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 …
Why Does a Story Work?
By Cynthia Herron @C_Herronauthor Did you ever set out on a road trip or a vacation and somewhere along the way miss a turn and realize you were lost? Maybe that’s why I don’t drive in big cities (says the woman who recently moved to a suburb of a Midwest city that boasts an 800,000+ population). Turning around in the middle of …
Critique Groups! Who Needs Them?
By Loretta Eidson Critique groups are a must for all writers regardless of status or number of published books. No one is beyond the need for a fresh set of eyes to read over their written work. Critique group members search for misspelled words, typos, grammatical errors, punctuation, and a host of other potential problems will help polish the manuscript …
I love that about you!
by Julia Fenstermacher Growing up without my mother was hard. I did not realize how much I needed affirmation and acknowledgement until it came to me in my teen years. My Dad did his best to raise us three kids single-handedly. He was a purpose driven corporate ex-military man who traveled for work. When he was home, he cooked gourmet …
A Word Fitly Spoken
By E.V. Sparrow @evSparrow A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver. ~ Proverbs 25:11 (ESV) Through networking, I’ve witnessed some disturbing interactions among authors. Sometimes, these caused extreme discouragement for someone. I’m certain none of us wish to injure another’s soul and calling. Perhaps as authors or editors we’d say there are “wrong” …
It Can’t Be Right When It Feels So Wrong
by Sarah Sundin @SarahSundin Chapter four nearly did me in. Chapters one through three flew as planned, and I knew chapters five and six were going to be exciting. But chapter four took me a full week to write. I’m a plotter, an outliner. Before I start my rough draft, I know what needs to happen in each scene. This …
Why I Love Critique Groups
By Cindy Ervin Huff @Cindyhuff11Huff One of the best ways I’ve improved my writing over the years is in my critique groups. I’ve learned so much at writer’s conferences and writing craft books, but the application can be challenging. I don’t often see my writing mistakes. But having critique partners makes all the difference. For a few years, I was …
Discouragement Is a Choice
By Henry McLaughlin One given in the writing world is we will get discouraged. An area where I’ve been discouraged is when a story doesn’t work. My fingers are like stones on the keyboard. What seemed like a great story idea flickers like a dying fire. The plot is what my Italian friends call a frittata. The characters are flat …
Who Told You That?
by Henry McLaughlin Remember the old cliché? from childhood: sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me? Not true. Words and names can actually do much more lasting damage. Cuts and bruises heal. Words and names create self-images that linger and poison for years. They can become prophecies we fulfill whether we want to or …
A Writer’s Prayer
By Sarah Hamaker I’ve been thinking a lot about prayers and writing these past few years. I’ve always loved that ACFW has a prayer room staffed with volunteers during the conference, and I’ve taken advantage of both praying and volunteering. Prayer is also top of mind because a local writer’s group I’m involved with is working on an anthology of …