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Ten Secrets To Write Better Stories

by Joe Bunting (@joebunting) | 33 Comments

Writing isn’t easy, and writing a good story is even harder.

I used to wonder how Pixar came out with such great movies, year after year. Then, I found out a normal Pixar film takes six years to develop, and most of that time is spent on the story.

How do you write a story, and more importantly, how do you write one that’s good?

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Everything I Know About How to Write a Story

Since I started The Write Practice a few years ago, I’ve been trying to wrap my head around this question, how to write a good story. I’ve read books and blog posts on writing, taken classes, asked dozens of authors, and, of course, written stories myself.

The following ten steps are a distillation of everything I’ve learned about writing a good story. I hope it makes writing your story a little easier, but more than that, I hope it challenges you to step deeper into your own exploration of how to write a good story.

1. Write In One Sitting

Write the first draft of your story in as short a time as possible. If you’re writing a short story, try to write it in one sitting. If you’re writing a novel, try to write it in one season (three months).

Don’t worry too much about plotting or outlining beforehand. You can do that once you know you have a story to tell in the first place. Your first draft is a discovery process. You are like an archeologist digging an ancient city out of the clay. You might have a few clues about where your city is buried beforehand, but you don’t know what it will look like until it’s unearthed.

All that’s to say, get digging!

2. Develop Your Protagonist

Stories are about protagonists, and if you don’t have a good protagonist, you won’t have a good story. The essential ingredient for every protagonist is that they must make decisions. Victor Frankl said, “A human being is a deciding being.” Your protagonist must make a decision to get herself into whatever mess she gets into in your story, and likewise, she must decide to get herself out of the mess.

To further develop your protagonist, use other character archetypes like the villain, the protagonist’s opposite, or the fool, a sidekick character that reveals the protagonist’s softer side.

3. Create Suspense and Drama

To create suspense, set up a dramatic question. A dramatic question is something like, “Is he going to make it?” or, “Is she going to get the man of her dreams?” By putting your protagonist’s fate in doubt, you make the reader ask, What happens next?

Note: To do this well, you need to carefully restrict the flow of information to the reader. Nothing destroys drama like over-sharing.

4.  Show, Don’t Tell

Honestly, the saying “show, don’t tell” is overused. However, when placed next to the step above, it becomes very effective.

When something interesting happens in your story that changes the fate of your character, don’t tell us about it. Show the scene! Your readers have a right ro see the best parts of the story play out in front of them. Show the interesting parts of your story, and tell the rest.

5. Write Good Dialogue

Good dialogue comes from two things: intimate knowledge of your characters and lots of rewriting. Each character must have a unique voice, and to make sure your characters all sound different, read each character’s dialogue and ask yourself, “Does this sound like my character?” If your answer is no, then you have some rewriting to do.

Also, with your speaker tags, try not to use anything but “he said” and “she said.” Speaker tags like “he exclaimed,” “she announced,” and “he spoke vehemently” are distracting and unnecessary. The occasional “he asked” is fine, though.

6. Write About Death

Think about the last five novels you read. In how many of them did a character die? Good stories often involve death. Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Charlotte’s Web, The Lord of the Rings, and more all had main characters who died. Death is the universal theme because every person who lives will one day die. Tap the power ofdeath in your storytelling.

7. Edit Like a Pro

Most professional writers write three drafts or more. The first draft is often called the “vomit draft” or the “shitty first draft.” Don’t share it with anyone! Your first draft is your chance to explore your story and figure out what it’s about.

Your second draft isn’t for polishing, although many new writers will try to polish as soon as they can to clean up their embarrassing first draft. Instead, the second draft is meant for major structural changes and for clarifying the plot and characters of your novel or the key ideas of your non-fiction book.

The third draft is for deep polishing. Now is when everything starts to gel. This is the fun part! But until you write the first two drafts, polishing is probably a waste of your time.

8. Know the Rules, Then Break Them

Good writers know all the rules and follow them. Great writers know all the rules and break them. However, the best writers don’t break the rules arbitrarily. They break them because their stories require a whole new set of rules. Respect the rules, but remember that you don’t serve the rules. You serve your stories.

9. Defeat Writer’s Block

The best way to defeat writers block is to write. If you’re stuck, don’t try to write well. Don’t try to be perfect. Just write.

Sometimes, to write better stories, you have to start by taking the pressure off and just writing.

