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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The dreaded middle. We’ve all encountered it, all suffered through painful prose so we can just get to the end. There are those rare few times when we’re able to get through an entire story without much stumbling, but inevitably, every stumble comes from the middle. But why is it so hard? And how can we get past it?
I have a one-hundred-and-five-page book. It weighs four ounces. The Boston Globe thinks that “No book in shorter space, with fewer words, will help any writer more than this persistent little volume.” The Elements of Style by Shrunk White and E.B. White is as elemental to a writer as practicing scales is to a pianist.
Think you need just a little more preparation to be the writer you want to be?
I work with young writers. They are fresh and new and often, already discouraged, usually because they are hyper-focused on everything they lack. Most have already begun and abandoned several characters or stories. They say:
“I need to take a few more classes.”
“I just need a little more time, and I’ll be ready.”
“After I get Geometry figured out, then I will write.”
My response? Nope. None of those things will make you ready. So what do we do?
Happy New Year! So, are you ready to kick your 2017 writing in the butt? I’m willing to bet money you had one of two reactions to that: 1. YES. 2. AAAAH. Deep breaths. I’m here to give you some tips that will help you get your 2017 writing off to a good start—and keep it going.
You might think, no one can write a book in 100 days. And certainly not a good book.
You might even feel a program like our 100 Day Book Challenge is just a quick fix. Writing a book should take longer. It’s about the experience!
But let me ask you this: When was the last time you spent 100 days completely focused on your writing?
It’s all too easy to forget your goals after just a few weeks, or even days. (You haven’t forgotten your goals already, have you?) What action will you take today to make sure your writing goals don’t fall by the wayside, but are a priority in your life throughout 2017?
As writers, we all deal with a lack of confidence from time to time, but some writers feel plagued by it. If you allow yourself to wallow in these feelings, you won’t write enough to improve your work. If you don’t improve your work, you’ll never build a writing career you love.
Use these strategies to keep writing even when you’re full of doubt and insecurity, and ultimately reshape how you think about writing.
There are many ways to approach writing a story: you can interview your characters first, plot the story before you start writing, or use Stephen King’s approach, which is to start with the situation.
Do you plan your stories before you write them? Do you start with a character or a situation? Do you know where your story will end before you begin writing?
These are all valid ways to write stories. But today, perhaps you might try beginning with a situation and following a character who will lead you to the end.
It’s that time of year again. The holiday parties are done, visiting family has gone home, and normal life has resumed. Coming back makes us question, “Is this really what I want my life to look like?”
So we set New Year’s resolutions. We tell ourselves, “This year, it’s going to be different! This year I’m going to write more, finish that book, put out a short story a week, finally edit that manuscript, etc. . . .”
It’s not enough just to say that things are going to be different. If we want to see real change in our lives, we need to be disciplined and strategic about the changes we make.
Have you ever been channel surfing this time of year, turned to that quintessential holiday movie A Christmas Story, and found yourself unable to change the channel? Why is A Christmas Story a classic? And what can writers learn from the movie?