By Tammie Fickas Can God use you for His glory? Do you ever wonder about that? Writers are often their own worst critics, and the enemy loves to capitalize on that. He can get your thoughts all tied up in knots until you are certain that your life has nothing of value to offer in written word, and that God …
The Puzzle Method
By Kristi Holl Starting a new novel can be overwhelming. Our minds jump around as we fill dozens of colored sticky notes with snippets of ideas. Eventually we end up with hundreds of bits of information. Where do we start to make sense of it all? One summer I found a solution when putting together a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle with …
LISTENING: It’s Almost Like Being There (Giveaway)
By: The ACFW Leadership Team Writers write. And research. And ponder. And listen. We listen in on conversations so we can write authentic-sounding dialogue. We listen to podcasts about marketing and to interviews to incorporate historical accuracy in our stories. Your ACFW leadership has created a brand new listening opportunity for you–listening to all* the instruction and encouragement offered during …
Show Up Empty
By Linda Thompson I spent an evening a couple weeks ago at a Bible study, discussing John Chapter 2 and the wedding at Cana. The story is a familiar one. Our Lord turned water into wine, and the master of the feast, who didn’t know where the wine had come from, declared it the best he’d tasted at the feast. …
Battling the Chickenhawks of Writing
by Laurel Blount Let’s talk about chickenhawks–and writing. My sister and her husband recently adopted a beautiful little girl, and our whole family fell in love. Hayleigh is spunky and and refreshingly honest–as three year olds tend to be. My sis, previously blessed with an adorable, rough-and-tumble little boy, has entered the world of pink dresses and oversized hair ornaments. …
ACFW New Releases: July 2019
July 2019 New Releases More in-depth descriptions of these books can be found on the ACFW Fiction Finder website. Contemporary Romance: Hometown Hope by Laurel Blount — In the three years since her mother’s death, widower Hoyt Bradley’s daughter, Jess, hasn’t spoken—until she suddenly begs him to save her favorite bookstore from closing. Hoyt is desperate to hear his daughter’s …
A Writer’s Whisper
By Shannon Redmon Writers run scared sometimes. Like my friend Chelsea. She loves to write, but her fear of rejection has kept her fiction writing hidden away in the cave of her desk drawer. When I encouraged her to let others read her stories, she refused with the reason she was to afraid she wasn’t good enough. Elijah, God’s chosen …
Research Matters
by Dana R. Lynn I recently had a conversation with a close friend regarding research. I was researching what a 911 operator’s computer terminal would look like. “What does it matter?” My friend asked, completely serious. “It’s fiction. Just make it up.” He was not the first person that I had heard this from. I guess it all depends on …
Living and Writing Through Storms
By Tara Johnson “If only this toothache would go away, I could write another chapter on the problem of pain.” ~ C.S. Lewis When my debut Engraved on the Heart released last year, I lost count of how many people said, “This will be the most exciting year of your life.” It was, but not for the reasons they thought. …
Mastering the Art of Story Description
By DiAnn Mills Mastering the art of story description is an exciting creative process for the writer. We use our imaginations to step into a character’s shoes and live the adventure from page one to the end. Various techniques show fresh and unusual details through the point of view character, and the result immerses the writer and the reader into …