Syntax
Semicolons with soul
By Arthur Plotnik
The tiny and occasionally controversial semicolon can often do a surprising amount of heavy lifting, and create nuance and subtley.
Poet to poet
Naked poetry
By Elizabeth Biller Chapman
Freeing yourself of periods and commas can sometimes free your creativity and enhance your poem.
Bottom line
Be your own boss: A good plan can make it a reality
By Michelle Taute
Writing a yearly business plan can do much to help you set and reach your writing goals.
WriteStuff
A review of Julia Cameron's The Sound of Paper: Starting from Scratch.
Market focus
Tap into booming family-history markets
By Erika Dreifus
Family-history magazines are booming, and this means opportunity for freelancers keen on research and instruction.
How I write
For novelist Kimberly Kafka, roping down a day to write is the hardest part.
Writers wanted
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