by Robin Lee Hatcher Recently, a number of writer friends have switched from the use of Kindles to the Nook or stated they are thinking of doing so. They’ve had different reasons for buying a new Nook. Always wanting to stay informed, I decided to do a little research about features and pros and cons to the different devices. No …
Seven Days to Better Writing
by Janice Hanna Thompson What if I told you that your whole life could change in a week? You would sit up and take notice, right? The truth is, it can. If you’re a writer, all you need is one dedicated week to turn your career around. • DAY ONE: Spend a full day thinking about the topics that make …
The ROY G BIV Approach
by Cynthia Ruchti Do they still teach elementary school children the colors of refracted light, rainbow-style, via the ROY G BIV method? Memorizing seven colors in a specific order is tough…until you learn the odd but hard to forget name ROY G BIV: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. Got it. Forever. Some common misspellings and punctuation glitches that …
Writing … Interrupted
by Beth K. Vogt I had another post written for today. The opening line? There’s always a reason – or two or three – not to write. I intended to blog about writing through the interruptions of life – and then the Waldo Canyon Fire erupted in the Foothills several miles from my neighborhood and my family evacuated our home. …
Woolworth or Tiffany’s?
by Janelle James Simplicity is beautiful. When I was a little girl, my mother and I walked by a Tiffany’s display window. We stopped and stared in appreciation. My mother placed her hand on my back and lowered her voice. “Janelle, think of a dime store display window that is so cluttered you can’t even take it all in. Now …
Learning By Teaching
by Rachel Hauck At the ACFW conference in Houston ’03, I watched the bubbly and newly published Susan May Warren dash off to teach a writing workshop one afternoon. I remember thinking, “How does she know what to teach? She’s only been published a year.” As a newly contracted author four months from my first print publication with an e-book …
Platform, Presence and the ACFW Journal
by Cheryl Wyatt Building platform and name recognition are as crucial to publishing as quotation marks to a killer line of dialogue. You may have an engaging hook and stellar book, but if you’re not on readers’ radars, low sales can impede future contracts. Even if you write as worship, marketing matters. If you’re pre-published, now is a good time …
Three Steps to Creating an Occupation for Your Characters
by Cara C. Putman As writers, one of our tasks is finding the right career for your characters. Not only do your characters populate your story, they fill roles and hold jobs. Finding the right career can be a key piece to getting the character to fit. Sometimes when I pick up a novel, it feels like the character’s job …
Fit & Fabulous Writing
By Kathy Harris Did you charge out of the starting blocks with the first three chapters of a great new story idea… but now you’re having trouble crossing the finish line? Does your first draft sag in the middle? Maybe your plot needs a bit of firming up. You might benefit from a new writing routine. Fitness coaches tell us …
One is a Lonely Number
by Aaron McCarver I have heard many authors refer to writing as a lonely career. Many speak of hours in chairs in front of computers plucking out scenes and characters with no others around. While this may be partially true for some of the actual work, a Christian writer should never think of writing as a career for a lonely …