by Ann H. Gabhart I’m guessing some of you may have walked into a spider web at some time in your life. You probably weren’t that happy to be wrapped in those silken threads while swatting at your hair to make sure the spider didn’t hide out there to later crawl down your shirt. But have you ever taken the …
3 Steps to Publication…Guaranteed!
by Lillian Duncan Let’s get right to the 3 steps to publication…guaranteed! As I’m sure you know all stories have a beginning, a middle, and an end. So the perfect formula for writing a great book, meaning publishable is… best beginning + marvelous middle + explosive ending = GREAT STORY! (and a book contract). Succeed with those three easy steps, …
What’s In Your Corner?
By Chandra Lynn Smith We writers are a different sort. If you disagree with me, ask your family what they think. In our family of six, my oldest son, the actor, is often the one who ‘gets it.’ The rest of the family gives us the deer-in-the-headlights stare. Writers use a specific type of pen, notebook, size lead or ink. …
Five Ways to Tell You’re Not Mrs. Muir
By Cathleen Armstrong Have you seen The Ghost and Mrs. Muir? That 1948 movie about a widow who lives by the sea and writes a book with the help of a ghostly sea captain? From the time I first saw the old film, it was my fantasy to be Mrs. Muir. But the more I wrote, the more it became …
Different Strokes, Different Folks, Different Paths, Different Maths
By C. Kevin Thompson To say the writing life is a “one size fits all, write the same, market the same, sell the same” society is naïveté at its finest. Take Tom Clancy, for example. Ex-military. High-ranking Naval officer. Decides to write a story. Has it published via the Naval Academy’s press…a press which strictly published non-fiction, military-type books on …
What Does the Author Need?
By Cindy Woodsmall As writers, we are attentive to the settings, plots, characters, and all things that make for great storytelling and honed writing. We capitalize on our characters’ thoughts and feelings, and there is nothing quite like exploring the reasoning and nuances of their weaknesses while finding the frailty of their strengths. But do we put as much time …
Words, Camera…and Action!
By Bonnie S. Calhoun What comes mind when I say those words? Typically someone would think of a movie set in the oldun’ days. Someone had a tripod camera and a megaphone and a snappy board with numbers on it. I want you to try this when you’re writing an action scene. The idea is to get you to look …
Writing in times of CHAOS
By Susan A.J. Lyttek This past summer events occurred and piled up that often had me stressed or panicked or both. Some of these included getting my eldest ready to move out on his own, my youngest preparing to start college classes (locally, thankfully!) and my re-entering the workforce after eighteen years as a homeschool mom and freelancer. Add in …
Writers’ Plans
By Carrie Fancett Pagels Proverbs 19:21 Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. When the New Year came around in the Pagels household, we made a resolution of “no surgeries” for 2015. The previous year, I had Achilles heel surgery (that wasn’t successful), my father-in-law had a triple bypass, and our …
Roller Coaster Life of Writing
By Darlene L. Turner “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV) Picture this . . . you’re sandwiched between friends, holding onto the safety bar with a vice grip. The car moves up and up. Your jaw is clenched. You reach the top and- Do you remember the thrill of a good …