10. Share Your Work

You write better when you know someone will soon be reading what you’ve written. If you write in the dark, no one will know if you aren’t giving your writing everything you have. But when you share your writing, you face the possibility of failure. This will force you to write the best story  you possibly can.

What are your best tips for writing good stories?

PRACTICE

Do you have a story to tell?

Write the first draft in one sitting using the tips above. Then, share a few paragraphs of your practice here in the comments section. And if you share your practice, be sure to leave feedback on a few practices by other writers, too.

Good luck!

Repost: How to Write a Short Story No One Else Can

How to Write a Short Story No One Else Can Write [interview with Danielle Lazarin]

by Joe Bunting (@joebunting) | 49 Comments

Today, I’m talking to Danielle Lazarin about how to get your short story published by a literary magazine, how to know when your story is finished, and how to write stories no one else can write.

Danielle has a forthcoming story in Glimmer Train, and has published in Michigan Quarterly Review, The Boston Review, and onFiveChapters.com. She received her Masters in creative writing at University of Michigan. She knows her stuff.

You can check out Danielle’s website and follow her on Twitter (@d_lazarin).

Let’s jump into the interview!

Danielle, you’ve written for some of the most competitive literary magazines around. How long had you been writing before you had one accepted?

I began submitting stories to literary magazines in college; my first story was accepted by Michigan Quarterly Review shortly after I finished my MFA in 2007. Time wise, that’s well over a decade. But of course the quality of the stories I wrote in high school and college are vastly different than what I was working on in graduate school and am now.

How many short stories did you write before you were able to get that first one published?

That kind of counting doesn’t end well, in my experience. Let’s just say enough to know that that particular story was ready to be out in the world in ways that most of the others were not.

Do you know why that first story was chosen and not all the others?

I think the other stories I had sent out were simply not ready, for various reasons. Oftentimes when I got rejections they were unsurprising; I felt not sadness but relief, because I knew in the back of my head that there was still more work to be done on the story, and now I could do it.

I’m still working on being patient with myself and my work. The plan is to build a career, to write till I can’t type, or mind-meld, or however we’ll be using technology to tell stories in fifty years. I want every published story to be one I can stand behind for a long time. Some of those stories I sent too soon have since been published, but after much revision. Some are still in revision.

Generally, though, it’s really hard to say why one story is published after many rejections or never at all or quickly, why some stories win contests or don’t. I always try to remember that a reader is subjective. Pick up any story collection or literary magazine and it’s clear that the world is full of stories with engaging character and strong arcs and beautiful prose. But that doesn’t mean that each of those stories are amazing in my eyes; it might not get me as a reader.

When it comes down to it, for publishing purposes, you are speaking to a small group of readers, and your story just might not connect with them. Before that, of course, you have to be sure that you have done all that other work, that you have satisfied all your criteria for characters and arc and sentences.

What do you enjoy about writing stories? What do you hate about writing them?

I love living inside the suspended disbelief of stories, of the act of writing when you feel like you are reporting rather than inventing, when the stories you are telling feel so true to you you forget that you are indeed making them up.

I love when I am out in the world living my life, on the way to the playground with my girls or catching a bus, and something comes to me in a flash—a detail about a character, or a plot point, and that rush to write it down, that hunger to sit down with the newfound knowledge and see where it takes me, how those little details open up portals.

Having those tidbits stored up is exciting. I ride on that excitement, as the time I have to write is not as much as I’d like it to be, as I’m home with my kids, who are not in school full-time yet.

I hate the feeling of missing puzzle pieces. Of having a story be almost there, and knowing there is something wrong with it, but being unsure what it is, or even if I know what the problem is, not knowing how to fix it.

I’ve had a number of stories where this is true, and I tried various revisions, but they weren’t working, and I felt as though I was spinning in circles. I put both of those stories away for some time, till I felt I had shaken their familiarity out of me.

Then I went back when I started thinking about them again. One of them was published by Five Chapters and the other won the Glimmer Train contest.

What are three things a writer can do to write publishable short stories?

1. Find a few good readers.

By a good reader, I don’t mean someone who loves your work unconditionally. I mean someone who adores your work as a whole, but who is also serving its greater purpose, who is not afraid to give you criticism and from whom you can hear and use that feedback. It can take a while to find that reader. I have a few friends from graduate school and college whose feedback is invaluable to my stories.

