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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Whether leaving for vacation or a job in a new city, departures can be stressful, exciting, and full of conflict. Use this prompt to reimagine a departure today in your writing time.
I think there are two qualities about any departure that make them great for writing. See if you agree and try this prompt with me today!
Ghost stories have a rich literary tradition, but for most of my life, I dismissed them. I don’t believe in ghosts, and I’ve seen enough horror movies to know I’m not interested in seeing another. However, I just finished Denis Johnson’s Train Dreams, a finalist for the Pulitzer, and was surprised to see a very moving account of a ghost.
It made me realize how many ghost stories are in the literary canon. There’s Poe’s The Raven, Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Henry James’ The Turn of the Screw, basically all of Nicolai Gogol’s work, and more recently Michael Cunningham’s Specimen Days, among many others I’m forgetting. We love ghost stories!
So here are three reasons to write a ghost story:
Halloween is just a few short weeks away. And we’re getting ready for the season with the Fall Writing Contest! Share your best scary story with us for the chance to win frightfully rewarding prizes!
Sometimes, all you need to give your writing a boost is an inspiring writing prompt. And when it comes to writing prompts, we’ve got you covered.
The question I get asked most is this: "How do I publish my children's book?" There are more options than ever depending on the book and your goals. Today's article will help you decide how to publish your book. In this series How to Write a Children's Book, we've...
Today we’re looking at a literary device that you’re probably using in everyday speech, even if you didn’t know the name of it. Let’s define synecdoche, look at some examples, and talk about how you can use it in your writing.
One of the questions a new children’s picture book author often asks is, “What do I do about pictures? Do I have illustrate my children’s book myself? If not, how do I find someone to help?”
If you’re asking these questions, you aren’t alone! Today let’s look at what to do about illustration for your children’s book.
It doesn't take any research to know that historical fiction writers love spending time in history books, digital archives, museum exhibits, and library collections---and that's just in our spare time! But how do we keep that research from overshadowing the actual...
We often think that to create conflict we need to show spectacular events. For example, a car chase, an argument between lovers, a fistfight, or the threat of a nuclear explosion. Or we think of conflict as some kind of internal suffering: depression, longing, or pain.
But the truth is that if events and emotions were the only elements of conflict in our stories, we’d have some pretty flat stories.
Conflict, in good stories, is not about spectacular events or painful emotions. Good conflict is about values.
If the semicolon was just a little less top-heavy, then it would be a comma, and rightfully used and appreciated. Sadly, many writers have a confused relationship with the semicolon, not really sure how or when to use semicolons in their lovely sentences.
Don’t worry, little semicolon. Your virtues will not be lost on this audience as long as I have a say in it.
