New Daily Writing Guides from The Write Practice

Why Creatives Need to Criticize Each Other More

by Joe Bunting | 125 Comments

“Authentic dissent can be difficult, but it’s always invigorating,” says Charlan Nemeth. “It wakes us right up.”

The single best part of running this blog is the amazing community that has sprung up. One reader recently told me, “I have to say your blog is the bomb. It’s got the best, most lively and connected community.” I couldn’t agree more. Our Practitioners are the coolest blog readers on the Internet.

We tend to be some of the nicest, too. I love seeing all the nice comments after someone’s practice, “This was so great! I loved it. Thanks for sharing this with us! Yada yada yada.” Overall, we’re a very encouraging group, and I love that about us.

However, I recently read some research that has me questioning our niceness and asking some tough questions:

Does encouragement make you a better writer?
Will being nice help us improve as a community?
Do we need to be more critical of each other’s work?

Stop Being So Busy

by Joe Bunting | 9 Comments

Stop being so busy.

Busy is the enemy of Art.

Busy is the avoidance of Pain, and Pain is the only way to grow.

Art comes from Pain.

Busy kills productivity.

You will never be happy when you are Busy. But you will never be sad either.

Busy, like all drugs, can become an escape. It will always end in failure.

Be where your butt is, where your feet are. Be with your fingers and in the lining of your Lungs. Going in. Going out. Your shoulders relaxing into the world.

8 Tips for Naming Characters

by Dan Schmidt | 64 Comments

We give names to most everything around us: our pets, our kids, our cars, the products we use, the food we eat (it’s not ‘frozen dairy-like substance’, but Frosty), the games we play. And, as writers, we name our characters, too. In fact, next to the physical characteristics we try to describe, the names of our heroes, villains, band leaders, and shopkeepers are about the most important tool we have for identifying and tracking who is doing what. Good names help both writers and readers move through a story smoothly; bad names put us in a stagecoach on a washed out dirt road.

How to Start Your Novel

by Joe Bunting | 58 Comments

I used to think you should start a novel on page one with a bang, that you should throw the reader straight into conflict. I heard agents and publishers want a novel full of conflict, one that immediately hooks them, and I thought, I can do that. So I cut out all my world building and backstory and focused on the central plot from the very beginning.

Now I know how misguided I was. While it’s true you can take too long to introduce conflict to your novel, there is such a thing as too much, too soon.

The Winner of Show Off: Spring Edition

by Joe Bunting | 23 Comments

Well, the time has come to once again pick a winner of this month’s writing competition. I’m never sure how to do this, this announcing the winner thing. I’d like to console everyone who didn’t win, hold their hands and say, “You’re still a good writer. Don’t worry.” But compassion often looks like pity and who wants to be pitied.

Sometimes it’s better to just get it over with.

Direct Objects, Prepositional Phrases, and Cats!

by Liz Bureman | 28 Comments

I’m a big fan of grammar. Surprise, right? But in order to use grammar properly, we need to understand the parts of a sentence. A lot of grammar deals with objects of sentences. You know, subject, verb, object. Suzy slapped Bobby.

But not everything that comes after a verb is an object. Prepositional phrases can throw a wrench into the mix.

Help Choose the Winning Spring Story

by Joe Bunting | 0 Comments

Submissions for the Show Off Writing Contest: Spring Edition are now closed.

What I’ve learned from these contests is that we have to practice submitting our writing just as we practice creating it. Submitting is not easy. It’s painful, scary. You feel vulnerable when you do it. I like what Christy said, “I have been reading The Write Practice for months but have not had the courage to submit anything until now.”

I think the biggest winners of this contest are those of you who have never entered anything before. Now, you can say you have. You took a shot at something. Even if you don’t win, you’ve practiced taking a risk on the chance you might. That’s a valuable thing to learn.

Why People Like Detective Stories

by Joe Bunting | 47 Comments

Have you ever thought about that? Detective stories, murder mysteries, legal thrillers—these are among the most popular genres in popular literature, but have you ever thought about why people like them so much?

How To Properly Harvest Your Very Best Ideas

by Ollin Morales | 26 Comments

The gardener plants his seeds and knows to wait before he ever pulls the fully formed plant out from the ground. He knows that there is a dark period that the plant must go through before it can bear any fruit.

During this dark period, everything is obscure. The gardener cannot see the plant grow, and no matter how hard the gardener works—nothing at all seems to come of his tremendous effort.

He toils day and night. Sacrifices so much. Uses the clearest water, the richest soil, and the best plant food to help the seed grow.

Pinterest Prompt

by Joe Bunting | 51 Comments

We’re going to do something a little different today.

Pinterest is a social “dream board” that’s grown to gigantic proportions over the last year. If you aren’t on Pinterest yet, you’re a man.

Today, let’s use it to find some writing inspiration. We’re all going to find a picture on Pinterest that captures our imagination, we’ll link to it, and then write about it here. Sound fun?

Here to learn? You’re in the WRITE place!