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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I published my new book, The Write Structure, last week, and it’s been amazing to see the response.
People are getting so much out of the book. It’s always an honor to get the chance to help people with their writing, but it’s even more rewarding when the help is making a huge difference.
But does it work? And will it actually help you with your writing?
What do Lewis Carrol, Mark Twain, and Dr. Seuss have in common? They all wrote under a pen name.
Those are some pretty big names, so it really makes a writer wonder: Should I use a pen name?
They say opposites attract. That holds true, even in a Hero’s Journey story.
And while you may craft opposing characters who find themselves attracted to one another, you would be wise to study these universal relationships—also known as themes—that great stories have utilized for generations to the benefit of their readers.
Here are the five essential Hero’s Journey themes that will thrill your readers!
You might be thinking, “National Novel Writing Month is two months away. Why should I think about how to prepare for NaNoWriMo now?”
Completing the NaNoWriMo challenge is no small feat—it can take years to complete a novel, and yet those who step up for NaNoWriMo each year complete an entire first draft in just a month. This averages out to 1,667 words each day (you can download and print the official NaNoWriMo calendar here).
The official rules for NaNoWriMo state that writers are not permitted to start writing until November 1. But that doesn’t mean you have to just sit and wait. You can prepare for it!
Before the month of November, take advantage of the free time you have for some NaNoWriMo prep work.
By following these four ways, you can succeed (and have fun writing) when the time of year to meet your NaNoWriMo goals comes.
You’ve finally carved out a spare moment to write, you open up a blank document, and set your fingers on the keys. But then nothing comes. You check Facebook thinking maybe something there will be inspiring. No luck. You wonder if your muse is hiding under the stack of dirty dishes so you clean every bit of grime you can find and still come up empty. You’re at a loss for ideas and your writing time is dwindling quickly.
If you’re not finishing your writing, it’s because of fear. Fear is far more influential than we like to think. We like to believe that we’re not succumbing to fears because we are good at goal-setting, or perhaps we stick to a writing schedule of some kind.
Yet fear is insidious. It is subtle. It speaks with voices you can’t hear, and unless you weed those voices from your psyche, they will forever impede your writing dreams.
Here’s how to overcome your fears and finish your writing with confidence!
Have you ever tried launching a book? Does the idea alone intimidate you, or make you feel completely lost?
When launching a book, there’s a lot to learn. Not surprisingly, the best advice comes from writers who have experience in this.
This post is a special segment from author J.D. Edwin. In it, she shares her personal experience about launching her book Headspace, filled with all the essential details you should keep in mind while launching your book.
You sit down, ready to write, and you’re excited because this scene is going to be full of terrific action-packed conflict to grab your reader. But then you wonder, do you even know how to write action scenes?
Are plot points and blow-by-blow action really what keeps readers turning pages? Do you know how to write the kind of action that will add suspense to the story, rev your readers’ heart rate, and leave them dying to know what happens next?
Creating an action scene that works on screen is difficult. Creating an action scene that works on the page might be an even steeper challenge!
Luckily, there are writing strategies to help you write an action scene with skill.
How do you overcome creative resistance? How do you handle that big, blank screen staring at you from your computer? The cursor just blink-blink-blinking its mockery.
When it comes to your writing time, do you avoid it? Choose to read celebrity gossip online, or maybe wander over to your empty refrigerator multiple times? Have you ever written one paragraph but think it sucks, so you delete it? And instead of writing more, stew in self-loathing.
Whatever your creative challenges are on and off the page, you’re not lame or a loser. There’s actually a scientific reason behind your creative resistance.
The even better news is you can change your writing progress so it is progress.
Let’s talk.
Have you ever heard what people tell kids who want to play sports? Practice. Did you grow up with music lessons? You’ve probably heard the same thing. Keep practicing.Â
But can you apply the same philosophy to writing?Â
Not only is practicing writing a good way to improve your writing skills—it’s essential to becoming a better writer.
And like all honed skills, you need a good teacher or guide to push you—to help you practice. In this post, you’ll not only learn four steps to help you practice, but exercises to improve your writing skills along the way.
