What Writers Can Learn from Olympic Athletes

by Cynthia Owens @EfficiencyADict

You may be wondering why I’m writing about the Olympics now. Didn’t we just have one of those? And isn’t the next one a couple of years away? Yes, to both of those questions, but something has stayed with me since our last Olympic games. It’s a thought that keeps reverberating in my mind.

What kind of writer would I be if I trained and “performed” like those Olympic athletes?

Tips for Writing with Emotion

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.

I still get chills when I hear those words. Something inside me churns. I scoot a little closer to the television. As the stars shoot past me on the screen, I am drawn into the next adventure of the Enterprise. Excitement. Anticipation. A touch of anxiety – all emotions set into play by the author.

3 Reasons Blogging Helps Authors Grow Readership

Edie here again. I've got another treat for you all - a second guest post this week. This one is from my friend, Jennifer Slattery. She's visited with us before and always has valuable things to share. Be sure to check out her newest book, too, Restoring Love (details at the end of the post).

3 Reasons Blogging Helps Authors Grow Readership

by Jennifer Slattery @JenSlattery

With over 152 million blogs on the Internet, why would anyone read yours? Is blogging even worth your time?

Cliffhangers for Novelists—Tips to Use Them Effectively

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

“It was a fast read. I couldn’t put it down.”

Nothing rings sweeter to an author’s heart than these words. The moment a reader becomes so invested in a story that nothing is more important than reading to the end – It’s monumental!

We call these page turners “cliffhangers” – remember “who shot J. R.?” The 1980s season cliffhanger for Dallas kicked off a new era for television. More so, it kept watchers drooling to know what happened next, assuring Dallas a knockout for the next season’s opener.

Creating Life-like Characters

by Kathy Neely 

If you’re a writer, you are familiar with the story elements that keep readers turning the pages. 

Characters, plot, setting, conflict, resolution. You can simplify or expand the list, but the building blocks are basically the same. 

While none can survive exclusive of the others, there’s something crucial about creating life-like characters. Your readers need to love them, hate them, and think about them when they close the book. No matte` how gripping the plot, it’s nothing if readers don’t relate to your characters.

The Critique Group Leader

by Henry McLaughlin @RiverBendSagas

Leadership is tough work. It may look easy to the outsider but to the person in charge, challenges compete with, and sometimes threaten, success.

Leading a writers critique group is one of the hardest yet most rewarding places to be.

Tips to Add Depth to Your Writing Through Color

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Writers are always looking for ways to deepen their writing. That’s who we are and what we do.

We explore the psychology of our characters to add tension and conflict to our projects.

We twist our plots and add dimension to narrative and setting.

When writers use color to establish emotion, the reader is able to experience the actions and reactions on a higher level. Emotions become vivid, and symbolism weaves into the storyline.

When You Write, Don’t Forget Rover & Whiskers

by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson

As people, we have long been influenced by the pets in our lives.

My husband and I rescued our first cat in 1981 when “Ke Ke” showed up at our back door on a rainy night. I fed her … I didn’t know better … and thus we found ourselves owned by a cat. For a LOT of years. We rescued our first dog in 1990 when our oldest daughter took a summer “job” at the local shelter. “Come look, come look,” she said to her father when he went to pick her up on her first day. He looked. I looked. We “bought.” We had Aimee for nearly 17 years. Then there was Oreo … and Hope and Angel … and Poods. Pets have been a part of our day to day existence for 35 years. We have albums of photos to prove it. And these bits of fluff and fur are as much a part of our family as the kids and grandkids.

Recycle Those Blog Posts!

by Molly Jo Realy @RealMoJo68

Everyone loves a good repeat. Am I right? We buy DVDs to watch our favorite movies more than once. We keep leftovers in the fridge for the next dinner. We revisit our favorite coffee shop, public garden, and stores.

The same goes for social media and blogging.

Why an Indie Author Needs a Slush Pile

by Traci Tyne Hilton @TraciTyneHilton

Do you know the number of terrible books I have written in the last six years? (No! It is not easy to find via an Amazon search of my name!)

It’s a lot. I have started books and scrapped them on several occasions. I have finished and abandoned books, too.

