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Wrestling With the Craft, Together
My friend and fellow ICW member Angela and I had a brief FB discussion today about how we visualize our writing. This season of her journey, she compares finding the right words to Jacob wrestling the angel for the blessing. It’s a great analogy. Whereas, I’m at a phase of novel revision in which crafting, molding, refiring and refining again—wordsmithing—is how I picture my work. This made me think of all the different writing phases where we ICW writers find ourselves this holiday season, as we walk this journey together. There are proven techniques for crafting a good book or novel, and also for successfully becoming a published author. But…
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Learn How to Write Good/Well
There’s no perfect approach when you decide to learn how to write a novel. When baseball and softball players train to bat, they ask for various pitches to expand their hitting ability. If all they prepared for was a fastball down the middle, the batter could only hit when pitches were strikes over the plate. The same is true when learning to write a book. You’ll fully develop your skillset if you learn how to write from various sources. I’ve included a few ways to learn your craft and stay relevant to your writing. Change how you educate yourself to fit your needs in response to your life circumstances. The…
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Writing Prep
‘Tis the season to get cozy and write your hearts out. Some fun lessons in writerly prep from best-selling author and ICW Member Heather Woodhaven. How to dress as a writer But this is only the beginning. See more here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1075461993452970 and here: https://www.facebook.com/reel/353768417394219. Now, ready, set, write!
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The Bottom Line: What I’ve Learned in 40+ Years of Writing
The writing life is a great ride—if one can hang on. I’ve never liked roller coasters—and yet, that’s exactly what I’ve been riding for nearly half a century. How well I remember that glorious first book contract somewhere back in the mists of the 1970s. I thought I was set. I had a publisher, I had an editor, I could just spend the rest of my life writing the stories I was passionate to tell and—Voilà—they would be published. It didn’t take me long to figure out that editors change, publishers cancel series, agents retire—or even die. Life is unstable—and nothing more so than the writing life. Zondervan cancelled their…
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Writing Groups and The Writer
IdaHope Christian Writers has a writing group that comes together quite often to read, write, and fellowship. Why do established, mainstream authors suggest all writers join a writing group? Stay in a writing group, don’t give up, contribute, and you may be fortunate to find yourself like the man in the following joke: He pulled up to the charred ruins of his home. Smoke still drifted from the possessions they spent years accumulating. She stood out front, a pan of burned biscuits in her hand, a cell phone in the other. She sobbed. “I’m sorry. I put biscuits in the oven. The phone rang. It was your agent. And then…
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The Great Adverbectomy
When I first began writing, I wrote completely without guidance, operating my keyboard without training. After several manuscript rejections, I found much-needed help through a critique group. My first writing mentor addressed a problem. Since I had enough adverbs in my first paragraph to give an editor a heart attack, they were removed. Gasp. Wheeze. Whimper. I loved my adverbs. They were astonishingly, beguilingly, charmingly, alluringly wonderful.After recovering from the shock, I went home and held a small service in their honor. Lovingly, longingly, I took one final look at my Word document before starting my search. Weepingly, I sought for any word ending in the dreaded, tell-tale “ly” and…
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Writing Lessons from My Dogs
Sometimes, when I’m goofing with my two dogs, Baxter and Taffy, God will snap his fingers, hold his hand over my nose, and tell me to, “Sit. Stay. Listen.” And when I do, I learn valuable lessons. Almost every morning, I have the same breakfast—two slices of peanut butter toast. I love peanut butter. At one point in my (much younger) life, I was going to marry peanut butter. My siblings still make fun of me for this—I do not care. However, during the year I was working from home as a freelance editor, every morning Baxter and Taffy would come and sit attentively near the table, convinced I would…
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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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Garlic Ice Cream and the Novelist
Niche means “a specialized market,” and your novel fills a niche. Let’s look at how best to understand your niche. I have a dream. A three-course meal should consist of an appetizer entirely of ice cream, followed by the main course—ice cream, followed by ice cream for dessert. To see if my dream is a viable dietary option, I checked online health sites. On day two or three of the ice cream diet, you’ll probably develop an intolerance to lactose. Day four or five, afib. And after a full week of ice cream, you’re on a straight road toward diabetes. And extreme dehydration and/or constipation. We’re going to need to…
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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…
