Mini Memoir Moment: Objects as Gateways to Memories and Keys to Stories

by Marcia Moston @MarciaMoston

Anyone who has moved, downsized, or tackled a vigorous spring-cleaning is well aware of how much stuff mysteriously makes its way into our cupboards, closets and garages over the years. We struggle over what to keep, what to jettison, and what to pass on to someone else in hopes they will treasure it as much as we did.

Busting 3 Myths of the Inciting Incident

by Ane Mulligan @AneMulligan

A mistake I often see new writers do, and one I was was taught is to open a story with the inciting incident. Then I took a workshop at a conference taught by James Scott Bell. He busted the myths I'd learned.

The Writers’ Pledge

by Cathy Fyock @CathyFyock

One day I was meeting with a client who told me about the pledge that she and her grandson had written. It was an affirmation they would say together to set a powerful and positive intention for their day.

The Power of a Well-Written Writer's Bio

by Lori Hatcher @LoriHatcher2

Years ago I read an article on Crosswalk.com about parenting. It resonated with me, and I found myself nodding and smiling at the points the writer made. When I reached the end, I read the bio, eager to learn more about the woman who had written the piece.

Make Your Hero Choose

by Henry Mclaughlin @RiverBendSagas

This week I want to share on a topic I first heard Randy Ingermanson teach on several years ago. It’s a simple yet powerful tool to improve our stories.

11 Ways to Ignite Your Writing Passion

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Maybe you thought the summer heat would light a fire to your writing, but it didn’t happen. Now it’s the end of September, and you still haven’t found the match. In fact, you’re giving serious consideration to calling it quits. Maybe writing is for someone else and not you.

Dipping The Quill Deeper: A Cry for Mercy

by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson

My daily devotions come from a book titled A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, compiled and edited by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck. Within its pages are weekly divisions of scripture verses, reflections from those who have come before us or walk beside us, invocations and benedictions, guides for prayers and reflection, and hymns to sing (although I usually just speak them as I would a poem). Often quoted within the leather-bound pages is Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch Catholic priest, professor, writer, and theologian. 

Marketing from Reader Feedback

by Karen Whiting @KarenHWhiting

Social media, focus groups, beta readers, and online reviews create plenty of reader feedback. Those words provide fodder for marketing.

Return to the Five Ws of Writing

by Tammy Karasek @TickledPinkTam

This year has certainly brought some oddities and changes to it. I believe most, if not all, of us have gone through periods without outside contact with our writing peers and friends. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an introvert or extrovert, you’ve no doubt felt the difference in your normal writing-life pattern. I’ve talked to introverted friends that admitted they missed the in-person conversations with their writing groups. As an extrovert myself, it’s been hard.

Are We Striving for the Inner Ring as Writers?

by Emme Gannon @GannonEmme

C.S. Lewis gave a talk to university students called, “The Inner Ring.” He said, “I believe that in all man’s lives at all periods between infancy and extreme old age, one the most dominant elements is the desire to be inside the local Ring and the terror of being left outside.”

Compilation Books—Why and How to Write Them

by Crystal Bowman

Compilations books are a collection of stories written by a variety of writers. Even though Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen struggled to get their first book published (like having 144 publishers say “no thank you”) the success of the Chicken Soup for the Soul Series—with more than 500 million copies sold internationally—has proven that they have a place in the world of publishing.

Marketing for Writers - Create a Facebook Group Campaign

by Susan U. Neal RN, MBA, MHS @SusanNealYoga

Have you created a Facebook group yet for your readers? I discussed this in the blog, Connect With Readers Through Closed Facebook Groups. My Facebook group, 7 Steps to Get Off Sugar, Carbs, and Gluten, has grown to 1500 members in the past two years. These people are my ideal readers who continue to purchase my books, courses, and digital products.

When Should We Start Editing?

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28

I can’t turn off my internal editor. Thoughts like these often zip through my mind:

• Those praise music lyrics are missing punctuation. (Does that drive you crazy, too?)
• I’m writing compound sentences in my e-mails without commas. (And feeling guilty about it.)
• I can’t send this text until it’s perfect. (Half the time I’m missing something.)

My internal editor is always on. Posting on Facebook takes five extra minutes because I’m worried I have a typo, and my voice-to-text feature frustrates me because it doesn’t capitalize properly. Doesn’t it know you have to capitalize book titles?

Watch Your Words!

by Lucinda Secrest McDowell @LucindaSMcDowel

The next six weeks in our country will be full of words. Promises. Taunts. Pledges. Boasts. Truth. Untruth. Mockery. Threats. Loyalty. Division. Hope. Despair. Fear. Faith. Unity. Encouragement. And, did I mention, Hope?

