by Cara C. Putman This spring has been a whirlwind of book marketing. With novellas in January and May and a trade in April, it’s taken a lot of time. A friend recently called me a networking superstar, and I almost spewed my sweet tea across my computer monitor. When it’s time to call for help marketing a book, I …
What If One of Your Characters Is Not… um… Human?
by Rachel Hauck We spent a lot of time around the hallowed halls of ACFW teaching the craft of writing. As we should. It’s our goal and our mission. Character development is key to any good novel. Because after all, it’s people we care about. It’s people who tell stories. I have a saying: Tell the story between the quotes. …
Why A Magazine?
by Mike Ehret Editor – ACFW Journal Magazine I admit that was my response when first approached by ACFW President Margaret Daley about being involved with what became the ACFW Journal. In the digital age, it seemed like a backward step. But that’s the beauty of vision. What may seem illusory to others, or even Ludditian, becomes concrete and almost …
The Trouble with Comparison
by Keisha Gilchrist-Broomes I do not own a Kindle for one reason. I love books. I don’t merely love to read books, I love the books themselves. I love the smell of ink, paper, and binding. I like to feel the weight of the book in my hands. I want to glide my fingers over the edge of a paper …
To Have or Not to Have…Patience
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 …
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. …
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 …