Welcome back! Writing magazine is happy to be spending the school year with you. We have planned a series of exciting issues for you. This month, we bring you Issue 1—I Hate to Write! This theme was created to bring encouragement to reluctant writers. Even students who love to write will appreciate this fresh approach to the craft of writing.

The light-hearted article, “Help! I Hate Writing” looks at the common fears and stumbling blocks of many writers. We also demonstrate new spins on the classic summer vacation essay.

• Teen author Nancy Yi Fan talks about getting her novel Swordbird published and also provides some advice to young writers.

• John B. Abbott Jr., a professor and author of mystery novels, recalls an experience writing a “summer vacation” essay and how it changed the course of his life.

• This month, Writing announces its 2007-2008 Student Writing Contest—Treasured Objects. Click here for contest rules and entry form.

Please take a moment to look at our Planning Calendar for the upcoming year. You can also find a link to reproducible worksheets that come straight from Writing Teacher’s Guides.

Last year, we produced our first ever electronic issue “Lending a Hand with Revision.” We are keeping this fabulous resource available so teachers can return to it again and again.

Thanks for being with us this year and remember that we’d love to hear from you. Contact us with your feedback. We are always looking for tips from teachers and writing from students to use in upcoming issues. Please join our team as we discuss great books, authors, literary news, and more on the WORD blog.

Keep on Writing,

The Editors