(I’m not generally one to toot my own horn – especially on this blog – but it looks like I have no choice :::blush::: )
The FaithWriters’ Writing Challenge is on a break right now, with the last winners of the “Evolution of Language” quarter announced just last week. And that means it’s time to announce the four winners of the quarterly level awards. The highest scoring entry in EACH LEVEL over each entire ten-week quarter receives a $50 cash prize.
And […]
Have you entered FaithWriters’ latest blogging contest? You could win paid writing assignments – or a free gold membership. But the deadline is coming up fast – so don’t delay!
The current contest is for the Pocket Testament League, a 120+-year-old organization whose main focus is leading people to a saving knowledge of Christ and equipping others to do the same.
To enter the contest, you need to write a 750-word-or-less promotional review of their site/ministry whose goal is to encourage readers […]
NOTE: These tips also work for individual critiques. Check out The Critique Circle at FaithWriters. 🙂
How to Get the Most Out of a Critique/Critique Group
By Suzanne Hartmann
1. Realize that your writing isn’t perfect.
This may sound like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised. You have spent so much time and poured so much effort into your writing. You have read up on the craft of writing. You have revised and polished your work until it shines. What can your […]
Marketing your books can be scary, and difficult, for writers – perhaps especially Christian ones. Well, Sarah Bolme knows all about it. In fact, she wrote an award-winning book on the subject – a book that she is offering to FaithWriters’ members for a discount (click here for details).
Read on to learn about Sarah’s journey, her award-winning Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace (with a foreward by Sally Stuart), and marketing tips you can use now!
JOANNE SHER: […]
Proactive and Reactive Scenes
By Randy Ingermanson
It sounds horribly old-fashioned to say this, but once a month, I go to a critique group with real, live writers.
These days, it seems that most writers communicate electronically. That’s all fine, but it’s just more fun to get together in person, so we do it.
One of the most common questions I ask after somebody reads a scene is, “What happened in this scene?”
Something needs to happen in every scene. Otherwise, there’s no […]
Casting God
By Sydney Avey
In A Praying Life, author Paul E. Miller suggests that we consider carefully who we think we are talking to when we pray. I often cast God in benign roles that focus on what He can do for me. Example: God is my boss, and if I serve him well he will give me good things.
When praying about my writing life, I consider the seeds I am sowing on the path that meanders before me. […]
“Was” Killin’
By Linda Yezak
Sometimes you can’t get around using “was,” but more often than not, it’s a sign of the author’s laziness. The verb is sluggish, blah, boring. It lacks pizzazz.
It’s time to whack it out of use as much as possible and replace it with active verbs and, if necessary, rewrite entire sentences to make the sentences more active.
We’ve talked on this site before about using past tense vs what I’ll call “continuous” past for […]
Need a good book to read? Want to help out some up and coming authors? Want a chance to win a cash prize? FaithWriters members have a great opportunity to do all of these things – but time is running out (for the cash prize, anyway).
Do you know what one of the most valuable things is to published authors these days? What can boost sales and get more recognition in the world of books?
Book reviews – that’s what. With the […]
