by Lisa Jordan While working on my third novel, I emailed my agent and asked her thoughts about my characters’ names. She suggested I change one because having two old-fashioned names may confuse the reader with the genre. So I changed my male character’s name to something a little more modern. One of the most used books on my bookshelf …
Enhancing Your Creativity
By Victoria Bylin Wouldn’t it be nice if creativity were a faucet you could turn on and off? Imagine a shiny chrome spigot with a fancy handle, the kind that moves in a circle and changes temperature and flow with a flick of your wrist. Add a fancy sprayer that can be adjusted from a heavy stream to a mist, …
How One Simple Trick Made My Novels Come Alive
by Sandra Orchard From a young age, we’re taught to not be tardy. We’re told that punctuality is a virtue, and that being early is even better. Not so in writing. The trick that took my novels from good to published was this… Start late. Leave early. Think about that for a minute. Start late. Leave early. Readers are intelligent …
When You’ve Lost Your Voice
by Sandra Heska King I’ve been reading this week about Zachariah in Luke 1. He draws the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to serve behind the curtains. The greatest day of his life. He’s gone a long time though, and the people outside get concerned. Not to worry. He’s just back there in the holy of holies talking to Gabriel about a discarded …
What’s Your Writing Worth?
by Jordyn Redwood It’s tax season. Are you currently evaluating what your writing is worth? My husband, who is an accountant, came up to me and asked, “Do you know how much you’ve spent on writing this last year?” It was more than I thought. Even though I’m in a three-book contract, my earnings are still below my expenses. Considering …
Scene Beginnings
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”… -Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Not a bad beginning, eh? When we sit down to craft the opening line of our novel, I think almost all of us are aware of the golden opportunity before us. But do we realize we have small gems of …
Ten Tips to Help You Write More Words
By Carrie Turansky Whether you’re an aspiring author or multi-published, it’s often a challenge to meet your writing goals. Here are ten tips that will help increase your writing productivity. 1. Write with instrumental music playing in the background. I recently saw an informal survey that found those who listened to music while writing were able to write more words …
Decisions, Decisions, So Many to Make
By Margaret Daley Where do you start a story? You have a few pages (for some a few paragraphs) to catch an editor or reader’s attention. I know of some readers who will read the first page or so of a book, and if you haven’t gotten her interest, she won’t buy it. It is one of the important decisions …
Author Theology
By Cynthia Ruchti Many of us who write for God confess we’re learning more about Him on the journey than we could ever capture on paper. What do I believe about God’s role in my writing? Theologically speaking-or doctrinally speaking-do I act as if I believe He has reasons for how long it takes to get published? Or do I …
A Unique . . . Surprise
by Ramona Richards Senior Acquisitions Editor, Fiction Abingdon Press When asked what they look for in a manuscript, editors often answer, “A unique voice,” a frustrating answer to any writer. “A unique voice” is hard to define, hard to develop, hard to spot. It borders on trying to define what you like about a particular painting or why you prefer …