Cultivate Suspense: Lessons From Thrillers
The author of Winter Counts offers a masterclass in building suspense, whether your character is planning a heist or planting a garden.
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Article Archive: Special Section
Articles from Poet & Writers Magazine include material from the print edition plus exclusive online-only material.
Brave New Metaphors: Lessons From Science Fiction
The celebrated writer shows how science fiction’s “novums”—the futuristic or fantastical developments a writer invents in their work—can delve into philosophical questions, explore contemporary issues, and help us see worlds that are not yet real.
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Embrace the “And Then”: Lessons From Fairy Tales
Fairy tales are built on their own enchanting associative logic. A maestro of magical realism explores what writers can unlock when they let readers leap between a story’s plot points—and where such a trail of breadcrumbs can lead.
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Conjure the Strange: Lessons From Horror
The award-winning writer studies how the most powerful horror stories are grounded in “deeply human dilemma,” and how daring the ghoulish can bring us closer to our characters.
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Seek the Unknown in the Familiar: Lessons From Historical Fiction
The best historical fiction “vibrates with a past that is in the present” and reveals the unseen in stories thought we knew—craft skills any writer can bring to their work.
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New Ways of Seeing: Our Twenty-First Annual Look at Debut Poets
Ten debut poets, including Gbenga Adesina and Kalehua Kim, share the inspiration, advice, and writers block remedies that have sustained their literary practices.
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Inspiration From Across the Literary Landscape
Five acclaimed writers traverse the literary landscape, gleaning lessons from diverse genres of writing and bringing them back to bear on any work.
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An Agent’s Perspective on Literary Magazines
An agent at Trellis Literary Management offers nuanced advice to writers on approaching literary magazine publication, including how much these credits matter in a query letter and which writers benefit most from such exposure.
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Five Fantastic Presses for Chapbooks
Writers looking to place their prose and poetry chapbooks will find committed advocates and caring editors at indie publishers including Cooper Dillon Books and Black Lawrence Press.
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Ten Superb Literary Magazines for Fiction
The author of the collection What We Fed to the Manticore highlights homes for short fiction that embrace new talent, spark dynamic conversations, and live the values of inclusion and representation.
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Ten Exceptional Literary Magazines for Nonfiction
The author of American Harvest: God, Country, and Farming in the Heartland identifies exemplary journals publishing nonfiction, where editors seek “a novel point of view, a voice willing to confront the true uncharted territory of the imagination.”
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Ten Outstanding Literary Magazines for Poetry
The author of How to Submit: Getting Your Writing Published With Literary Magazines and Small Presses names top journals offering visibility, community, and meaningful pay to poets.
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Five Terrific Literary Magazines for Strange and Unusual Work
The editor of Diagram highlights five literary magazines with unexpected ambitions, including a celebration of sentence-long narratives and a journal dedicated to revenge.
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How to Make the Most of Your Time in an MFA
Time well-spent in grad school means “learning to labor in language in such a way that you’ve made yourself worthy of the next labor.”
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How to Write the Personal Essay for MFA Applications
Use your essay to answer the question: Devoting two years to writing can be a dream come true, but why is it your dream?
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How to Pick an MFA Program
Faculty, program type, format, and size are just a few of factors to consider when finding a school that suits who you are as a writer.
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How to Write an Author Bio
Keep it simple, or do like Nora Ephron and consider what defines you.
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How to Protect Your Time
Carrying a stroller down the subway steps is a good use of your time; doomscrolling and social media are not. Fight for time for the things you love and put your writing at the top of that list.
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How to Write When You’d Rather Be Online
Your internet obsessions can become your writing’s obsessions; allow those passions to animate your book.
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How to Brew Good Coffee
Monthly deliveries of a perfect roast, strongly brewed, may be nearly as important as the companion who introduces them to you.
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How to Keep Hold of 120,000 Words—or, How to Work With a Manuscript in Word
Clever use of the software’s Headings tools can make even the most beastly manuscript easier to wrangle.
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How to Kill Your Darlings
Consider your cuts as a culling of the herd, and know that even writing which is omitted will leave its imprint on the book.
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How to Think About the Value of a Creative Writing Degree
A writing degree’s worth lies in early readers met, sacred hours at the desk, life-changing books, and deep community.
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How to Keep Writing When You’re Convinced Your Book Is a Disaster
When feeling beaten by your manuscript, come back to the page with humility and curiosity, and remember the ways that this work feeds you.
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