By Angela Beach Silverthorne Someone asked me why I loved to write. So many words ran through my mind, but one stood out. CHOICE. I feel a need to write about the cost of choice, to show readers strategies that lead to success or failure. Life choices are complicated and serious. I’m not talking about picking your favorite flavor of …
Tips for Using the 5 Senses
by Ane Mulligan Sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste create experiential fiction, a story so in-the-moment, the reader hears, smells, and tastes what the characters do. To do that, we want to show the action. Here are some tips for you. Remember to make the descriptions organic to your character. If you protagonist is a musician, her similes will be musical. …
Questions from a Young Writer
by Ann H. Gabhart Recently I was interviewed by a young high school girl with dreams of writing the same as I had many years ago at her age. Selena hoped I might reveal some magic path to being a successful writer. I don’t think there is any magic. Instead blood, sweat and tears accompany the writing journey, but joy …
Hold the Dream Lightly
By Lorraine Beatty Dreams are funny things. They can sustain us, they can torment us or they can rip our hearts to shreds. But we can’t live without them. As writers we dream of that first contract or that perfect agent who will find us that top publisher. But sometimes dreams take a long time to materialize. Sometimes not at …
Even the “Big Dogs” Struggle
By C. Kevin Thompson I picked up a copy of Lee Child’s debut novel, The Killing Floor. It was his first Jack Reacher novel. Originally published in 1997, this edition (the fifth edition in 2012) is a mass paperback and contains “a new introduction by the author.” It was this intro that inspired me to keep on keeping on. Child …
The Ministry of Christian Fiction
By Renee Blare Have you ever wondered about your ministry as a Christian author? Is it make-believe stories? Does it lie with ideas in your head? Or with success? Is it a ministry or a career, both? I’ve thought about these questions a lot. For many reasons. How do we walk the fine line between author and Christian…without offending someone? …
Everything I Need to Know About Writing I Learned from a Tom Hanks Movie
By Tamara D. Fickas It’s no surprise to those who know me that I’m a huge Tom Hanks fan. This started with a little known sitcom from the late 70s called Bosom Buddies. At that time, Tom looked like a guy at school I had a crush on. The Tom appreciation lasted even as the crush didn’t. Over the years, …
How Not to Write a Series
By Linda W. Yezak I usually invite another author to join us when Billy and I work the Blueberry Festival in Nacogdoches, Texas. Having someone to display their covers helps draw readers to our table, but it also gives us someone to talk to during the long periods when nothing is happening. One year, my husband watched carefully as one …
Staying Dependent
By Ian Acheson A couple of recent online discussions made me reflect on my writing journey. At the same time, I had been reading Exodus 33 where Moses on being commanded to leave Sinai demanded of God that he wouldn’t go anywhere without His presence. Let’s have a look at the passage: “Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say …
Awesome Writing Advice to Ignore Completely
By Dana Mentink Advice is worth what you pay for it, as my father would say. Famous writers are brimming with advice. Let’s take the subject of inspiration. Author Frank McCourt said in a Writer’s Digest issue, “Sit and quiet yourself. Luxuriate in a certain memory and the details will come. Let the images flow.” Luxuriate? Frank must not have …