by Terri Reed When I first started on this writing journey, I attended many workshops where the speaker said to start your openings with dialogue. Other speakers touted that opening with action was best, while still others said setting is the way to go. Personally, I’ve opened books, scenes and chapters with a variety of different approaches. I don’t believe …
Dream Big, Dear Writer
by Susan Lyttek @SusanLyttek Lately, I’ve been doing a series on my personal blog about Dreams and Memories and how God works in each of them to grow and develop us. When we dream and remember the way God would call us to, we become not only better Christians, but better writers. Having taught many generations of beginning writers, I’ve …
Your Author Voice, the Writing Rules, and—ACK!—Show vs. Tell
by Rachel Hauck @rachelhauck I’ve been at this writing game for over 30 years. This summer marked my 20th anniversary of writing full-time. Not to brag or anything, (Ha!) but I’ve learned a few things over the years, and top of the list is – I’m still learning! It never ends. As writers, we never stop learning, improving, and defining …
Five Things I’ve Learned from the Amish…
… that Have Nothing to Do with being Amish and Have Everything to Do with being a Christian by Suzanne Woods Fisher Being Amish is not a lifestyle Amish traditions are all about faith, deeply rooted in every aspect of their lives. It’s not squeezed into a Sunday morning service but infuses everything, like a teabag steeping in hot water. …
Surprises of Post Publication
by Jane Kirkpatrick One of the surprises of being a published author is experiencing the side stories that result from the publication. A couple of my titles have resulted in watercolor artists painting their version of the story. We had events celebrating those paintings, selling them to raise money for non-profits. Several quilting groups through the years have chosen one …
ACFW New Releases: October 2024
October 2024 New ReleasesMore in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website General Contemporary: I’ll Be Home by Darlene L. Turner, by Sara Davison, Helena Smrcek, Melanie Stevenson — With chaos and confusion all around them, can they find their way home this Christmas? The people in these four stories are all searching for …
About the Gems
by Diane E. Samson As many Christian fantasy writers will tell you, as a child I read my way through the wardrobe to Narnia and in some ways never came back. It opened my eyes to a world of adventure while providing my young mind with countless lessons of truth. C.S. Lewis mentioned in the first book’s forward that by …
The Value of Serving in Writing
by Jennifer Noel Wilson As I sat on the cold cafeteria floor and listened to the young fifth grade girl share about her sister’s surgery with tears in her eyes, my heart broke. The girls next to her wrapped their arms around her and we all began to pray. This moment is forever etched in my mind and inspired the …
Scene Ahead Approach
by B.D. Lawrence @BDLawrence3 Some writers are plotters. They write a detailed outline of the entire story before writing a scene. Some writers are pantsers. They write with no outline and no idea where they are going. I started as a plotter. I wrote a wonderful ten-chapter outline for my first book. But when the book ended up being thirty …
Naming the Baby
by Chandra Lynn Smith Names matter. My name is unique. In my sixty-five years I have met two people with the same name as me and know of a few others. The first person was actually my boss at a job in college and he was from India. Yes, evidently my name is not gender specific in India. The other …