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Historical Novels: You Can Write One!
Epic historical fiction comes in many shapes and is usually the same size—long. They are challenging to write, and many readers find the genre an acquired taste. But what sets aside these tomes of sagacity from other categories? And can you find them in the Christian market? Let’s take a moment and define epic historical fiction. The novel is about crises. Society cannot tolerate disorder, so we give power to specific groups of people so that order can be reached and maintained. In other words, in the United States, we vote for a president and give the person the power to send off our armies or write a check to…
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Bark Factor: Pets in Novels
Animals have personalities of their own. But how should we use a pet in our novel?
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The Well-Read Writer Becomes an Author
What tools are vital for an author? Mine are a laptop, headphones, caffeine, a canvas grey jacket with a white T-shirt, faded jeans, Olukai Hawaiian shoes, and two-day stubble I’ll shave soon. I can’t write without them. However, no tool is more essential than my writer’s library. Every great writer has curated a personal library. Their library is so valuable that when they die, people take down the titles and publish the list so we can read what the author studied. So, as a famous writer, you must collect books and be the curator of your library. Need better justification? Ten Reasons Why You Should Have An Extensive Home Library 1…
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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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From The Heart
“…and Mary treasured up all these things, and pondered them in her heart.” Most mothers love to tell about the day their children were born. These are some of our best stories, overflowing with life-threatening suspense, transformation, the miraculous and in the end, joy. As with all our stories, we make choices about what to include and what to leave out, depending on the audience, depending on the purpose in the telling. But none of our stories can match Mary’s. How happy she must have been to sit down with Luke and have a chance to tell her account of Jesus’ miraculous conception and dramatic birth, which she had been…
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Christmas Moment(s)
Part of what is overwhelming during the holidays is spending 24-plus days planning for a single day event. Or if you are one of the lucky people to start Christmas the night before, two days. It’s similar when you plan a novel. The characters, plot, editing, theme, formatting, reviews, marketing… There’s so much to mange that you might freeze instead of start. Interestingly, both Christmas and new releases have a similar letdown on the day after. Christmas is intense focus on gifts, meal, food…a perfect minute. And the more expectation you have, the greater the chance of disparity between want and reality. Instead of trying to see and plan the…
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Bottomless Solutions
Sometimes we cling to our ideas or thoughts because we're afraid it’s the best we can come up with.
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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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The Taming of the Inner Critic
It isn’t uncommon to write because you read something that lacked, and you thought you could do better. It’s probably true that it lacked–not all writing is going to move you to silent awe. Then the idea grows, and you experience an almost ethereal thrill. The process happening is beyond you. It’s so good. Your story is the best. Of course, you plummet during re-reading or editing. “I don’t even know what I was thinking. How can I decipher this?” Your writing is the worst. The truth is, it’s neither. It’s just writing. And that is a normal process, especially when you are close to the work and bleeding on…
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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!
