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.
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Now, when I go to bookstores I see them automatically, the little with’s and and’s next to celebrity authors’ names. However, when I first found out a friend had ghostwritten a bestselling book by a major author, I didn’t know what the word “ghostwrite” meant, not to mention the fact that nearly every celebrity author who has ever “written” a book has used a ghostwriter.
Both villains and monsters are considered antagonists, but there are differences between the two. You’ll want to choose which version of antagonist you’re using based on the purpose and tone of your story.
There is a book inside you. There has to be. Why else are you reading a post about writing a book?
Getting that book out, of course, is the extremely difficult part. The words don’t come out as we imagine. The time to write shrinks as life gets busier. And so many questions vex us — so many lies that we tell ourselves to avoid the challenge ahead.
But you have to write your book. It’s one of the greatest driving forces in your life. Here are the lies that might be holding you back, and the truths you need to overcome them.
In life and in writing, romance is a difficult and yet extremely enticing subject. Even in books outside the highly popular romance genre, romantic subplots are immensely popular. But romance is not an easy thing to write, because readers want more than just a straight-up kiss-and-get-married.
A romance on a curved, nuanced road, where your characters have to fight to get to their happily ever after, makes for a much better story. The best way to achieve this is through romantic tension.
Writing is communication. It requires a giver and a receiver. A writer and a reader. While there’s a lot to be said for the value of private writing—diary and journal-keeping, therapeutic ventings on paper, and the like—writing, at its heart, is meant to be shared.
So you write, and then you send it forth.
Is there anything more awkward than looking at the document you approved or the email you sent and finding a bunch of obvious typos?
It isn’t just professional writers and indie authors who need a good editor. Luckily, these days, there are a bunch of great spelling and grammar checkers you can try.
One popular spelling and grammar checker is Ginger. In this article, we’ll look at Ginger and review its pros and cons, and see if the tool is right for you.
Want to write a novel readers can’t put down?
I’d love to come up with a yarn that grabs people like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games did. Doing so would practically guarantee a large and loyal fanbase for years!
Yet writing this kind of story is deceptively difficult. The story we want to write is always a good one in our own minds. But when we put the words on the page, they rarely possess the page-turning qualities we imagined they would.
Thankfully, there’s a way to set yourself up for success. Here’s how to write a novel that readers can’t put down!
Today's writing prompt challenges you to write about your city, no matter how big or small. Use this prompt to explore the particular flavor of a real city or a fictional city if you prefer. Years ago I had the opportunity to inteview poet Paul Willis when he was the...
People sometimes have an idea that pro writers spring fully formed from the head of Zeus and start pumping out content, but it takes years of practice and commitment to establish a career as a writer. And there are virtually no successful writers who didn’t start out with jobs, families, and an assortment of life challenges demanding their time and attention.
I want to be clear that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with writing as a hobby, just for fun and when you feel like it. It’s a fantastic pastime and very worthwhile. In this post, however, I’ll be addressing those who aim to embrace writing as a career.
It’s not easy, but if writing is your passion and you want to be a long-term professional, you can find a way to make it happen. This article will give you some effective strategies to employ on the journey.
One of the foremost reasons people read is to experience a character’s arc of change, their transformation, in other words, and transformation stories are among the most powerful and popular in literature and film.
That’s because the human experience is all about change. Each of us is a work in progress—growing, changing our perceptions and how we think—shaping our character.
These stories involve the reader in the course of the character’s change, helping them explore their own potential and desire for transformation, along with the limitations, possibilities, and price attached.
