Writer Unboxed

UPDATE: The contest has closed. Winners of the Seer of Sevenwaters book giveaway are: Number 19 Jeanne Kisacky Number 45 Courtney Johnson You’ll both be contacted shortly with details on your win. Congratulations! Today marks the U.S. release of the fifth book in author and long-time Writer Unboxed contributor Juliet Marillier’s highly acclaimed Sevenwaters series. [...]

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Megan asked: I’ve long considered getting an MFA in creative writing. But will an MFA really make me a better writer? Or should I stay on my current path of writing and reading a ton? What are the pros/cons of getting an MFA? Thanks! Nancy asked: I don’t get writer’s block, but the thing that [...]

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Therese here. Author Randy Susan Meyers first turned me on to Betsy Lerner–author, former editor, and now an agent with Dunow, Carlson and Lerner Literary Agency. Betsy wrote a book that Randy raved about called The Forest for the Trees, so you know I had to check it out. Here to tell you, it’s just [...]

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Loved all your caption suggestions for the cartoon I posted last time. Therese’s made me laugh out loud. :-D Thanks for participating, everyone!

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Jane Friedman isn’t just a Writer Unboxed contributor whose posts frequently receive mega-hits and comments. She’s a visiting assistant professor at the University of Cincinnati in the e-media department of the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), the former publisher of Writer’s Digest (F+W Media), and a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest. In short, Jane understands the business [...]

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Lin Wang asked: As a writer and reader of fantasy and historical fiction, what are some good books that I should read and authors I should learn from? I’ll talk about craft books first, and then list some examples of outstanding recent fiction in the genres of historical fiction and historical fantasy. First up, I [...]

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Therese here. Today, we kick off our month of reader-Q-and-contributor-A, beginning with two reader questions answered by agent Donald Maass. Enjoy! Lin Wang asked: When starting a new novel, how do you turn your ideas (characters, images, phrases) into a coherent story? Any advice for writers who want to find a balance between outlining and [...]

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