By Tara Johnson “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” ~Thoreau Each year, I meet countless people who tell me they dream of writing, but only a fraction of them take the first step to begin. Why? Here are the most common excuses: Fear of failure Writers fail all …
How to Engage with the Writing Community: Join an ACFW Chapter
By Jill K. Willis You’ve finally decided to write a novel. Yay! But you have so many questions about the publishing industry. What software do I use? Which editing guidelines are the standard? How many words should I write for my genre? You’ve taken your first step by connecting with the American Christian Fiction Writers. You may even have joined …
The Smell, Taste, Sound, and Feel of Christmas
By Lisa Schnedler My novel, Bentonsport: A Christmas Story, is about two people, from two eras, who meet two weeks before Christmas. When I sat down to write this novel, I did not plan for it to involve time travel. I intended the story to reflect the emotions I had experienced when I moved from the city I had lived …
Build a Boat and Let it Rain: Faith in the Writing Life
By Patti Richards Music has always been a huge part of my life. Seasons have songs that become my anthem at just the moment I need them. That happened recently with a song called, “Build a Boat,” by Colton Dickson. I was running errands a few weeks back (my daughter got married at the end of October, so there were …
When You Face Too Many Ways to Open a Novel
By Glynn Young How many openings can a novel have? Let me count the ways. I’d never experienced the problem of too many ways to open a novel. Five novels, and five fairly straightforward beginnings, meant that I never struggled over how to open a story. Somehow, I always knew, and it wasn’t an issue. Until now. I began to …
The Benefits of Going Bold (And Putting Fear Behind You)
By Kathy Harris I’m extremely blessed as a writer. There is only one finished manuscript collecting dust under my bed. I wrote it, to the best of my recollection, in about six months. After submitting it—and attending my first ACFW conference—I quickly found out that I had a lot to learn. My second manuscript took six years to complete. Ditto …
God Whispers: From Inspiration to Story
By Patti Richards When someone asks me what inspires me as a children’s author, I think about what pushes me to spend the majority of each day writing. I’ve been a writer for so long now that it really is who I am rather than just what I do; and it is intrinsically woven into my faith. So much so …
The Worst Part of Writing
By Rachel Hauck Yesterday, when I turned in a line edit for The Best Summer of Our Lives, my upcoming 2023 release, I wrote my editor a short note. “These girls and I need a break from each another.” Through fast draft and first edits, I thought this book might be one of the best I’d ever written. But by …
What’s in a Hook?
By Darlene L. Turner A perfect bait increases a fisherman chances of catching a fish. They take their time and ease thatwiggly worm onto the hook before lowering their line into the water. It’s just as important for a writer to do the same with a novel. Forget the worms and the book will fall flat. How can we do …
It’s All About the Shoes
By Gina Detwiler When I was a kid, The Wizard of Oz played once a year on television, an event my family never missed. I could recite every line: “Toto, I’ve got a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” “Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” “I’ll get you, my pretty, and your little dog too!” “Lions and …