By Cindy Ervin Huff We are fiction writers, weavers of stories that share messages of hope with the world. But there are times when our bucket of story ideas goes dry. These are the times we can turn to writing non-fiction using our fiction skills to add interest to those projects. I’m assuming you are in the Word daily and …
Creativity Feeds Creativity
by D’Ann Mateer Do you ever feel like your well of creativity has run dry? I confess I am often in that place. There are many ways to refill your creative stores, but have you considered adding a creative hobby outside of writing? I know, I know. You need to write. That’s where you want to spend all your creative …
Mastering the Puzzle
By Loretta Eidson Most people enjoy putting puzzles together. We know it can be quick entertainment or a time-consuming, tedious challenge, depending on the number and size of the pieces. Separating straight edges from the others and forming the outline help bring the size of the picture into focus. Some may dump the remaining pieces on the table for a …
Musings About Writing and Printing Motivations
By Dwight David Croy In the 1960’s, the way to get an “A” in the subject of English in High School was to be a good creative writer. The mechanics were secondary, the organization was secondary, punctuation and the spelling was also secondary. If you were fortunate enough to get a teacher that smoked weed, these things were not even …
Take Aim: Finding Your Target Audience
by John Matthew Walker @jdubmd If you’ve ever been to a writers conference or critique group, you’ve heard the phrase “target audience.” But what does it really mean? Who is your target audience? And why is it so important? Imagine yourself taking up a new hobby. It sounded crazy. You didn’t really want to do it, but you reconnected with …
Notes from a Newbie
By Linda Dindzans @lindadindzans One recent early morning, I was fretting over fine points in the first rework of edits for my debut novel. Each word was critical. Should I change this may to might? Finally satisfied, I hit send. A Certain Man—a novel set in ancient Samaria at the time of Jesus—was on its way back to the editor. …
Just Show Up
By JPC Allen I thought nothing could be more difficult than writing a novel during a pandemic. Trying to make sense of the world at that time dried up most of my creative juices. And what little that was left was consumed by becoming a teacher to my children. Was I ever wrong. I began to write my latest cozy …
Stealing the Heart of the Reader
By Marie E. Bast @mariebast1 To steal the heart of the reader, a story must have a solid plot line and the protagonist must believe a lie about him or herself, which will cause obstacles and hinder them achieving their plot goal. This problem will become obvious at the inciting incident and first plot point. Each chapter, like a golf …
What’s the Color of Love?
by Ifueko Ogbomo @inspirologos I love LOVE! As a poet and historical romance novelist, love inspires most of my storytelling, so it’s a subject I often ponder. (It definitely inspired my award-winning debut novel—A Divine Romance—which was released one year ago, today!) I’m admittedly a romantic at heart, but I daresay even the least romantically inclined individuals are forced to …
Branding: Isn’t that for cows?
by Melody Morrison Apparently, nearly everyone on the planet has some degree of ADHD or ADD. We have a society that requires it. The speed of life and volume of input is dizzying. Most of us never knew a name for it besides “scatter-brained” or disorganized or distractable. The good news discovered by educators rests in strategies. Categorizing, using planners, …