New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

It Bears Repeating: Is It Bears or Bares?

It bears repeating that the English language is full of odd sayings. Never fear, though—we’re here to break them down.

Today, we’re taking on a hairy turn of phrase: “it bears repeating.” Or is it “it bares repeating”?

Premise: The First Step To Writing Your Book

by Joe Bunting | 352 Comments

Whether you’re writing a book or a blog post, it’s tempting to just dive into your writing project. However, you will likely save yourself time and create a better end product if you settle on a solid premise before you start writing.

From Imagination to Publication: 100+ Novel Ideas to Fuel Your Literary Journey

by Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

You want to write, but when you sit down to get started, you realize you don’t have a novel idea. Or perhaps you have so many ideas, you’re having a hard time choosing the best novel idea. Or maybe, you already have an idea, but you just aren’t sure if it’s any good.

That’s what we’re here for. In this article are ten questions to help you get started finding your best novel idea. Use them as writing prompts or as a way to make your current idea better.

How Characters Change in Stories (And How to Write Believable Change)

by Sarah Gribble | 0 Comments

You’ve probably heard this one before: Your character must change throughout the course of your story. Characters need to transform.

I see a lot of confusion over this concept. Writers can normally nail the change (weak to strong; bad to good; cynical to optimistic) but it often comes from a weird place that doesn’t sit quite right with what we know about the protagonist. Or it’s too big of a change (or too much of a “fairy tale ending”) to be believable.

Writers think that great characters need drastic changes, but this isn’t always the case.

Let’s take a look at how writers should deal with character change, and how creating a character arc might make for a more interesting cast and plot.

Into vs. In To: The Simple Guide to Keeping Them Straight

by Joe Bunting | 48 Comments

Stuck on the distinction between “in to” and “into”? You’re not alone! Don’t worry, though, I’ve got you covered. Here’s the quick version:

Use “into” to describe where something is: going inside something else.
Use “in to” based on the verb that comes before it. It can have many meanings, but here’s a quick tip that covers some of them: if you can replace it with “in order to,” use “in to.”

Read on for the longer explanation, plus examples of into vs. in to.

Info Dumping for Writers: What It Is and How to Avoid It

by Abigail Perry | 12 Comments

Have you ever been given feedback that there was too much info dumping in your story? Did you not really understand what that meant?

Info dumping is a common piece of feedback for authors who include too much information in their stories. If you info dump, you will slow the pace—and worse, you’ll likely bore readers. You never want to bore your readers.

So how do you know when to include a “chunk of info” and when it is better to strip your scenes to the bone? (Almost always, by the way.)

In this article, you can learn what info dumping is, along with some common ways writers accidentally do it. You’ll also learn some editing questions that can help you condense your writing, leaving your reader with only necessary information that develops characters or advances the plot.

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

by Sarah Gribble | 0 Comments

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.