By Davalynn Spencer Did your mother ever tell you to stop being a troublemaker? How about your teachers? Friends. Well, if that task was hard to achieve in your childhood, and you’re a fiction writer today, now’s your chance to shine. Making trouble is what novelists are called to do. We usually think of that trouble in terms of “conflict” …
Everything I Need to Know About Mysteries I Learned from Scooby Doo
By JPC Allen As a kid growing up in the ‘70’s, I lived to watch Scooby Doo. Little did I know that this first exposure to mystery stories would be a good foundation for trying to write my own. My very first attempt at writing a story was in second grade, and I wrote a homage (that sounds better than …
Perfectly Polished: What it Takes to Succeed as a Writer
By Loretta Eidson A manicure and perfectly polished fingernails make me feel better about the appearance of my hands. I love transferring to the nail technician the responsibility of clean-cut cuticles, hang-nail removal, filing, applying the polish and drying. It’s her job to make me happy with her work and leave me with the desire to return. Writers don’t have …
Making Personal Celebrations Impersonal
By Susan A.J. Lyttek I intentionally chose this date to write a blog because it’s the 35th anniversary of my (and my husband’s) church wedding. You might notice that I’m oddly specific. We had eloped in June of the same year, so it’s not technically our marriage anniversary, though we do celebrate both dates. Our story is almost strange enough …
Learning More
By Melinda Eye Cooper Last fall, I made an important decision about work. Not about my full-time accounting job where my paycheck comes from. But about the work I know God has called me to do. Writing. My first memory of writing a story was in the third grade. I don’t remember exactly what it was about but it made …
Social Media Missteps
By Rondi Bauer Olson One of the first things I heard as an aspiring writer was that I needed to be active on social media, and if I wanted to attract an editor or agent, I needed lots of followers. The problem was I didn’t have a book out yet, and I couldn’t imagine anyone being interested in following me. …
Do You Love Social Media?
By Deborah Raney As a true extrovert with a very solitary occupation as a writer, I truly enjoy social media. Sometimes I tell people I’m not sure I could have survived my 24-year writing career without it! (Of course there was no such thing as social media the first ten years I was writing, but I did connect with several …
Create While You Wait
By Kariss Lynch We’ve all experienced these seasons: the endless waiting for a dream to come true. We wonder if God hears, or if we heard him wrong when He called us to this crazy writing gig. Wait—the word that can make us squirm with anxiety and doubt our stories and our skill. Or it can make us hope. I’ve …
Four Observations from an ACFW Conference Newbie
By Lauren Gail The 2018 American Christian Fiction Writers Conference held in Nashville, Tennessee was my first ACFW conference. The amazing Frank E. Peretti and the awesome town of Nashville were two of the main reasons I was compelled to register. Add to those the number of agents, editors, publishers, and authors available to network with and the decision was …
Why Should a Writer be Part of Goodreads?
By DiAnn Mills The biggest reason for a writer to jump onboard Goodreads is from their own words: “It’s the world’s largest site for readers and book recommendations.” I’m convinced this social media platform is essential to a novelist’s recognition by readers and publishers. Let’s unpack what that means: If I’m looking for a book to read, I can explore …