By Cynthia Herron As a writer, you’ve probably given some thought to your “brand.” (And if you haven’t, now’s the time!) “Brand” to an author is what water is to wildflowers. It quenches, sustains, and breathes life into an otherwise drab existence. For instance, in today’s world where we’re surrounded with a buffet of opportunity, I’m always intrigued by people’s …
Know Your Audience!
By JPC Allen Author’s Note: This article first appeared on Rebecca Waters’s site A Novel Creation at WatersWords.com. After I finished my YA Christian fiction novel and edited it a few hundred times, I looked into publishing it. All agents and editors gave the same advice, “Know your audience!” It seemed so overwhelming to me, getting to know the reading …
When the Reader Tastes the Salty Sea Spray
By Leslie DeVooght Readers want to be transported and experience your characters’ world. Your setting should elicit an emotional response from your readers. To achieve this kind of intimacy with the place, a writer must visit the place. Setting isn’t just a location. In our first meeting, my fantastic writing coach Lindsey Bracket said, “you must evoke the island.” This …
Creating a World
By Susan A.J. Lyttek One thing I love about writing speculative fiction is the opportunity to imitate my God and create worlds. There are entire books written about how to design your universe. Obviously, I cannot going that far in a blog post. Even so, I will include some basic pointers on the process. Anchor it in reality. Unlike our …
Between You and SME: Resources for Fiction Writers
by Angela Arndt As a corporate trainer for an insurance company, I wrote the curriculum and trained new hires to ensure they used correct procedures. But my degree was in education, not computer programming. How could I teach them when I needed someone to teach me? The answer? A subject-matter expert, or SME (pronounced “smee,” like Captain Hook’s bo’sun in …
When Characters Start Talking
by Ann H. Gabhart Several years ago I had a part time job that allowed me to work from home, one I hoped would give me more time to write. It was a bear of a job. As the substitute coordinator for my county’s school system, I spent hours on the phone scheduling replacements for absent teachers. Okay, so you’re …
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 …
Creating a Crazy-Good Critique Group
By J.A. Marx We fondly call each other critters, and I consider this group of serious writers essential to my writing career. I’m sure online critique groups work well, but I prefer face-to-face. For one, as the facilitator, I like to observe the newbies to ensure they are holding up under the initial shock—reading their story out loud for the …
Five Reasons to Write Flash Fiction
By Leslie DeVooght Six months ago, I had no idea Flash Fiction existed, and much less considered that it could help my writing career. All that changed at the Florida Christian Writers Conference, when I attended Lindsey Brackett’s class on writing Flash Fiction. By the end of the class, I was intrigued. When I got home, I ordered two books …
Self-Editing
by Lynn Hobbs The technique I use on self-editing a novel is different when I self-edit a short story. Seems like it should be the same, right? For many it is. Whatever works best for you is what I recommend. On a short story, I write the first draft, use spell check, and print the pages. I look for repetitive …