By Henry McLaughlin One given in the writing world is we will get discouraged. An area where I’ve been discouraged is when a story doesn’t work. My fingers are like stones on the keyboard. What seemed like a great story idea flickers like a dying fire. The plot is what my Italian friends call a frittata. The characters are flat …
Formulaic vs Great Expectations
By Davalynn Spencer “I don’t want to write formulaic stories,” the workshop attendee said. “They’re predictable and boring.” I understood what the man was trying to say, but I didn’t agree which how he said it. And isn’t that what this writing gig is all about – how we say what we say? Readers who enjoy specific genres of commercial …
A Little Sprig
By Terri Gillespie “For who despises the day of small things . . .” Zechariah 4:10a, TLV My husband and I knelt in the brittle, dry earth and dug a hole to plant a Cyprus tree. The event was part of an Israel tour I had coordinated. Since the 1900s, Jewish people and people who support Israel have purchased trees …
On Your Left
By Lynn H. Blackburn One of my family’s favorite things to do is to ride the Virginia Creeper Trail. Built on an old railroad bed, the Virginia Creeper Trail offers a unique biking experience. Seventeen miles. Downhill. Really. It’s an amazing ride. The scenery is stunning, and the trail is open to cyclists of all experience levels. As you head …
Are Your Characters Overeating?
By Patti Jo Moore At the beginning of each new year, many of us set goals that we hope to achieve during the upcoming year. One of the most common goals relates to health—losing weight. I’ve heard many writers lament that sitting at their keyboards for long stretches of time hasn’t helped their weight or health in general. If you’re …
Called to be Light in the Darkness
By Lana Christian Photo by Nathan Jennings on Unsplash John Krasinski’s program Some Good News was a light in the darkness of 2020. Between March and May, it garnered more than 72 million views and 2.5 million YouTube subscribers. We sure could use more SGN episodes (hint, hint, ViacomCBS). But 2021 hasn’t eased authors’ social media comments about lack of …
Nom De Plumes
By KD Holmberg There is a plethora of reasons authors choose to write under a pen name, or non de plume, rather than the moniker given to them at birth. I am one of those authors. My reason is nostalgic, a wistful nod to beloved relatives that have passed away, and an unusual tradition I found in my family tree. …
Writing Fiction is like Flying a Sailplane
By Frank DiBianca We had landed at the Memphis Soaring Society’s operation at the Forrest City, Arkansas, airport. My wife, Kay, a new private power pilot, had flown us in on a Cessna 172. The hangar and airfield were empty except for the Pawnee towplane, its pilot, and the ground launch crew. A sailplane instructor had just landed the two-seat …
Approval versus Love
By Tara Johnson Approval and love are not the same thing. It’s taken me a lifetime to figure that out. I desperately want people to like me. The thought of someone being displeased with me in any way causes my stomach to curdle. What’s one way to shake that cold feeling of dread? Work harder. Be more agreeable, more likeable. …
How to Photoshop Your Moods
By Kristi Holl In addition to a Covid family death, I lost two friends in December, plus my last (and favorite) uncle. Along with grieving, these losses caused a severe autoimmune flare-up for two weeks. With Christmas around the corner, I found it difficult to feel the joy of the season. And writing? That felt out of the question, so …