2. Hone your own editor.

This perhaps contradicts number one, but you also have to gain a sense of what youwant out of your stories.

Sometimes the most useful feedback I’ve received from other writers or teachers has been things I’ve disagreed with, someone telling me that an element doesn’t work at all, and my knowing that that non-working component is vital to the story I’m trying to tell. And then I have a burning desire to make that line or sentiment or secondary character work, to make that reader understand how vital it is.

Often in workshops people tell you to cut what isn’t working, but I think first you have to check and see if you want it to work. It’s a different way of listening to feedback, of understanding your goals for your story.

3. Write a story that no one else can write.

I spoke of this some in my essay for Glimmer Train: I believe you have to claim your territory through specific details, through a sense of ownership of a kind of character or experience.  You do this by tapping into your own history, the places and characters you know most intimately.

I took a workshop with Julie Orringer some years ago and she asked us to write from an area of our own expertise—to draw on a narrow experience, such as being a competitive piano player, or the daughter of a mother in a wheelchair, or spending summers in a particular town or house.

When I teach, I use a variation of that exercise, and it always generates the most vivid, confident stories, far more interesting than students trying to think of a wacky or surreal set of circumstances in an effort to stand out. Those stories often read as inauthentic because it’s so outside their experience that they look in at their characters rather than see from inside of them.

If you feel connected to your work, if a character reminds you of a place or person you are connected to emotionally, that will come through and give you a sense of stake in your stories.

What’s your favorite story you’ve written?

The one I’m working on now, if, of course, I’m not struggling tremendously with it that day. I feel very connected to each of my stories, or I wouldn’t spend so much time with them. But once they are done, I move along to the next character or idea. They’re like students, really. I want to see them do well in the world, but if I spend too much time admiring them and looking after them after they’re gone I can’t move on to what’s next; I can’t fall in love with some other story enough to write it all the way through.

I am not a fast writer; many of my stories take years from draft to final version, as I find I need to put them down for a bit when I get stuck and focus on a different story. I move forward bit by bit on a number of things at one time, and I need the promise of something new just ahead or I just stay stuck.

Right now I’m working on a novel, which is a different kind of beast, but it has a multi-character point of view, and so that keeps it fresh; if one character is giving me problems, I just ditch them and hang out with someone else for a while.

And yes, I do think of it as hanging out with my imaginary friends.

Thanks Danielle! Writers, don’t forget to check out Danielle’s websiteand follow her on Twitter to get updates about her latest stories. 

If you want to learn more about how to write a publishable short story, check out Let’s Write a Short Story, an ebook about the art and science of writing and publishing short stories.

PRACTICE

I love the idea of “drawing on narrow experience” that Danielle mentioned. You have experiences that make your life unique, whether it’s your childhood memories, your work experience, your travels, or your relationships.

Write about your narrow experience. Be as specific as you can.

Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments section.

And if you post, please be sure to comment on a few posts by other writers.

Happy writing!

How to Enrich Your Most Commonly Used Latin Vocabulary

(This is just a reblog  for your Daily Latin Reference)

Latin Words and Phrases Every Man Should Know

by BRETT & KATE MCKAY on JULY 25, 2013 ·

What do great men like Benjamin Franklin, Teddy Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill have in common?

They all were proficient in Latin.

From the Middle Ages until about the middle of the 20th century, Latin was a central part of a man’s schooling in the West. Along with logic and rhetoric, grammar (as Latin was then known) was included as part of the Trivium – the foundation of a medieval liberal arts education. From Latin, all scholarship flowed and it was truly the gateway to the life of the mind, as the bulk of scientific, religious, legal, and philosophical literature was written in the language until about the 16^th century. To immerse oneself in classical and humanistic studies, Latin was a must.

Grammar schools in Europe and especially England during this time were Latin schools, and the first secondary school established in America by the Puritans was a Latin school as well. But beginning in the 14^th century, writers started to use the vernacular in their works, which slowly chipped away at Latin’s central importance in education. This trend for English-language learning accelerated in the 19^th century; schools shifted from turning out future clergymen to graduating businessmen who would take their place in an industrializing economy. An emphasis on the liberal arts slowly gave way to what was considered a more practical education in reading, writing, and arithmetic.

