This short story is by Marla Cantrell and was the winner of our final Show Off Short Story contest. Marla Cantrell lives and writes in Arkansas. She is the managing editor of @Urban Magazine. Most of Marla's stories deal with the South, the characters who populate it...
Here to learn? You’re in the WRITE place!
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.
Check out the latest articles below or find ones that match your interest in the sidebar.
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Pick One Person: Maintaining Narrative Mode
I was planning on continuing our adventurous foray into the modern use of Latin, but then one of my coworkers sent me this screengrab from her Facebook news feed, and I immediately knew I had to share this with all of you.
Who can pick out the mistake here? I’ll give you a hint: it’s not the semicolon. That’s actually being used properly.
Tap into Your Inner Child
Have you ever watched children play outside? They explore every small rock, dig with their fingers through grass and dirt, run without a worry about time or purpose or direction.
Have you ever listened to children talk? They tell stories in animated tones, ask questions with wonder and curiosity, offer up fresh descriptions and details no adult would notice.
Writing from a child’s perspective pushes you to view the world differently and allows you to write freely—without doubt, without self-editing along the way. Although we have all been children earlier in our lives, it’s often difficult to capture that mindset again. Here’s how to tap into your inner child:
What Driving Can Teach You About Practicing Writing
I’m not the biggest fan of driving. Once I hop into the car; the road needs my undivided attention, my heart beats anxiously, and I fear the busy traffic around me. Still, I know it’s a fact of life that I need to drive, so I do it.
I also drive because I know the importance of practice.
Driving a car is much like the art of writing. It takes a lot of practice transform our weaknesses into our strengths. You don’t become a safe and confident driver overnight, you have to practice, practice, and practice some more.
Let me illustrate my point by explaining why I now have an embarrassing scratch on the back of my car.
Don't Stop Writing in the Ugly Middle
A friend of mine is in the middle of writing a short story and he wants to give up. He has 2,000 words and none of it makes sense. He doesn’t know what he’s writing about. He doesn’t know why he’s writing in the first place. He’s lost faith.
Have you ever felt like this? I know I have.
How do you finish when you want to give up? How do you push through when you don’t know what you’re story is about?
5 Reasons You Should Consider Becoming a Writer
Have you ever thought about becoming a writer? If you’re like me and most of my readers, you probably have. But even if you haven’t, you should think about it.
Writing has done more for my life than I could have ever imagined. It has made me a better person, a better friend, and a better husband. It has even helped me to provide for myself and my family. And it can do the same for you, too.
Here are five reasons why you should consider becoming a writer:
How Professional Writers Avoid Distractions: Interview with Author Joanna Penn
How do you get your writing finished and complete your deadlines in the midst of a frenetic, distracting world? How do you break away from Facebook, Twitter, blog posts, and the other perils of the internet and just write?
We’d all like to live more focused, whole lives, but how do you actually do that?
Today, I’m interviewing author Joanna Penn to find out. Joanna Penn is the author of the ARKANE thrillers, Pentecost and Prophecy. She is also an entrepreneur and professional speaker. Her site for writers The Creative Penn has been voted one of the Top 10 sites for writers two years running and offers articles, audio, and video on writing, publishing and book marketing. To learn more about her fiction, visit her fiction website, JFPenn.com. You can also connect with her on Twitter (@thecreativepenn).
The Winner of the Final Show Off Writing Contest
Today we’re finally announcing the winner of the Let’s Write a Short Story contest. We had seventy-five entries to this contest, which is a new high, and the judges and I had a lot of fun reading through all your wonderful stories.
However, if you want to select a winner, you end up creating a lot of not-winners. I understand what it’s like to be a not-winner (which is different from being a loser, I think). Just yesterday I got another rejection from a literary magazine. I’ve been sticking them to my fridge, which is slowly getting covered by them. But this is what you have to do to succeed.
Instead of measuring how many times you’re published, measure rejections. Instead of trying to get everyone to like your stories, get as much feedback about how to improve your stories as you can. Don’t justify how good you are. Try to get better. If you do this for long enough, you will succeed.
What’s The Craziest Thing You’ve Done For Your Writing?
Have you ever done something crazy for your writing? Perhaps making a parody of someone you know or even doing something dangerous, just so you can make use of it on paper later on?
Write What You Feel
They say: “Write what you know”. What if your life isn’t interesting at all?
4 Ways to Enjoy Poetry Forever
At some point in my life I fell into the habit of introducing myself as a poet. My opening line was always “Hi, I’m Michael; and I’m a poet.”
Without fail 96.32% of the time the response would be “I used to write poetry as well, but I grew out of it.” The other 3.68% would probably snicker and point (at 6’2″ I don’t exactly fit the stereotype of lit–geek). I find this strange because I rather enjoy poetry, immensely if I dare add.
So I started to wonder, how can you make sure you never “grow out of” poetry? Here’s what I came up with:
