by Rebecca DeMarino Like many writers I’ve been choosing a “word for the year” for a few years now. Sometimes the word chooses me. It will be the word I meditate on, pray about and try to include in a conversation throughout the year. Ideally, I would do these things every day. But to be honest I have to remind …
Are you an Anthropomorphist?
by Stan Crader I sat down at my desk with the intention of adding a few words to my next novel, Approach The Bench. And then I saw a note to myself that I need to finish the family Christmas letter. While in the process of closing the file to my book and looking through my documents folder for the …
Second Act: When Success Comes Late
by Suzanne Woods Fisher My dentist likes to ask about my writing whenever I come in for my six-month check-up. Toward the end of the last visit, he made a grave error. “Imagine,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Getting published at your age!” I was outraged! Silently, of course, because his tools were in my mouth. First of …
Praying Through the Burnout
by Casey Herringshaw Every writer, at some point, during their novel-creation career will most likely experience some period of burnout. It creeps up like a naughty third-wheel cousin and steals all enthusiasm you might have cultivated for this story. It often doesn’t matter how much you love a story or the characters, sometimes it’s all the emotional energy we pour …
Joy Before the Blessing
by Melissa Tagg I’ve often admired Samuel’s mom in the Bible. (I’m talking Samuel the “Here I am, Lord, send me” guy.) She stops eating…she weeps…she prays…she makes a vow to God. And when God blesses her with the son she asked for, she keeps her vow. But I recently reread the first chapter of 1 Samuel and I noticed …
Chasing the Light
by DiAnn Mills • Chase: to pursue • Light: a source of illumination • You: the committed writer What does chasing the light of story mean to you? Do you find it difficult to focus on what aspect motivates your creative muse? Writers pursue stories to illuminate the readers’ hearts and minds. It’s a big undertaking, and at times overwhelming. …
Writing Fast and Furious
by Lynn Hobbs Have you ever been writing when words flow fast, and you hurry to make your point? It seems like your novel, or your character suddenly has a life of its own and takes over. It can be exciting when what you had in mind progresses into a new enlightening direction. In my case, I type quickly and …
Breathe Life into your Manuscript
by Anne Greene During the writing of Masquerade Marriage, I thought I knew what being in deep point of view meant. I thought I wrote deep point of view. I knew I had to stay inside the character’s head. I lived inside the character’s skin. I showed nothing that the POV character couldn’t have seen. I showed only what the …
How Writers Can Hurry Less and Worry Less at Christmas
By Judy Christie When I was a girl, I went shopping at a Woolworth’s store that had a costume-jewelry counter and a ring-sizer that looked like an old-fashioned telephone dial. Curious, I put my finger into a variety of holes until I found one that seemed to fit. But when I tried to take my finger out, the ring-sizer was …
The Heart of the Matter
by MaryAnn Diorio Writing fiction, like all of life, is a matter of the heart. Scripture tells us that “people look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). The heart is the seat of motives. It is the control center of all human behavior. For those of us who write fiction, the heart …