Increase Confidence in Your Creativity
Can the muse do a time-crunch? Plus TONS of writing news and resources
*For writing links and resources, scroll down*
Can you write a story in 3 days?
The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is kicking off on January 20. Back in December I shared a short (and strange) romantic comedy I wrote for this challenge several years ago. It was a winner in my heat, which meant I advanced to the next round and now had only three days to write another short story. This time it had to be a ghost story with an electrician character. (And I honestly can’t remember the last constraint.)
Anyway, I’ve had several people ask to see the story, so it is now available to paid subscribers of my newsletter. It’s called “Pudding,” it’s about a ghost cat, and it won honorable mention.
Think you can complete a story assignment under a tight deadline? Of course you can! The NYC Midnight competition is pricey, I’m not going to lie, but it’s so good for your writerly confidence. Prove you can be creative under pressure, and you’ll find you have more confidence in your creativity all the time.
Speaking of Confidence…
A friendly reminder about Be a Bestseller: Write Your Novel with Confidence. It’s a series of talks on the craft and business of writing, delivered to your inbox January 16-27. I’ll be giving a talk on January 21 with tips on writing suspense, but there are tons of great talks from authors and editors about everything from plotting to revising to marketing your book. Register for free today!
Coming soon!
I've been told by writing teachers, beta readers, critique partners, and my own agent that I excel at writing dialogue. Maybe it's my background in theater. Maybe it's my lifelong love of talking. Maybe it's simply that I've had a lot of practice. And now I can share what I've learned with you.
I’m currently preparing a Dialogue Masterclass (Lessons for Writing Excellent Dialogue) to be ready by the end of January. It will be three comprehensive lessons full of advice, examples, and exercises designed to help you master the craft of dialogue. I will offer the first session to everyone and the following two sessions for my paid subscribers only. Stay tuned!
Writing News & Resources
For All Writers:
The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is kicking off on January 20. One week to write a random story assignment. If you’re a winner, move on to the next round. Get feedback from the judges at every round, and gain confidence in your own creativity!
Be a Bestseller 4.0: Writer Your Novel with Confidence is a free online interview series running January 16-27 with 20+ talks about the craft and business of writing. Register for free — listen at your leisure!
For the entire month of February, StoryStudio Chicago is offering Pub Crawl: An Online Publishing Intensive featuring panels and classes every weeknight that you can watch live or later. And at the end the month are optional pitch sessions. The whole thing is $265, minus the pitches, and there are scholarships available.
For a special issue, The Rambling is inviting essays (1500-2000 words) that document & reflect on your experiences re-reading a favorite or formative book from your youth. Deadline February 3, 2023. Send submissions to theramblingonline@gmail.com.
The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is now open — deadline February 8, 2023. The Prize is for a novel by a woman over the age of 18 that marries literary merit with unputdownability.
Live in the DC area? Come join me at The Writer’s Center for an in-person workshop class on writing mystery/thriller/suspense/horror. Each week we will look at how to dial up suspense using an element of craft. Plus in-class writing exercises and opportunities to workshop your pages. 5 Saturdays: February 4 - March 4; 10am-noon.
Apply for the 2023 Kurt Brown WC&C Scholarships. Three winners will receive $500 to help them attend the WC&C event of their choice. Winners plus six finalists will also receive a free one-year AWP membership. Applications are open through March 31,2023.
Hoping to write more in the new year? Or finally start that novel? Learn more about my email courses for paid subscribers: Cultivating a Regular Writing Routine and Getting Started on Your Novel.
For KidLit Writers:
From Bitsy Kemper’s blog: over 75 publishers accepting unsolicited picture book manuscripts — updated January 2023!
The Ultimate Craft & Business of Writing, Illustrating, & Publishing Children’s Picture Books is an excellent, interactive online course from the Children’s Book Academy that will run from Jan 9 - Feb 13, 2023.
Upcoming Kidlit Workshops (online and in-person) from The Highlights Foundation. Everything from Picture Books to YA!
I recently found this incredible list of upcoming events for KidLit writers!