While Latin had been dying a slow death for hundreds of years, it still had a strong presence in schools until the middle of the 20^th century. Beginning in the 1960s, college students demanded that the curriculum be more open, inclusive, and less Euro-centric. Among their suggested changes was eliminating Latin as a required course for all students. To quell student protests, universities began to slowly phase out the Latin requirement, and because colleges stopped requiring Latin, many high schools in America stopped offering Latin classes, too.  Around the same time, the Catholic Church revised its liturgy and permitted priests to lead Mass in vernacular languages instead of Latin, thus eliminating one of the public’s last ties to the ancient language.

While it’s no longer a requirement for a man to know Latin to get ahead in life, it’s still a great subject to study. I had to take classes in Latin as part of my “Letters” major at the University of Oklahoma, and I really enjoyed it. Even if you’re well out of school yourself, there are a myriad of reasons why you should still consider obtaining at least a rudimentary knowledge of the language:

Knowing Latin can improve your English vocabulary. While English is a Germanic language, Latin has strongly influenced it. Most of our prefixes and some of the roots of common English words derive from Latin. By some estimates, 30% of English words derive from the ancient language. By knowing the meaning of these Latin words, if you chance to come across a word you’ve never seen before, you can make an educated guess at what it means. In fact, studies have found that high school students who studied Latin scored a mean of 647 on the SAT verbal exam, compared with the national average of 505.

Knowing Latin can improve your foreign language vocabulary. Much of the commonly spoken Romantic languages like Spanish, French, and Italian derived from Vulgar Latin. You’ll be surprised by the number of Romantic words that are pretty much the same as their Latin counterparts.

Many legal terms are in Latin. Nolo contendere. Mens rea. Caveat emptor. Do you know what those mean? They’re actually common legal terms. While strides have been made to translate legal writing into plain English, you’ll still see old Latin phrases thrown into legal contracts every now and then. To be an educated citizen and consumer, you need to know what these terms mean. If you plan on going to law school, I highly recommend boning up on Latin. You’ll run into it all the time, particularly when reading older case law.

Knowing Latin can give you more insight to history and literature. Latin was the langua franca of the West for over a thousand years. Consequently, much of our history, science, and great literature was first recorded in Latin. Reading these classics in the original language can give you insights you otherwise may have missed by consuming it in English.

Moreover, modern writers (and by modern I mean beginning in the 17th century) often pepper their work with Latin words and phrases without offering a translation because they (reasonably) expect the reader to be familiar with it. This is true of great books from even just a few decades ago (seems much less common these days – which isn’t a hopeful commentary on the direction of the public’s literacy I would think). Not having a rudimentary knowledge of Latin will cause you to miss out on fully understanding what the writer meant to convey.

Below we’ve put together a list of Latin words and phrases to help pique your interest in learning this classical language. This list isn’t exhaustive by any stretch of the imagination. We’ve included some of the most common Latin words and phrases that you still see today, which are helpful to know in boosting your all-around cultural literacy. We’ve also included some particularly virile sayings, aphorisms, and mottos that can inspire greatness or remind us of important truths. Perhaps you’ll find a Latin phrase that you can adopt as your personal motto.Semper Virilis!

