New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

How to Plot a Short Story Using Ideas and Structure

Do you want to write a short story, but are unsure about how to develop a short story plot?

Short stories rarely require extensive plotting. They’re short, after all. But a bit of an outline, just to get the basic idea down, can help you craft a strong plot.

Plotting your short stories will give you an end story goal and will help you avoid getting stuck in the middle, or accidentally creating plot holes. You’ll have fewer unfinished stories if you learn to do a little planning before you start writing.

And in this article, you can learn how to take your short story’s primary conflict, and build a plot around it.

Finish Writing Your Book: 3 Big Reasons Holding You Back

by Joe Bunting | 32 Comments

Do you struggle to finish writing your book, or really anything you start? If you said yes, you’re not alone. In a poll we conducted (with real people!), seventy-two percent gave us the same answer.

Finishing writing projects can be tough! That doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Here’s an important truth: you don’t have to be the next Ernest Hemingway or Stephen King in order to finish writing a book. It’s possible for you to find the writing time you need. But before you tackle your creative project, it’s worth examining why you haven’t been able to finish your story idea in the past.

In this article, I’m going to share three giant reasons most writers don’t finish writing their books—and how you can carve out everything you need to complete your current project.

How to Come Up with Story Ideas: 6 Foolproof Strategies for Any Writer

by Sarah Gribble | 0 Comments

You’re a writer. You want to write a story—but for whatever reason, you’re not inspired right now. Or maybe you are, but you just can’t think of a story idea that really interests you. You need some strategies that can teach you how to come up with story ideas.

And you’d like to use these ways to come up with story ideas consistently.

Creative writing is like a muscle: use it or lose it. Coming up with ideas is part of the development of that muscle. And boy, do you have to come up with a lot of ideas if you’re going to be a short story writer.

In this article, I’m going to show you different strategies for coming up with ideas for short stories and how to train your mind to continuously come up with ideas.

How To Use Ellipses in Grammar

by Liz Bureman | 104 Comments

Here at the Write Practice, we have love for all punctuation marks: commas, semicolons, question marks. Today we’re discussing that trio of periods that make up the ellipsis.

What’s an ellipsis?

Book Writing Strategies: 10 Book Writing Tactics that End in Failure

by Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

Do you have trouble finishing a book? When you stop, do you ever consider what causes writer’s block—what caused your writer’s block or reason to stop writing?

In a recent YouTube video, I talked about how hard it is to write a book, how it took me years to write a book, and how I hear from writers on a daily basis who are struggling with the writing process.

The good news, you don’t have to be alone when you get stuck like this.

Today, I want to talk about why it’s hard to finish a book. Specifically, I’ll cover ten things that people try when they’re struggling to finish writing a book that don’t work—and why this ends in giving up on a book, or paralyzes them due to writer’s block.

How One Writer Finished Her Book

by Joe Bunting | 2 Comments

Have you ever wanted to write a book? Maybe you’ve thought about it. Maybe you’ve even started writing, but got stumped halfway through.

Yesterday, I took a poll of writers in our community. What I found is that 85% of writers have had a great idea for a book, have even tried to write it, but haven’t been able to finish it.

Yes, finishing a book is hard. Trust me, I know just how frustrating and overwhelming it can be.

But it’s not impossible.

Here’s the story of how one author finally finished her book.

Better Book Ideas: 30+ Ideas and Tips to Write Your Best Book

by Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

In this article, I’m going to tell you exactly what to do next no matter where you are. I’ll share over 30 brand new book ideas, and tell you how to find more on your own, to help get you started. We’ll look at what to do to make your book idea better and get ready for the writing process. Finally, we’ll put it all into practice by getting started with your book today.

How to Make Money as an Author: Important Tips for a Writer’s Success

by Joslyn Chase | 0 Comments

Writing an effective sales description is an important part of the book business. Using the basic pattern outlined above, practice writing the sales copy for a book you’ve written or one you are in the process of writing.

If you don’t currently have a book project, write the blurb for a book you read recently, or even a movie you watched. The point is to practice looking at the story from a marketer’s perspective and writing a description that sells.

Take fifteen minutes to write your blurb. When you’re done, share your blurb in the comments below. Be sure to leave feedback for your fellow writers who want to be successful authors! Based on their blurbs alone, would you read the book?

How to Use Parentheses

by Liz Bureman | 50 Comments

Parentheses are punctuation marks that look like curly brackets. They are used in pairs and can contain phrases, clauses, or even complete sentences. Let’s look at some ways to use them more specifically.

Atticus Review: Is This Book Writing Software Your Writing and Formatting Solution?

by Joe Bunting | 3 Comments

You’ve fought through the first draft. You’ve worked with your editor to complete all the passes needed to make your book the best it can be. It’s ready to become a book. Now what? Read on to see if you could benefit from Atticus, a new book writing software.

Here to learn? You’re in the WRITE place!