By DiAnn Mills New writers often have the dilemma of choosing what genre of fiction they should write. If this is your problem, I have a few tips to help you make that critical decision. Look at an overview of five of the most popular genres. Romance – These stories are about two people who fall in love. The plot …
Downsizing Has an Upside
by Melody Morrison I wanted to write, but we were supposed to be down-sizing. Yuck. I faced a wall unit of books, games and toys. Over 750 youth and children’s books called my name. Stopping to read “a little”, I didn’t accomplish much. Today two thirds of the books are still on the shelves and five piles designated for various …
Hello, ACFW!
THE ACFW VIRTUAL CONFERENCE: MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR FEBRUARY 24 – 25, 2024 Hello ACFW! I’m Kathleen Y’Barbo-Turner, a member of the ACFW Executive Board, and I’ve got great news for you! If you’ve been a member of ACFW for any length of time, you’ve no doubt attended or at least heard about our fabulous ACFW Annual Conference–the premier conference …
Learning from Reading a Master Novelist
By Carol Buchanan, PhD The best thing fiction writers can do for ourselves is to read fiction. Read any novel you can get your eyeballs on. Read popular novels, novels you wouldn’t write on a bet, novels of all sorts and in as many genres as you can without saying “Yuck” and throwing the book away. (Because we want to …
How Many Hats Do You Wear a Day?
By Glynn Young The hats we writers wear can seem awfully heavy. The hat we wear every day is the writer’s hat. This is what we do. This is what we’re about. We’re here to tell a story, and that can be difficult enough. It looks like a baseball cap. We learn to write by listening, memorizing, and repetition. We …
Books that Empower Writers to Excel
By Frank DiBianca I have a recurring nightmare in which I walk onto the stage of a packed symphony hall. I hold a violin and bow in my hands. The conductor turns to me and smiles. Suddenly, I realize I have not memorized my part. Even worse, I don’t know how to play the violin! Sound familiar? That’s probably not …
Cooking Up a Story
By Tanara McCauley “Are these…scones?” My teen’s guess was generous, considering the cookies looked more like jagged blue biscuits coated in a suspicious glaze. She held one in her hand, eyes skeptical. I frowned at the cookie-biscuit-scone between her fingers and shook my head. It was a lemon blueberry cookie, or it was supposed to be. Only I’d had to …
When to Invest in Your Writing Career
By Carol Alwood Writers have far too many decisions to make. I’m not saying we’re the only professionals bogged down by options and the pressing need for results. Other professions have too many choices to make too. Besides being a writer, I’m an elementary school teacher. They say teachers make 1,500 decisions in a day. This turns out to be …
To Follow or Not to Follow the Yellow Brick Road of Writing Rules
By Ane Mulligan I began my writing journey as a playwright. I learned how to write good dialogue by default. As the creative arts director for my church, I’d write weekly sermon illustration sketches. With the first few scripts I wrote, my actors would change the way they said the lines. When I realized what they did, I listened carefully …
Have You “Arrived” Yet?
By Patricia Bradley Do writers ever “arrive”? You know, get to the point where they quit learning? Or studying the craft? Not if we want to be good writers, we don’t. And now is one of the best times in the history of writing to get help if you’re just starting out or to hone your craft if you’ve been …
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