by Christine Sunderland @Chrisunderland As Christian storytellers, are we affecting our culture for good? Are we using the talents that God has given us? Are we making a difference? We live in an increasingly polarized culture, both national and international. As we watch civilization collapse around us, what part can we play and what responsibility do we own, for the …
Plotter or “Pantser” – Is One Better than the Other?
By Lori Domingo @LoriDomingo22 If someone had asked me that question a year ago, I would have proudly declared, “I’m a pantser. I never write from a plot outline. It’s too confining.” I had managed to complete one manuscript without it, and was hard-pressed when I was required to write one for one of my MA classes. It was something …
Martha and Martha: A Lesson in Learning and Writing
By Kathleen Y’Barbo @KathleenYBarbo We all know about Martha from the Bible. Biblical Martha was the Martha Stewart of her day, bustling around showing Jesus her devotion to Him with hospitality without any help from her sister Mary. From this story, we learn that sitting at the feet of Jesus—literally for these biblical sisters and figuratively for us in modern …
Championing the Next (Current?) Great Awakening
by M.D. House @Real_HouseMD I’m no expert on the periods of Christian revival in North America (often spreading farther than that), but there have been at least three: In the 1730’s, in the American colonies In the early 19th century, centered in Western New York State During the late 19th and early 20th centuries Post WWII (this one is disputed, …
Why Poetry Can Make You a Better Writer
By Glynn Young @gyoung9751 Like most of my generation, I read poetry in English classes in high school. It wasn’t until I was a high school senior that I read poetry that stuck in my head. And it was T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and “Four Quartets.” I read poetry in college as well, but my …
Step Outside You Comfort Zone and Write
by Terry Overton Listening to my Bible Study leader speak in our recent study of Rahab, the point was made very clear to me. God asked Rahab to step out of her comfort zone and do something she probably never thought she would do. He had selected Rahab to take in two spies and to lie to the authorities when …
What is Stronger than a Mother’s Love?
by Ifueko Ogbomo As a writer of Biblical Fiction, I often ponder about the lives of the Bible’s heroes and heroines. Given that it’s Mother’s Day tomorrow, my musings today surround biblical mothers and their sons. Most famous of them all is Mary. The virgin who became a mother in the most unexpected and unique manner and would have surely …
Nothing New
by E.V. Sparrow @evSparrow Are we ever uneasy there’s “nothing new under the sun” to write about, like Scripture tells us? Ecclesiastes 1:9,“The thing that has been–it is what will be again, and that which has been done is that which will be done again; and there is nothing new under the sun.” (AMPC) If we believe this wisdom from …
God’s Nudges
By Patricia Collier I pray for each book I write: before, during, and after I finish it. The first book in my series, The Hornet’s Nest, seemed pretty much “follow the expected path for my characters.” Then I prayed about what I had written. I felt a nudge to make a change to the story path. I even consulted my …
A Fresh Start
By Darlene L. Turner Every writer loves to type “THE END” on their latest work-in-progress, but that dreaded flashing cursor on a blank “Chapter One” page sends tremors down our spines. Can I get an amen? However, starting a new manuscript doesn’t have to be daunting. Authors can make it fun. How, you ask? Maybe change your process up a …