January 2014

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.

Alicia Anstead

A new year is upon us

By Alicia Anstead

A new year is upon us, and who knows what lies ahead? You can plan. You can speculate. But the future is unpredictable. That’s a bit like writing itself: You start a story, an essay, a poem, a script, and it’s anybody’s guess – including yours – as to where it will end up.

Features

Title Search

By Catherine Buni

Are you missing out on writing guides that can broaden perspective?

Recipe for a story

By Aubrey Everett

Lucy Knisley blends storytelling and art in a tasty memoir.

Cookin’

By Julia Rappaport

Food came first for author and editor Molly Birnbaum.

Research: Elizabeth Gilbert

By Megan Kaplon

The author’s new novel required five shoeboxes of index cards.

Content to go

By Mridu Khullar Relph

Reposition yourself as a content provider and strategist.

Bookish

By Jake Belcher and Juan Padron

A photo montage of festivals in Boston and Brooklyn.

Departments

Writing Essentials

Listen up

By Jack Hamann

Transcribing interviews can lead to discovery.

Off the Cuff

What’s in a name?

By Carly Berg

Picking a pseudonym is a difficult matter.

Write Stuff

Act out

By Dale McGarrigle

A hands-on workbook can ignite imaginative power.

Market Focus

Too long. Didn’t read.

By Neil Evans

Fearful of content farms and online publishing? Adapt or die.

Freelance Success

Pump it up

By Julia McKinnell

A creativity coach offers advice on motivation.

Conference Insider

Allegiance to language

By Hillary Casavant

Meet Emari DiGiorgio of the Winter Poetry and Prose Getaway.

Literary Spotlight

Sense of wonder

By Melissa Hart

The Florida Review shines for emerging voices.

Also in Every Issue

Take Note

Monthly prompts, New Year’s tips from writers, lessons from readers, Francisco Goldman on writing, a guide to literary home decor. And more.

Markets

Classified advertising

How I Write

Gaiutra Bahadur: “I’m not a neutral person telling this history; I’m a product of it.”