By Dennis Ricci “Literary talent is commonplace. Storytelling talent is rare.” Robert McKee, the Hollywood story guru who’s trained many of the great filmmakers and screenwriters of our generation, made that statement within the first hour of his Story Seminar, which I attended last March. McKee defined the differences between literary and storytelling talent: Literary: the ability to convert ordinary …
Being Equipped
By Henry McLaughlin God has a will, or a plan for each of us. Psalm 139:16 (NLT) tells us, You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Each of us is on this earth for a specific reason. We may …
Pros & Cons – plus a few tips – for Writing a Novel Series
by Deborah Raney The fifth and final book in my Chicory Inn Novels series released recently, and I’m now working on the first book in a new series. Having written mostly stand-alone novels for most of my writing career, this has been an interesting experience and one I’ve learned so much from. First let’s look at the pros and cons …
Plotting and Structure of Novels
by Brenda Taylor Plotting novels is a chore for me, because I am a panster by nature. Instead of sitting for a great length of time thinking, plotting, and structuring a story, I want to write and let the storyline fall where it may. I’ve learned, however, my panster method is not the best way. It leaves too much to …
Three Tips for Listening to Your Own Voice
By Melissa Tagg I am a big believer in listening to smart people. And as a writer, I’m a big believer in learning from smart authors and industry professionals. BUT . . . with every book I write, there always comes this point where I realize I have waaaaay too many voices in my head. I’ve discovered recently that sometimes …
Confessions of a Middle School Administrator
By C. Kevin Thompson Like many of my writing colleagues, I have two jobs. The one I had when I entered this crazy business we call “writing,” and the job of being an author, marketer, bookseller, and all the other hats we authors wear. For me, one is by day, and one is by night. The first one “pays the …
Why Does She Love Him (and Vice Versa)
By Johnnie Alexander Why did Juliet fall tragically in love with Romeo? Why did Christy Huddleston choose Dr. MacNeil over David? Why did Anne Shirley finally turn to Gilbert? Why did the Prince fall in love with Cinderella? That last question was asked by the screenwriters for Ever After as they imagined this 1998 retelling of the classic fairy tale. …
Run Your Race
By Michelle Shocklee “… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 Writing for publication is a lot like running a race. No two runners are built exactly the same, and they all enter the race with different strengths, different training methods, and different hopes and dreams. We can say the same about writers. Each …
Happily Ever After
By Tamela Hancock Murray Some people wonder why genre readers want to read the same thing over and over. Well, they don’t read the same thing all the time, and they have expectations. A primary expectation? A Happily Ever After ending. If you enjoy perusing book reviews on Amazon, you’ll find that many readers (primarily outside of genres, though genre …
Feeding Your Readers’ Interests
By Elizabeth Ludwig My husband and I recently made a trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the setting for my latest series of cozy mysteries from Guideposts. One of things I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. I even found several Amish cookbooks to add to my treasure trove of books. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever used …