by Donald L. Reavis It’s Thanksgiving Day. I expect you’re looking for a heart-touching, tear-jerking story of a Thanksgiving past. I did my research and found one that may fit that description. This comes from an old friend of mine, William Lindberg. Over fifty years ago, William and his young wife, Claire, left their family in Wisconsin and moved west …
Speed Writing
By Joni M. Fisher @authorjonimfisher I challenge you to write a novel in a month. It sounds impossible, but hear me out. How many best-selling authors publish a book every year? Barbara Cartland, the Queen of Romance, wrote over 700 novels. Isaac Asimov wrote 500. Nora Roberts has written 225. James Patterson has 100. John Grisham has over 50. Calculate …
Keeping the Muse
By Neva Bodin I spoke at a writers conference a couple of years ago about keeping the muse. I’m thinking all writers must have one. What is a muse? One source said the word originated in Greek literature and was introduced by Chaucer in his writings. It is “Any of the nine daughters of Mnemosyne and Zeus, each of whom …
Keep Your Eyes on the Goal
by Rebecca Reed I don’t know about you, but I get excited when I think of a new story idea. I spend time thinking about characters, backstory, motivations, settings, and events. I call this “story noodling” and I love this activity. At some point, the newness wears off. Writing becomes less fun and more like work. I make excuses to …
The Story Equation
By Rachel Hauck I’ve been using Susan May Warren’s Story Equation (SEQ) for building characters and working out a high-level plot for over a decade. In our early days of writing, as Susie and I talked about our craft, she brought these principles to the table and created The Story Equation. To be clear, there are many good author tools. …
New Year, New Tricks
By Angela Hunt I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions . . . probably because I’m failed at so many in years past. What I do believe in is learning new tricks, and the new year is the perfect opportunity to start learning a few. I like to try something new with each book I write. Of course, the subject …
Building a Home, Building a Novel
By Diane E. Samson My husband and I have been in the process of building a home for the last 18 months. Our new place will be ready in December, and as all the various design pieces come together so it looks like an actual home, I can’t help but notice the similarities this experience has been to bringing a …
A New Writer’s Journey: Five Tips to save you a lot of heartache!
by Lisa Larsen Hill I wrote my biblical novel during the pandemic. Looking back at my journey, I wish I could’ve told myself, “Don’t worry. Don’t lose sleep (unless your characters are talking to you), and you’re about to start an amazing journey better than you could’ve planned. God will guide you.” Here are my biggest lessons. Learn from your …
A Method for Character Finding
By Scott T. Barnes I’ve heard of a lot of different methods for creating characters. I’ve used extensive character sheets which ask questions both about the physical attributes of the characters, and also about their tics, their family, their psychological underpinnings, their flaws. I’ve read numerous how-to books, taken in-person classes and Zoom classes. I once went to a writer’s …
The Five Be’s of Brainstorming
by Darlene L. Turner Brainstorming plays a significant part in every author’s writing process. Doesn’t matter if it’s non-fiction or fiction, we need to spend time mulling over our thoughts before we put our pen to paper. But what exactly is brainstorming? Seems like an odd question, but let’s look at the definition from dictionary.com. “A technique for generating ideas …