By Donna Wichelman How many of you read historical fiction and why? I asked this question in an informal survey on Facebook to get a pulse on what makes the genre compelling. Many answers complied with what you would expect: “It makes history come alive; because I love the eras and events surrounding the stories; it transports me to a …
Building Back the Walls
By Elizabeth Musser Lord, reading Nehemiah 3 this morning has brought me to tears. It’s basically just a list of names of people that I don’t recognize. There are not many who are superstars in the Word of God. Just a lot of ordinary people. Oh, but what they are doing is extraordinary. They’re rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem. The …
Are You a Scribe?
By Terri Gillespie These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied . . . Proverbs 25:1, TLV Why did King Hezekiah’s men transcribe King Solomon’s proverbs over two hundred years after Solomon’s death? As novelists, we know those seemingly obscure Bible verses can inspire incredible stories. They can also be great writing exercises. …
Writing Regrets
By Henry McLaughlin After several years on this writing journey and from talking with others on the same path, I’ve found six things I wish I had done differently. Maybe you share some of them. 1) Following trends instead of my heart We all have stories in our hearts. Stories that we need to write. Sometimes it’s for our own …
What is Your Character’s Happy Spot?
By DiAnn Mills Characters, like people, need a place to escape tension, stress, and conflict when life’s challenges threaten to steal their optimism. A writer uses a character’s happy spot to add a slice of real life to a three-dimensional character. The character knows where this place is and returning physically, mentally, or spiritually instills peace, happiness, and a sense …
The Twelve Days of Revisions
by Tammie Fickas Since the conference is just around the corner, I thought we should all get in the spirit with a rousing round of conference carols. What? You’ve never sang conference carols before. Well, that’s okay because I can help with that. Here’s one for you to practice with. The Twelve Days of Revision* On the first day of …
Perseverance and Dreams
By Darlene L. Turner Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:4 (NIV) What happens when our well-thought out plans for our writing journey start falling apart? We receive rejection upon rejection. We get to the point where we shudder every time that dreaded ding announces an incoming email. …
A Cast of Characters
By Shirley E. Gould As we strive to craft amazing manuscripts, our plots and genres are nothing without great characters. An interesting hero or heroine coupled with a riveting plot keeps us at our laptops creating word count. For our characters to be imprinted on our reader’s memory, we continue to search for unique people to put on the page. …
Unexpected Blessings
Unexpected blessings could be waiting for you in your writing life . . . My first winter in Florida, I visited churches to call “home” while there. My church in Ohio I love has a little over five hundred. I visited one church, and I walked into a room of thousands of people. Overwhelmed, I stayed. I loved the kind …
Editing as Writing, and Writing as Editing
By Glynn Young A friend and fellow writer asked me if I edited my writing as I wrote or after I finished a draft. My answer was yes. I do both. I edit as I write, over and over again, and I edit once the draft is “finished,” if that’s possible. The question provoked a deeper thought. Is it possible …