It's Okay to Take Time to Flex Your Writing Wings Before You Fly

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

A lot of newer writers I meet find themselves overwhelmed with the myriad of opportunities in the field of writing. They struggle, trying to decide between writing articles, devotions, fiction, non-fiction, etc. Writing is a big field, and if you didn’t study some aspect of it in college, the choices can be daunting.

My suggestion—take a deep breath—you don’t have to start out with a specialty. As a matter of fact, until you’ve tried several different types of projects, you probably shouldn’t limit yourself too much. Even those of us with formal training find ourselves morphing into a different kind of writer than we envisioned at the start of our career.

Streamline Your Writing Life with These 10 Tips

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson

10 Tips to streamline your writing life.

So often we make things harder than they have to be. Sometimes we do it because we’re used to doing things a certain way, or because it’s the only way we know how. But things change quickly these days, and it’s always a good thing to take a look at your routine with a fresh eye. Today I’m going to share some tips to streamline your writing life. Some you may already do, some you may not have ever considered. Just take a look at the list with an open mind and see if there’s anything on it that can make your life easier.

Article Writing Basics

by Linda Gilden @LindaGilden

As a fulltime freelance writer, people are often surprised when I say I love to write articles. “Articles?” they say. “How did you learn to do that? Why do you want to write articles?”

When I hear that I am amazed. I cut my writing teeth on articles. They were shorter therefore my research took less time. I could write on many different subjects and learn about things I never knew existed. In fact, when I started out the idea of writing an entire book was overwhelming.

I Want to Be a Writer

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted

My first writers conference was . . . well . . . intimating. I attended alone. It was the days prior to GPS and maneuvering my way through the one-way streets of downtown Asheville was a little disorienting. Those were the days before Google maps and you had to do your best to follow poorly devised instructions on Rand McNally.

10 Beginner Blogging Mistakes to Avoid

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
(The Winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is listed at the bottom of the post!)

Blogging can be a great way to build a platform and connect with our audience—if we do it right. 

Doing it wrong can often do more harm than good. 

Today I’m going to go over some beginner blogging mistakes we all need to avoid.

Writing Education - A Never-Ending Story

Writing Education - A Never-Ending Story

By Bruce Brady @BDBrady007

Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life. You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail (Proverbs 19:20-21 NLT).

Writing is continuing education.

In research science and academia there’s a saying, publish or perish. May I be so bold as to coin a phrase? Learn or burn.

A Great Book For Writers - The Chunky Method Handbook

by Lynn H Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn

Any book with the words “Your step-by-step plan to WRITE THAT BOOK even when life gets in the way” in the title was guaranteed to grab my attention.

Because life *always* gets in the way.

Of course as a professional, I know what I’m supposed to do.

Write anyway.

I try to grab a few minutes to write in the middle of the day, but part of my brain says, “Why bother? You’ll barely get started before you have to stop.” So I try to write in the evening, but then my body says, “Are you kidding me? I need some sleep.”

Facing The Dreaded Critique Group, Part 2

by Henry McLaughlin @RiverBendSagas

OK. You made the plunge and decided to join a critique group.

What should you expect?

One is respect for each of us as a person and as a group. Be on time at the beginning and at the end. Respect each other as people and as colleagues striving to be the best we can be. Treat each other as the professional writers we are.

The First Question I Ask Every New Writer

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills

Many serious people in this world endeavor to write a book. They have an idea, either fiction or nonfiction, that appeals to them. They:

• Think about the topic.
• Dive into what’s essential for a fiction or nonfiction book.
• Plan subject matter and chapters.
• Talk about their writing project to friends and family.
• Prepare necessary research.
• Create an outline.
• Trust in its success.

Every one of these practices is excellent, but the first question I ask every new writer is, “What is your passion?” How can a writer expect readers to be excited about a book unless the writer is emotionally involved?

What’s So Great About Florida Christian Writers Conference

by Eva Marie Everson @EvaMarieEverson

For the past four years, Mark Hancock (who serves as Director of FCWC alongside me) and I have worked hard to bring the best in Christian publishing to Florida Christian Writers Conference.

This coming year’s conference is no exception. And, this year we offer a few changes and surprises I’d like to share with you. Here are the first four.