The Voyage YA Best Chapters Contest is now open — deadline January 15, 2023. First place wins $1,000, publication in Voyage, and a consult with an agent. Fifteen other winners receive agent feedback on five pages.
SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will hold their annual conference in person in New York City February 10-12. They will also have a virtual conference on February 25.
For Querying Writers:
NY Book Editors is now offering a Literary Agent Alert service. 2-week free trial followed by $10 a month. Is it worth it? I’m not sure — if you try it, let me know!
All registered AWP conference attendees, both in-person and virtual, are eligible to submit a sample of their work to the 2023 Writer to Agent program to be reviewed by over twenty agents at five excellent literary agencies. If an agent is interested, they will contact you to set up a meeting during #AWP23. The deadline to submit your query letter and writing sample is Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Check out my guest post on Jane Freidman’s blog: What I Learned from 90 Queries: How I Changed My Query Letter and Opening Pages to Get More Full Requests.
Check out my video: How to Find the Right Literary Agent and my article: What Your Query Rejections Are Telling You
Every Friday, Operation Awesome offers one free query critique through their #QueryFriday contest.
If you have the bandwidth for it, check out this insanely comprehensive spreadsheet of successful queries. Learn the details and read the actual query letters for books that got agent representation.
I don’t know what’s going on with Twitter these days, but it’s still functioning. I assume Twitter pitch contests will continue to happen unless I hear otherwise. If you’re still on Twitter, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. (After all, I found my agent through a Twitter pitch party. I am now an official success story.) So mark your calendar for these upcoming Twitter pitch parties. And be sure to read my article 13 Things to Know About Twitter Pitch Events.
Jan 25, 2023: #IWSGpit for all ages and genres
Jan 26, 2023: #KidLitPit for Picture Books through Young Adult
Feb 16 #PBPitch for Picture Books
Savvy Authors will sponsor their annual Sweetheart Pitchfest Feb. 15-17. This free event is for writers of all genres with a completed manuscript who are looking for an agent or editor. Register for free to learn more.
Writing Conferences
The Murphy Writing Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway will be January 13-16 at the historic Seaview Hotel near Atlantic City, NJ.
The Writing Day Workshop “How to Get Published” Conferences will held both online and in person this year. I attended one of these conferences in person a few years ago, and I thought it was fantastic. I can’t vouch for the virtual version, but there are some benefits: recorded classes, no travel expenses, attend in your comfy pants. Plus, you can sign up for Zoom pitch sessions with agents for $29 a piece. Check out the upcoming conferences:
Boston Writing Workshop: Feb. 3-4, 2023 (online only)
Chesapeake Writing Workshop (online only)
Alabama Writing Workshop: March 10, 2023 (in-person in Birmingham)
Atlanta Writing Workshop: March 11, 2023 (in-person)
Writers Conference of St. Louis: March 11, 2023 (in-person)
Cincinnati Writing Workshop: March 11, 2023 (in-person)
Minnesota Writing Workshop: March 25, 2023 (in-person in St. Paul)
AWP Conference (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) will be held in March 8-11, 2023 in Seattle.
All registered AWP conference attendees, both in-person and virtual, are eligible to submit a sample of their work to the 2023 Writer to Agent programto be reviewed by over twenty agents at five excellent literary agencies. If an agent is interested, they will contact you to set up a meeting during #AWP23. The deadline to submit your query letter and writing sample is Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Go to AWP for Free! Have your registration cost waived when you agree to work a four-hour shift at the conference. Applications are now open for work-exchange.
Students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities who are interested in writing can apply for the AWP HBCU Fellowship Program and meet award-winning author A.J. Verdelle at #AWP23. Applications deadline: January 15.
SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will hold their annual conference in person in New York City February 10-12. They will also have a virtual conference on February 25.
The San Miguel Writer’s Conference and Literary Festival will be held Feb. 13-17 in beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. No need to speak Spanish (though it certainly helps).
The Washington Writers Conference will be held in Bethesda, MD May 12-13.
Early Bird tickets ($369) include three agent-pitch sessions and are available through Mar. 31, 2023.
For more writing conferences, check out this list or this list of 19 Writing Conferences for Emerging and Established Writers.