New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

I Never Thought I Would Write a Book. Here’s How I Did Anyway

by Joe Bunting | 61 Comments

Ten years ago, I never would have believed I would be able to finish writing a book.

I always wanted to be a writer, but writing was so difficult for me. In middle school, I struggled with every writing assignment. In high school, my friends always got better grades on their essays than I did. I had such a hard time writing that I majored in it in college. I felt that if four more years of school couldn’t help me, nothing could.

I don’t think I’m alone in this, either. Many of us struggle to write. Today, I’m unpacking what made writing so hard for me as well as the strategies I’ve developed over the years.

Kill Perfectionism With This One Practice

by Guest Blogger | 35 Comments

It can feel impossible to know where to start writing. We can become paralyzed by fear, worrying our words will offend or bore readers, or worse, that we’ll never have any readers at all. In order to move past these feelings, we have to overcome perfectionism.

That’s easier said than done, but these three strategies make all the difference.

Writing Community: 3 Critical Reasons Why Writers Need Community

by David Safford | 18 Comments

Have you participated in a writing challenge like NaNoWriMo or our 7 Day Creative Writing Challenge? Congratulations! Whether you met your goal or didn’t quite make it, you’ve written words that weren’t there before.

Now, don’t let all your hard work go to waste. It’s critical that you capitalize on your momentum before it slips away.

Encouraging Words for Writers: 3 Essential Reminders for Struggling Writers

by Jeff Elkins | 15 Comments

On the wall of my office, I have a collage of quotes and pictures that have inspired me. Each quote represents a story from my past. I read over them whenever I need a boost of encouragement (which is at least once a day).

These encouraging words for writers are a wonderful source of strength for me. Many of the quotes on the wall are from friends and family who had the right words for me at the exact right time.

Here are three I lean on regularly to get me through rough patches.

Story Ideas: How to Beat Shiny-New-Idea Syndrome and Actually Finish Your Projects

by Sue Weems | 16 Comments

Authors often get asked where they get their story ideas. It’s one of the most common questions my student writers wish they could ask their writing heroes. They think, “If I could just find a way to come up with the next best-selling story idea like [insert famous author], then I’ll make it as a writer!”

But they misunderstand one critical truth: the magic isn’t in the ideas. It’s in the execution. We need the ideas to get started, but many writers don’t have a system for capturing the ideas around them daily, and they don’t develop ideas consistently in practice.

We all have files full of unfinished projects and story ideas spread across notebooks and online platforms. Why do ideas lose their luster the moment we start writing them?

Healing From Shame: How to Overcome the Insidious Cause of Writer’s Block

by Guest Blogger | 16 Comments

Every time we sit down to write, our mood and state of mind affect our words. We infuse, to some extent, everything we write with our unique “voice.” Our emotions come through on the page.

When we’re struggling to eke out even a few words and make sense of our writing, it shows in our work. Our characters are flat. Our scenes are dull and passive. Our plot is thin and weak. Nothing we try fixes the problems. Or, maybe words don’t come at all.

We may declare that we have a case of writer’s block, particularly if we’ve wrestled with the vexation for weeks or months. But, there may be a stronger and more insidious obstacle: shame.

The Tenuous Relationship Between Question and Quotation Marks

by Liz Bureman | 29 Comments

We’ve covered when to use quotation marks. But when you throw question marks and exclamation points into the mix, things can get a little tricky. Let’s demystify this quotation mark conundrum, shall we?

Buckle up. We may experience some turbulence.

3 Types of Conflict and Why You Need to Use Them

by The Magic Violinist | 13 Comments

Conflict is necessary for all stories. It doesn’t matter what kind of story it is — novel, short story, mystery, romance, thriller, children’s, adult — it will always need conflict. In order to keep the plot interesting and exciting, conflict must be there. It gives your characters obstacles they have to overcome before they can reach their goals.

But how do you create conflict for your characters? There are three key ways.

Best Book Writing Software: How to Organize Your Writing so You Never Lose It Again

by Sue Weems | 26 Comments

How organized are you? I realized last year that I had spread my writing over various notebooks and virtual programs and platforms to the point that it took me an hour to find a snippet I wanted to use. The best book writing software will help you get your words on the page, but it won’t organize them on your computer so you can find them again — as I experienced firsthand while hunting down that snippet.

By the time I finally found it, I was frustrated and worried that maybe I was losing more writing than I was saving. Not losing it in the sense that the writing was gone, but losing track of where and how I manage my writing process.

Where do you keep your writing?

Why Writers SHOULDN’T Set a New Year’s Resolution in 2018

by Joe Bunting | 40 Comments

Did you set any New Year’s resolutions for 2018? Have you broken any of them yet? New Year’s resolutions sometimes get a bad rap, but research backs them up. In fact, you are ten times more likely to achieve your goals if you make resolutions than those who don’t. Even so, only eight percent of people actually achieve their New Year’s resolutions.

Perhaps there’s a better way, a way to reach your goals without feeling like you’re letting yourself down when the scale on your bathroom floor tells you the wrong number or your savings account balance just isn’t as high as you hoped it would be.