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

Kelvin Fowler took second place in the 2012 Robert Burns Poetry Competition of New Zealand. WONDERFUL!

Matthew Miller‘s short novel, Shadow of the Master, written with his late mother, is now published. SUPER!

David I. Good‘s eBook, Captivated By the Heart of God: 40 Daily Devotionals From the Life of a Worship Leader, is now available from Kindle Direct Publishers. EXCITING!

Debbie Button‘s story, “Learning to be Myself,” […]

Treasure Hunting Marathon
By Patty Wysong

If you’re relatively new to this writing thing, remember it’s a marathon and you can’t sprint a marathon. Trying to burns you out long before the finish line is in sight. Use these first years (yes, years is plural) to lay a foundation, to practice, to make contacts, to build your platform, and to build your endurance muscles.

How do you
eat an elephant?
One bite at a time.

If you have young children at home, […]

Are you working on a nonfiction book? Interested in entering part of it for a fabulous prize?

If you are a Platinum 500 member, it’s time to get that first chapter and synopsis ready for this year’s Page Turner contest. If you’re a Platinum member, click here to find out all the details, and submit your application. (Non-Platinum members who would like to know more, you can find out here )Want to become a Platinum member? Click here to become one.

This […]

What Do I Do While I Wait?
By Lynn Dove

For several weeks now, many of my friends and my “fans” on Facebook have asked me the same question over and over again, “When is the book coming out?….and what are you doing while you’re waiting?”

I think the hardest thing for me to do…EVER…is wait. I am not the “waiting” kind! I want things to happen yesterday, meaning I don’t have much patience or stamina to wait for anything, ever!

I […]

Evaluating a Story Idea

By Megan DiMaria

How do you evaluate a story idea for your novel? How do you determine if it will fly?

As a rule of thumb, if a topic fires your passion, it’s a good idea to pursue a story based on that topic. However, if the topic is only important to you or only familiar to you or only true to you, it doesn’t necessarily make it universal enough to interest readers.

So, how […]

WHY DO YOU WRITE?

By Judy Schwab

Someone might ask, “Why do you write?” and you in turn might ask, “Why do you breathe or why do you eat?”

We write because we have to, because if we don’t and the words or thoughts stay inside, unexpressed, then we are restless and dissatisfied with ourselves.

We write in response to what we see going on about us in the real world and what we imagine […]

Yeah – YESTERDAY was Valentine’s Day – but still. It’s not the only day for romance, is it?

Just about every novel-length work geared toward the “older-than-elementary-school-aged” reader has at least a bit of romance woven in. And romance novels are the best selling genre of all Christian fiction. There’s something about boy meets girl that grabs many folks’ attention.

And often, the love in romance – inspirational romance, anyway – reminds us of the most amazing love of all: that of […]

BRAINSTORMING CONFLICTS

By Gail Gaymer Martin

Brainstorming ideas can work wonders for plots and scenes. When tossing ideas into the “hat” nothing is too silly, because even the goofy idea can trigger another great possibility. One method of brainstorming that digs more deeply into a situation is using questions to provoke new possibilities for story conflict.

Once you have a basic plot idea, then questions can provide what you need. First take your […]

Thought it would be fun to get to know each other, and our writing, a bit better. Feel free to answer these questions in the comments, or post them on your own blog and put a link in the comments.

Do you write fiction or non-fiction? Or both?

I write both.

Do you keep a journal or a writing notebook?

Nope – though I usually keep a notebook with me to jot down ideas I may come up with.

If you write fiction, do […]

Feeling Emotional? Don’t Tell Anyone
By Edie Melson

. . . instead show them

Telling the story, instead of showing it, is one of the most common mistakes beginners make. During the first draft almost all of us, no matter how advanced, tend to tell a lot of the story. It’s only natural. This is the time when our manuscript comes together and telling allows us to develop the bones or structure of the story before we refine it into a compelling work of […]