by Sue Brower Zondervan, Inc. I have just returned from a great week at Blue Ridge Christian Writers Conference. Alton Gansky and his team provided an experience that I know changed the lives of many writers. We had writers from beginners to bestsellers, those that write 500 word blogs to those that write 100,000 word novels. What we all had …
Story Ideas You Are Certain Won’t Work. But They Do.
by Gail Gaymer Martin When I was proposing my next series, for Love Inspired, I ran amuck. Nothing excited me, and when it did, it didn’t strike my senior editor. When I asked what series ideas she would like to see, she said, “Something like Make A Wish Foundation.” Hmm? That slammed into my brain like an avalanche. My frozen …
More Right Than Wrong
by Arlene James Judging contests and critiquing manuscripts are activities that can swamp a writer if she isn’t careful, but they can also be rewarding, I believe, for both the unpublished and the published. I sold into publication before professional organizations such as ACFW existed. What training I received, I got in college. It wasn’t of much use, frankly. (Back …
Shining God’s Light Through Our Writing
by Kathi Macias One question I am often asked is, “Why do you write about such dark topics?” My answer? “I don’t write about dark topics; I write about the Light that shines in the darkness.” Now I’ll admit that most of my novels’ subject matter isn’t exactly easy reading; it isn’t easy writing either, as topics like the persecuted …
Stop, Drop and Roll: Adding the Crisis Scene
by Janice Thompson You’re at the 3/4 point in your novel and facing that all-important crisis scene. The Supreme Ordeal. The Black Moment. The Big Gloom. You know it’s critical to the story’s survival, and you want it to be the best it can be. Still, you’re unsure of how to progress. How does one go about writing a crisis …
Who’s in Charge Here?
by Beth Shriver I find my stories taking on a life of their own at times. I think I’m going one way with the plot and it turns a corner without asking me. The same goes for characters. You think you have this imaginary friend all figured out, and then they do something you never thought they would. I don’t …
Where Do Ideas Come From?
by Lisa Lickel The journey of The Map Quilt started when I was in fifth grade, learning about the Underground Railroad, watching my grandmother sew quilts, and discovering the astonishing fact that not all black people in the United States came here on slave ships. That was long before I was silly enough, about the age of forty, to start …
Quick Reference Guide to Research Methods
by Laurie Alice Eakes Recently, I enjoyed the privilege of giving an ACFW chapter a short workshop on research methods. Others have found this helpful, so I am hopeful you all will, too. Although I have more historical romances than Regency romances in print, I am known as a Regency author. And if anyone knows anything about readers of the …
The Writer’s Tool Chest
by Aaron McCarver What is in your tool chest? Your writer’s tool chest that is. Tools are wonderful things. We are able to accomplish things with them we could not do otherwise. When thinking about it, we have conquered the world through the use of tools. However, tools used incorrectly are very dangerous things. Only when we learn to use …
ACFW Rewind: Becoming a More Productive Writer
Editor’s Note: Welcome to ACFW Rewind! ACFW strives to bring you interesting, varied, and helpful posts on the craft of writing and the writing industry. And every once in a while, a previous post deserves to be re-published so the information is fresh all over again. With that in mind, welcome to the first post of ACFW Rewind. The following …