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Year-end “best-of” roundups can hit like a truck, especially when our culture’s system of awarding recognition can feel arbitrary and unfair. A fiction writer offers perspectives to better understand the value of these lists and protect your joy.
For the most part, people do not win contests—and that’s okay. A novelist and professional therapist reframes the idea of losing as an objective evaluation of worth; instead, think of a loss as a blank space, a preamble before the wins.
A best-selling author addresses the fine line between jealousy and resentment; almost everyone experiences these feelings, but it’s important to let go of bitterness and celebrate great books (and authors) as a collective win.
Contests are inherently a gamble, and the best results come with developing submissions strategically. Contest judges share their thoughts on how to make the best impression in the submission pile.
Each year, dozens of contests reward writers for their tenacity and artistry—and charge no fee to enter. One of our senior editors gathers a year’s worth of the most notable prizes that emerging and debut writers can pursue.
Often, the writers who could most use the support that retreats offer are the ones least able to access them. But thanks to financial aid, childcare, accessibility accommodations, and more, a retreat might be more possible than you think.
A writers retreat abroad can loosen creativity, push work in new directions, or offer sanctuary to fully commit to a project. Our senior editor considers six venues that might inspire you to take an adventure with your writing.
Devoting the time and securing the money to attend a retreat can feel especially challenging at the beginning of your literary career. Emerging and once-emerging writers share how they gathered resources to make it happen.
Bringing touches of comfort can help you write wherever you are. The author of The Stolen Child unpacks some of her on-the-go essentials to create a room of her own when attending retreats and conferences.
The author of Thrust analyzes the origins of her passion for storytelling and challenges writers to discover what gives their stories urgency in a world that doesn’t always choose life and love over death and destruction.
