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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We all have our pet peeves when it comes to writing. Maybe you hate the Oxford comma. Maybe you loathe the misuse of the ellipsis. As an editor, I’m supposed to have a lot of writing pet peeves, but one of my biggest is the interchanging of e.g. and i.e. I’m here to tell you once and for all that the two are not the same.
How long does it take to write a book? Writing the first draft of a book is a grueling, intimidating process. But it doesn’t have to be a slow process.
Ask one hundred writers how long it takes them to write their first drafts and you’ll get one hundred different answers. There is no perfect length of time to spend on a first draft.
You will find, though, that the writers whose answer is closer to a couple of months than to a couple of years are most likely more successful.
Do you keep a journal? I do. It is how I remember the travels I’ve taken, the life experiences I’ve enjoyed, and the litter boxes I’ve cleaned.
We are writers, and so it is even more helpful for us to journal. Not sure yet? Let me share with you some tips from my journaling experience.
I love music. I’ve been teaching myself to play guitar, and I can stumble my way through four or five songs without wanting to poke holes in my eardrums, but my main appreciation for music is when other people play it. I’m an avid Spotify user, and I take a lot of pride in my ability to make kickass playlists. One of my girlfriends has even given me the green light to create her hypothetical wedding reception playlist.
Not everyone writes out the titles of their favorite songs or music albums regularly, so it’s no surprise I sometimes hear people ask, “Are song titles italicized?”
The answer is no.
Here’s how it works.
January! That month full of fresh starts and in some parts of the world, bitter cold and snow. No matter what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, start this month with a writing challenge to record a few lines each day in a daily writing practice.
We have 31 prompts to take you through the month!
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! The Write Practice will be on hiatus from December 23 through the 28.
In the meantime, here’s a Christmas writing prompt to give you some creative inspiration over the holidays.
You get better at any skill through practice, and creative writing prompts are a great way to practice writing.
At the end of every article on The Write Practice, we include a writing prompt so you can put what you just learned to use immediately. And we invite you to share your writing with our community so you can get feedback on your work.
The Write Practice is more than just a writing blog. It’s a writing workbook, and we think it’s the best one on the Internet (of course, we’re a bit biased).
It’s the end of another long year, and so I’m curious. What did you accomplish this year in your writing? Did you reach any major goals or milestones? Did you publish anything? Did you write something you loved?
In these last few days of 2023, before we set our goals for next year, let’s take a second to sit in what we accomplished over the last year.
If you’ve ever typed out a word only to hit delete and try it another way, you’ve likely been worried about making a spelling mistake. Take engrained vs. ingrained, what’s the difference? Is only one correct? Let’s take a look.
Why do we write? Non-fiction and fiction writing has been an instrumental way for people to connect to one another in the real world.
Stories are about change, and by reading and watching them we, ourselves, can change for the better.
But do people write for different reasons, and are some of those reasons more meaningful than others?
Are you sitting at your computer right now, possibly plunging through your first draft (or much later draft), and debating whether or not a writing career is the one for you?
Do you wonder if the written word is how you’ll make your mark on the world—and if it is, is a writing career what you want in life?