Latin Words and Phrases Every Man Should Know

a posteriori	from the latter -- knowledge or justification is dependent on experience or empirical evidence
a priori	from what comes before -- knowledge or justification is independent of experience
faber est suae quisque fortunae	every man is the artisan of his own fortune -- quote by Appius Claudius Caecus
acta non verba	deeds, not words
ad hoc	to this -- improvised or made up
ad hominem	to the man -- below-the-belt personal attack rather than a reasoned argument
ad honorem	for honor
ad infinitum	to infinity
ad nauseam	used to describe an argument that has been taking place to the point of nausea
ad victoriam	to victory -- more commonly translated into "for victory," this was a battle cry of the Romans
alea iacta est	the die has been cast
alias	at another time -- an assumed name or pseudonym
alibi	elsewhere
alma mater	nourishing mother -- used to denote one's college/university
amor patriae	love of one's country
amor vincit omnia	love conquers all
annuit cœptis	He (God) nods at things being begun -- or "he approves our undertakings," motto on the reverse of the Great Seal of the United States and on the back of the United States one-dollar bill
ante bellum	before the war -- commonly used in the Southern United States as antebellum to refer to the period preceding the American Civil War
ante meridiem	before noon -- A.M., used in timekeeping
aqua vitae	water of life -- used to refer to various native distilled beverages, such as whisky (uisge beatha) in Scotland and Ireland, gin in Holland, and brandy (eau de vie) in France
arte et marte	by skill and valour
astra inclinant, sed non obligant	the stars incline us, they do not bind us -- refers to the strength of free will over astrological determinism
audemus jura nostra defendere	we dare to defend our rights -- state motto of Alabama
audere est facere	to dare is to do
audio	I hear
aurea mediocritas	golden mean -- refers to the ethical goal of reaching a virtuous middle ground between two sinful extremes
auribus teneo lupum	I hold a wolf by the ears -- a common ancient proverb; indicates that one is in a dangerous situation where both holding on and letting go could be deadly; a modern version is, "to have a tiger by the tail"
aut cum scuto aut in scuto	either with shield or on shield -- do or die, "no retreat"; said by Spartan mothers to their sons as they departed for battle
aut neca aut necare	either kill or be killed
aut viam inveniam aut faciam	I will either find a way or make one -- said by Hannibal, the great ancient military commander
barba non facit philosophum	a beard doesn't make one a philosopher
bellum omnium contra omnes	war of all against all
bis dat qui cito dat	he gives twice, who gives promptly -- a gift given without hesitation is as good as two gifts
bona fide	good faith
bono malum superate	overcome evil with good
carpe diem	seize the day
caveat emptor	let the buyer beware -- the purchaser is responsible for checking whether the goods suit his need
circa	around, or approximately
citius altius fortius	faster, higher, stronger -- modern Olympics motto
cogito ergo sum	"I think therefore I am" -- famous quote by Rene Descartes
contemptus mundi/saeculi	scorn for the world/times -- despising the secular world, the monk or philosopher's rejection of a mundane life and worldly values
corpus christi	body of Christ
corruptissima re publica plurimae leges	when the republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous -- said by Tacitus
creatio ex nihilo	creation out of nothing -- a concept about creation, often used in a theological or philosophical context
cura te ipsum	take care of your own self -- an exhortation to physicians, or experts in general, to deal with their own problems before addressing those of others
curriculum vitae	the course of one's life -- in business, a lengthened resume
de facto	from the fact -- distinguishing what's supposed to be from what is reality
deo volente	God willing
deus ex machina	God out of a machine -- a term meaning a conflict is resolved in improbable or implausible ways
dictum factum	what is said is done
disce quasi semper victurus vive quasi cras moriturus	learn as if you're always going to live; live as if tomorrow you're going to die
discendo discimus	while teaching we learn
docendo disco, scribendo cogito	I learn by teaching, think by writing
ductus exemplo	leadership by example
ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt	the fates lead the willing and drag the unwilling -- attributed to Lucius Annaeus Seneca
dulce bellum inexpertis	war is sweet to the inexperienced
dulce et decorum est pro patria mori	it is sweet and fitting to die for your country
dulcius ex asperis	sweeter after difficulties
e pluribus unum	out of many, one -- on the U.S. seal, and was once the country's de facto motto
emeritus	veteran -- retired from office
ergo	therefore
et alii	and others -- abbreviated et al.
et cetera	and the others
et tu, Brute?	last words of Caesar after being murdered by friend Brutus in Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," used today to convey utter betrayal
ex animo	from the heart -- thus, "sincerely"
ex libris	from the library of -- to mark books from a library
ex nihilo	out of nothing
ex post facto	from a thing done afterward -- said of a law with retroactive effect
fac fortia et patere	do brave deeds and endure
fac simile	make alike -- origin of the word "fax"
