By Andrea Boeshaar Recently I received revisions for a novel slated to release next year. I gasped, as I usually do, when I opened the document and saw more red on the page than black (the red being my editor’s remarks and corrections and the black, my writing.) It’s amazing how good I feel about a manuscript when I turn …
LEAN TO THE LEFT, LEAN TO THE RIGHT STAND UP, SIT DOWN, FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!
By Cathleen Armstrong Is anyone but me counting the days until this election is over? (Nineteen till election day. Twenty until the blessed day after.) Passions are high, lines are drawn, and thanks to social media, everyone has a soapbox to stand on to offer their thoughts, opinions, and dire warnings. I open Facebook and find myself longing for a …
Draw Me Nearer
By Cynthia Ruchti One of the topics I most enjoy teaching at writers’ conferences is “Deepening the Emotional Connection.” The more connected readers feel to our stories, the more likely they’ll read past the first page, the first chapter, all the way to the end. And then keeping thinking about those characters and their plight days or weeks later. Consider …
Writing in the Valley of Discouragement
By Connilyn Cossette Writing a second book, under contract, and after you’ve actually written most of the third is a daunting prospect. But that is what I was faced with when delving into Shadow of the Storm, the second book of the Out from Egypt series. I spent weeks writing things and deleting them. I spent weeks asking myself if …
Keeping the Writing Going When Your Life is in Chaos
By Allie Pleiter As I’ve been finishing my 2017 non-fiction How to WRITE When Everything Goes WRONG, I’ve been talking with a lot of authors about how they tackle the challenge of meeting a deadline under far less than ideal circumstances. The answer, as you might think, is as individual as every writer, but there have been some universal tactics …
The Golden Rule and Writing Style
By Lenora Livingston Everyone has their own writing style. When writing Where’s Stephanie, my writing style was influenced by my age – seventy six. Although I hate to admit it, this “old gray mare ain’t what she used to be.” Because I have experienced certain frustrations that many senior citizens experience when trying to read a book, I used “The …
Take It
By Tomi Leslie Yogi Berra, a Hall of Fame baseball player, contributed much to the MLB. But I remember him more for his contribution to our American language? Berra was a sportswriters’ favorite mainly because he had numerous expressions and twists of phrase that were memorable. Many of his comments did not make any sense. At the same time, though, …
Speak Your Message
by Carol Hamilton Sell more books by developing a speaking platform. Do you shudder at the thought of presenting anything before an audience? To make yourself more comfortable, choose a topic you are passionate about and know well. Talk about the writing life, a life-changing experience, or choose a theme or topic from your book. To create a presentation, your …
Why We Can’t Give Up
by Catherine West While at ACFW’s annual conference in Nashville this year, I was reminded of something. I had the opportunity to pass through the ‘waiting room’ of the appointments area a couple of times, and oh, the pressure was palpable. I remembered my first few conferences, nerves doing a jig all the while until my appointments were over. Conference …
The Field of Dreamers
By Robin W. Pearson Some soybeans spoke to me one day. Actually, it wasn’t the soybeans, but rather a cornstalk growing smackdab in the middle of them. That lone plant told me to keep pressing no matter what the world looks like around me, to do what I do, write what I know. What do I know? Well, I’m a …