SPEAK UP WITH CONFIDENCE Guide for Authors

by Yvonne Ortega @YvonneOrtega1

I read Carol Kent’s revised and updated edition of Speak Up with Confidence from cover to cover. Her passion to speak words of eternal value and bathe every step of the process in prayer spoke to my heart. I hope it speaks to yours, too.

When Rejection Comes

by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod

He was a washed-up shoe salesman, caught up in a town-gossiping war. 

In the Andy Griffith episode, Those Gossipin’ Men, Aunt Bee and a friend sat in the local drug store, enjoying a cool drink on a hot day. While spreading a little gossip among themselves, they were startled when a stranger came in and tried to sell them a pair of shoes. Surprised because he didn’t try extremely hard. In fact, they labeled him as the “tamest shoe salesman” they’d ever seen. He offered once, they said no, and he went on about his business. Little did he know a gossiping war between the ladies of the town and the men who hung around at Floyd’s Barber Shop would soon engulf him.

Choosing to Give Ourselves Some Credit

by Beth Vogt @BethVogt

As I write this blog, we are three days into September. Most people who I talked with reacted to the turn of the calendar page with, “I can’t believe it’s September already!”

When I Fail God in My Writing

by Joshua J. Masters @JoshuaJMasters

Despite my good intentions, I’m often faced with how to respond when I fail God in my writing. That sounds harsh, doesn’t it? We might not say it aloud, but many of us in the writing community feel that way in the pit of our stomachs right now.

Be Willing to Heed the Advice of Publishing Professionals …. And Be Patient

by Julie Lavender @JLavenderWrites

In less than two months, my parenting book, 365 Ways to Love Your Child: Turning Little Moments Into Lasting Memories, will celebrate a book birthday. My labor of love really is a labor of love … four labors to be exact and is a collection of many ideas and activities I carried out with my four children as they were growing up.

Learn from Other Writers

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

“Read widely in the genre that you want to write!” 

I have heard this over and over in the last thirty years. But until recently I didn’t fully understand what that meant.

Writing Truth in Fiction - 4 Tips

 

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted

Thumbing through social media crushes my writing soul. These days, an innocent joke among friends leads to accusations of social injustice, racism, or politics. It makes writing a difficult thing. We now have to pour more critically over our work and that makes getting the message out, hard. Given light to highly publicized social injustices, innocent lines of dialogue are now taken as offensive and for Christian writers, the use of God or religion in anything is increasingly difficult. We can hardly allow characters to work through conflict and issues without strong social scrutiny or being tagged insensitive.

Peter, the Shameless Witness

by Audrey Frank @AudreyCFrank

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus (Acts 4:12-13).

Peter was a shameless witness who boldly declared who Jesus was. How did this rugged, coarse-mouthed fisherman become so fearlessly eloquent?

Do You Feel Like a Phony Writer?

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

When I quit my job to stay home with my son, I had to decide what I wanted to do, who I wanted to be. I needed a label. Something to give me an identity both when I met someone and had to answer that question that is always asked when you’re introduced to someone. The one right after what’s your name, what do you do? And I needed the label when I looked in the mirror in the morning. I knew I wanted to be a writer.

5 Tips Guaranteed to Make an Editor REJECT Your Story (before they even read it)

Edie here and today I'm over-the-moon excited! My good friend (author, editor, tech GENIUS) has agreed to come on board as a regular columnist for The Write Conversation. Please give Amy C. Williams (A.C.Williams) that warm TWC welcome!

5 Tips Guaranteed to Make an Editor REJECT Your Story (before they even read it)

by A. C. Williams @Free2BFearless

Got a manuscript to pitch at your next conference? Want to be remembered? Of course, you do. But will the editor remember you as a creative professional or as an unteachable, self-entitled know-it-all? 

Check on Your Writer Friends

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

If you spend any time on social media, I’m sure you’ve seen the memes that begin with “Check on your ________ Friends.” 

Check on your extrovert friends. We are not okay.

Check on your friends with toddlers. We are not okay.

Check on your friends with strong-willed daughters. We are not okay.

Check on your friends with curly hair. We look like alpacas.

Using Character Traits to Plot Your Book

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer

Characters are like people. Each of us has "good" traits --courage and resilience and intelligence, for instance. But we also have traits that get us into trouble--foolhardiness, stubbornness, and being "too smart for our own good" come to mind. Same with our characters. We create strong traits, on both sides of the spectrum, and watch as our characters stumble through the story.

What Does Every Writer Need?

by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells

What does every writer need?

That was the question on the test in my university writing course.