I asked Ted Dekker how long it takes for an author to find their voice.
“It takes four to five novels,” he said. So if the average novel is about 80,000 words, then you have to write 320,000 to 400,000 words before you find your voice.
Here to learn? You’re in the WRITE place!
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.
And make sure to subscribe to get a weekly digest of our latest posts, along with our free guide, 10 Steps to Become a Writer.
4 Motivations of Traitors
“Curse Your Sudden Yet Inevitable Betrayal!”
Sometimes the characters that we think are good guys turn out to be bad guys. How do you create believable traitors?
In The Lord Of The Rings, Saruman was Gandolf’s friend and mentor, the wizard that he trusted most. In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo turns to his old friend Lando Calrissian.
Many dramatic scenes in fiction begin when the hero realizes too late that a trusted friend is actually working for the other side. As writers, we create all kinds of characters, good guys, bad guys, innocent bystanders. Creating characters that end up turning on their friends, however, has some particular challenges.
Enter the Covering the Classics Contest
This month, we’re partnering with Story Cartel to host the Covering the Classics Contest (wow, that’s a lot of C’s), a contest to re-imagine the covers of ten classic books. This is part of Story Cartel’s new book club, an online community to read and discuss the classic books of yesteryear.
By the way, if you want to brush up on the classics, plus get ten classic books completely free, you should check out the Story Cartel Book Club.
If you could re-imagine the covers of classic books, what would they look like? This is your chance to put your personal mark on some of the world’s most revered books. Sound interesting? Read on for the rules…
How to Show Off Your Innate Expertise in Your Writing
The truth is we all have hidden expertise we don’t think about. There’s something you do regularly you know more about than most of your friends.
Hidden within that expertise you consider mundane is a story the rest of the world has yet to hear.
2 Ways to Manage a Large Cast of Characters in Your Novel
On the recommendation of a coworker, I started reading Ken Follett’s Century Trilogy. The books are apparently known for Follett’s meticulous historical research, but when I first opened Fall of Giants, I was wondering why no one had warned me about the seven-page list of characters.
Seven. Pages. Of character names.
How Do You Build A Strong Character In Your Writing?
What’s the most important element in a piece of writing? Is it the plot, the characters, descriptions, dialogue, or the style? Obviously, you can’t single out only one. A powerful work succeeds in combining all of them in a unique mix producing a master creation.
A mundane theme can be saved by a great writing style; poor dialogue can be replaced with a fantastic storyline, and descriptions can be skipped altogether if it’s not your cup of tea. Undeveloped characters, however, are not to be hidden or overlooked by anything else. So, how do you build a strong character?
Change the World With Your Memoir: Jeff Goins’ 3 Rules for Memoir Writing
I love memoir, always have. Anne Lamott, David Sedaris, Annie Dillard, even Stephen King. There’s something magical about the ability to transform ordinary circumstances into beautiful scenes that teach a deeper truth.
Twenty years ago, it seemed the only people qualified to write memoir were the incredibly famous and the I’m-so-disgustingly-rich-I’d-better-write-a-book elite. The rest of us had better keep our mouths shut… or turn our life’s story into a novel.
But recently, more “normal” people are writing powerful reflections on everyday life. So what’s to stop you and me from joining them?
Money [writing prompt]
PRACTICE
Write a story or scene involving money.
Write for fifteen minutes. When your time is up, post your practice in the comments section, and if you post, please be sure to leave feedback for a few fellow practitioners.
Happy writing!
50 Shades of Villain: How to Characterize Without Cliché
This past weekend, ABC Family had a Harry Potter marathon. My roommate recorded the first part of the Deathly Hallows, and we’re watching it now as I’m writing. It’s oddly fitting that the close of this discussion of heroes, villains, anti-heroes, and anti-villains happens while watching a film of the series that encompasses basically every shade of hero and villain that we’ve covered.
What I’ve Learned from Writing for The Write Practice
After about a year of contributing to The Write Practice, today’s post is my last one.
With a new baby due to arrive in the next couple of weeks, I’m wrapping up my time as a regular contributor—and as with any turning point, it feels like a good time to reflect on what I’ve learned.