flectere si nequeo superos, acheronta movebo	if I cannot move heaven I will raise hell -- Virgil's Aeneid
fortes fortuna adiuvat	fortune favors the bold
fortis in arduis	strong in difficulties
gloria in excelsis Deo	glory to God in the highest
habeas corpus	you should have the body -- a legal term from the 14th century or earlier; commonly used as the general term for a prisoner's legal right to challenge the legality of their detention
habemus papam	we have a pope -- used after a Catholic Church papal election to announce publicly a successful ballot to elect a new pope
historia vitae magistra	history, the teacher of life -- from Cicero; also "history is the mistress of life"
hoc est bellum	this is war
homo unius libri (timeo)	(I fear) a man of one book -- attributed to Thomas Aquinas
honor virtutis praemium	esteem is the reward of virtue
hostis humani generis	enemy of the human race -- Cicero defined pirates in Roman law as being enemies of humanity in general
humilitas occidit superbiam	humility conquers pride
igne natura renovatur integra	through fire, nature is reborn whole
ignis aurum probat	fire tests gold -- a phrase referring to the refining of character through difficult circumstances
in absentia	in the absence
in aqua sanitas	in water there is health
in flagrante delicto	in flaming crime -- caught red-handed, or in the act
in memoriam	into the memory -- more commonly "in memory of"
in omnia paratus	ready for anything
in situ	in position -- something that exists in an original or natural state
in toto	in all or entirely
in umbra, igitur, pugnabimus	then we will fight in the shade -- made famous by Spartans in the battle of Thermopylae and by the movie 300
in utero	in the womb
in vitro	in glass -- biological process that occurs in the lab
incepto ne desistam	may I not shrink from my purpose
intelligenti pauca	few words suffice for he who understands
invicta	unconquered
invictus maneo	I remain unvanquished
ipso facto	by the fact itself -- something is true by its very nature
labor omnia vincit	hard work conquers all
laborare pugnare parati sumus	to work, (or) to fight; we are ready
labore et honore	by labor and honor
leges sine moribus vanae	laws without morals [are] vain
lex parsimoniae	law of succinctness -- also known as Occam's Razor, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one
lex talionis	the law of retaliation
magna cum laude	with great praise
magna est vis consuetudinis	great is the power of habit
magnum opus	great work -- said of someone's masterpiece
mala fide	in bad faith -- said of an act done with knowledge of its illegality, or with intention to defraud or mislead someone; opposite of bona fide
malum in se	wrong in itself -- a legal term meaning that something is inherently wrong
malum prohibitum	wrong due to being prohibited -- a legal term meaning that something is only wrong because it is against the law
mea culpa	my fault
meliora	better things -- carrying the connotation of "always better"
memento mori	remember that [you will] die -- was whispered by a servant into the ear of a victorious Roman general to check his pride as he paraded through cheering crowds after a victory; a genre of art meant to remind the viewer of the reality of his death
memento vivere	remember to live
memores acti prudentes futuri	mindful of what has been done, aware of what will be
modus operandi	method of operating -- abbreviated M.O.
montani semper liberi	mountaineers [are] always free -- state motto of West Virginia
morior invictus	death before defeat
morituri te salutant	those who are about to die salute you -- popularized as a standard salute from gladiators to the emperor, but only recorded once in Roman history
morte magis metuenda senectus	old age should rather be feared than death
mulgere hircum	to milk a male goat -- to attempt the impossible
multa paucis	say much in few words
nanos gigantum humeris insidentes	dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants -- commonly known by the letters of Isaac Newton: "If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants"
nec aspera terrent	they don't terrify the rough ones -- frightened by no difficulties, less literally "difficulties be damned"
nec temere nec timide	neither reckless nor timid
nil volentibus arduum	nothing [is] arduous for the willing
nolo contendere	I do not wish to contend -- that is, "no contest"; a plea that can be entered on behalf of a defendant in a court that states that the accused doesn't admit guilt, but will accept punishment for a crime
non ducor, duco	I am not led; I lead
non loqui sed facere	not talk but action
non progredi est regredi	to not go forward is to go backward
non scholae, sed vitae discimus	we learn not for school, but for life -- from Seneca
non sequitur	it does not follow -- in general, a comment which is absurd due to not making sense in its context (rather than due to being inherently nonsensical or internally inconsistent), often used in humor
non sum qualis eram	I am not such as I was -- or "I am not the kind of person I once was"
nosce te ipsum	know thyself -- from Cicero
novus ordo seclorum	new order of the ages -- from Virgil; motto on the Great Seal of the United States
nulla tenaci invia est via	for the tenacious, no road is impassable
obliti privatorum, publica curate	forget private affairs, take care of public ones -- Roman political saying which reminds that common good should be given priority over private matters for any person having a responsibility in the State
