By Norma Gail Sometimes life is like getting rear-ended, bouncing around like a rubber ball as the car does a complete 360, colliding with the median and curb, making you wonder if it will ever stop. The only question my mind can form is “God, why?” The world around me became silent a little over a month ago. I can …
When Things Aren’t as they Seem
By Deborah Raney A few years ago, I was speaking at a MOPS group (Mothers of Preschoolers) in a small Midwestern town. As I learned to do from the wonderful speaker and writer Liz Curtis Higgs, I had picked out my “balcony people” in each quadrant of the room–those women who were nodding and smiling and giving positive feedback with …
It’s All “Write” with Me
By Robin W. Pearson I imagine Moses felt a spark when he stumbled upon the burning bush. Spending time in a den of hungry lions motivated Daniel, and crouching in the belly of a fish surely gave Jonah the encouragement he needed. Sitting at the feet of our Savior definitely moved the disciples, and being struck blind opened the spiritual …
How to WRITE About When Everything Goes WRONG
by Allie Pleiter Write What You Know, Right? Writing about the difficulties in your life sounds like a sure-fire path to emotionally compelling work, right? You know exactly how it feels, you know the gut-wrenching progression of events, and it would feel so cathartic to get it out on the page. It could be like re-writing your life at a …
Stubborn Commitment
by Kathy Harris As young as seven or eight years old I knew I wanted to be a writer. If I could somehow transcend time and pay a visit to my younger self (hmmm, this sounds a lot like a recent James L. Rubart novel), I would probably find that I was dreaming of lazy days spent pouring my heart …
Just Ask
By Sarah Sundin As a historical novelist, I do a lot of research. As an introvert, I prefer research in books and libraries and on-line. Over the years, I’ve learned where to look for information, and I’m persistent enough (mule-headed?) to find what I need. Most of the time. Sometimes I simply can’t find the information I want. At that …
Without a Word
By Cynthia Ruchti Two passages diverged in a yellow wood. And I… I took the one with subtext And that has made All the difference. (with apologies to Robert Frost) When writing, critiquing, judging, or editing a story, attention to subtext can make all the difference. It deserves another look. When writing instructors talk about the elements that mark the …
The Broken Pencil
By Kathy Parish Early in my Christian walk, I came across a quote attributed to Mother Teresa: “I am like a little pencil in God’s hand. He does the writing. The pencil has nothing to do with it.” At that time I was more into my nursing career than seeking a career as a writer, although many of my duties …
When Fiction Provides Added Value
By Les Stobbe I’m constantly amazed by the fixation of fiction writers on novels, as if that is the noblest expression of the art of fiction writing. Yet there are a variety of other opportunities to employ fiction to present the life-giving message of Jesus Christ. Let me illustrate with my experiences. In my first real job in journalism I …
The Marvelous Middles
By Lauren H. Brandenburg We are the writers for the Marvelous Middles. At writers’ conferences, we don’t quite fit in with the crowd. True, we have characters that we love, worlds that we have delicately designed, and plots that will entertain and excite like everyone else, but we are different. Sessions on social media marketing don’t apply, as most of …