When I was in elementary school, I had a teacher who would have us freewrite to writing prompts he would write on the whiteboard. Every Monday morning, we would spend the first 10 minutes of class writing about dragons, time travel, or our weekends. I had stopped using writing prompts after that 4th grade English class.  This changed once I began writing thousands of words per day. Some days, I just didn’t know what to write about. Other days, I already had a topic in hand, but I couldn’t find the words. Writing prompts have been a great tool to help...

    Finding the right writing contest for you can be a difficult and time consuming process. I googled the term “writing contests” and got 126,000,000 results. For that reason, we compiled a comprehensive and up-to-date list of the best writing contests in 2018. You’re here because you’re looking for credible writing contests that offer cash prizes and/or the ability to get your work in front of more people. Discover the best essay, poetry, novel, and short story writing competitions for fiction and non-fiction writers. Disclaimer: The majority of the descriptions of each contest we’re taken directly from the most relevant...

    Writing is one of the most written-about topics in the world. For centuries now, or maybe even longer, writers have been giving each other advice about writing—solicited and unsolicited. If you’re a writer, you know the sheer number of books, textbooks, memoirs, and websites on writing at your disposal. It’s easy to get lost in the maze of literature and often conflicting advice, and to get caught up in searching for the one book with the secret to becoming an overnight bestseller. Spoiler alert: Turns out the holy grail of writing advice is entirely mythical. There is no...

      Do you know what writers Ernest Hemingway and Danielle Steel have in common? They couldn't be more different in subject and style. But when it came to choosing a writing instrument, both chose a typewriter. Of course, home computers weren't around when Hemingway crafted his masterpieces. But a surprising number of modern writers avoid working on computers. Humorist P.J. O'Rourke prefers an IBM Selectric electric typewriter instead of a computer because it "doesn't get in the way" of the writing process. In other words, O'Rourke doesn't like the distractions of using a computer. A lot of modern...

    We’ve all been there. The right words won’t come out, if any at all, and you don’t have a creative cell left in your brain - you’re ready to call it a day. Of course, I’m talking about the dreaded writer’s block. Writer’s block can be stressful when you have writing tasks that need to get done. Writer’s block is a myth Gasp! It cannot be true. If writer’s block is a myth, then explain what I’m feeling right now? When you attack it from the root cause, you realize writer’s block stems from four underlying causes. These four...