Your dream of writing a book is like climbing a mountain. Not just any mountain, either: Mount Everest, the tallest peak in the world. Not convinced? Let’s take a look at how to write a book using what I call the Everest Method.
Here to learn? You’re in the WRITE place!
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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How to Get Story Ideas From Unexpected Headlines
A few years ago, I read a startling headline in a back section of the Sunday newspaper. It said “Man Likely Padlocked Himself in Bag Found in Bathtub.” I blinked twice, sure I had misread something.
Even after I read the article, I still couldn’t believe it. I was grieved for his family and friends, but I couldn’t help but see the possibilities for inspiring fiction. I wondered how it could even be done? As a claustrophobic, I wondered, why?
This situation and article were surely stranger than fiction, but it prompted so many questions. Turns out questions are at the heart of great fiction, and you can use headlines to develop ideas all day long. Here’s how to get story ideas from the strangest news headlines.
How to Leverage Point of View to Power Your Story
Your point of view is one of the first and most important choices you’ll make in any story. Done well, your story’s point of view can draw your readers in to experience your story alongside your characters, and even make them forget they’re reading fiction.
How to Find Time to Write When You’re a Parent
You want to write. Your newest idea or draft has been sitting there for days, accumulating dust and regret.
You have to write.
But you also have a family. The kids need picked up, dinner needs cooking, and that living room isn’t cleaning itself. Your spouse has an event tonight (that you forgot you agreed to go to), and don’t forget the children need help with their ever-increasing load of homework.
How can you ever hope to write a book and be a parent at the same time?
Is it hopeless? Or is there a way to pull it off?
How to Handle Rejection: 4 Things NOT to Do and 3 Things to Do After You’re Rejected by a Publisher
Rejection may be one of the hardest parts of writing. After pouring our lives into our manuscripts, it feels personal when someone tells our work isn’t good enough. Even if we know in our minds how to handle rejection, our hurt and disappointment can make us want to lash out.
Additionally, when we are submitting something the size of a novel, we are offering up something that represents years of our lives. To have it dismissed with a form email may make you question if you’ve been wasting your time.
When we are feeling rejected, we may be tempted to lash out. But that’s not a healthy way to process rejection. Here’s what to do (and what not to do) instead.
Vote for the Winner of the Fall Writing Contest
Last week, hundreds of writers submitted their stories to the Fall Writing Contest. Right now, our panel of judges is reading through each story, looking for the ones that will make it to the winners’ circle. And while they’re hard at work, I have an invitation for you, too.
I’m inviting you to step over to the judges’ side of the submission table. I’m inviting you to try reading like an editor and decide which story you would choose as the winner of the Fall Writing Contest.
The Editor: The Invisible Hero You Need in the Publishing World
A few months ago, I posted an article about avoiding clichés here on The Write Practice. The (bland) title I proposed was “How to Avoid Clichés.” The published title read: “How to Avoid Clichés (Like the Plague).” I grinned when I read it and said another thank you to a quiet hero of the publishing world: our editor.
She amped up the title with a clever twist that sounded just like me with my penchant for parentheses. Editors are invisible heroes in the publishing world, and knowing what they do can help you through every stage of your journey.
Flash Fiction: Mastering the Art of the Shortest Short Stories
In the writing world, flash fiction is like an appetizer. These “short short” stories may be small and end quickly, but they can be so satisfying. The trick isn’t to treat them like a short version of a longer work, but rather as an art form all its own. That’s not to say it isn’t challenging to write, because it is, but there are several strategies you can use to help you perfect your work.
Characterization: How to Write a Eulogy to Get to Know a Character in Your Novel
Every great novel has great characters. Great characterization includes a background, flaws, habits, tics, and redeeming qualities. The characters have a life.
There are plenty of ways to get inside your character’s head. You can journal from their point of view, write a character study, or fill out questionnaires about your character. Those methods are awesome but can seem impersonal or just plain tedious at times.
If you need a quicker, more succinct way of getting inside your character’s head, you might consider writing their eulogy.
Inside the Mind of an Author Writing a Book
Are you writing a book? If so, you might be surprised by some of the things you’re thinking and feeling. Writing a book can be an strange, emotional experience! You might even wonder if some of the things you’re thinking and feeling are normal.
Today, I want to give you an inside view of my thoughts and emotions as I write a book so that you can see that even after being a professional writer for years and writing seven books, I still struggle with insecurity and self-criticism. Plus, I’ll share how I deal with negative feelings without getting derailed by them.
