Here at the Boston office of The Writer, we’ve been thinking about structure. How do you structure a story, a pitch, a writer’s life?
Within these pages, you’ll find multiple answers to these questions from writers such as Gilbert King, whose Devil in the Grove picked up a Pulitzer Prize this year, Colum McCann, whose insights on language form the foundation of good storytelling, and Alice Hoffman, whose 30 books cross genres in every direction. Writing specialists and instructors also lend their insights: Jeff Lyons (story premise development), Linda Lappin (Greek myth and narrative) and Peter Fox (pillars of cinematic conflict). Each of the articles integrates the expertise that writing pros have developed for cracking the codes to success.
Once you’ve read those pieces, turn to next-step stories with Leslie Budewitz on accuracy in legal themes, Caitlin Kelly on an eagle eye for “backyard” stories and Kristen Fischer on packaging stories with value-added components such as sidebars, charts and mini-features.
Speaking of structure and next steps, we hope you’ve had time to click on The Writer website which was re-designed over the summer. In addition to posting stories from the magazine (available for you to discuss and share in real time), we’ve also launched the blog Views and News for our staff and other thought leaders to contribute regular posts. Because of the fun we’ve been having on Facebook with our delightfully chatty followers, we wondered: Is there a way for us to establish a platform for a conversation with our readers and followers? We hope you’ll join us to create and continue a larger conversation about writing and the many craft themes we explore each month in the magazine.
We’re approaching the year anniversary of The Writer moving back to its hometown of Boston. We are grateful to our longtime subscribers for their continued support and enthusiasm, and to our newest readers who have become part of The Writer community that stretches back to our origins in 1887. We are very proud of this magazine, honored by your participation and jazzed about what lies ahead.
Alicia Anstead
Editor-in-Chief