For the most part, creative people tend to be rather engaging interview subjects, and this website corroborates that statement. Located on the Cecil Vortex site, this site brings together interviews with a wide range of creative types, including poets, web innovators, choreographers, visual artists, playwrights, clowns, stand-up comics, and screenwriters. Along the way, Cecil Vortex asks his...

With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Poets & Writers, Inc. covers the world of creative writers across the United States. Created in 1970, it remains the largest nonprofit literary organization serving poets, fiction writers, and creative nonfiction writers. Visitors to the site can read selected pieces from their magazine, and they can also learn about various funding opportunities for...

"It was a dark and stormy night," so begins one of the most reviled first lines in literary history, composed by that somewhat obscure 19th century British author, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. Since 1982 the English department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, challenging entrants to compose the opening sentence to "the worst of all possible novels." The...

Perhaps National Novel Writing Month, celebrated each November, has inspired readers to embark on a new creative endeavor. If so, let The Crafty Writer's Creative Writing Course be a guide. Fiona Veitch Smith, who has worn several hats in the writing world (including roles as a "freelance journalist, editor, author, playwright, screenwriter and writing teacher,"), created this course to introduce...

Toasted Cheese's writing calendar challenges visitors to write a story using the "five words joint, cracks, unpopular, boiling, [and] looking," or compose a piece "about losing track of the day of the week." Launched in 2001, Toasted Cheese is part literary journal, part writing community. The site offers a variety of resources, from creative inspiration to writing contests. The site also curates...

Even if you can't make it to Poughkeepsie, you can still benefit from the resources offered by the writing center at Vassar College. On its site, visitors can learn how to become a more creative writer, compose a thesis, and also look over formal academic courses of study. In the Resources for Writers section, visitors will find writing guides, odes to the importance of good sentence structure,...