Fiction
Guest Blogger: Brandilyn Collins on Prologues
Hearing that there are those who don’t read prologues makes me sad. Can’t blame these non-readers, though. I blame the writers who’ve so misused prologues that these readers have given up on the things. However, if you’re in the “non-read” group and you pick up a book by an author who knows how to use…
The Three Chapter Rule
The Three Chapter Rule By Gina Conroy In a recent critique I was told my opening needed to move quicker. I thought I had done that after scrapping the first opening. But I heeded their wise advice and went back and hacked and pushed things up, and I’m very happy to say the pacing starts…
Carnival of Christian Writers #7 April 2007
It’s carnival time! So please keep your hands and feet inside at all times and buckle up for your safety. Enjoy the ride… Literary Agent Chip MacGregor offers The Best Advice he’s received. Mary DeMuth asks “Why do we put novels down? What makes us turn the page?” In Affrimation for the Craft she shares…
Quick Fiction Fixes – Writer’s Voice, part four
We’re all busy, whether working full-time or chasing/chauffeuring kids around all day. Yet we’re also writers, striving to get our words on paper and then polish it to a sparkle. This column gives quick fixes for fiction manuscripts specifically for busy writers. Pick and choose what works best for you! Developing your writing voice, part…
Faith in our stories
By Margaret Daley One of the intricate aspects of an inspirational romance that other romances don’t possess is the faith element. Without it we don’t have an inspirational. For an inspirational it is the third element of importance to me. So how do you integrate it into your story? Make it seem effortless? Not preachy?…
The Myth of the Author
“What?!” you say. “But an author is almost like God. Authors create a universe and inhabit it with people and weave the tapestry of their fates.” Just stop, okay? Besides being borderline blasphemy, it isn’t that simple. Sure, authors have a tremendous role in the creation of their book, but they are hardly like God…
Quick Fiction Fixes – Writer’s Voice, part three
We’re all busy, whether working full-time or chasing/chauffeuring kids around all day. Yet we’re also writers, striving to get our words on paper and then polish it to a sparkle. This column gives quick fixes for fiction manuscripts specifically for busy writers. Pick and choose what works best for you! Developing your writing voice, part…
Don’t Always Say What You Mean, But Always Mean What You Don’t Say
Really. I mean it. Go ahead and subtext, already! Subtexted dialogue can be one of the most powerful elements in a storyteller’s arsenal. This is the art of talking around the subject, rather than head on, in order to intensify the meaning of the part that isn’t said. Sometimes it’s actually having your characters say…
A Tribute
Earlier tonight I was thinking about how critical support is to dreaming. Without my husband’s consistent and demonstrated support, I wouldn’t be writing. It would be an ember of a dream rather than a reality. Every time I would think about writing, start fixating on the hunger to do something special with words, my husband…
Mary E. DeMuth
I can’t tell you how very tired I am of boring Christian books. There exists some sort of “acceptable” content that we write about ad infinitum, but rarely do we hear from writers who dare to go out on limbs–to share what is really, really inside. It takes guts. It’s not easy. I’m not talking…