Welcome to our Creative Writing guide! This guide contains tools and resources to aid in your creative writing process, including general creative writing information and exercises and online resources for research and finding the right word, tools for revision and editing and finding writers’ organizations and preparing for contest, magazine or book submission/publication. We have highlighted a number of literary magazines as well. Please note that these lists are by no means exhaustive. If you know of another good resource – or would like to see a page on another topic not currently included in this guide – let us know! Likewise, please notify us if any of the links you come across on these pages have changed or become dead links. Thank you!
General
General Resources & Exercises
- 100 Word Story
- Creative Writing Now
- For Better For Verse
- Librivox
- My Write Club
- One Word Daily Writing Exercise
- Poet Seers
- Poetry Foundation
- Poetry Station
- Project Gutenberg
- Prosody Guide
- Purdue OWL: Creative Writing
- The Purdue Owl on Writer’s Block
- Scribblepad
- University of Richmond Writing Center
- The Writer’s Almanac
- Writer’s Digest
- Writing Commons
- Writing Forward
- Writing Forward’s Writing Exercises
Journals on Creative Writing
- Fiction Writers Review∗
- Journal of Creative Writing Studies∗
- Journal of Narrative Theory
- Narrative
- New Writing: the International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing
- Storyworlds: a Journal of Narrative Studies∗
- Text: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses∗
Doing Background Research
- General:
- Literary:
- Science/Math:
- History:
Finding the Right Words
- Oxford Dictionaries Online
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- Historical Thesaurus of English
- Visual Thesaurus
- Linguee
- Phrontistery
- Rhyme Zone
- OneLook Reverse Dictionary
- Behind the Name
Literary Magazines
Library Access
Open Access & Other Online Magazines
- Albatross∗
- Baquiana∗
- Beloit Poetry Journal∗
- Big Bridge∗
- BlazeVOX∗
- Blood Orange Review∗
- Cafe Irreal∗
- Carve∗
- Cirque∗
- Contemporary American Voices∗
- Cortland Review∗
- Evergreen Review∗
- Five Dials∗
- FIYAH: Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction
- Flyway∗
- Foliate Oak∗
- Glossen∗
- Iowa Review
- Los Angeles Review of Books
- Memorious∗
- Mslexia
- New York Review of Books
- Painted Bride Quarterly∗
- Poetry Bay∗
- Quarterly West∗
- Review Americana∗
- Sigma Tau Delta Rectangle∗
- TriQuarterly∗
- Valparaiso Fiction Review∗
For more literary magazines:
Revising & Editing
Resources for Revising & Editing
- Grand Valley State University’s Creative Writing Revision Strategies
- Purdue OWL
- University of Vermont’s Tutor Tips: Creative Writing
- The Writer’s Forge at Signum University ($)
- Writer’s Digest Critique & Editing Service ($)
Writer’s Organizations & Associations
- Academy of American Poets
- American Screenwriters Assocation
- American Society of Journalists and Authors
- Association of Authors’ Representatives
- Association of Writers and Writing Programs
- Authors Guild
- Great Writing: the International Creative Writing Conference
- Horror Writers of America
- International Affiliation of Writers Guilds
- International Screenwriters Association
- International Writers Association
- International Women’s Writing Guild
- Mystery Writers of America
- National Association of Independent Writers and Editors
- National Writers Association
- National Writers Union
- Novelists, Inc
- PEN International
- Poets and Writers
- Poetry Society of America
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- Sisters in Crime
- Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators
- Theatre Communications Group
Publishing
Contests, Prizes, Residencies & Fellowships
- NewPages Classifieds
- Poets & Writers’ Contests, Grants & Awards Database
- Playwrights’ Center’s Writers’ Opportunities Listings
- Writer’s Digest Competitions
- GrantSpace Advice
- Poets & Writers’ Conferences and Residencies Database
- University of Minnesota’s Award, Fellowship & Residency Database
- Vermont Studio Center’s Fellowships & List of Funding Resources
Finding the Right Publisher/Agent
- Writer’s Digest on How to Publish a Book (Informational overview)
- AAR’s Agents Database
- AgentQuery Database
- Literary Market Place (and International Literary Market Place)
- Poets & Writers Literary Agents Database
- Poets & Writers Literary Magazine and Journals Database
- Poets & Writers Small Presses Database
- Writer’s Digest Annual Conference
- Writer’s Digest Market Books (Writer’s Market, Poet’s Market, Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market, Guide to Literary Agents, etc)