Are you on Twitter? If you’re a writer and you’re not using the social media source, you should probably change that.
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.
How to Avoid the MacGuffin Trap and Create a Unique Plot
Many of our favorite stories have an item that our heroes are attempting to retrieve. Sometimes that item has significance to the plot, like in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where the titular lost ark ends up getting Indiana Jones out of a precarious situation. And sometimes the item is just an item that the heroes need to find because, well, something needs to run the plot of this thing.
In that case, the item is called a MacGuffin.
What Poetry Teaches Us about Writing Prose
I took a poetry class to fulfill one of my workshop requirements for my master’s in Writing and Publishing. Although I didn’t have much prior experience with poetry beyond some teenage scribbles, I discovered a new way of playing with language.
And in the process, I also realized writing poetry helped me to write better, stronger prose. Here are four things I learned about poetry that apply to writing prose:
4 Techniques To Mix Fantasy With Realism
Can contemporary, realistic fiction mix with fantasy?
The quick answer is: Of course! But the more difficult question may be: How?
How does one create a balance between realistic cities and settings verses making up a new and interesting world? Between believable and likeable characters verses amazing, heroic personas?
Are these elements mutually exclusive?
How to Get In Touch With Your Characters (Especially When You Have Writer’s Block)
Are you staring at a computer screen with no idea what do or what to write? This is often called Writer’s Block, but I think it should be called “Feeling Stuck Because Your Character’s Won’t Talk to You.” Your characters do, after all, run the show.
Here are two tricks to get back in touch with your characters.
The Danger of Beige Prose, Purple Prose’s Less Colorful Twin
We discussed purple prose a few weeks ago, and as Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or something like that; my college Practical Physics class involved making ice cream with liquid nitrogen. And the equal and opposite reaction to purple prose is beige prose.
Do You Have a Purpose? The Absurd in Literature
Have you ever felt purposeless? Most people do at some point in life (e.g. teenage years, teenage wandering, mid-life crisis), and as a rule, it is generally considered to be a down point. But what if there’s good to be drawn out of purposelessness?
Why You Should Never Delete Your Writing
A fellow writer tweeted that she deleted 16 pages because she didn’t like the direction her novel was headed. You could hear the sense of accomplishment in her words. My heart stopped (ok, not literally).
How to Write a Love Letter
In the age of Twitter and text messages what does it feel like to receive an old-fashioned love letter?
I imagine a curly headed man in his thirties, opening Elizabeth Barrett’s ‘Sonnets from the Portuguese’ and catching his breath as he reads the first lines of Sonnet #33….
Why People Love Stories about First Love
Valentine’s Day is one of those love-hate holidays, but no matter how you feel about this week’s special day, the theme of love provides endless inspiration for writing.
There are many types of love stories—ones about first love, second-chance love, forbidden love, unrequited love. But what is it about first love that makes such an impact on us, both in our real-life experiences and in written form?
