By Sarah Hamaker Who wants to be ordinary? If I asked that question at an ACFW conference, I doubt anyone would raise their hand. For some reason, ordinary has become associated with dull, listless, uninteresting and uninspiring. As writers, we may be content to live ordinary lives, but we want our writing to be extraordinary, to be the kind of …
A Spoon Full of Sugar…Yes, Please
By W.G. Reese You’ve finished that article, short story, or novel that you poured your heart into for days, weeks, and months. Whoever reads this miraculous compilation of facts, imagery and relatable emotion will enjoy — no, be enthralled and begging for more, until…. You run it by a critique group, friend, spouse, and/or that special someone who totally gets …
Permission to Dream Your Stories
By Chandra Smith One of my favorite things at a writer’s conference is the mealtime conversations with other writers about their stories and their characters. It is probably the only place writers can talk about the people in their heads and be understood. What inspires your story? Is it a conversation overheard in a crowded restaurant, or sunlight coming through …
When Fiction Provides Added Value
By Les Stobbe I’m constantly amazed by the fixation of fiction writers on novels, as if that is the noblest expression of the art of fiction writing. Yet there are a variety of other opportunities to employ fiction to present the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. Let me illustrate with my experiences. In my first real job in journalism I …
Adding Flesh to the Bone: Writing Compelling Historical/Biblical Fiction
By Mesu Andrews If you’re invited to my house for a quiet evening, you should hope I only serve dessert. I’m not a terrible cook, but my main dishes usually come from a box. Why? Because the only seasonings I know how to use are salt and pepper, which makes most of my food-from-scratch taste…well, bland. When our daughter and …
When Mentoring Goes Wrong
By Ramona Richards You know, you do need mentors, but in the end, you really just need to believe in yourself. –Diana Ross Who knew such a simple piece of advice could make someone burst into tears. All I said was, “You might want to consider deleting this prologue.” I then stared as the writer in front of me started …
The Importance of Reading
By Katherine Reay Today is my birthday…. An unusual way to open a post on writing, but I chose this day because I thought visiting here would be a fun way share/mark the day. But we will not discuss my age… 🙂 Instead we’ll discuss one of my favorite aspects of writing: Reading! And if we’re going to talk about …
How to Know When It’s Time to Give Up
by Cathleen Armstrong I met her the second day of the ACFW Conference when I sat down next to her at the lunch table. “How’s your conference going?” I smiled at her as I opened my napkin. This is conference-speak for, “How are you?” The usual answer is, “Great! How about you?” Not this lady. “Not so good. In fact, …
Tosca, On Research
By Tosca Lee I get asked (a lot!) how I research my historical novels, which always surprises me because it seems like a) kind of a boring thing to talk about and b) a personal process based on a person’s goals and interests and penchant for chasing rabbit trails. That said, having had to pack a dissertation’s worth of research …
Building a Genuine Platform
By Emilie Hendryx What is a good platform base? Do I need a platform? How do I build a platform? What will a platform do for me? What is a platform, anyway? These questions are enough to make your head spin. My simple definition of platform is this: Platform is a genuine community of people who “get” you. That is …