'The Martian' Author Andy Weir Discusses Sci-Fi, Research and His Upcoming Novel 'Artemis'

Plus, tips for writing scary monsters, insights from the bestselling author of 'Dear Martin' and advice for novelizing a script. [Web Version »]( [header]( [Name]( ['The Martian' Author Andy Weir Discusses Sci-Fi, Research and His Upcoming Novel 'Artemis']( [Name]( Realistic sci-fi is a hot genre, and perhaps no one is more responsible for its meteoric rise than The Martian author Andy Weir. In these outtakes from our interview with Weir -- which appears in its entirety in the January 2018 issue of Writer's Digest -- he offers a peek into the research process for his moon colony-set follow-up, Artemis. [Read More...]( Advertisement [ New! The Book Construction Blueprint This free guide includes what you need to transform your eBook into a professionally printed book your readers will love. [Get yours.]( [Meet Nic Stone, Debut Author of Bestselling Novel 'Dear Martin']( [Name]( Nic Stone's poignant and timely Dear Martin hit the ground running on Amazon in its first week, trending #1 in the YA literature category-and now it's landed at #4 on the New York Times Bestseller list for YA Hardcover. Read an interview with this burgeoning author and learn about the recent events that stirred her novel's gripping and heart-wrenching plot. [Read More...]( [NanoWriMo for Screenwriters: 5 Steps to Novelizing a Script]( [Name]( Script magazine will soon be joining forces with Writer's Digest! Here, Script Editor Jeanne Veillette Bowerman shares why screenwriters should take on the NaNoWriMo challenge by adapting backwards, from screenplay to novel. [Read More...]( [Writing Scary Monsters: 5 Qualities That Will Frighten Your Readers]( [Name]( In this excerpt from [Writing Monsters]( by Philip Athans, learn about five qualities that will make your readers' skin crawl when you're crafting monstrous creatures. To begin, we want our monsters to maintain a degree of mystery, or at least begin with a greater degree of mystery than that. Start by asking one key question. [Read More...]( [Mastering NaNoWriMo: 30 Days to a Finished Novel]( [Name]( Start the countdown: you're only a month away from sharing your novel with the world! NaNoWriMo begins tomorrow, and this value pack provides everything you need to complete your novel in 30 days. Nearly 700,000 novelists completed their novels last year during NaNoWriMo and with this value pack you'll be among them this year. [Read More...]( [Building Self-Care Habits: Refilling the Creativity Well to Write Your Best Work]( [Name]( In the writing community, we often talk about "refilling the well," an idea that we understand conceptually, but is often lost in translation when we try to apply it to our lives. What does refilling the well actually look like and how do we make time for it in our already jam-packed lives? [Read More...]( [Own the collection]( [Your Weekly Writing Prompt]( [prompt]( Transparency: You bolt awake ... but you're not immediately sure what awakened you. You blearily fumble for your cell phone to check the time, but as you reach for the bedside table, you gasp -- your hand passes through the oak nightstand as if it were composed of nothing but mist. After a moment, you raise your hand up in front of your face to discover that it is not the nightstand that is no longer solid, but your disconcertingly transparent hand. What has happened? [Post your response (500 words or fewer) in the comments here ....]( [klems]( Jess Zafarris Follow [@jfarrisknight]( Jess Zafarris is an energetic multimedia journalist with more than 7 years of experience writing and editing, and the online content director of Writer’s Digest. This email was sent to: {EMAIL} by: F+W, 10151 Carver Road, Suite 200 Blue Ash, OH, 45242 USA [Unsubscribe or Manage Subscriptions]( | [Update Profile]( | [Web Version »]( We respect your right to privacy. [View our policy.](