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.
The wisdom of the zeitgeist says, “Follow your dreams. Don’t settle for a job you don’t love. You have to be passionate about what you do.”
However, the truth is that if you look at the people who really love what they do, you find that most of them didn’t follow this rule.
Free writing is an exercise we often practice here at the Write Practice to unblock the mind and increase creativity and fluidity.
But free writing is more than a pill you dole out to cure writer’s block, isn’t it? It has a much more important function than helping you finish a scene or discover an ending that resonates.
Free writing, practiced deliberately can set you free from fear.
![Longing [writing prompt]](https://thewritepractice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Longing.jpeg)
Write about longing.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section.
And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to a few other writers.
STOP!
Put your pencil down.
Step away from the computer. (But not so far away that you can’t read this).
There will be no word-crafting today. I repeat: there will be no word-crafting today!
Sorry.
Today, we’re talking to Stefanie Freele, a novelist, poet, and short story writer who lives in the Northwest. Stefanie is a Pushcart Prize Nominee and has published short fiction in Glimmer Train, PANK, Sou’wester, Word Riot, R.KV.R.Y Quarterly Literary Journal, Vestal Review, and many more. In the last eight years, she has published 99 short stories. Isn’t that remarkable?
Stefanie and I are going to be talking about the hunger for publication, how to know when your short story is finished, and the world’s need, or lack thereof, for more donut stories. You can find Stefanie’s work on her website, stefaniefreele.com, as well as her book of short stories, Feeding Strays, and her novel, Surrounded by Water.
Thanks so much for joining us Stefanie!
A few years ago, when Sex and the City: The Movie came out, many reviews referenced New York City as the “fifth character”—an element of the storyline that was just as important as Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte, and Miranda.
When writing stories—especially character-driven ones—we focus on the protagonist, the main characters and secondary characters, their backgrounds and motivations. We focus on conflict, what the characters want and what stands in the way.
But sometimes that means we forget to write about the setting, a crucial part of creating a strong story.
A student once asked her English teacher, “What’s a metaphor?” and he replied, “It’s a big place to grow grass.”
I don’t think he understood the question.
We’ve grown with up the distinction between similes and metaphors, but in a technical sense, all comparisons are metaphors. But let’s stick to this separation of powers, and think about the problem with similes and why metaphors may be better for your writing.
Write about grandfathers.
Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section.
And if you post, please be sure to give feedback to a few other writers.
Today, I’m talking to Danielle Lazarin about how to get your short story published by a literary magazine, how to know when your story is finished, and how to write stories no one else can write.
Danielle has a forthcoming story in Glimmer Train, and has published stories in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Boston Review, and on FiveChapters.com. She received her Masters in creative writing at University of Michigan. All that’s to say, she knows her stuff.
You can check out Danielle’s website and follow her on Twitter (@d_lazarin).
Let’s jump into the interview.
If you want to become a better writer, you need to practice deliberately, and one of the best ways to practice writing deliberately is by submitting your work for publication. Submitting acts as a kind of test of your writing skills, and studies have shown that people improve at a skill faster if they’re tested.
I know submitting can be scary. You feel vulnerable, like all your insecurities and flaws are exposed. However, if you want to get published, you need to learn to submit your work, and not just when it’s perfect.
Today, you can make a breakthrough in your writing. You just need to submit your work.