New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

How to Get Published in Literary Magazines: Interview with Glimmer Train Stories

by Joe Bunting | 45 Comments

Glimmer Train literary magazine is harder to get into than Harvard. In 2011, Harvard accepted 6.2 percent of applicants. Literary magazines like Glimmer Train often have acceptance rates of under one percent.

So when I asked Linda Swanson-Davies, who founded the journal with her sister in 1990, to chat with me about Glimmer Train and how to get published in literary magazines, I honestly wasn’t expecting her to say yes.

But she did!

I’m so excited to share our conversation with you. I hope it challenges you to consider submitting your work to literary magazines like Glimmer Train, and I hope it provides something of a salve to the soul if your story isn’t chosen. Mine certainly haven’t been!

Enjoy the interview.

Don’t Write Well, Write Now

by Joe Bunting | 62 Comments

If you want to be a writer, stop worrying about writing well. Instead, write now.

Earlier this week, I was blocked. I tweeted my friend Andrea Cumbo, “I have low creative confidence right now. I’ve forgotten how to write fiction.” There was guilt associated with that statement. I thought, You’ve forgotten how to write fiction, and yet you write a blog about writing? What a hypocrite.

So guilt tripped into action, I sat down and wrote a few sentences.

They were bad. Really bad. I almost threw up in my mouth they were so bad.

But still, I wrote a little more and when I felt I had been through enough torture, I stopped, satisfied I had written something at least. I didn’t write well, but I wrote.

Words That Are Not Words: Alright and Alot

by Liz Bureman | 35 Comments

As the English language evolves (and we start to learn grammar from text messaging), more words that aren’t actually words worm their way into our lexicon. Sometimes we embrace the change (“okay,” believe it or not, was not always an acceptable word), and sometimes we send it back to the pits of hell (ask any grammar enthusiast about “irregardless”).

I’m spotlighting two examples of not-actually-words today: alright and alot.

Love at First Sight

by Joe Bunting | 124 Comments

PRACTICE

Write a scene where two characters of different backgrounds (think Romeo and Juliet) fall in love at first sight.

Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, share your practice in the comments section. And if you share, be sure to leave feedback for a few other writers.

Write a Foreign Story

by Joe Bunting | 37 Comments

I’m editing a book by an author who lives outside the US. Most of the novel takes place in locations I’ve never seen except in pictures. Sometimes there are words I don’t understand The book has a strangeness I find captivating. Since working on it, I started to wonder if I could write something outside of my own cultural tradition.

Why? Except for his histories, Shakespeare wrote plays that took place in exotic locations like Florence and Scotland. Nearly all of Hemingway’s novels took place outside of the US, usually in Europe or the Caribbean.

We like stories that feel a little foreign.

3 Reasons You Should Tell Someone Else’s Story

by Joe Bunting | 13 Comments

One of the great gifts a writer can give to the world is to tell someone else’s story.

I learned this when I started ghostwriting: no credit, no glory, just the knowledge that without me, the story wouldn’t be told. It’s surprisingly satisfying.

If you’re still trying to write stories about yourself, I want to challenge you to try your hand at writing someone else’s story. Here are three reasons why…

Playing with Poetry: Interview with L.L. Barkat

by Joe Bunting | 30 Comments

For the last two-and-a-half months, I’ve been getting more and more into the work of L.L. Barkat, the poet and author of four books, including Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing and her book of poetry, InsideOut. Rumors of Water is a book writing in the style of Annie Dillard, which instantly makes me start salivating.

L.L. Barkat is a staff writer for The Curator, a culture magazine based in NYC, and also authors several blogs. My personal favorite of hers is Seedlings in Stone. You probably should subscribe.

I’m so excited to talk to her about creativity, poetry, and how to balance all those projects and dreams we all have. I hope you enjoy the interview!

The Winner of the Show Off Writing Contest: Dissent Edition

by Joe Bunting | 7 Comments

I was so impressed with the quality of submissions to our writing contest this month. Impressed and dismayed. The better the stories, the harder it is to pick just one. I kept thinking, I want this story and this story and this story in the book. Because, as you know,...

Three Times You Should Use a Comma

by Liz Bureman | 9 Comments

We’ve covered when not to use commas (and when to use commas if you feel like it), but it’s just as important to know when to use commas. We can’t have run-on sentences taking over literature. So when do you use a comma?

We’ve already covered the Oxford comma and the need for commas in a series or list. There are three other primary times when you need to use a comma. Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list; just the times when comma use is most common.

7 Tricks to Write More with Less Willpower

by Joe Bunting | 73 Comments

You want to write more. Of course you do. That’s only natural. You’d like to finish that novel (or those three novels!). You’d like to write on your blog more than once a week, and do more guest posting. As you get deeper into writing, it seems like there’s always more to write.

You get an idea for a new book to write at least once a week.

You want to start a blog. You DO start a blog. Then, you get ideas to start three more!

People hear you’re a writer and ask you to write articles, newsletters, and blog posts for them.

The problem is after you get done with work or taking care of the kids, writing is the last thing you want to do. You can’t even muster the willpower to read a book, let alone write one. So you turn on the TV, put your feet up, and promise yourself, “I’ll write tomorrow.”

Eventually, you see through your petty promises and wonder, “Maybe this writing thing just isn’t for me. Maybe I’m not a writer after all.”

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