August 2016

Jennifer De Leon

Drilling down

By Jennifer De Leon

A universal story must also be a specific one.

Features

Our "Great Break" contest winner: "The House They Built"

By Signe Bergstrom

Read the first-place winner of our "Great Break" short story contest.

The shadows that transform us

By Julie Krug

Poet Reginald Dwayne Betts says all experiences – light and dark – have created the man, the poet he is today.

Page turner

By Nicki Porter

Author/editor Heidi Pitlor knows how to get inside a character's – and a reader's – head.

Looking to the past

By Todd James Pierce

When historical fiction meets the short story.

Departments

Writing Essentials

Productive procrastination

By Anica Mrose Rissi

Instead of staring at a blank screen, get distracted.

Writer at Work

Put me in, coach

By Ryan G. Van Cleave

Writing coaches can boost and bolster a career.

Breakthrough

Lost and found

By Anna Stokely

Try tossing the roadmap and letting characters – not plot – lead you.

Freelance Success

Grant some kindness

By Joan Axelrod-Contrada

Grant writing offers significant altruistic – and financial – rewards.

Class Action

Television writing 101

By Jeff Tamarkin

Nothing good on TV? Learn how to write your own shows.

Conference Insider

Hollywood heads south

By Melissa Hart

Screenwriters strike gold at the Austin Film Festival.

Literary Spotlight

The best policy

By Melissa Hart

Carve seeks honesty and authenticity.

Also in Every Issue

From the Editor

Take Note

Jennifer de Leon, Susan Ito, blogger Colin Wright, and more.

Markets

How I Write

Stephanie Danler: "I don't know how to separate myself from my love of food – I know that I learned it, but it's so much a part of who I am now, of how I participate in the world, that it feels intrinsic."