At The Write Practice, we publish a new article each day designed to help writers tackle one part of their writing journey, from generating ideas to grammar to writing and publishing your first book. Each article has a short practice exercise at the end to help you immediately put your learning to use.
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I’m a firm believer in deadlines.
Some will argue that creativity has no end point and that they can’t be inspired if there’s a timeline. If that mindset results in powerful writing and stories that resonate with readers as regularly as you’d like, then go forth and continue with the process that is working for you!
If, however, you can’t seem to finish in the time and manner you desire, a little deadline practice might be just the thing you need to propel your writing forward.
As writers, we are always working to make our stories the best they can be. One of the more advanced techniques that can help you do this is by giving an underlying meaning in a scene—otherwise known as subtext.
In a story, subtext can be implied by the surface action and dialogue.
When you think about the books and stories that you most enjoyed reading, chances are that story’s scenes were woven with something deeper than what appeared on the surface.
Today I’d like to teach you seven simple techniques for using subtext in your story, which I’ll also teach with some subtext examples.
Here are 30 June writing prompts from journal prompts to story starters to skill building prompts. Try one and keep your writing sharp this summer.
Writers working on their first drafts often have trouble taking an initial idea all the way to a finished first draft and ultimately a final draft. Why? It could be a number of reasons, but the one I see most often is an unfocused story premise. Let me show you how a...
Today, Joe brought my attention to a strange quirk of the English language: we use “whose” for inanimate objects. It sounds so weird when you use the phrase like, “I placed the iPhone whose screen is broken in the bin,” but it’s technically grammatically correct.
You’ve written a book. Congratulations! But wait . . . now what? What do you do with your manuscript? How do you turn it from a rough draft into a publishable book? The next step is to get professional developmental editing. A developmental editor will help you take your rough, unpolished ideas and turn them into an amazing second draft.
If you’re new to the world of editing, though, the term “developmental editing” might sound a little confusing. What is developmental editing? What makes it different from other kinds of editing, like line editing, copy editing, or proofreading?
Here’s everything you need to know about developmental editing, including how to find the best editor for your book.
The best way to become a better writer is to write and then to publish your writing, whether you publish it on a blog, in a book, or with a close friend. It’s only by practicing writing, and getting feedback on it, that you can improve.
That being said, it never hurts to learn from those who have gone before you, and over the years, we’ve compiled a lot of excellent advice from the best writers on how to become a better writer.
For those who might not be familiar with the term, a Pyrrhic victory is technically a win, but the excessive cost undermines the sense of triumph. That means you win, but it feels like you’ve lost.
Sometimes the cost includes the casualties incurred in the process of achieving the victory, but it can also be the personal cost that devastates the victor.
s pickup one word or two? What’s the difference between pickup vs. pick up vs. pick-up? Today our resident grammarian Robert Harrell clears up the confusion around these terms.
As a writer, when you move from whipping up short stories to tackling the beast that is a novel, the cracks in standard word processors start to show. I needed book writing software, and I wanted something powerful but simple to use. I tried a number of programs, but Dabble has been my favorite. Check out my Dabble review and see if it might work for you too.
