by Lara Helmling Synopsis. I imagine that some of you hear that word and decide you need to vacuum the living room. To reduce your beloved novel down to a 500-word summary is almost more than you can bear. I wish I could tell you that I have a magic pill to make synopsis writing less painful. I don’t. I …
What’s Your Name?
By Tamara D. Fickas William Shakespeare wrote the famous line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet” in Romeo and Juliet. This seems to imply that names aren’t important. Truly though, would Pride and Prejudice be the same if it were Mr. Smith who swept Elizabeth off her of …
What Can a Virtual Assistant (VA) Do For You?
By Beth K. Vogt I’ve had a virtual assistant (VA) for almost four years now, and I have no intention of going back to the days when I fended for myself as a writer. I could easily answer the question “What can a virtual assistant do for you?” in five words: A VA keeps you sane. But that makes for …
Is the ACFW Conference Worth It?
by Lee Tobin McClain Why spend all that money going to an ACFW conference? Many reasons, but my main one is that it jump-started my writing career. Here’s how it played out: Five years ago, I attended ACFW in Indianapolis. I’d signed up for two agent appointments, a mentor critique, and a volunteer gig—basically everything possible. When I had car …
Speaking with an Attitude
By Elizabeth Musser How do we, as authors, handle the speaking opportunities given us? I was recently asked to speak at a women’s luncheon event at a country club. When the gal (I’ll call her Cindy) asked about my availability, I explained very clearly that I would be speaking about my newest novel, told her what my honorarium would be, …
Plotter or Pantster? Yes
By Suzanne Bratcher You’ve heard the debate: when you write, do you plan first or do you write from the seat of your pants? Until last week I was certain I was a plotter. Once I have the germ of an idea, I draw a story arc, divide the arc into three acts, divide each act into scenes, and list …
Take Me Out to the Ballpark
By Tamara D. Fickas I’m not a big sports fan. I don’t really follow any of the big sports teams, although I do sometimes root for a team based on being the underdog, or the favored team, or because I like a player. Despite not being into sports, I do love baseball. I managed the baseball team in high school …
Characters or Story: What Drives Your Writing?
by Glynn Young I was having an email exchange with a writer and poet who had just published a novel. Specifically, we were discussing how each of us wrote fiction. She had trouble, she said, with multi-viewpoint novels. Her stories tended to be character-driven, and especially lead character-driven. She said she found multi-viewpoint novels confusing. Multi-viewpoint novels are what I …
Truth in Fiction
By Melinda Eye Cooper When I was in the sixth grade, I entered an essay contest at school. The theme was What I want to be. I considered the topic for days and tossed around ideas about what to write. For the first time in my life, I asked myself the question, “What do I want to be when I grow …
Changing the Past
By Loretta Eidson Last Sunday, Steven Goudeaux, pastor of our East Memphis church, made several powerful statements during the morning service, but one, in particular, caught my attention. “You can change your past,” he said. I lifted my eyebrows and listened while I waited for his explanation. My curiosity piqued. There’s nothing too difficult for God, but how would Pastor …