New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

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 Write a Morality Story

by Sue Weems and Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

If you have a main character whose crisis tempts them to veer outside of their values, then you likely have a morality plot. Sometimes the choice is one of selfishness at the expense of others, other times, it is selflessness at the expense of self. But the character’s moral fiber, their soul, is always on the line. Let’s look at how to write a temptation or morality plot.

How to Create a Monster That Terrifies Your Readers

by Sarah Gribble | 1 Comment

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?

Atmosphere Literary Definition: Genre Examples That Evoke Emotion

by Joslyn Chase | 0 Comments

Atmosphere matters. You might be someone who will pay a premium to eat at a restaurant with a certain ambience or buy a house in a setting that supports a particular feeling. But how do you use atmosphere in your book?

In like manner, your reader won’t remember every word you wrote, but if you infuse the story with atmosphere, they will remember the way it made them feel.

But how can you weave atmosphere into your story without making it feel forced? How can your story’s atmosphere evoke an emotional response and leave a lasting impression on your readers? How can you leverage this literary technique to enhance that feeling?

A strong sense of atmosphere figures into the works of William Shakespeare. Edgar Allan Poe mastered atmosphere in poems like The Raven and his haunting tales of suspense. J.K. Rowling managed it well in the Harry Potter series.

And you can learn it too.

There are many literary devices and elements of fiction a writer uses to impact the atmosphere of a literary work, including figurative language, word choice, similes, and personification. In this post, we’ll examine how point of view and genre considerations help to set the mood and establish atmosphere.

Writing Sprints: A Simple Exercise That Benefits Every Writer

by Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

How do you defeat procrastination, write more in less time, and do it with less struggle? Two words: writing sprints.

Word sprints are an amazing writing tool that you can use to improve your writing. Sprinting pushes you to write more words fast, by forcing you to start writing and ignore your inner editor.

They also get you to concentrate on one of the most important ways to improve your writing life: consistent practice.

With continuous practice, word sprints can even help you develop a writing habit that will empower you to write and actually finish a novel or a screenplay—and maybe even develop a career as a writer.

But what are writing sprints? And how can you use them effectively?

I’ll teach you in this post!

How to Write a Query Letter: 3 Paragraphs That Hook a Literary Agent

by Abigail Perry | 1 Comment

If you’re interested in getting your book traditionally published, it’s crucial that you sign with a literary agent who loves your story and has a vision for your career. To do this means you need to write the single most important page you’ll ever write outside of your book: a query letter.

No pressure, right?

If the thought of writing a query letter freaks you out or confuses you, hit the pause button and breathe for a second. You are not alone.

Here’s the good news: there is a method that will help you get an agent to say, “Sounds great! Send me more.” I call this the three-paragraph method. It’s all about the hook-book-cook!

31 October Writing Prompts

by Sue Weems | 0 Comments

Fall is in full swing here in the United States. If you are looking for some inspiration to take you through the month, check out our new list of October writing prompts!

How to Write Revenge Stories That Thrill and Satisfy Your Readers

by Joslyn Chase | 1 Comment

A heinous murder. A jilted lover. An angry hero determined to get justice. Revenge stories are a vital part of the human experience. Let’s take a look at how to write one of your own.

60+ Wicked Good Examples of Oxymoron

by Robert Harrell | 0 Comments

Do you know any wise fools? Have you ever seen a jumbo shrimp? Experienced a deafening silence? Tasted bittersweet chocolate? Found a picture pretty ugly? Declared something awful good?

If so, you’ve experienced or used an oxymoron. What, then is an oxymoron? Let’s take a look.

How to Shape a Story: The 6 Types of Story Arcs for Powerful Narratives

by Joe Bunting | 1 Comment

In stories, we get to see the cause-and-effect connections between otherwise random events. We get to experience the deeper meaning in life. We get to see through the chaos of real life and see the underlying pattern.

The literary term for this pattern is story arc, and humans love story arcs.

In this article, we’re going to talk about the definition of story arcs, look at the six most commonly found story arcs in literature, talk about how to use them in your writing, and, finally, study which story arcs are the most successful.