by Edie Melson Choosing to stand up and be identified as a writer can be a scary thing. The road is rarely a straight path to publication. These are some things that I hope will help you stay the course as you continue on your own writing journey 13 Truths About Being a Writer 1. It’s an eternal struggle between …
ACFW New Releases: May 2016
May 2016 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website. Amish Romance: Amish Firefighter by Laura Hilton — Banished from home and blamed for a barn fire at her new residence, Abigail Stutzman is desperate to prove her innocence. But God doesn’t seem willing to help. Volunteer firefighter Sam Miller is …
An Elevator Pitch with a Hook
by Lee Carver Here’s the scenario: You enter the hotel elevator during the ACFW Conference and recognize an agent or editor you’d love to impress. Each of you selects a floor choice, and she turns to you and asks, “So what are you writing?” Being prepared for the question, you unabashedly speak your thirty-word pitch in the twenty seconds or …
Should I Be Writing this Genre?
by Tamela Hancock Murray Often I talk with new authors writing in lots of genres. This is fine if it’s part of your personal writing journey and learning process. I want my authors to enjoy what they’re writing. But when you get serious about publication, know when to choose and what to choose. One mistake is to write strictly to …
Tell Me Lies: A Character Building Tip
By Hannah Conway When it comes to writing, making characters isn’t my strong suit. Sigh. The plot comes natural to me. My mind wields a storyline that I can only hope to portray with words. Yet, in order to become a better writer, to deepen and sharpen my craft, I need developed characters. Not any characters, but characters that reach …
A Long Time Comin’…and Going
By Robin W. Pearson When the Crusader left for college I thought saying goodbye to him would kill me–it was harder than labor, eating okra, passing my college philosophy class, or even moving to New Jersey. After all, he’s our first child of seven, our first homeschool graduate, our first to flit from the nest; his transition marked the end …
Unexpected Inspiration
By Linda Brooks Davis Inspiration can rise from unexpected quarters. In the vernacular of my growing-up days, the poor widow of Mark 12: 42-44 gave her last red cent, a worthy lesson, I reasoned, for my young Bible students who dole out pennies for the collection basket. In search of supplies for money bags, I browsed through drawers of old …
The Art of the Series…
By Allie Pleiter Series are the big thing in fiction these days. Readers love them, publishers want them. It seems as if Netflix has taught us all how to binge-watch, so if we weren’t ready to binge-read before, we are now. As a writer, I like series because building a world and cast of characters is hard work, and it’s …
When the Story Falters
By Tamara D. Fickas Sometimes the story falters and the words refuse to come. They bottleneck inside your brain and tangle until it’s as hopeless as Christmas lights that were so neat and orderly last year. In those moments, as the tale wanders off the page and down a dark alley where you fear to tread, it’s easy to give …
Without a Word
By Cynthia Ruchti Two passages diverged in a yellow wood. And I… I took the one with subtext And that has made All the difference. (with apologies to Robert Frost) When writing, critiquing, judging, or editing a story, attention to subtext can make all the difference. It deserves another look. When writing instructors talk about the elements that mark the …