By Martha Rogers Today is our 55th wedding anniversary, and what better way to celebrate than to tell how my novel, Love Stays True, came to be. It’s a story loosely based on my great-grandparents love story after the Civil War. The idea sprang from three letters my dad gave me in 1995. His father had given them to him …
Dissecting The Old To Make It New
by Gail Gaymer Martin By the time novelists sell to a traditional publisher, they’ve donated a large amount of time honing their craft. Rejection points out a weak writing technique: pacing, dialogue, point of view or other flaws. Learning to write a good book is a craft. Many people say someday they’re going to write a book. They sit down, …
Write Tight
by Maureen Lang I’ve just finished my current Work In Progress, and I always share my first draft with at least one trusted friend and critique partner before starting my revision process. Fresh eyes have a way of spotting plot twists that fall flat, character traits that don’t ring true or, the subject of today’s blog post, unnecessary verbiage. The …
Fast Edits
by Bonnie S. Calhoun Fast Edits This is a fast and down-dirty review of the things you should look for as you go through your self-edit of your manuscript. If you can catch all these, you’ve got a good start to a great manuscript. Weasel Words These are words that weaken the writing, thus the story. We sometimes type them …
What, No Adverbs?
by Donna L. Rich So many “how to” books tell me to weed out weak adverbs, and as I look at my own work, I’m paranoid. However, I’m not paranoid enough. In writing this post, I referred to my current edit in process. I wanted to see how many times I used an ly word when a stronger verb would …
Why Take the Chance?
by Fay Lamb Stick around the business long enough and you’re going to find an exception to every rule. You know, the best-selling author who says, “I don’t worry about grammar and punctuation. I just tell the story and let a copyeditor deal with the rest.” Sure, it happens. Someone writes a novel that is so intriguing an editor overlooks …
Don’t Be Afraid of Hard
by Anne Mateer It’s inevitable, I think. At least I hope so. Otherwise it’s just me. But I choose to believe that every writer hits that book that spins them round and round and upside down. Maybe it’s an emotional theme that requires you to reach into depths of yourself you had no desire to explore. Maybe it’s characters that …
Woolworth or Tiffany’s?
by Janelle James Simplicity is beautiful. When I was a little girl, my mother and I walked by a Tiffany’s display window. We stopped and stared in appreciation. My mother placed her hand on my back and lowered her voice. “Janelle, think of a dime store display window that is so cluttered you can’t even take it all in. Now …
5 Spiritual Disciplines for Writers
by Carrie Fancett Pagels Disciplines we shouldn’t skip: 1) Time in the Word. When your bible bookmark hasn’t moved in weeks-there is a problem. You must know the truth found in God’s word. Bottom line fundamental fact. 2) Prayer. What a joy and privilege it is to pray for the saints. And to pray for the unsaved that they might …
No More Mrs. Nice Guy
by Keli Gwyn Are you too nice to your characters? I was. I used to ache for the characters in the stories I read as the authors forced them to endure one trial after another. When I began writing, I couldn’t do that to my beloved heroes and heroines. I made things easy on them-too easy. I wised up when …