The Writer’s Guide to Beta Readers: What Is a Beta Reader?

If you’ve ever wanted to write a book, you might have heard the term “beta readers.” But what are beta readers? Do you really need them? Are they just free editing, or something different? A couple hints: yes, if you’re going to publish a book, you need beta readers. And no, they’re not a replacement for hiring a professional editor. I’m about to...

6h

WhiteSmoke vs Grammarly: A Real Writer’s Review (2020)

There are so many editing tools out there these days, it’s hard to keep track of the best ones. Two editing software solutions you may have heard of are WhiteSmoke and Grammarly. In this article, we’ll compare the two options and see which is the best choice for you. Grammarly vs WhiteSmoke: We Compare the Pair Grammarly and WhiteSmoke share a...

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6 Rules of Improv for Writers: How to “Yes, And” Your Way to Better Scenes

Have you ever faced this kind of issue? You have a scene goal in mind, you know the characters involved, where they are and what they want, but HOW does the scene play out? What exactly happens to bring the characters from Point A to Point B in the story? That’s when the power of improv might come in handy. My own writing system has always leaned...

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Margaret Atwood MasterClass Review: Will The Handmaid’s Tale Author Help You Master Speculative Fiction?

One thing I love about writing as a craft is that you’re never “done.” No matter how good you get, there’s always something to learn. I’ve been writing for a while now, but I’m always on the lookout for another way to improve my craft. One such tool out there is Masterclass. You may have heard of Masterclass or seen one of their ads online. I first...

6d

Cailyn Lloyd on How to Get Great Feedback From Beta Readers and Editors

At some point in your writing process, you’re going to need to put your work into the hands of others. Beta readers and professional editors should be an important part of your writing team. (And yes, writing is a team sport!) I often get a lot of questions about the revision process, namely how to get beta readers and when to hire a professional...

2w

Why Is Dialogue Important? 7 Roles Dialogue Plays in a Story

If you’re looking for a surefire way to improve your story, you’ll be happy to know there’s a fast-acting method at your disposal. According to writing expert James Scott Bell, it’s “the fastest way to improve any manuscript.” I’m talking about dialogue. But here’s the thing—dialogue is more than just the words you put in your characters’ mouths....

3w

Should I Use a Pen Name? Carole Wolfe on Writing Under a Pen Name

What do Lewis Carrol, Mark Twain, and Dr. Seuss have in common? They all wrote under a pen name. Those are some pretty big names, so it really makes a writer wonder: Should I use a pen name? What’s In a Pen Name? We’re doing two interviews this month because the Write Practice community is a publishing machine lately! First up is Carole Wolfe....

4w

How to Keep Score in Your Story With Scene Goals

Imagine attending a football game with no rules. I don’t know about you, but there’s a limit to how excited I could get about watching a bunch of men run around with no particular aim in mind. Really, except for the tight pants, it would be pointless. What makes the game worth watching is knowing your team has a goal, and knowing there’s an opposing...

5w

How the Rising Action Works in a Story: Definition and Examples of This Dramatic Structure Element

If you’ve ever told a good story—one that has your friends or family on the floor laughing, or else on the edge of their seat asking, “What happened next?!”—then you know that you can’t get to the point of the story too quickly. Instead, you draw out interest. You talk about all the things that went wrong. You make jokes and accentuate the best details....

Jun 2020

5 Books by Black Authors to Read Today

What’s the purpose of story? Do stories matter? And are there stories we can read that might just change the world? Yes. Yes. And yes. And today, I want to celebrate five stories by Black authors that matter a whole lot. The Power of Story I recently attended a community talk in response to the murder of George Floyd. We gathered to mourn, to...

Jun 2020