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SPOTLIGHT: WRITE YOUR NOVEL IN 2009


Your Novel Blueprint
BY KAREN S. WIESNER
Turn your dream novel into a reality by taking some tips from the worksite.

Rough It Up
BY ELIZABETH SIMS
Get messy with your first draft to get to the good stuff.

Write Like Poe
BY MORT CASTLE
Reshape, revise and reimagine great literary styles to find your own successful voice.

[FEATURES]
THE WD INTERVIEW: MEGAN McCAFFERTY
BY LAUREN MOSKO
McCafferty's recipe for a bestselling series: 30 pages, a dream of crossover success and some old fashioned teen angst.

Cinderella Story
BY JORDAN E. ROSENFELD
It's the ultimate self-publishing dream: William P. Young's novel went from photo-copied Christmas gift to chart-topping bestseller. Here's how he pulled it off.


[COLUMNS]

Questions & Quandaries
BY BRIAN A. KLEMS
Searching for agents, semicolons and seasonal submissions.

First Impressions: The Big Switch BY JORDAN E. ROSENFELD An author turns her focus to teens. PLUS: More notable debuts.

Your Story: Vincent D'Onofrio Loves Me
BY MARY RUDY
The winning entry of contest #14. PLUS: Your Story #16 prompt.

Ask the Pro: Fired up for Kids' Books
BY KARA GEBHART UHL
An accomplished children's publisher joins an agency to get closer to writers.

The Conference Scene: The San Francisco Writers Conference
BY LINDA FORMICHELLI
Perfect your pitches, network and get published.

Postscript: Selling Out Swann
BY CHARLES SALZBERG
A writer finds that genre conventions never die.

InkWell
FRESH IDEAS, TIPS, NEWS AND INSPIRATION FOR LIVING THE WRITING LIFE

• Agent Cred
  
• A Word of Advice
  
• The Roeder Report: The Four Types of Plagiarists
  
• Anxiety Levels for Writers
  
• Cherry-Picked Chekhov Advice
  
• Jumpstart Your Fiction Writing

Writer's Workbook
LESSONS AND EXERCISES FOR WORKING ON SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF YOUR WRITING

• Fiction: The Great Plot Test
  
• Nonfiction:
• Don't Pitch—Write
  
• Poetry: Writing From a Lived Life
  
• Marketing: Touring

PLUS:
CONTRIBUTORS
READER MAIL