How Writers Find and Develop Story Ideas: Creativity, Faith, and the Writing Process

From Edie: Tim Suddeth shares how how writers find and develop story ideas through creativity, faith, observation, and intentional practice. Discover practical ways to grow ideas into compelling stories that connect with readers.

How Writers Find and Develop Story Ideas: Creativity, Faith, and the Writing Process

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Gardening has been a part of my life ever since I grew up on a peach farm in rural South Carolina. (And no. Not all of SC is rural.) Everyone in my extended family and our neighbors had their gardens. Even my tobacco-spitting, 92-year-old grandfather.

Each year, Dad planted an acre-sized garden just after Mother’s Day. He would plow up the field and raise the rows. Then he dug a small hole, while I dropped the seeds, being careful to drop just the right number. After that came the waiting for them to come up. And hoping they’d outgrow the weeds.

Gardening is a great example of faith. You put the seed into the ground, then you wait while God does what he has done since creation in bringing our crops up. Even when our faith falters because of a lack of rain or whatever. But you trust this year’s crops to the same God who has been faithful in providing in the past.

It takes that same effort, patience, and faith to develop an idea into a story. Like a gardener planting seeds, writers begin with a simple seed or idea. It sits hidden in our brains, joining and growing with additional ideas until we have something we can develop on paper or screen. Because no matter how great an idea seems in my head, it’s only after I develop the idea that it becomes the fabulous story it was intended to be.

Weeds in Your Writing Life? How to Eliminate Distractions and Stay Focused as a Writer

From Edie: Feeling distracted and overwhelmed as a writer? Discover how to identify the “weeds” in your writing life and take practical steps to stay focused, protect your time, and nurture what matters most.

Weeds in Your Writing Life? How to Eliminate Distractions and Stay Focused as a Writer

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Do you have weeds in your garden?

What? Why’d you look at me like that?

Probably because we know that all gardens have weeds. Even Augusta National. (I know. I know. I just committed a terrible blasphemy.)

But weeds are like aphids; they get into everything. And it takes a Herculean effort to keep them from taking over a garden. And it’s never-ending for a gardener. You can spend an entire weekend making your garden just so, just perfect. But on Monday morning, when you step out the door into your garden. Holding your cup of coffee and with the smug feeling of accomplishment, a dandelion will be peeking at you from under the camellia, mocking you. (Yes, it is personal with weeds.)

The problem with having weeds is that they ruin the visual you wanted, they take up space, and they sap away energy.

As a writer, can you relate? Don’t little things often sneak into our routines, our thoughts, that, like weeds, take away from the writing we want to accomplish?

What Does Rest Mean for Writers? A Biblical Guide to Overcoming Burnout

From Edie: Feeling overwhelmed as a writer? Discover what biblical rest really means and how Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11:28 can help you reset, recharge, and overcome creative burnout.

What Does Rest Mean for Writers? A Biblical Guide to Overcoming Burnout

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Recently, I was on the treadmill in the gym warming up. (I know. I shouldn’t talk about going to the gym. But when it comes to the gym, and if you’ve ever met me, you know. My body type is definitely a tell me, not a show me bod.) I was doing fine for the first few minutes, then I cranked it up. My lungs gasped, “No mas.” They weren’t ready for the challenge.

Don’t we often feel the same way in our lives? Like someone has cranked it up and left it there for us to hang on to? It happens in all our lives, whether it’s at work, with your kids, or if you have caregiving responsibilities. It’s like you’re trying your best to just make it through, but everything else is in hyper-speed.

How Writers Should Take Advice: Knowing When to Play It Safe and When to Take Risks

From Edie: Writers receive advice from every direction. Learn how to evaluate writing advice, know when to play it safe, and when taking a creative risk matters.

How Writers Should Take Advice: Knowing When to Play It Safe and When to Take Risks

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Can you believe the snow we just got? For my area, it was the snow of the year, the decade, the century, a long time. This is the problem with trying to share a cool local story on media that goes all over the world. This is the coldest snow I can remember. Our snow usually starts with flakes, shifts to frozen rain, and ends with slush. Not only was this type of freezing snow not normal here, I haven’t seen it in my now 65 years. (Yes, today is that day. My sweet wife says that she now has a senior.)

We messaged a friend that it was 24 degrees and an expected two to three inches of snow was on its way. He responded that where he lives in Ohio, it was negative 33 and they had ten inches of snow already on the ground.

Negative 33? Me no understand.

My friends in Florida. You will always have your falling iguanas. 

Here in South Carolina, five flakes will close our schools. Two days before a winter storm even arrives, our stores are out of milk and bread. And since COVID, toilet paper.

Here, one or two inches will shut down our roads. My niece lives in Montana, where they measure their snow in feet, and it hangs around for months. When we start talking about our snow adventures, she just shakes her head.

