Now, not just any six words will do. For example, take this one from Buzzfeed, “A lover of all things beautiful.” What can infer about the subject of the story? The characters? The actions? This story is too vague and the reader can infer nothing beyond the sentence itself. Compare that story to this one found on Six Word Stories, “‘Wrong number,’ says a familiar voice.” Just from those six words, we can infer that there is some tension between the protagonist of the story and the person being called because the protagonist recognizes this person, but this person either doesn’t remember the protagonist or doesn’t want to speak to them.

Let’s take another example from Six Word Stories, “‘Total media blackout,’ agreed the President.” Again, this sentence alone infers a lot that is unsaid, mainly that there is some sort of conspiracy or crisis at play if the President is ordering a media blackout. In order for a six-word short story to pack the punch that Baby Shoes has, the words should allude to a more complete story.

So, now that we know the rules, we’re challenging you to a two-part writing exercise.

Write a Six-Word Story

We know the task can feel daunting at first, but know that it doesn’t have to sound eloquent or complex. In fact, the simpler the better because you don’t have a lot of words to fool around with. Focus on accomplishing the task of inferring more than is actually said. If you’re struggling, look up examples from other writers- this should give you some ideas and also remind you that it’s not as complicated as you think. Come up with a few six-word stories and then pick your favorite one from there.

Create a Story From Your Story

Now that you have your six-word short story completed, we challenge you to flesh out that story into an actual short story (no word count limit). Wouldn’t it have been interesting if the author of Baby Shoes had fleshed out their tiny story into something bigger since there’s so much there already? Do this with your six-word story! Give it a protagonist, a plot, a character arc, and a resolution/choice (just like any short story).

WARNING (for people who like to cheat and look ahead): Do NOT do this in reverse, I.E. think about what you want to write and then try to think of a six-word story to match it. You’ll not only be robbing yourself of your best six-word story, but you’ll likely stumble upon a nasty case of writer’s block. Good luck, happy writing!

The post Writing Prompt: Six Word Story appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Stop when you’re still going

The best way is always to stop when you are going good and when you know what will happen next. If you do that every day when you are writing a novel you will never be stuck. That is the most valuable thing I can tell you so try to remember it.

Whereas most people will advise you to continue writing when you get into the zone, Hemingway actually advises the opposite. His trick for avoiding the dreaded writer’s block is to stop writing when he is in a groove and already knows where the story will continue to go next. This way, when you sit down to write next, it’s not as hard to get back into the story.

Read, read, read

[A writer] should have read everything so that he knows what he has to beat… The only people for a serious writer to compete with are the dead that he knows are good. It is like a miler running against the clock rather than simply trying to beat whoever is in the race with him. Unless he runs against time he will never know what he is capable of attaining.

Though we would advise against the idea of feeling like you have to compare your work with others, we definitely agree with Hemingway here. Reading work from authors that emulate the type of writing you aspire to will help you learn different techniques on how to achieve those goals.

Be a professional observer

Watch what happens today. If we get into a fish see exact it is that everyone does. If you get a kick out of it while he is jumping remember back until you see exactly what the action was that gave you that emotion. Whether it was the rising of the line from the water and the way it tightened like a fiddle string until drops started from it or the way he smashed and threw water when he jumped.

…Then write it down making it clear so the reader will see it too and have the same feeling you had.

Hemingway encourages writers to abide by the ‘show, don’t tell’ rule. Through this example, he is helping readers learn how to connect an action with a visible response in a way that shows clearly that the two are connected. You don’t have to say ‘catching a fish was exciting’ or ‘I found it funny watching the fish flip around’ in order for readers to connect the action with a character’s response- all you have to do is show them.

Be positive

Once you are into the novel it is as cowardly to worry about whether you can go on to the next day as to worry about having to go into inevitable action. You have to go on. So there is no sense to worry… As soon as you start to think about it stop it. Think about something else. You have to learn that to write a novel. The hard part about a novel is to finish it.

Here, Hemingway compares writing to being a soldier on a battlefield. He’s essentially saying there’s no point in worrying about if you’ll make it through because you’ll have to keep moving forward regardless. So don’t let yourself get in your own head about your worth as a writer or where your novel is going- just push through.

You need to have empathy

Then get in somebody elseʼs head for a change. If I bawl you out try to figure out what Iʼm thinking about as well as how you feel about it. If Carlos curses Juan think what both their sides of it are. Donʼt just think who is right… As a man you know who is right and who is wrong… As a writer, you should not judge. You should understand…Listen now. When people talk listen completely. Donʼt be thinking what youʼre going to say. Most people never listen.

Hemingway is stating that one of the most important parts of good writing is having empathy. Being able to understand people, their motivations, their strengths/weaknesses is key to writing people in a realistic way. If a conflict arises in your story, it’s not about who is right and who is wrong- that’s for your readers to decide. It’s about making sure there are good reasons behind both sides, reasons informed by who they are, what they’ve gone through, and how they think.

The post Ernest Hemingway’s Writing Tips appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

ProWritingAid

This tool is a combination online editor, writing coach, and style guide. It helps to identify potential problems in your writing that a grammar checker may miss such as overused words, transitions, vague and abstract words, etc. You simply upload your document to the program and you’ll have access to more than 20 in-depth writing reports on various areas of writing strength and clarity. The program is able to be integrated with GoogleDocs, Microsoft Word, Open Office, Scrivener, or Chrome.

Grammarly

Likely the most well-known among the apps, Grammarly allows you to customize what errors you’d like to catch. This includes everything from tense, spelling, repetition, and even tone. You can set it to make sure your tone is consistent with a certain tone- business memo, personal blog, academic- and the software will suggest changes so you stay consistent.

Grammarly is an especially helpful tool for writers who want to actually improve their grammar instead of having a quick fix. Not only does it tell you what you’ve done wrong, it tells you why it’s wrong. The tool is integrated with Microsoft Word so all you need to do is enable the app from the menu and you’re good to go. It also provides assistance through your internet browser.

They have a free version of the software which is able to catch 150 types of mistakes, but the more advanced version (able to catch 250 types of mistakes) is $29.95 per month (or $139.95 per year).

Hemingway

This app was named after the master of clear and concise writing himself, Ernest Hemingway…and that’s precisely what the app allows you to do. Rather than check your grammar, this app goes through and analyzes your writing quality. It highlights any filler words, sentences that are hard to read, sentences that are too long…basically any sentences that should be rephrased. It also catches passive voice, (which is a big no-no in terms of quality writing) and gives you suggestions on words that will improve the impact of the sentence.

The program is also easy to use: you simply place the text in the web-based program and then suggestions appear on the right side of the page. It also provides you with a readability score so that you’re able to see how well the entirety of your book or story is currently flowing (the lower the score, the better). The web-based version is free, and the desktop app is a one-off payment of $19.99.

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