By JPC Allen Author’s Note: This article first appeared on Rebecca Waters’s site A Novel Creation at WatersWords.com. After I finished my YA Christian fiction novel and edited it a few hundred times, I looked into publishing it. All agents and editors gave the same advice, “Know your audience!” It seemed so overwhelming to me, getting to know the reading …
ACFW Conference Prayer – Day 28
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 28 – 8/24/17 – SPOTLIGHT SESSIONS Proverbs 2:6 – “For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Father, thank You for the opportunity to attend Spotlight Sessions at the conference. We are grateful for the editors, agents, and industry professionals who will present information and help us …
ACFW Conference Prayer: Day 29
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 29 – 8/23/17 – PAID CRITIQUERS AS THEY WORK ON SUBMISSIONS “May our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Heavenly …
A Narrative Orphan Becomes a Favorite Child
By Glynn Young I’m writing a fiction series. Two books have been published. The fourth has been sitting in manuscript form, some 70,000 words, for quite some time. There was too big of a story gap between No. 2 and No. 4, so I couldn’t simply skip the third manuscript and cover it with some narrative filler or explanation in …
ACFW Conference Prayer: Day 30
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 30 – 8/22/17 – AGENTS AT THE CONFERENCE Psalm 143:8, The Living Bible: “Let me see your kindness to me in the morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for my prayers are sincere.” Beloved Lord God, thank You for this year’s ACFW Conference, for both the …
ACFW Conference Prayer: Day 31
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 31 – 8/21/17 – Editors at the Conference Dear God, We lift our hands to honor You. Please watch over the editors as they prepare for the ACFW Conference. Give them good health, safety, energy, and enthusiasm to meet the writers pitching to them. Please bless the editors and give them …
When the Reader Tastes the Salty Sea Spray
By Leslie DeVooght Readers want to be transported and experience your characters’ world. Your setting should elicit an emotional response from your readers. To achieve this kind of intimacy with the place, a writer must visit the place. Setting isn’t just a location. In our first meeting, my fantastic writing coach Lindsey Bracket said, “you must evoke the island.” This …
ACFW Conference Prayer: Day 32
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 32 – 8/20/17 – BRANDILYN COLLINS AS SHE EMCEES “Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.” (Psalm 66:16). Father God, we thank You for Brandilyn Collins and her many years of service to ACFW. We thank You for her heart …
Creating a World
By Susan A.J. Lyttek One thing I love about writing speculative fiction is the opportunity to imitate my God and create worlds. There are entire books written about how to design your universe. Obviously, I cannot going that far in a blog post. Even so, I will include some basic pointers on the process. Anchor it in reality. Unlike our …
ACFW 40 Days of Prayer: Day 33
2017 ACFW CONFERENCE – 40 DAYS OF PRAYER DAY 33 – 8/19/17 – FINANCES FOR THOSE ATTENDING CONFERENCE “My help is from Jehovah who made the mountains! And the heavens, too!” Psalm 121:2, TLB. Lord, You are our faithful God. When You call, You also provide. We’ve seen You provide finances for a writer’s conference two days before it started. …