panem et circenses	bread and circuses -- originally described all that was needed for emperors to placate the Roman mob; today used to describe any entertainment used to distract public attention from more important matters
para bellum	prepare for war -- if you want peace, prepare for war—if a country is ready for war, its enemies are less likely to attack
parvis imbutus tentabis grandia tutus	when you are steeped in little things, you shall safely attempt great things -- sometimes translated as, "once you have accomplished small things, you may attempt great ones safely"
pater familias	father of the family -- the eldest male in a family
pecunia, si uti scis, ancilla est; si nescis, domina	if you know how to use money, money is your slave; if you don't, money is your master
per angusta ad augusta	through difficulties to greatness
per annum	by the year
per capita	by the person
per diem	by the day
per se	through itself
persona non grata	person not pleasing -- an unwelcome, unwanted or undesirable person
pollice verso	with a turned thumb -- used by Roman crowds to pass judgment on a defeated gladiator
post meridiem	after noon -- P.M., used in timekeeping
post mortem	after death
postscriptum	thing having been written afterward -- in writing, abbreviated P.S.
praemonitus praemunitus	forewarned is forearmed
praesis ut prosis ne ut imperes	lead in order to serve, not in order to rule
primus inter pares	first among equals -- a title of the Roman Emperors
pro bono	for the good -- in business, refers to services rendered at no charge
pro rata	for the rate
quam bene vivas referre (or refert), non quam diu	it is how well you live that matters, not how long -- from Seneca
quasi	as if or as though
qui totum vult totum perdit	he who wants everything loses everything -- attributed to Seneca
quid agis	what's going on? -- what's up, what's happening, etc.
quid pro quo	this for that -- an exchange of value
quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur	whatever has been said in Latin seems deep -- or "anything said in Latin sounds profound"; a recent ironic Latin phrase to poke fun at people who seem to use Latin phrases and quotations only to make themselves sound more important or "educated"
quis custodiet ipsos custodes?	who will guard the guards themselves? -- commonly associated with Plato
quorum	of whom -- the number of members whose presence is required under the rules to make any given meeting constitutional
requiescat in pace	let him rest in peace -- abbreviated R.I.P.
rigor mortis	stiffness of death
scientia ac labore	knowledge through hard work
scientia ipsa potentia est	knowledge itself is power
semper anticus	always forward
semper fidelis	always faithful -- U.S. Marines motto
semper fortis	always brave
semper paratus	always prepared
semper virilis	always virile
si vales, valeo	when you are strong, I am strong
si vis pacem, para bellum	if you want peace, prepare for war
sic parvis magna	greatness from small beginnings -- motto of Sir Frances Drake
sic semper tyrannis	thus always to tyrants -- attributed to Brutus at the time of Julius Caesar's assassination, and to John Wilkes Booth at the time of Abraham Lincoln's assassination; whether it was actually said at either of these events is disputed
sic vita est	thus is life -- the ancient version of "it is what it is"
sola fide	by faith alone
sola nobilitat virtus	virtue alone ennobles
solvitur ambulando	it is solved by walking
spes bona	good hope
statim (stat)	immediately -- medical shorthand
status quo	the situation in which or current condition
subpoena	under penalty
sum quod eris	I am what you will be -- a gravestone inscription to remind the reader of the inevitability of death
summa cum laude	with highest praise
summum bonum	the supreme good
suum cuique	to each his own
tabula rasa	scraped tablet -- "blank slate"; John Locke used the term to describe the human mind at birth, before it had acquired any knowledge
tempora heroica	Heroic Age
tempus edax rerum	time, devourer of all things
tempus fugit	time flees -- commonly mistranslated "time flies"
terra firma	firm ground
terra incognita	unknown land -- used on old maps to show unexplored areas
vae victis	woe to the conquered
vanitas vanitatum omnia vanitas	vanity of vanities; everything [is] vanity -- from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 1)
veni vidi vici	I came, I saw, I conquered -- famously said by Julius Caesar
verbatim	repeat exactly
veritas et aequitas	truth and equity
versus	against
veto	I forbid
vice versa	to change or turn around
vincit qui patitur	he conquers who endures
vincit qui se vincit	he conquers who conquers himself
vir prudens non contra ventum mingit	[a] wise man does not urinate [up] against the wind
virile agitur	the manly thing is being done
viriliter agite	act in a manly way
viriliter agite estote fortes	quit ye like men, be strong
virtus tentamine gaudet	strength rejoices in the challenge
virtute et armis	by virtue and arms -- or "by manhood and weapons"; state motto of Mississippi
vive memor leti	live remembering death
vivere est vincere	to live is to conquer -- Captain John Smith's personal motto
vivere militare est	to live is to fight
vox populi	voice of the people

What are your favorite Latin phrases? Any other important Latin words and phrases that you think a modern man should know? Share with us in the comments!