How Writers Can Reach Their Goals in 2026: A Faithful, Practical Approach

From Edie: Learn how writers can reach their goals in 2026 through faith-filled planning, practical habits, and realistic steps that support long-term growth and consistency.

How Writers Can Reach Their Goals in 2026: A Faithful, Practical Approach

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

And we’re off. New Year's Day has just passed, and a brand-new year stretches ahead of us. All our dreams, hopes, and plans are possible in the new year. What would you like to happen in your life most this year? Did you make resolutions this year? Or are you like me, you have so many plans already on your plate that you don’t have room for anymore.

Instead of annual resolutions, which are great, I shoot for daily ones. They’re hard enough for me to work through. And the self-disappointment I feel when on January 11, I inevitably realize I’m horribly behind on my resolution isn’t as bad. Instead of scrapping the whole resolution for the year, I make little tweaks.

How Writers Can Restart Their Fiction After a Long Dry Spell: Finding Momentum, Motivation, and a New Writing Routine

From Edie: Struggling to return to fiction after a long writing dry spell? Discover practical encouragement and simple steps to restart your novel, rebuild momentum, and create a writing routine that fits real life. This hopeful guide helps writers find motivation, clarity, and joy on the writing journey again.

How Writers Can Restart Their Fiction After a Long Dry Spell: Finding Momentum, Motivation, and a New Writing Routine

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

I have to admit, I’m going through a dry spell with my writing—specifically my fiction writing. Recently, it seems I can focus only on articles. I love sharing here what I’m learning on my learning journey. On this blog, we have a great group of accomplished and award-winning writers contributing wisdom on the craft and business of writing.

I’m not one of them. I can’t look down from a peak and shout directions to us climbers below about how to traverse the writing mountain. Yet.

How Successful Writers Actually Work: Finding a Writing Routine That Fits Your Life

From Edie: Discover how successful writers create writing routines that fit real life. Learn practical strategies to write consistently without waiting for the perfect moment.

How Successful Writers Actually Work: Finding a Writing Routine That Fits Your Life

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Don’t you wish you could discover how ‘famous’ writers do it? The popular writers. Those they talk to on TV and whose books are in the windows at Barnes and Noble.

I think most of us feel this way. In every interview I’ve heard with a writer, the question of how they write soon comes up. And you can see every listener lean up in their seat, hoping that this time, this time, they will hear those keywords that will make a difference in their own writing.

Writing Through Fear: How to Turn Anxiety Into Creative Strength

From Edie: Discover how writers can transform fear and anxiety into creative strength. Learn 3 practical ways to face the blank page with courage and confidence.

Writing Through Fear: How to Turn Anxiety Into Creative Strength

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Have you ever considered that the fear you have may actually be a strength?

I’ve put off writing this article all week. Which, when I think about it, is silly. I love writing, and I’m excited about my subject. I already have the outline and the points I want to make. But instead of sitting down to write, I’ve:

• Yelled at the dogs.
• Barked at my wife.
• And washed the sheets. Even though we’d washed them just yesterday. But we all know sheets can never be too clean, right?

You’re laughing at me because you know that what I’m going through is common. You’ve seen these activities, or similar ones, when you put off doing something. The little chores that you’ve put off must now be done before you can move on.

Back-to-School Lessons for Writers: Why Learning the Rules Matters

From Edie: Writers, take a lesson from school days—rules matter. Find out why learning them first is key to growth, creativity, and storytelling success.

Back-to-School Lessons for Writers: Why Learning the Rules Matters

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

At this time of year, returning to school is on many of our minds. Even for us, who no longer attend or must wait in the pickup line after school. (Although I have a niece who’s a principal and three who are teachers.) Maybe it’s all the notebooks and Crayola boxes displayed at the front of stores. Or it could be the back-to-school commercials. Or possibly, it’s all the frowns on the little kid’s faces and the big smiles on their parents’.

The start of school is like finding a Pandora’s box of what-ifs. It reminds us of the many questions we had as we looked forward to a new year of school. Will I make new friends? Will I like the teacher? Will the teacher like me?

Three Reasons Not to Be a GOAT Writer

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

I love watching TV sports shows. To me, many of the interesting things about sports aren’t the games but learning about the players. They are more than just numbers on shirts or jerseys. What they have to go through to reach their level of skill is inspiring. And humbling. To get where they are takes not only talent but a commitment that sometimes borders on obsession.

And each summer, like clockwork, when sports hit the annual slow period, the talking heads pull out their evergreen topics they like to argue. And one of the most popular arguments they like to rehash is: Who is the G.O.A.T? Who is the Greatest Of All Time?

Is Finding Your Writing Comfort Zone Truly Necessary?

