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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.

The leisured quest

By Joel Fishbane

Should getting published always be the ultimate goal?

Features

Going rogue

By Kerrie Flanagan

Is self-publishing right for you?

The art of yearning

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

Pulitzer winner Robert Olen Butler on how great stories are made.

Evolution of a manuscript

By Rebekah L. Fraser

Inside author Carmiel Banasky’s revision process.

Renaissance man

By Jeff Ayers

Gregg Hurwitz leaps from page to screen to comic book panel in the blink of an eye. But no matter his medium, his end goal is the same: to tell an unforgettable, compelling story you can’t put down.

Jumpin’ jack flash

By Jack Smith

Flash fiction has never been hotter. Here’s our guide for how to write it – and where to sell it.

Departments

WRITER AT WORK

Standing room only

By Jennifer L. Blanck

Never suffer another empty book reading.

WRITING ESSENTIALS

Broken commandments

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

When good writing advice goes bad, savvy writers know when to forge their own paths.

WRITE STUFF

Writing to heal

By Gail Radley

How journaling can lead to healthier lives and richer characters.

FREELANCE SUCCESS

When the well runs dry

By Pete Croatto

What can a freelancer do when there’s no work to be had?

LITERARY SPOTLIGHT

Pop flotsam, cultural jetsam

By Melissa Hart

Low culture meets high art at Barrelhouse magazine.

CLASS ACTION

The affordable MFA

By Jeff Tamarkin

“Budget-friendly” and “MFA” may seem like an oxymoron, but this professor/blogger/MFA grad says it’s a real possibility – as long as you know where to look.

CONFERENCE INSIDER

Midwestern madness

By Melissa Hart

This friendly conference combines world-class faculty with a welcoming, unpretentious setting. Bowling, anyone?

Also in Every Issue

From the editor

Take Note

Joel Fishbane on the art of slow publishing and more.

Markets

How I Write

Anthony Varallo: “The reader reads for dialogue more than anything. The writer’s habit is to describe, but the reader would rather hear the character.”