by Sarah Sundin In high school English, I disliked questions about story symbolism. Ironically, finding and using symbolism in my own novels is one of my favorite parts of the writing process. Symbolism connects the reader to the deeper meaning in your story. Finding Symbolism Symbolism is best discovered rather than imposed. Often symbols arise from the character-who she is …
Why Do First Manuscripts So Often Get Rejected?
by Nikki Arana The biggest reason that new writers receive rejections is because they send out their manuscripts before they’re ready. Quite often emerging writers think when they finish their first ms that they have a book that is ready for the marketplace. In almost all cases, that isn’t true. If it has been written with the guidance of a …
Marketing 101: Allowing for God’s Plan
by Kathy Harris As the old saying goes, ‘fifty percent of advertising works and fifty percent doesn’t. The problem is in determining which is which.’ The same goes for marketing. In putting together a marketing plan, there’s only one thing to remember: You can control everything except the things you can’t control, which is pretty much everything. The good news …
“Pantsing” the Pre-Book Synopsis
by Anne Mateer I’m a pantser. I thrill at the thought of starting a story with just a character or a situation, only a hazy destination in mind. I love discovering new twists and turns and characters along the way. But there is a peril to pantsing that I didn’t realize until publication: the synopsis before the story. As a …
Ridin’ the Beach Ain’t Ridin’ the Range
Janet Chester Bly Copyright©2012 In writing fiction, sometimes you’ve got to know your animals. My sons and I had to do some study on horse behavior when we worked on author Stephen Bly’s last novel. In Stuart Brannon’s Final Shot, Brannon leaves the comfort and security of his Arizona ranch to head to Oregon to find his missing U.S. Marshal …
Demons and Darlings
by Michelle Arch After three years in Chapman University’s MFA program and six semesters of writing workshops, conferences, and purposeful study of the craft of writing, I have debunked any notion that existed in my mind that writing is a peaceful, innocuous, inner journey of the soul. Naïve pre-enrollment images of my writer self stretched out on a blanket in …
Here Be Dragons – Part 2
By Lynette Sowell Last week I talked about four dragons that we writers can face on our writing journeys: time, jealousy, procrastination, and a nameless one that I’ll elaborate on a little more. I’ve had twelve years of perspective on this through ACFW, and I’ve realized that these dragons do not go away the longer you write. I hate to …
What Not to Wear: ACFW-Style
by Melissa Tagg I got stuck in a dress the other day. I mean reeeally stuck. Arms over my head, uncooperative fabric playing boa constrictor with my torso while my sister laughed at me inside the department store dressing room. And to be honest, I halfway blame my near death on ACFW. Yep, that’s right. See, when my unfortunate incident …
Here Be Dragons – Part 1
By Lynette Sowell Twelve years ago, on August 16, 2000, ACFW launched its first e-zine, with seven columns. Back then, I was honored to have a tiny column called Dragonslayers. I was unpublished at the time and I wasn’t sure what I could contribute except my willingness to encourage. ACFW, here be dragons along our writer’s walk. Twelve years later, …
Burnout or Balance
by DiAnn Mills Recently I took an honest evaluation of myself, and I didn’t like what I discovered. Exhaustion pelted my mind and body. Did I mention cranky? I rose earlier in the morning and hit the pillow later at night. I cancelled breakfast meetings with friends and attended a writer’s conference where I failed to make all the necessary …