By Davalynn Spencer When I landed in the newsroom as a crime-beat reporter, the editor gave me a printout stressing the importance of tight writing. “The Lord’s prayer has 66 words,” the memo said. “The Gettysburg address, 286.” His point: less is more. His example: “Mother’s dead.” Of course journalism is not fiction. At least it’s not supposed to be. …
Being Equipped
By Henry McLaughlin God has a will, or a plan for each of us. Psalm 139:16 (NLT) tells us, You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Each of us is on this earth for a specific reason. We may …
Keeping Up with the Joneses
By Tamara D. Fickas We are bombarded with opportunities these days to compare ourselves to others. The media is resplendent with pleas to see how you stack up against the hotshot writer, the most awesome athlete, or the most influential politician. It runs rampant in the workforce also. One worker is compared to another when it comes time for raises …
Hope–A Four Letter Word That Keeps Us Writing
By Sarah Hamaker I’ve been thinking a lot about hope lately in relation to writing, and how we can forget to cultivate hope in our quest for publication, sales, and reaching readers. When our hope buckets are empty or nearly so, we find ourselves fighting discouragement, resentment, envy, and jealousy. We lose our contentment where God has us and wallow …
It’s a Roller Coaster World
By Chandra Lynn Smith I love, love, love roller coasters. High hills, steep drops, sharp jerky curves, sitting, standing, clunky wooden ones, smooth riding new ones, loop-de-loops–I love them all. Who’d have thought this writing journey could be like a roller coaster? Of course, fifteen years ago when I climbed onto this ride I call, “So You Want to Be …
Confessions of a Middle School Administrator
By C. Kevin Thompson Like many of my writing colleagues, I have two jobs. The one I had when I entered this crazy business we call “writing,” and the job of being an author, marketer, bookseller, and all the other hats we authors wear. For me, one is by day, and one is by night. The first one “pays the …
Run Your Race
By Michelle Shocklee “… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 Writing for publication is a lot like running a race. No two runners are built exactly the same, and they all enter the race with different strengths, different training methods, and different hopes and dreams. We can say the same about writers. Each …
Feeding Your Readers’ Interests
By Elizabeth Ludwig My husband and I recently made a trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the setting for my latest series of cozy mysteries from Guideposts. One of things I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. I even found several Amish cookbooks to add to my treasure trove of books. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever used …
Wheat and Tares
By Rondi Bauer Olson Release day for my debut novel was officially less than 24 hours away. I hadn’t slept well the night before. When I got on my computer to work I couldn’t stay focused, and ended up checking my book status page more times than I care to admit. I was excited and a little bit frightened, but …
Never Underestimate the Power of a Prayer
By Sharlene MacLaren I didn’t write my first word of fiction until age 52. I had just come through a year of clinical depression (1999-2000), and I knew I needed a purpose, something that would make me excited about getting up in the morning. “God, please reveal to me what I can do for You,” I prayed. “I long to …