by Ruby Cline Lee Several years ago, I crawled out of a cave to attend a writer’s retreat. Did I know I was crawling out of a cave? Nope. Upon arrival, I stepped out of my pearly-white car with my pink suitcase and high hopes of gaining affirmation that my novel was, in a word: awesome. Cut to me attending …
Research Doesn’t Stop with Publication
by Glynn Young @gyoung9751 It was a year ago that the manuscript for my historical novel was attached to an email and sent to the publisher who requested it. I felt an incredible sense of relief. The thing was done. I could take a break from literally years of reading and research about the Civil War. Nine years of reading …
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. …
Five Tips for the Tight Pacing That Will Engage Your Reader
by Allie Pleiter Every writer’s goal is to engage and enthrall their reader. We want them pulled deeply and quickly into the story so that they can’t wait to turn the page. Accomplish this, and you’ll have won a loyal fan who not only follows you to the end of your story, but eagerly await your next book. But how …
Redemption Arcs
By Diane E. Samson Do you find certain themes popping up in your work? In writing for young adults, themes such as self-discovery, love and acceptance often emerge from the pages. But my favorite is a good redemption story. No matter the genre, if there’s a lost character who finds his way, I’m all in. (I’m looking at you Ebenezer …
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 …
Encouragement for your 2025 Writing Goals
by Chandra Lynn Smith “Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that.” ~ Galatians 6:4 (MSG) It’s Christmas Eve as I sit here writing this post. My heart wants to get back to the cooking and cleaning and wrapping. But, I must first write this post for …
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 …
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 …
The Value of Creating White Space in Your Life
By Lisa Jordan @lisajordan One of the first writing rules I learned was to be sure there was plenty of white space on the page. At that time, I wasn’t quite sure what it meant, but as I grew in my craft and my abilities, I learned it meant having a good balance of dialogue and narrative to ensure the …