Writing Tips
Finding Writing Inspiration on Vacation
I admit it. I bring the over-scheduled busyness of life with me on vacation. I kid myself that after nonstop seeing and doing for three or five days, I’ll be rested and ready to return to daily life with vigor. Still, I can’t pass on the opportunity to feed my mind with the experiences of…
Scrivener for Windows Review
When I found out Scrivener for Windows was in beta testing, I dropped everything to find out more about it. This writing software by Literature and Latte includes tons of cool features for writers, but until recently was only available to Mac-users. Because I’m using a trial version and the developer is still actively collecting…
When NOT to Take Writing Advice
There’s no shortage of advice out there for aspiring and beginning authors. There’s no shortage of advice out there for aspiring and beginning authors.But knowing when NOT to take advice may be as important as knowing when to heed it. I learned this my first year of pursuing publication. At the time, I was preparing…
Larger-Than-Real-Life Characters
This weekend while writing in a coffee shop, I was distracted by real life characters. The people around me, like this guy who greeted this girl with three kisses. His wife? Girl friend? I watched how they talked and interacted. How they were overly considerate and accommodating to each others needs. They were obviously dating,…
Breathing Life into Your Setting
Setting in a fictional novel, if done well, can take on a life of its own. In order to create a setting that is almost like a character, there are two basic points to know: 1) Know Your Setting, And 2) Know How Your Setting Influences Your Characters. To Know Your Setting, you must first…
Writing a Great Story
What makes a story great? That’s the goal, isn’t it? To not just write a good story, but to create a great story. But what exactly makes a story great? What lifts it above the rim of mediocrity and sets it on that level reserved for books with that “wow” factor. Well, we know writing…
Choosing Words Carefully
You ever talk to someone who just doesn’t know when to shut the trap and wrap it up? People who take five minutes to say what could be said in thirty seconds? Sure you have. We all have. Some people just have diarrhea of the mouth. I’m sorry, I know that sounds awfully harsh, but…
Handling the Big Rejection
Q: How do you handle rejection? A: Before or after I stick pins in my eyes and swallow hot coals? No, of course I don’t do that. I usually shave my head, exchange my clothes for sackcloth, and spend days of solitary isolation sitting on a heap of ashes. Okay, seriously, unfortunately, rejection is a…
Write for the Reader
“I write what I would like to read–what I think other women would like to read. If what I write makes a woman in the Canadian mountains cry and she writes and tells me about it, especially if she says ‘I read it to Tom when he came in from work and he cried too,’…
ACFW conference/booksigning
This week is the American Christian Fiction Writers’ annual conference in Minneapolis. I will be attending and actually this year presenting a workshop on how to write an inspirational romance. Talk about an interruption in my writing schedule!!! But a welcome one. I can’t wait to see everyone, and if you are attending, please stop…