If this post goes up on the ACFW blog on September 22, I will be enroute to the annual ACFW conference. I attended for the first time last year. And what a difference the conference made to me and what a year this last one has been. Where else can writers meet so many agents and editors for Christian fiction? …
Start Making Your List
By Kathy Harris We unpublished writers are always looking for ways to discern how far we are in our writing journey. One of the best guides can be found at Randy Ingermanson’s website, www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/freshman.php. By answering only five questions you can determine, by Randy’s estimation, whether you are a freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior, with publication becoming likely in the …
Don’t Imitate Others — Follow God’s Directions
By Lena Nelson Dooley In 2005, so many people were starting blogs. I had no idea what a blog was, and I didn’t know if I was supposed to do one. I asked some other writers I was connected with what they blogged about. Someone told me to blog about my journey to publication. That was something I could do, …
Five Things I Learned on my Way to Publication
by Rose Allen McCauley I have been a member of ACFW for nine years now, since I joined in Sept. 2002, right before the first national conference. Several times at conferences, I’ve heard the statistic that it takes an author an average of seven years from beginning to write to attaining a contract. My contract was awarded at last year’s …
Do What You Are: by Tina Radcliffe
Life is a balancing act, and the words of Alex Cross, in James Patterson’s, Along Came a Spider, “Do what you are,” are a challenge when applied to our daily lives. If you were to list those things that fill your life in order of importance from least to most, how much time would you admit they occupy in your …
HUMILITY OR APATHY–The aversion to marketing.
ACFW Blog posting by Christine Lindsay author of SHADOWED IN SILK, winner of the 2009 Genesis for Historical. All of us in ACFW know the writing of Christian fiction is a ministry. And if we’ve been at it for a few years we know it is not for the faint-hearted. We know the perseverance, the faith it takes to write …
Pacing–I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can
By Margaret Daley The structure and pacing in a book is what holds the story together, moving it forward. Pacing and structure (what scenes go where) involves how you convey the characters and plot. In order to talk about pacing you also need to talk about the structure of the book. They are interwoven together. Why should a writer care …
That Inspirational-Writing Mirror: Shirley Kiger Connolly
I often wonder why Christians choose to write inspirational fiction books. Some might be sending a specific, heartfelt message. Some could be out there with that hope to eventually become wealthy. Some could be voracious readers, and hear themselves saying, “I can do that too.” What about those who simply need something to do as they sit in front of …
Real in Fiction; Choosing Actual Locations for Your Novels
By Eva Marie Everson Several years ago, after the success of the Potluck books, set in imaginary Summit View, Colorado, my editor and I decided to focus on Southern fiction because y’all, I know the South. My first Southern novels for Revell were set in the “unreal” towns of Cottonwood, Georgia (Things Left Unspoken) and Logan’s Creek, Georgia (This Fine …
Blueprint for Success: Donna Rich
A blueprint works? The bad news: I can’t give you a blueprint. The good news: I can share my experience. Overcome Rejection – I’m not wanted My first rejection came in 1978. I had submitted a nonfiction book to Baker Book House. I knew it would be a success – until the nice letter came telling me otherwise. Instead of …