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Virginia Woolf famously declared that a woman needs a room of her own if she’s to write fiction. I’m discovering the truth in that statement. My wife recently cut back on her work, which means she’s at home more. A good thing. But her mother and our son are already at our house most of the time. And with construction going on behind our house, it’s difficult to find the quiet time I need to concentrate on writing.

So, I’m venturing away from home these days to find a place where I can work comfortably. I didn’t realize it would be so difficult. I thought I’d only need a chair and a table. An outlet for the laptop. Maybe Wi-Fi. A nearby bathroom is a must. It’s the middle of summer here in South Carolina, so air conditioning is mandatory. Food, snacks, and drinks are important if I’m to write for longer than fifteen minutes. 

How Writers Can Save Time Using a Style Sheet

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Writing a book is not something you do in a day. Whether it’s fiction or nonfiction, creating a manuscript can take weeks, months, even years. And something that I’ve learned is expecting me to remember details from an earlier writing session is setting myself up for failure. Ain’t gonna happen.

Two Key Resources for Writers

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Once you have your novel written, all you need to do is write The End and you’re done, right? I wish. Wouldn’t it be great if that was the case? Unfortunately, that is usually when the real work begins. You have your story on paper (or the screen), now you have to make sure that other readers understand it. Thinking ‘they’ll figure it out’ is not the way to get readers. It’s the writer’s job to make sure the story is clear and to guide the readers through the action.

So how do you do this? Where can you go when you need to polish your story?

A Writer’s Journey Through the Jungle of Social Media

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

We have some smart people on this blog. Many are on top of social media and all of its recent changes. Others are having successful success at building platforms with beaucoup followers to promote their writing and teaching.

I’m not one of them.

Social media, technology, building platforms—they’re a jungle to me. Robert Frost wrote about two roads diverging in a yellow wood. This is more like the Atlanta highway system. Or a bowl of tangled spaghetti.

3 Tips for a Writer to Remember When Making Goals

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Let me take this time to wish y’all a healthy, happy, and blessed new year. For many of us, this is the time we look back over the previous year and then make plans for the new year. We look for new opportunities and we look for activities that kept us from reaching last year’s goals. Goal making isn’t a one-and-done activity. (Don’t we wish.) It’s a constant recalibration as we continue on this journey called life. 

A few years ago, I quit making New Year’s resolutions. I discovered so much during the year that I wanted to change, that waiting until the end of the year made it too overwhelming. Now, I make resolutions on a weakly, uh, weekly basis. Every weekend I plan to start Monday with a quick stretching workout, then spend a few morning hours working on my writing.

Sharing Jesus' Gifts Through Our Writing

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

What is it about the Christmas season that makes our culture more open to sharing the love and magic of Christ?

I know. I’ve heard a zillion times how our culture has highjacked Christmas. They’ve taken the meaning of Christmas and made it a marketing ploy instead of truly focusing on Christ. You would think Christmas was made to get us to look at the sales in the stores instead of the baby in a manger.

Pros and Cons for Writers Sharing a First Draft

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

You finish that first chapter or article you’ve been working on for so long, searching for every right word, and creating dialog that will send the grumpiest curmudgeon into laughing hysterics. And your first instinct is to share it with the nearest victim—I mean, friend.

But should you?

Tools That Help Us Write Through Life's Devastations

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

Devastation. We all face periods of devastation in our lives. One of Merriam-Webster definitions is to reduce to chaos, disorder, or helplessness.

Many of us are experiencing this on a whole new level after being hit by Hurricane Helene. The Big Wind Bag. The storm left unimaginable destruction in its wake over multiple states. Although, five days after the storm, we are still out of power; we were some of the fortunate ones. Four of the six homes across from us have huge trees lying on their roofs. And we are all saddened bu the stories we hear about some of our communities.

2 Options That are BETTER than the Advice to Write What You Know

by Tim Sudeth @TimSuddeth

How many of you have heard the rule ‘write what you know?’ It’s one of the first rules most writers are taught and many hold up as not to be argued with. It’s often used to help new writers find ‘their lane,’ what they must stick to with their writing. It’s simple, it’s widely shared, and it’s wrong.

But it sounds right, doesn’t it? Of course, we have to know about the subject that we write about. We don’t want to mislead people or sound ignorant. Isn’t that why many writers, especially of nonfiction, have initials behind their names? (I’m talking about initials like PHD, not Jr.)

Three Steps For Handling Writing Doubts

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth

I get some of my most interesting thoughts while I’m walking my two dogs. One day recently, I imagined the thrill of standing before a crowd of writers giving a keynote or teaching a master class or something similar. And even in the daydream, while I was enjoying the high of doing something I enjoy, one of those negative thoughts wriggled into my mind. You know what I mean? My joy, even in my imagination, crashed.