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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Did you see the first season of Top Chef? It was hosted by someone widely criticized for not bringing insight to food. That person was quickly replaced by renowned chef Padma Lakshmi. What about Food Network Star? Where contestants compete for their own show judge equally on their cooking and presentation skills?
The host change in Top Chef and the emphasis on descriptive skills on Food Network Star demonstrate how vital it is for these shows to be able to not just make food, but describe it.
Jack Kerouac wrote On the Road in less than a month. Ian Fleming’s first James Bond novel took only two months to write, and William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying was written in six weeks, the same length of time it took Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s first Sherlock Holmes novel, A Study in Scarlet, was written in just three weeks.
So why has it taken me over three years to write my book?!
I consider myself a writer. But there are a lot of days on which I don’t write anything more than a post on Facebook. Then there are days where I spend hours pecking away at the keyboard. But overall, I would love to write more, not less.
We all know some writers who are really disciplined. For example, Stephen King writes 2,000 words a day every day without fail. Why can’t I do this? What’s keeping me from writing? What’s keeping you from writing more?
We all know that transforming characters and a driving plot make for great stories. Something we discuss less is how contrasting ideals—and the conflict they create—can also enrich a story.
This week in the United States we will be celebrating the signing of our Declaration of Independence in 1776. Thinking on the ideal of independence has had me pondering how philosophical convictions play a role in our stories. If used well, they can enhance the narrative allowing the story to transcend the characters and become something more.
Subtext is the underlying message in a scene. In The Godfather, when Don Corleone says, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse,” we know someone (and a horse) is in serious danger. When I tell my kids, “I’m gonna make you an offer you can’t refuse,” I probably mean “Do your chores or I’ll shut down the wifi.”
Same statement, different subtext.
Last week, nearly four hundred writers submitted their stories to the Summer 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.
Come vote on your favorite to win the Readers’ Choice Award!
Today’s topic won’t be a comfortable one. I’m going to address an issue I’m pretty sure you don’t want to hear—but by the time I’m done, you’ll be armed, better prepared, and stronger than you were. And what is this uncomfortable topic? Self-doubt.
No matter what you do, your doubt as a writer will never go away.
All Twitter posts must consist of 140 characters or less. And a “story” is defined as “an account of imaginary or real people and events told for entertainment” or “an account of past events in someone’s life or in the evolution of something.”
Let’s fill Twitter with stories!
I feel the chains pull me down as I sink into the dark. Fighting it with fear pulsing through me till despair claims my heart, I can’t get out, I can’t move, I’m trapped in depression. Writers and depression: not a good combination.
Hey everyone. I’m back, and it’s been two more years since my post on self-doubt. Two years, but I’ve been writing so I guess it’s a victory of sorts. However, it has been the hardest thing to keep going.
I’m a full-time writer with no English degree. (I’ll tell you a bigger secret, I actually don’t have a degree at all.) And after doing this for a few years I’ve realized that you don’t need an English degree to become a writer.
I’ve been writing for The Write Practice for about two and a half years. I started as an amateur and recently launched my own writing business. So really, I am the poster child for how you really CAN make it.
(I’m still not completely sure how I made it, but I’m going to spend the next couple posts sharing what I did and how you can make it as a writer too!)
