How to Track Your Writing Progress (And Why You Should)

How to Track Your Writing Progress (And Why You Should)

I’m going to be honest. When I first started writing, I thought keeping track of my writing progress was ridiculous. How many words I wrote in a day or how frequently I wrote depended on my mood and whether that elusive muse showed up. Besides, wasting time tracking and analyzing how much I’d written during a week seemed like just another way to procrastinate and not get any writing done at all.

I don’t say this often, so listen up:

I was wrong.

Writers need to track their writing progress, period. It’s that simple. Read on for why and how to get tracking today.

20 (Not Scary) Halloween Writing Prompts for Kids

20 (Not Scary) Halloween Writing Prompts for Kids

I’m a firm believer in Halloween. But I know all the gore and scary movies aren’t for everyone, especially little kids.

Halloween is for everyone, though! There’s so much more to the celebration than jump scares and fake blood. And I think we all need a little lightheartedness this year.

Have your kids try one of these writing prompts (or try one yourself)!

How to Shorten a Story: Writing Tips to Reduce Word Count

How to Shorten a Story: Writing Tips to Reduce Word Count

Short stories are their own art form. In a novel, you have an entire book to elaborate, to make your readers care. In a short story, you have to have the same elements, but in about two percent of the words. How can you shorten story?

Ultimately, learning how to write a story in fewer words takes practice. Luckily, tightening a short story into an even shorter story is something you can get the hang of over time.

This article shares various, easy writing tips that can help you cut your word count—and make your short story all the better for it.  

How to Create a Monster That Terrifies Your Readers

How to Create a Monster That Terrifies Your Readers

Halloween is right around the corner and I know a lot of you will be writing some spine-chilling stories to celebrate. What’s the best part of a creepy story? A monster.

When writing monsters, you could rely on the tried-and-true vampires, zombies, and giant, man-killing spiders. There’s nothing wrong with adding to the monster canon, but it does get a little boring after a while. It’s often better to make up your own monster. But how?

Decades have been spent honing the standard wants and abilities of vampires and zombies. How can you make a monster just as good in a much shorter time frame?