Archive for January, 2012

Writing Suspense (part 2 of 2)

Writing Suspense (part 2 of 2)
By Lillian Duncan

Click here for the first part of this article.

OVERWRITING

There’s a fine line between excellent writing and overwriting. Overwriting tends to take a good plot and turn it into melodrama. Unfortunately, many unpublished suspense/mystery writers (and some published) mistake melodrama for good writing.

Sometimes the more emotional the scene the better it is to keep your “flowery” writing to a minimum. Here’s a checklist of things to be careful about.

Word choices. I’m sure […]

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Member Shout-Outs for January

It’s time to give a cheer for these awesome FaithWriters’ members and their writing accomplishments!

STEVE W. FITSCHEN had an op-ed piece published in the Washington Times. CONGRATULATIONS!

ANNIE KEYS had a story chosen for publication in Write Integrity Press’s upcoming book, “Lessons From The Heart.” WOOWOO!!

LAURIE GLASS was interviewed on The Christian Authors Show about her book, “Journey to Freedom from Eating Disorders.” SUPER!!

RACHEL BURKUM‘s latest book, “Smatterings of an Analytical Loner” – a collection of short stories, poems, and devotional-style […]

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Meet Page Turner Runner-Up Ann Grover

If you missed them, be sure to stop by and read the interviews with winner Dee Yoder and other runner up Sydney Avey.

Ann Grover is a wonderful writer (one of my personal favorites at FaithWriters!). A Writing Challenge regular, she has received many ECs, and was 2010’s Best of the Best, as well as placing second and third in earlier years in that contest. And NOW, her novel, “Prairie” is highly commended in the 2011 Page Turner contest.

Read on, and get […]

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Writing Suspense

Writing Suspense (part 1 of 2)
by Lillian Duncan

I love reading and writing suspense. No matter how hard I try to write something else, it always turns into a mystery or suspense. One agent suggested I write an Amish story since I live in Amish country but before the end of the first chapter, I had a dead body. What can I say?

First, let’s look at some definitions. These are my working definitions, and so you’re allowed to disagree.

MYSTERY is a […]

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The First Full Bible in English

I’m sure most of us have more than one copy of the Bible in our home – many of us in more than one translation. It’s a common thing these days.

But in the scale of things, it wasn’t so long ago that this would have been impossible. That changed, at least partly, because of a man who died 443 years ago today. In 1535, Bible Translator Myles Coverdale produced the first complete printed Bible into English. The Coverdale Bible made […]

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Meet Page Turner Runner-Up Sydney Avey

Check out Page Turner winner Dee Yoder’s interview here.

I hope you enjoyed Dee’s interview last week (link above). Well, she was not the only person recognized in the 2011 Page Turner Fiction contest. Read below as you learn a bit more about one of two highly commended winners – Sydney Avey. And heeere’s Sydney!

JOANNE: When do you first remember developing a passion/love for writing?

SYDNEY: I began writing poetry in the third grade. My teacher sent my poems into the Palo […]

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Strategies for Effective Marketing

Strategies for Effective Marketing

by Jennifer Slattery

Finally! After a decade of rewrites, you’ve signed your first contract. Now you can bask in your fame while large royalty checks roll in, right?

Perhaps in a Hollywood movie, but in today’s fight-or-die industry, selling your book to a publisher is only part of the battle. The real work comes long before your baby hits the stores because effective marketing begins and ends with you. Yet, with over 275,000 American titles […]

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An Old-Fashioned Letter

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone?

No – not an email. Not jotted a couple words in a card. Sat down, with a pen and paper, and WROTE a letter?

That long, eh?

I’m guilty too – the art of letter-writing has diminished, if not disappeared, over the past years – and decades.

Well, this week (January 8-14) is Universal Letter Writing Week. People are encouraged to put down their electronic devices and hand write letters to folks.

I don’t […]

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Meet Page Turner Winner Dee Yoder!

I’m so excited to introduce my dear, dear friend, Dee Yoder, the winner of the 2011 Page Turner Contest. Read on to find out about her excitement about this win, what an amazing year 2011 was for her in the writing front, and her wonderful family.

JOANNE: When do you first remember developing a passion/love for writing?

DEE: As most writers will say, I was a child when I wrote my first “book.” I also drew many pictures to go along with […]

12 Comments

How To Cut The Fat Out Of Your WIP -Part 2 of 2

PUTTING OUR BABIES ON A DIET:
or How To Cut The Fat Out Of Your WIP (Part 2 of 2)

By Gina Conroy

(CLICK HERE FOR PART 1)

Resist the Urge to Explain (RUE)

In an effort to make my character’s motivations clear, I often tried to explain them through internal dialogue, external dialogue or both. Then I started asking myself “Does the reader need to know this now?” If the answer was no, I cut it and looked for a […]

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