by DiAnn Mills We fiction writers chase our stories like toddlers on a sugar-high. I’m one of them. I can dream and plan and plot all day long. Yet sometimes I get sidetracked. For writers who live and breathe their addiction but have a problem staying on task, I’m offering a twelve-step program call Story Chasers (SC). These are writers …
Stick with the Story
by Jill Elizabeth Nelson Any novelist who has spent much time in the fiction-writing world has probably heard the term “sagging middle.” Sags develop when a story loses momentum and begins to meander or bog down. I’m of the opinion that the issue usually isn’t so much a single sag as a number of sags, clustered or scattered throughout. Envision …
Be a Critter-Getter
By Linda Robinson If I were forced to choose only one blessing I’ve gleaned from my membership in ACFW, it would be hard. After much thought, I would have to say it occurred when I chose to become a part of Scribes, their critique group, which resulted in an even greater blessing. While submitting chapters and critiquing others’ submissions, a …
The Wait
by Ian Acheson We writers wait a lot. I expect for most of us the production process of drafting a manuscript is an active one, however, there will be times we will be waiting for feedback from others before we proceed to the next stage. When we’ve completed the manuscript we can expect to wait a lot. Critique groups, editors, …
Who Knows What When
by Cathy Gohlke Access to information affects the motivations, actions, and consequences borne by every character we create. This truth came boldly home to me while writing Saving Amelie, a story set in Nazi Germany during 1939 and 1940. In writing about a society controlled and censored by a dictatorship and rife with propaganda, it was difficult-sometimes overwhelming-to determine who …
Lean on Me: Why Fellow Writer Friends are Important
by Tamara Fickas Writing is solitary work. The idea of a hermit sitting at his computer/typewriter pounding out word after word has been around a long time. I sometimes think that’s what appeals to me about writing. As an introvert, I love the idea of writing in solitude. When I lived in Oregon, I used to drive through the Columbia …
Color Me Purple: Help Others Take an Interest in Your Work
by Debra Koontz Roberson Remember this children’s nursery rhyme? I never saw a purple cow I never hope to see one But I can tell you this right now I’d rather see than be one. Being different may be a horrible thought when you are a child or teenager, but it’s essential when you’re a grownup marketing yourself and your …
GMC, Oh That Conflict
by Martha Rogers Goals, motivation and conflict, three elements all our stories need. The essence of every story is conflict, but for me, that is the most difficult thing to add to my novels. I dislike confrontation and will go to great lengths to avoid it. I get very angry with others, but rather than getting into an argument, I …
Hero or Villain?
by MaryAnn Diorio, PhD, MFA I have a friend who writes cozy mysteries. Her favorite quip when she gets annoyed with someone is to say, “Be careful. I may put you in my next novel.” My friend’s comment provokes some interesting philosophical questions: • If my friend were to put me in her novel, what kind of character would I …
Keeping Your Hero Honest
by Rebecca DeMarino In writing fiction, you need a strong MC and if you are writing romance you will need two, and one of them better be a hero. Readers of romance want their heroes to not only be strong, but handsome, loveable and yes, heroic. And if it’s Christian fiction our hero better be strong in his faith, if …