The Write Practice: The Online Writing Workbook

Vote for the Winner of the Spring Writing Contest

This week, nearly four hundred writers submitted their stories to the Spring Writing Contest.

I’ve so enjoyed seeing how these stories have developed. Our contest Facebook group was full of lively conversations, writers collaborating to help each other find the best ideas and tell unique, creative stories. They’ve workshopped their stories and given each other great feedback in Becoming Writer.

These writers worked hard to craft their very best stories, and this week, they took that final, scary step: submitting their writing to the judges. Now, it’s your turn to read the stories—and vote for your favorite!

Daily Routines of Writers: Using the Power of Habits and Triggers to Write Every Day

by Guest Blogger | 26 Comments

I’ll start with the bad news.

Much of what you’ve heard about daily routines is more fictional than the stories you’re writing. Everyone seems to have their own “key” to productivity: motivation, willpower, passion, and big goals being the most common.

While these all have the vague ring of truthiness, you’ve probably noticed that, in practice, the results of such methods are inconsistent to nonexistent.

Fortunately, there’s a simple cure.

Habits.

One Quick Writing Tip to Help Readers Connect With Your Characters

by Ruthanne Reid | 33 Comments

See if these sound familiar:

A hand passed through my hair.
A foot slid past the puddle.
Her eyes flew across the kitchen.

Each of these shares the same problem: a severed body part stole the lead.

St. Patrick’s Day Photo Writing Prompt

by Monica M. Clark | 12 Comments

Did you feel lucky this weekend? It was St. Patrick’s Day after all, which is a great excuse for not writing—just kidding! Such a thing does not exist! The holiday is, however, a great excuse to participate in a themed photo prompt.

6 Writing Tips to Learn From Theater

by The Magic Violinist | 13 Comments

I’ve learned a lot about theater over the past year through my interest in musicals, my college theater class, and participating in a couple of theater groups. Throughout all of these experiences, I’ve noticed a bunch of similarities between performing or writing a play and writing a story. Here are six of them.

The Best Book Writing Software for New Writers: Microsoft Word

by Jeff Elkins | 48 Comments

It’s easy as a writer to fall into the trap of shiny new toys. There’s an endless number of book writing software programs claiming to be the best at one thing or another, from Microsoft Word to Scrivener to Vellum—and the list goes on and on.

They flash their sexy features at you and promise to be the very thing you need to become the writer you want to be. But sadly, these programs will not make you into the writer you want to be. They offer the world, but often only take your time.

That’s why I would like to offer a defense for using the industry book writing software standard, Microsoft Word.

5 Sneaky Ways to Steal Time to Write

by Sue Weems | 47 Comments

Every morning, my alarm rings, and I launch into the day, getting four kids off to three different schools before heading to my campus for a full day teaching high school. What do I write? Fourteen restroom passes.

In the evenings, between dinner and soccer practice, I argue with at least two children about homework or chores, and check that I didn’t forget to pay the bills online. What do I write? a grocery list and my signature on reading logs or permission slips.

All the while, the ideas in my creative writing journals sit simmering, waiting to be told. Sometimes I get twitchy thinking about the stories I haven’t told yet. I think about my drawer of stories waiting to be finished. There just isn’t enough time in my day to get it all done and write. Right?

Wrong.

4 Essentials for Writing Memoir That Resonates With Readers

by Guest Blogger | 30 Comments

How do you write memoir and tell a story that is compelling to you, but might not be to your reader?

Boredom is death for a writer and must be avoided at all cost. When writing memoir, the facts of a person’s life will fall short if that’s all you have to offer. You need something more if you want the story to come to life in the heart, mind, and imagination of the reader.

Why You Should Keep Writing When You Want to Quit

by Ruthanne Reid | 22 Comments

I’ve tackled why we write before. Having an answer to that question is crucial, but it’s only the first question. The second is just as important: why should you keep writing?

On those days when we lose writing contests and can’t finish our stories and forget why we were writing the darn things in the first place, we need more than the reason why we chose to write. We need straight-up cussed orneriness.