By Terry Overton As a new writer curious about the craft of writing, I aspired to learn all aspects of writing fiction. Authors’ voices, writing styles, and uniquely developed characters are fascinating. How was Hemmingway’s writing different from Fitzgerald or Austin? How are the styles of contemporary fiction authors different from writers of years past? How can authors have such …
The Smell, Taste, Sound, and Feel of Christmas
By Lisa Schnedler My novel, Bentonsport: A Christmas Story, is about two people, from two eras, who meet two weeks before Christmas. When I sat down to write this novel, I did not plan for it to involve time travel. I intended the story to reflect the emotions I had experienced when I moved from the city I had lived …
If You’re an Author, You’re Multilingual—Whether You Know it or Not
By Lana Christian How many languages do you speak? I speak English and German. English is my dominant (first) language, but sometimes German pops into my thoughts, dreams, and writing without my bidding. That can be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. My handwritten notes combine English, German, and a personal shorthand—whichever is shorter …
Worthy Words: Creative and Compelling Characters
By Christine Sunderland As I reflect on my next novel, The Music of the Mountain, I return to the importance of creative and compelling characters. In some way my characters must change in the timeline of the plot, and this arc is determined by their own ability to change, their creative ability to learn, turn, confess, repent, and be reborn …
Embrace the Messy
By E.V. Sparrow It’s easy to suppose as Christian fiction writers we’ve all studied and memorized Bible verses, right? I developed Scripture knowledge later. Therefore, I intentionally create people of fragile faith. Where is God in their mess? It’s delightful weaving in redemption, confession, forgiveness, reconciliation, and mercy into fictional plots. Raised in the Roman Catholic Church, my belief was …
New Covenant Testaments from Faithful Women
By M.D. House Someday we’ll see the countless testimonies recorded on scroll, tablet, or plate by the women who helped lead and nurture the early Christian church. All of it has been recorded in heaven, and can therefore be reproduced when the time comes. Mary the Mother of Jesus Gabriel, the angel who first visited Mary, called her “highly favored” …
The Power of Body Language
By Tara Johnson One of my favorite shows is The Behavior Panel on Youtube. Four body language experts who are psychologists, served in law enforcement, or worked in the military analyze the body language of celebrities, politicians, and criminals. Some of their notable observations revolve around people like Scott Peterson, Meghan Markle, Michael Jackson, Amanda Knox and more. What I …
How Fiction Humanizes
By Sarah Sundin We’ve all felt this when we read good books—we become the main characters. We feel their joy and anger and fear. As writers, our job is to produce this effect through our own characters. Not only does this produce a satisfying, cathartic, emotional experience for our readers, but it has a humanizing effect. Haman vs. Esther This …
Creating Quirky
By: JPC Allen So much work goes into creating believable characters that writers sometimes forget to have fun with the process. One way I’ve discovered to prevent character development from becoming a chore is creating quirks for characters, fun traits that make my characters seem more likable or real or relatable. One of the reasons for Sherlock Holmes’s enduring popularity is his …
Surprise Characters Can Be Fun
By Ann H. Gabhart The number one reason people read novels is because of the characters. Books need lots of action orconflict. Fabulous settings or dramatic historical events are good, but without characters to enable readers to vicariously live the story with them, you just have a travel guide, a history book or a news article. We want to love …