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Move On, Dear Writer
Recently, I listened to a masterclass from author Dan Brown. He mentioned you can get to a point in the editing process where you edit out the “magic” from the first few drafts. The excitement, and the fire—the thing that made the story special. Similarly, I once heard in a class from Robin Lee Hatcher (February 2024 Monthly Meeting Speaker!) that there comes a point when you need to stop researching your historical and write it. Because you can research forever… especially if, like her, you enjoy research. Participants in critique groups can polish the first 30% of their story for years, even a decade, but never finish a manuscript.…
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The Right Editor
We are not the best at judging our own stories. Especially when we are fragile. We need an outside perspective, just the right one. Have freedom to search for the right one.
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Change Can Work Wonders
Change the format you use for your writing, and watch it work wonders. During my writing journey for my first book, I initially struggled with the format. I began with my journal entries, and collaborated with my sister via Google Docs for long-distance editing. I could see her edits, and I made the necessary changes in my manuscript. We spent hours editing the raw material, and then creating the manuscript in the form of dated journal entries. One day, a divine revelation struck: Transform the manuscript into a story. My challenge was to figure out how, especially as my sister continued to edit journal pages. One day, I ran across…
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Diary of a Novelist
Day 1: Fingertips brush against the keys and heart throbs as every thought shivers through the future. Imaginings thunder as the story beckons the muses of old. Chocolate never tasted so good. Day 2: Someone hacked the computer and turned poetry into gibberish. A toddler, indeed, yes. Tomorrow, perhaps it can be salvaged. Day 3: Salvaged, but after a second glance, the toddler’s ideas weren’t so bad. Maybe it’ll be published someday. Day 7: Three thousand words! Done? Blah. Books are around 75,000 words. I’ve consumed the first pound of chocolate. Semisweet, Semiconscious. Day 18: Took the day off writing and feel like *********. Won’t take a day off again.…
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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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How to Never Bore Your Readers
There is deeper magic in a novel that keeps the reader from boredom—secondary additions to your plot line. These work with any genre.
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Should Politics and Fiction Mix?
While bookworms consult other bookworms for reading recommendations, there is often a common caveat to these requests. It goes something like this: “I love the suspense or thriller genre, but please no politics.” Readers have valid reasons for avoiding the political. Fiction is often viewed as an escape from the problems of the world. No one wants to be lectured from either the left or the right of the political spectrum. So why do writers, who happen to be political junkies, inject their stories with political principles, and why is it important? Here are a few reasons to consider. Education Infuse fiction with politics in order to educate. There is…
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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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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…
