“No matter how genuine you might think it sounds, your written self is an illusion, a stand-in for you. And since it’s made of words, your persona can be made to sound any way you want,” Carl H. Klaus writes in A Self Made of Words. In this guide, Klaus demonstrates how the nonfiction writer can learn to cultivate an intentional version of the “self.” Replete with examples and exercises, the book has two parts: a detailed introduction to the persona, and an overview of the most important elements in writing—including diction, point of view, and sentence structure—that play a role in crafting a distinctive self.
Find details about every creative writing competition—including poetry contests, short story competitions, essay contests, awards for novels, grants for translators, and more—that we’ve published in the Grants & Awards section of Poets & Writers Magazine during the past year. We carefully review the practices and policies of each contest before including it in the Writing Contests database, the most trusted resource for legitimate writing contests available anywhere.