By Denise Hunter They don’t call ’em deadlines for nothing. I’m pretty sure it’s because most of us feel half dead when we get there. Add a hectic holiday or an unexpected illness, and you may not be the only one ready to tear out your hair. But if you plan ahead and work steadily, you can reach your deadline …
Outlining – Step By Step
By Gail Gaymer Martin Though I use a brief synopsis to set up my storyline, I sometimes outline parts such as a suspense novel. Once the character is developed, the beginning and ending of the book and the black moment, begin to build the plot, scene by scene no matter if it’s a novel, novella, and even a short story. …
Publishing Decisions and Changing Times
By Robin Johns Grant I just ran across a Publishers Weekly article titled, “Is Amazon Really the Devil?” I had to laugh. When I talk to writer friends these days and the subject of Amazon comes up, either we speak in tones of awe and reverence-or else someone shudders and winces, as though we are indeed speaking of the devil. …
Don’t Neglect Life for Writing
By Anne Mateer Do you desire to populate your stories with people that leap off the page, characters that “live” in readers’ imaginations? I sure do. But that kind of writing usually doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It requires engagement. In life. With people. I’m in that “empty nest” season. I thought it would be great with no kids in …
Top 20 Ways Writers Spread Joy
by Cynthia Herron Now that Thanksgiving’s over and Christmas is just around the corner, writing may take a back seat as we prepare for the next big holiday. We’ll celebrate the birth of our Savior, visit with family, and of course, dine all things deelish during our Norman Rockwell picture-perfect moments. (I can hardly wait!) Still, while I adore the …
Cross Promotion and the Christian Author
By Carrie Fancett Pagels RWA’s magazine, RWR, recently featured an excellent article on marketing. One of the points they made, besides the obvious point that you must write the very best book that you can, is to link up with other authors and cross promote. As a blogger for many years, I’ve had the privilege of promoting many bestselling Christian …
Giving Thanks
by Laura McClellan This writing adventure can be lonely and discouraging. We spend a lot of time alone with the ideas and words in our minds, and we can work for months, even years, with no “success” as the world defines it. It can wear a writer down. But I’ve come to believe that much of our happiness comes from …
Platform Isn’t a Dirty Word
By Ane Mulligan Everyone hates the word platform. But stay with me here. If you’re a writer, you need one. These days, only the top 10% or less of writers have people who do all the marketing for them. Let’s face it, the rest of us have to market. And you have to have a sphere of influence to market …
Life-Generating Words
By Loretta Eidson While reading Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Meyer, it occurred to me the irony of how well that title describes the multitude of thoughts in a writer’s mind. We enter a mental battlefield every time we sit down to write. While our thoughts press against a pliable wall of ideas, we must filter through them before …
Paralysis of Perfection
By Karen H. Richardson It happens to the experienced and the inexperienced among us. It happens when we least expect it or have time for it. We desire to put words on a page to tell a story, share an emotion, or express some great truth. We have a list of topics and an outline. We want each syllable to …