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.
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According to Merriam-Webster, a colloquialism is “a colloquial expression.” Wasn’t that helpful?
When we look up “colloquial,” we learn that it means, “used in or characteristic of familiar and informal conversation.”
So, a colloquialism is an expression used in or characteristic of casual speech. It can also be a local or regional dialect expression. This is critically important to understand as you write dialogue for characters.
As a writer, you know that a story can’t exist without characters. But have you ever wondered: “Why are characters important in a story?”
Perhaps you’ve questioned an even tougher problem: “When is a character important enough to keep in a story, and when does the narrative work better without them?”
In order for a side character—or any character—to matter in a story, they have to work as an essential character that impacts the protagonist, plot, setting, or another important aspect that shapes or moves a story forward.
In this article, you’ll learn four ways that determine if (1) the character is essential, and (2) how they contribute to a story. You’ll also learn the major types of characters and ways to determine if—for the characters who don’t qualify as essential—you’re better off revising their role, or cutting them from the plot.
Learning to write a romance or love story plot is a valuable skill for every writer, and not just on Valentine’s Day! Why? Romance is one of the most common subplots across all genres. Let’s look at how to write a love story and then dive into some prompts!
When I sign up for a writing contest, I turn on “Eye of the Tiger” as I sit down to pound out my first draft. This is it, I tell myself. This will be the story that finally wins. A few finger exercises and I am ready to write the story to end all stories.
But what if nothing comes? Or worse, a story pours out and it’s terrible? What if I don’t win? How can I develop a winning mindset without reading an entire shelf of self-help books and further distracting myself?
Whether you’re a student analyzing a story or a writer intent on crafting a compelling story, there are a few basic story elements that will help you better understand the parts of a story.
When you want to give ownership of something to everyone, how do you write it? Everyone’s vs everyones’? And why does this word give everyone so much trouble? Let’s find out.
Why do people enter writing contests? Some enter to get practice submitting. Others enter to motivate themselves to finish their stories.
But there’s one thing nearly everyone who enters a writing contest wants…
To win.
When you’re writing a book, you might come to this point where exasperation turns to desperation and you think: “There has to be a better way. There has to be a better piece of book writing software than Microsoft Word.”
Microsoft Word is the default word processor, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only option. And especially when you’re writing something as complicated as book, you might want a piece of writing software geared specifically toward writing a book.
In this post, we’re going to look closely the most popular alternative to Microsoft Word: Scrivener, and talk about where each word processor shines and where each falls short.
You are writing your story, and the words are flowing. You're in the groove. Wait. Or is that "your"? Now you've stopped writing and started pondering. It seems you do this a lot. Or alot. Or allot. AGH! English spelling is so nerve-racking. Or is that nerve-wracking?...
When selling a book, you literally have a few seconds to catch your potential reader’s eye. There is no better way to do it than with a striking cover. As an indie author, you have the creative freedom to design it how you love. But what should the cover look like to be the best marketing tool?
