by Cynthia Herron Now that Thanksgiving’s over and Christmas is just around the corner, writing may take a back seat as we prepare for the next big holiday. We’ll celebrate the birth of our Savior, visit with family, and of course, dine all things deelish during our Norman Rockwell picture-perfect moments. (I can hardly wait!) Still, while I adore the …
Cross Promotion and the Christian Author
By Carrie Fancett Pagels RWA’s magazine, RWR, recently featured an excellent article on marketing. One of the points they made, besides the obvious point that you must write the very best book that you can, is to link up with other authors and cross promote. As a blogger for many years, I’ve had the privilege of promoting many bestselling Christian …
Giving Thanks
by Laura McClellan This writing adventure can be lonely and discouraging. We spend a lot of time alone with the ideas and words in our minds, and we can work for months, even years, with no “success” as the world defines it. It can wear a writer down. But I’ve come to believe that much of our happiness comes from …
Platform Isn’t a Dirty Word
By Ane Mulligan Everyone hates the word platform. But stay with me here. If you’re a writer, you need one. These days, only the top 10% or less of writers have people who do all the marketing for them. Let’s face it, the rest of us have to market. And you have to have a sphere of influence to market …
Paralysis of Perfection
By Karen H. Richardson It happens to the experienced and the inexperienced among us. It happens when we least expect it or have time for it. We desire to put words on a page to tell a story, share an emotion, or express some great truth. We have a list of topics and an outline. We want each syllable to …
Bringing Characters to Life
By Henry McLaughlin A story without people is not a story. I’m not sure what it is but it’s not a story. You can have a great plot and beautiful settings, but if your characters are not alive, you just have words on a page. There are numerous tools available to help us create characters. Meyer-Briggs, Gary Chapman’s Five Love …
A Seemingly Innocent Question
By Suzanne Kuhn, SuzyQ The holiday season is almost here, and this is a good time to use relevant subjects on your social media. However, please be aware that you may open a can of worms. Don’t be afraid of it; just proceed with caution. I like to ask questions that get my friends and followers thinking and revealing bits …
Not All Characters Are Created Equal
By Winnie Griggs The stories you write undoubtedly have casts of varying numbers, descriptions and personalities. And while every character in your manuscript works together to tell your story, they each perform a different function depending on the roles you assign them. In fiction there are four tiers of characters. These are: • Primary Characters • Secondary Characters • Bit …
Smooth Scene Breaks
by Lynn Hobbs Descriptions of a scene and section break are simple. A section break can be another characters point of view or closure of a particular scene. A scene break within the same scene will show days or hours later in the story; or the character’s advance to a new location. A challenge to include them in a flowing …
The Doldrums: How to Put More Wind in Your Writer’s Sails
By Bonnie Doran What are the Doldrums? Here are the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary definitions: 1. a spell of listlessness or despondency 2. a part of the ocean near the equator abounding in calms, squalls, and light shifting winds 3. a state of period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump Do you ever feel that your writing is in the Doldrums? You …