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The Novelist Entertainer
Jerry Jenkins once told me the number one rule of the novelist is never to bore the reader. As a novelist, you have one job—to entertain. “Yet,” someone may point out, “I’m a Christian novelist.” Indeed, you are. And to bring forward a good Christian moral is vital, to offer a moral of hope and redemption. However, you can’t bring forward a moral if no one will read your book. “I’m American,” some might add. “My Puritan background means seriousness is a Fruit of the Spirit. How does that jive with entertainment?” Ah, a dilemma. How do we make a morality tale entertaining? Look to the Bible. Literally. You can’t…
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Face to Face
“I have much to write you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.”
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The Writer / Advocator: Confidence Tips
Every successful novelist has had to do something very distasteful before they were published. They had to advocate for themselves. If you’re the typical writer, being assertive makes you scream inside. A few years ago, a writer told me he could quickly sell two hundred books at a sale. “Hand the person your book. Then he or she will HAVE to either buy it or hand it back to you.” He handed me his book and I read the back cover. “Looks good.” “And now…” He drew out the last word and crossed his arms. “It’s only fifteen dollars.” I tried to hand back his book, but there was a…
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Don’t Let the Fear of Winter Steal Your Joy in Fall
“So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today." Being future-focused can stifle writing.
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Stormy Weather
It never rains but it pours, and you can hear the thunder coming, see the clouds forming...
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Writing That Transforms
I thought, “How cool is that? The idea that acceptance, simple grace, is the first step in a transformation.” The implications of that idea are mind-blowing...
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The Rescue
The sweat on her skin chilled. “Every second longer we’re inside increases how hard it will be to fight our way out of here.”
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The End
“The opposite of the happy ending is not actually the sad ending. The sad ending is sometimes the happy ending. The opposite of the happy ending is actually the unsatisfying ending.” ~ Orson Scott Card “Just look at the language we use to talk about endings. Nobody ever accuses the beginning of a story of being a “cop-out,” or a “cheat,” or of “falling flat.” Beginnings don’t have to pay off anything, or explain everything. The beginning of the story hooks us, and makes a bunch of promises — and then the ending has to deliver on all those promises. So perhaps it’s not surprising that it’s slightly easier to…
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Little Steps
I hadn’t seen my friend in a while. She looked good. I asked if she’d lost weight.“Yes.”I asked how.“I started watching what I ate. And I ate a little less.” She was at least the third person in a handful of weeks who I’d noticed looking stronger, more confident, and fit. All of them said something similar. They made a few changes over a long period. Changes so small that no one really noticed the first six months. Typically, I would prefer a new dress size the first day I skip dessert, but that isn’t genuine change. It’s a miracle. Little Compromises Have you ever been warned that small compromises…
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One Note
There are two versions of the same song on this album I own. The first version is slow and soulful, the other one has a techno beat. I like the techno version, it’s different, interesting. But the soulful one has something the other doesn’t—one note. I was listening to this album the other day while I was driving around, my phone was on shuffle and the two versions just happened to play in succession. At one point, I turned to the person riding with me and said, “That note, right there. That is why this version is my favorite.” My passenger raised an eyebrow, the artist I was listening to…
