New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

Sequence of Events in a Story: How to Order Scenes That Build Suspense

Have you ever felt cheated when reading a book? Like the author held back information that would have enhanced your reading experience? Or neglected to include all the relevant details that would have allowed you to solve the mystery? Did the sequence of events in the story feel…off?

Think about this:

What if J.K. Rowling neglected to have Hagrid tell Harry about his parents’ deaths until the end of The Sorcerer’s Stone?

What if the writers of Die Hard had let Hans Gruber discover Holly was John McClane’s wife right up front?

What if Suzanne Collins had forgotten to alert readers to a rule change allowing tributes from the same district to win as a team in The Hunger Games?

Leaving out these vital pieces of information—or putting them in the wrong place—would have robbed these stories of a full measure of suspense. This would have dulled the impact of their final scenes.

As a writer, you never want readers to feel cheated or disappointed by your book. But how can you make sure you include all the relevant pieces of the puzzle, in the right order, to sustain suspense and satisfy your reader?

Short Story Tips: 3 Successful Strategies to Write a Short Story

by Sarah Gribble | 2 Comments

Knowing how to write a short story seems like it’s a no-brainer. They’re short; how hard could it be? However, once you start writing a short story you’ll probably realize that you don’t know how to write a short story. You’d like to some short story tips.

A novel has hundreds of pages to get you involved in the characters’ lives and to transform you to another world, all to leave you with a great ending that you’re thinking about weeks—maybe even years—later.

In a short story, you have to do all that in a few pages. It’s no wonder most of the “new” writers I know would rather write novels. Short stories may be small, but they are mighty. (Not to mention they are a great way to keep up a writing habit.)

Chances are your favorite author started their writing career by writing short stories. Big names and favorite writers like Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Ray Bradbury, Kurt Vonnegut, Shirley Jackson, Louisa May Alcott, Sylvia Plath are all short story writers.

I’ve talked about coming up with ideas, plotting, and some key elements of short stories. Now it’s time to stop dilly-dallying and get to writing. This article covers three successful short story tips and strategies to write a short story.

How to Research a Novel: 9 Key Strategies

by Joslyn Chase | 3 Comments

Have you ever started a story, gotten halfway through, and realized you don’t know key facts about your story’s world? Have you ever wondered how to find out the size of spoons in Medieval England for your fantasy adventure story? Is that even relevant to your plot, or could you skip that fact? Here’s how to do research for your story.

Margaret Atwood MasterClass Review: Will The Handmaid’s Tale Author Help You Master Speculative Fiction?

by Brendan Hufford | 0 Comments

Margaret Atwood is perhaps best-known for her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. In her MasterClass, she’ll teach you how she wrote it. Will the class help you become a better writer? We took it to find out.

25 Persuasive Essay Prompts and Topics

by Sue Weems | 0 Comments

Persuasive essays can be challenging for several reasons, but the first problem is choosing the right topic.
You want a topic that is both engaging and controversial enough to elicit a strong response. A topic that’s too broad may lead to a lack of focus, while one that’s too narrow might not provide enough material to argue convincingly.
Let’s look at 25 persuasive essay prompts.

The Writer’s Guide to Beta Readers: What Is a Beta Reader?

by Sarah Gribble | 1 Comment

If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, you might have heard the term “beta readers.” But what are beta readers? Do you really need them? Are they just free editing, or something different?

A couple hints: yes, if you’re going to publish a book, you need beta readers. And no, they’re not a replacement for hiring a professional editor.

Forward vs. Foreword: Which One’s Right?

by Robert Harrell | 0 Comments

English is full of homophones, words that sound the same but mean different things. Often, they are spelled differently. Everyone is aware of the problems with there, there, there; too, too, two; and carat, caret, carrot. (Well, maybe not that last one so much.)
Forward and Foreword are two more homophones that cause problems. So, let’s take a look at them.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

by Guest Blogger | 0 Comments

So you've been assigned a persuasive paper and you're staring at a blinking cursor. What do you do first? How do you pick a good topic? Today we're going to learn how to write a persuasive essay, so you can get that assignment done. As we continue our back-to-school...

30+ Back to School Writing Prompts 🍎

by Sue Weems | 0 Comments

Students are heading back to school this month and next, and if you’re like me, you remember that old standby back to school writing prompt: “What did you do over summer”. If you’re looking for some new ideas to get students back in the habit of writing while you have a little fun developing skills, try one these fun writing prompts!

How to Edit a Novel: The Foolproof 9-Step Book Editing Process

by Sarah Gribble | 1 Comment

Are you the kind of writer that loves writing a first draft but has no idea what to do once you’re done with it? Do you worry that you don’t know how to edit a novel, and freeze up because of this?

Editing is hard, but luckily there are strategies you can take when editing your first draft (and others), or even if it’s your first time.

In this article, I’ll teach you the process I’ve learned after years of struggling to edit. But first, there’s one thing we have to get out of the way:

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