By DiAnn Mills When our stories lack a certain edge, we’re back to the drawing board looking for what we’ve missed. Our novels are like well-oiled machines, each part has to be fine-tuned to work effectively. When are skills, methods, and storytelling abilities creak and moan, the whole novel comes to a grinding halt. Sometimes we’re able to reach into …
Switching it Up
By Carolyne Aarsen I am a self-confessed, unabashed outliner. I need to figure out my characters, fill in my character charts, use a beat sheet to lay out the story outline. I need to know where my story is going every step of the way. I discovered this over a forty some book career that if I let myself ‘write …
Writing Prompts Prompt Good Writing!
By Bruce Hennigan There once was a website called Storypraxis. Perhaps you remember it with fondness. If you subscribed to the site, you would receive a “writing prompt” every 3 days. Your job was simple. Write quickly for 20 to 30 minutes using the word or phrase as stimulus for a short, short story or a poem. No editing. No …
What Happens Next?
By Karen H. Richardson Writers have many methods for developing their story. Some are very methodical and create detailed outlines. Some have a spreadsheet that lists chapters, summaries and potential word counts. While others use writing software such as Scrivener to write and organize their thoughts. Me, I’ve tried a little of all of these methods. More than likely as …
Linking Your Social Media Platforms
By Casey Herringshaw We’re told to be on as many platforms for social media as we can get our fist around. Not every social media is for every person and I would more encourage you to find two or three you really love and connects you with different people through each platform. Are there ways to maximize your time? Absolutely. …
Your Seven Staples as a Writer
by Cheryl Wyatt For this blog post, we’re going to do a little digging. The title mentions seven staples. In the case of this blog post, by staple, I mean the commodity of theme, or something regular that is unique to you and your writing. One definition of staple, according to Merriam-Webster, is “a chief commodity or production of a …
Facing Your Fear
By Tamara D. Fickas I was a shy child. The one who wouldn’t talk in first grade. A high school student no one remembered because I couldn’t carry on a conversation with anyone. In college, I wasn’t chose during Sorority Rush because I was so quiet. I was quite forgotten, unremarkable. The one thing I thought I did well was …
You Can’t Google Everything
By Suzanne Woods Fisher Desktop research is a wonderful tool. At a writer’s fingertips is a complete library, filled with information. So how important is it for an author to seek out primary sources? How valuable is it to visit places, to walk the roads where characters might have walked, to breath the air, to soak up the topography? It’s …
Should Christians Write Fiction that Challenges Social Injustices?
By Christen Civiletto Morris Great fiction has sometimes changed the way the world thinks. Readers may have identified so closely with a character’s plight that inaction at the end of the story was not an option. Or, an author’s vivid portrayal of filthy housing conditions, chain gangs, or slavery sparked a movement that fostered social change. Books like Harriet Beecher …
What I learned about writing from Samson’s Dad
By Melissa Tagg When I was a kid we had these VHS tapes of animated Bible stories. We watched them over and over. The one I remember most? Samson. And I think the reason I remember it so well is every time I watched it I had a crazy hope that it’d turn out differently. That Samson would be smarter. …