Having an opinion about a movie is one thing. Expressing it in an informed, entertaining way to an audience is something altogether different.

Musical training plus industry research proved to be a dynamic combination for this writer.

If you struggle with committing to the craft, don’t be afraid to join a critique group.

Ridley Pearson’s diverse career has included success with thrillers, young-adult novels, collaborations with Dave Barry, and even a bestselling tie-in to a Stephen King TV series.

The bestselling author of Mystic River and Shutter Island advises you to begin working on plot and other narrative elements only after you know your protagonist to the core.

The author of six official James Bond novels offers a process for building a compelling tale.

Here are 10 programs with a specialty focus. You’d never guess some of them.

Want to learn some ways to strengthen, energize, clarify and trim your words? Here are a few tricks of the trade from a Writer editor.

Follow these six steps to “hitting the road” online—and in your pajamas, if you wish.

Here’s some practical advice for making a collaboration work from the late William G. Tapply and others. Plus, see Leigh Anne Jasheway’s sidebar on why collaboration might be right for you—and how to size up a potential writing partner.

Our intrepid writer builds his freelance credentials with a grueling, 4,000-mile solo motorcycle trip in southern Africa.

A Random House author describes how a new point of view brought his novel to life.

Will blogging and social networking help grow your business? Here’s a balanced view.

To write about weddings successfully, develop relationships with editors and vendors.

This month’s spotlight is on the literary journal The Los Angeles Review, describing its tone, preferences and contributors.

Reviews of It Was the Best of Sentences, It Was the Worst of Sentences: A Writer's Guide to Crafting Killer Sentences by June Casagrande, and The Accidents of Style: Good Advice on How Not to Write Badly by Charles Harrington Elster.

The Writer's Portable Mentor: A Guide to Art, Craft, and the Writing Life by Priscilla Long.

This month, our annual list of MFA programs; helpful tips from administrators at two MFA programs, the Whidbey Writers Workshop and the University of British Columbia; and information on contests and conferences.

For novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, some characters are inspired by real people, some grow from a tiny seed as she writes, and others just surprise her.