» A Guest Author

How to Identify and Fight the Demon of Perfectionism

By Ratika Deshpande I wrote for years with no particular goal in mind. I blogged and wrote stories because it was fun. Occasionally, I’d submit a story or an essay, and get an acceptance here and there. Then, a couple of years ago, I started sharing my work more actively and purposefully—I blogged more regularly,…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Eight

Unusual Writing Formats: When Your Story Demands Footnotes, Letters, or a Series of Haikus

By Sabyasachi Roy A few years ago, I decided to write a short story for a competition. It started as a simple tale of a man trying to return a library book, but somewhere along the way, my brain decided, “Hey, what if the story was told entirely through increasingly absurd footnotes?” What began as…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Seven Special Feature

Case Study: How The Coat Check Girl Came to Life

By Laura Buchwald I began writing The Coat Check Girl many years ago, without knowledge of what the path to publication entailed or whether that was even my goal. I’d been a writer since I learned to hold a pencil and had dabbled in short fiction. The idea for a longform project came to me…

Case Studies Issue Six Hundred Twenty Six Special Feature

How to Get Back Into Writing

Ratika Deshpande Last year, while I wrote a lot, I also went through long phases where I couldn’t find the time to write, or didn’t feel like writing, until the state of not-having-written became too much to bear. When I did sit down to write, I couldn’t. The built-up frustration of the time away from my…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Five Special Feature

Writing Advice I Ignore But Still Pretend to Follow

By Sabyasachi Roy Writing advice, ah. So full of wisdom. So universally agreed upon. So… annoying. Don’t get me wrong—I respect the craft. I admire the dedication. But some of the so-called golden rules of writing? Yeah, I nod along, then go home and do the exact opposite. And somehow, miraculously, the universe does not…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Four Special Feature

Am I A Writer or Just a Person Who Owns Too Many Notebooks?

By Sabyasachi Roy At what point does an obsession with buying notebooks become a cry for help? Because if owning stacks of untouched Moleskines made you a writer, my bookshelf alone would have penned a Pulitzer by now. And yet, here I am, staring at another blank page, wondering if I actually write or just…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Three Special Feature

How Six Scribes Made Me a Better Writer

By Alice J. Wisler Even though I was happy to see the notice on the library bulletin board, I didn’t realize how much it would contribute to my writing success. Someone wanted to know if others in our area were interested in forming a writers’ group. I jotted down the number to call. Weeks later,…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Two Special Feature

Writing Effective Flashbacks: Seamlessly Integrating Backstory

By Sabyasachi Roy Flashbacks can be one of the greatest storytelling tools. But there is a catch (there always is, isn’t there). A flashback, as a misused literary tool, is one of the easiest ways to completely wreck a narrative. See, you have to use it well to add depth, emotion, and intrigue. If you…

Issue Six Hundred Twenty One Special Feature

Lessons From a Writer and Her Rejections

By Melissa Witcher With over 100 literary magazine rejections in the past two years, I am quite familiar with being not quite the right fit. I’ve always been a misfit so it makes sense that my writing career would follow suit. Many famous people, quite successful, have written about rejection in poetic and useful ways….

Issue Six Hundred Twenty Special Feature

How to Play The Subtext Game with Your Dialogue

By Sabyasachi Roy Writing dialogue can feel like a balancing act. If you use too much, you run the risk of overloading the reader. Too little leaves them perplexed. Finding the sweet spot where something magical occurs is difficult, and frequently it all comes down to what you choose not to say. Subtext—those delicious layers…

Issue Six Hundred Nineteen Special Feature

No-Fee Contests for Published Books (So You Can Become an Award Winning Author)

If you’ve recently published a book, you can leverage no-fee contests to get more visibility for your work. Even writers who forego the traditional publication route are not always disqualified from entering their books into these contests. Fee-free contests can offer everything from extra promotion and notoriety to monetary awards or invitations to read at…

Issue Six Hundred Eighteen

The Key to a Realistic Writing Plan

By Abdulraheem Jameel Ango A good writing plan can transform your writing life. However, many authors emphasize the importance of not skipping a single writing session. Despite how useful this may sound, and regardless of how flawless our writing plan may look, this is not always possible. There are days when life happens, days when…

Issue Six Hundred Seventeen

Build Your Writing Career and Platform with Snap, Dash and Flash

By Lynne Curry When I fell in love with flash fiction, seduced by the six-word story attributed to Hemingway: “For sale: baby, shoes, never worn,” I never dreamed flash would love me back. It did, reshaping how I write and how my stories connect with readers. If you experiment with flash fiction— storytelling that delivers…

Issue Six Hundred Sixteen

Lessons from My Most Prolific Year of Writing and Getting Published

Ratika Deshpande I got 33 acceptances and published 194 blog posts in 2024, making it the most prolific year of my writing life. I took more chances; I experimented with writing different stuff. I applied to writing jobs and grants, submitted flash fiction, participated in contests, and wrote articles and essays I’m very proud of….

Special Issue

Brewing the First Line of a Poem: Starting Strong with Memorable Openings

By Sabyasachi Roy Brewing the first line of a poem is like pouring the perfect pint—too flat, and no one sticks around; too much foam, and it’s all fluff. But nail it? A friend of mine was called the Yeats of happy hour, for he could pour the perfect pint. The same goes for making…

Issue Six Hundred Fifteen Special Feature

Articles by A Guest Author