By Kim A. Gilliland I have often heard or read in writing courses over the years — write about what you know. I have also heard and read how absurd that notion is. I wonder, which is correct? Perhaps it’s both. I love to write about murder, but I have never murdered anyone. My protagonist owns her own pet store, …
What We Learn While Waiting
By Elizabeth Musser I received a wonderful gift over Christmas: contracts for two new novels with a publishing house I not only respect but one I had worked with for many years. And then for many years, I didn’t. Work with them. Or receive a contract. And it was HARD. Maybe your writing has career has been a little like …
One Step at a Time
By Rondi Bauer Olson We write because we love words, stories, and touching people’s lives. We write because we can’t stop, and because it is God’s calling on our lives. Unfortunately, working as a writer can have some unhealthy side-effects. Vision problems and headaches from staring at a screen all day, carpel tunnel, and worst of all, for many of …
Tying It All Together: Wrapping Up a Series of Beloved Characters
By Kimberley Woodhouse As I was pondering what I’d like to write about in this blog, my email blinged several times. Inspiration hit immediately. Several new email had come in through my website from readers. Under the Midnight Sun just released this month (January 1) from Bethany House and the letters have been pouring in. My favorites are in a …
How Are Those Resolutions Working For You?
By Patricia Bradley It’s January 16th, one day past the halfway mark in January. So, how are those resolutions you made at the beginning of the month working for you? Or have you already cast them aside, broken and mangled? Raise your hand if that’s you. That’s me waving my hand. Oh, I’ve not broken them all. I’m still doing …
To Follow or Not to Follow the Yellow Brick Road of Writing Rules
By Ane Mulligan I began my writing journey as a playwright. I learned how to write good dialogue by default. As the creative arts director for my church, I’d write weekly sermon illustration sketches. With the first few scripts I wrote, my actors would change the way they said the lines. When I realized what they did, I listened carefully …
Finding Acceptance in a Tough Writing Industry
By Emily Conrad When responses to my debut novel started to come in from my launch team, a friend asked if the positive feedback encouraged me. Though, yes, the praise was a momentary boost, and no, I don’t want to consider what might’ve happened in my heart if the initial response had been the opposite, I had to confess that …
Storytelling Lessons (For Every Writer!) from the Gospels
By Susan A.J. Lyttek As Christian fiction writers, we weave our faith into our stories whether we mention God or not. We can’t help it because it is intrinsically part of who we are. And that is a good thing. It means for the non-Christian that our stories are salty and make them thirst for something more than this limited …
Perfectionism: How Can Something So “Perfect” Be So Wrong?
by Kathy Harris I’m a perfectionist. And that’s not a good thing. Taken to the extreme, perfectionism can lead to serious psychological issues and is, in fact, on the rise, especially among young people. (See, Harvard Business Review, January 26, 2018.) But, even those of us who have a casual acquaintance with perfectionism will find that our work can suffer …
Ten Wrongs Don’t Make a Writer
How to Avoid the Top Ten Fatal Flaws in Fiction By Kathleen Y’Barbo It is not yet 2019, but it won’t be long until we’re several weeks—or months into the new year, the time when New Year’s resolutions begin to lose their shine and some of us begin to wonder if we should have resolved NOT to make any …