by Becky Jacoby How often do I often shoot myself in the foot? When it comes to learning the craft of fiction writing…too often. I push myself hard. Suddenly, I think I am a Replicator, an Ancient or have special powers. That I ought to learn at light-speed just because I ache to. Why can’t my desire to learn faster …
Five Reasons Why Contests are Important
by Beverly Varnado Before I attended my first writer’s conference several years ago, I wrote several articles and devotions for an unpublished writer’s competition sponsored by the conference. I worked and reworked the pieces, making sure I’d made them the best I could. Then I sat on them. As the final deadline for submission approached, my nervousness grew. How could …
Stick to the Point of View
by Jill Elizabeth Nelson The term Point of View is defined as a position from which something is considered or evaluated, a standpoint, or a place of perception. In fiction writing, the position from which anything is considered in any given scene should be the character through whose head we are viewing events. This particular character is the point-of-view character. …
Book Review: “A Most Unsuitable Match”
Title: A Most Unsuitable Match Author: Stephanie Grace Whitson Publisher: Bethany House Date: Aug 2011 ISBN: 978-0764208812 Genre: Historical Romance Reviewed by: Lena Nelson Dooley I’ve read several of Stephanie Grace Whitson’s books and loved each one. Her newest release is an interesting journey from civilized Missouri to the wilds of Montana in 1869. The unique characters leapt from the …
My Day in Prison
by Greg Johnson WordServe Literary Group I went to prison not long ago to visit an inmate and to hear her story. I needed to know first-hand if she was who my client said she was. My client, her best friend on the outside, is writing a story of forgiveness between two women. I spent two hours in a small …
What’s So Funny?
What’s So Funny? How to Lighten Up Your Story and Get Readers to Laugh by Margaret Brownley A reader recently wrote to tell me that her husband lost his job, her father took ill and the washing machine broke down-all in a single week. That’s enough to make anyone want to cry, but instead she wrote, “In spite of everything …
Who is my Reader?
Let’s untangle the web surrounding the question, “Who is my Most Likely Reader?” Think of your story. Who are the central characters and what are their ages? What is the theme of your story? To clarify, let me use my first historical romance as an example. Promise of Tomorrow is a historical romance set in Johnstown, PA during the flood …
Your Writing, Your Business
by Danica Favorite One of the things I teach in my Taxes for Writers class is that the IRS is going to look at your business as a business, and many writers need to work on making their writing business more business-like. Yes, I know, writers tend to be more creative and would rather spend their time deciding if their …
God Loves Me More Than That
by Fay Lamb “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 Life verses-they abound, and Jeremiah 29:11 is among the most quoted. As an author who feels that God has called me to write, I cling to verses such as …
Spring Cleaning
by Aaron McCarver Spring is here! For many people it is time for that annual foray into closets, attics, and basements…spring-cleaning. I have actually begun to attack some of those areas in my place. I am trying to follow the rule of my co-author, Diane Ashley?if I haven’t looked at it or worn it in more than a year then …