Who Makes a Great Writing Mentor?
By Bob Valleau

Writing mentors are important and can be a profound influence in the success of your writing adventure. Can you recall, from your past, who believed in your writing ability and influenced your life as a writer?

For me, there were many: my high school journalism teacher, who seemed to give me endless writing assignments for the features section of our school paper; my college creative writing teacher, who challenged me with impromptu writing exercises; […]

I’ve been told many times, by many different people, that if I want to be a better writer, there are two things I should do:

Write
Read

Well, the first, I think, needs little explanation or discussion. The second perhaps more. Reading (especially well-written things) can help you learn new strategies for improving your own writing, and give you a better idea of what works, what sells, what’s popular. It’ especially important, they say, to read in your own genre. There are several […]

Read Lynda Schab’s interview with BoB first place winner Tracy Nunes here.

Read my interview with BoB second place winner Jody Day here.

Francy Judge has been entering the Writing Challenge for several years – and is thrilled to have been recognized as third place Best of the Best. Read on to find out about her doubts about her writing talent, what she loves about FaithWriters, and the extent she was willing to go to get her challenge entry in in the […]

The current blog contest at FaithWriters can not only benefit the winners of it, but every person who has a book in the FaithWriters bookstore. So check it out, and enter!

Called “Christian Books,” the contest aims to increase the use of the FaithWriters book store, both by authors and readers.

Not only can you purchase books by FaithWriters members, but you can also buy Christian books from Amazon through the site – and your purchase will help support FaithWriters and spread […]

BE the Tree
By Linda Yezak

You want to deepen your POV(point of view)? “Be the tree.” Immerse yourself in the moment. Understand the character’s backstory and psychological motives and personal identification and current situation. Conjure actions, reactions, and emotions based upon what you know about your character–because by now, you are your character.

Does this sound remotely familiar? It’s called “Method Acting,” and according to Wikipedia, a wide variety of actors still practice it.

Actors are lucky. They only have to learn […]

Have you submitted your entry to the Testimony Contest yet? If not, you’re seriously running out of time. You only have until tomorrow, Saturday July 20, at 11am ET to get that piece in.

The top forty entries will be published in a book later this year, in cooperation with FaithWriters,  bestselling author JJ Hebert, and his publishing company Mindstir Media. Those accepted will receive an ongoing portion of royalties on sales of the book.

There will be three categories for entries […]

Read Lynda Schab’s interview with first place Best of the Best winner, Tracy Nunes, here.

Jody Day had a pretty exciting week or so back at the end of June/ beginning of July – and it wasn’t just because she came in second place in Best of the Best here at FaithWriters! Read below and learn about her love of writing and reading, how she came up with the idea for her award-winning entry, and her debut novel that just released!

JOANNE: […]

Do you have books in the FaithWriters bookstore? Would you like to increase your sales? Or, are you a reader who’ d love to get a free book in exchange for an honest review?

FaithWriters has started a new program that will benefit BOTH of you!

The folks at FaithWriters know that books without reviews don’t sell well. AND that some folks would love to have free books by Christian authors. So they’ve created a program to help.

The Free Reads for Reviews […]

Your Opening Pages – Pitfalls to Avoid
By Dorothy Love

In countless writing classes and workshops, aspiring writers are urged to make their opening pages memorable, to “hook the reader” from the outset. Easy to say, hard to do,  judging from the common problems I see in opening pages I’m asked to critique.  Here are some pitfalls you may want to avoid on your way to drawing readers into your fictional world, and some suggestions for making your opening pages shine.

Spending too […]

The interview of FaithWriters’ Writing Challenge Best of the Best winner (presented, IN PERSON, at the FaithWriters Conference in Portland!) is up – be sure to check it out below. AND, watch this spot for interviews with the second and third place Best of the Best winners (Jody Day and Francy Judge) coming soon.

Tracy Nunes joined FaithWriters in 2010 and entered her first Writing Challenge a few months later. Although a few of her entries have placed in the top […]