by Diane E. Samson As many Christian fantasy writers will tell you, as a child I read my way through the wardrobe to Narnia and in some ways never came back. It opened my eyes to a world of adventure while providing my young mind with countless lessons of truth. C.S. Lewis mentioned in the first book’s forward that by …
Using Foreshadowing to Increase Tension
By DiAnn Mills Foreshadowing is an ingenious literary tool that indicates something will happen in the story. It hints or suggests what is to come and becomes a promise to the reader, a promise that must be kept. Like a road sign that shows what is ahead, foreshadowing signals tension and suspense while alluding to fear, threat, humor, tragedy, or …
Seven Components Required to Create a Compelling Character
by Rachel Hauck @RachelHauck This August I’ve been writing full time for twenty years. I quit my job—cutting our household income by two-thirds—with one little $2,500 contract and a big deposit of dreams. While other contracts followed, my books didn’t fly off the shelf, win awards, or create buzz at my publisher. In many ways, I had a wrong idea …
Using Secrets in our Stories
By Darlene L. Turner Have you ever kept a secret from your mom as a kid? I did one time… “Don’t tell Mom,” I said to my brother Murray. “She’ll kill me!” Once again, I didn’t listen to my mom and decided to take our friend’s 5-speed bike for a ride. We had pleaded with Mom, but she wasn’t ready …
Boredom as Writing Inspiration
By JPC Allen Little did I realize when I wrote this post in March how many of us would be battling boredom in the near future. Every month on my blog, I choose some aspect about the month—a holiday or the weather—and brainstorm ideas about how to use the month as writing inspiration. March is my least favorite month. I’m …
Why Do Imperfect Characters and Story Worlds Resonate with Readers?
By Cynthia Herron You might think because I write Heartfelt, Homespun Fiction my story worlds are a delightful Sunday-Go-to-Meeting escape. Well, I can’t fib. That’s somewhat true…to a point. However— As a conscientious writer whose goal is to share a great story, I strive to balance the delightful with reality-based conflict in a heartfelt, homespun way. Today’s readers want meat-and-potatoes stories that resonate. …
Be Dramatic
By Linda W. Yezak Ever read in your own work or others’ about life-changing events that don’t seem to change the character’s life? Usually, it’s because the event isn’t dramatic enough. I can think of two reasons for this: (1) while we write, we are so focused on the action that we forget how the action affects the character, and …
Don’t Be a Troublemaker
By Davalynn Spencer Did your mother ever tell you to stop being a troublemaker? How about your teachers? Friends. Well, if that task was hard to achieve in your childhood, and you’re a fiction writer today, now’s your chance to shine. Making trouble is what novelists are called to do. We usually think of that trouble in terms of “conflict” …
Three Boredom-Busting Tips
By Linda W. Yezak “The only rule I have found to have any validity in writing is not to bore yourself”—John Mortimer. If you follow Mortimer’s rule not to bore yourself, chances are good you won’t bore your reader either. So how do you make certain your reader stays hooked throughout your novel? The basic answer is to have a …
Resolving Tension
By Sarah Hamaker As writers, we work with tension all the time—without tension, our stories would sag and our heroes and heroines would have very boring relationships. But this blog is about the tension we experience between what we want to work on and what we have to work on. For many of us, writing is not our fulltime job. …
- Page 1 of 2
- 1
- 2