by Guest Blogger |
If you’re anything like me, you hope in your heart of hearts that your writing will reveal a Great Truth to your readers, that it will open a doorway to compassion and understanding that will ripple out to change the world. Ah!
The authors who have been most effective in ushering me to that doorway are those whose writing reveals connections between images, ideas, and sensations I otherwise would have missed. Like Annie Dillard’s terrific simple line: “The air bites my nose like pepper.”
How did Dillard come up with such a lively sentence, one that bridges two physical sensations (cold and biting) and scent (pepper)? And how can we play around with unlike sensations to create similes that shine?
by Ruthanne Reid |
Over the next month, there is one rule I want you to keep as the foundation of everything you do during the month of November: Write it anyway.
I know how difficult this is. The inner critic gets vicious during NaNoWriMo, especially right around the middle of the month.
But your inner critic is a jerk. You can’t listen to it because the inner critic’s goal is not to make you a better writer. Your inner critic is trying to get you to quit.
Don’t quit. Write it anyway.
by The Magic Violinist |
In a nutshell, NaNoWriMo—or National Novel Writing Month—is an event held in November where one attempts to write a fifty-thousand word novel in thirty days. It may seem daunting (and it is), but it’s also a great opportunity for us writers.
We can’t give you a fully-formed plot and well-developed characters—that’s on you. But we CAN give you some NaNoWriMo survival essentials to get you through the month.
Enter the giveaway to win our NaNoWriMo Survival Kit!
by Joe Bunting |
This November, writers from all over the world will be joining together to accomplish a great enterprise, writing a novel in a month!
That’s right, National Novel Writing Month is almost here, and smart writers know, now is the time to start preparing. (If you’re a Write Practice reader, I know you must be a smart writer.)
by Jeff Elkins |
I am addicted to novels I can’t put down, to TV shows I can’t just watch one episode of, to short stories I have to finish, and to movies that keep me guessing until the very end.
I love stories that grip me and demand my attention. I am on an unending hunt for them and for the suspense they make me feel.
As a writer, these are the types of stories I hope to create—stories that pull the reader to the edge of his seat and keep him there until the last page.
Let’s take a look at three tools you can use in your stories to build suspense and keep your readers engaged.
by Ruthanne Reid |
Ever had one of those weeks? The kind of week where life boils over, and even if you have time to sit down and write, you don’t have a lot of writing to give.
Sometimes, life goes nuts; when it does, it’s harder to write.
You’ve got nothing. No characters talking, no plot points singing. Your story seems dumb, your twist ending feels predictable, and you suddenly wish you’d never told anybody you were going to write because it’s gonna be humiliating when you fail.
We all have weeks like that—I know I do—and so today, I’m going to give you three steps to work through those troubled times when you can’t write at all.
