Writing tips Raw material This is why so many inexperienced writers get writer’s block. They try to edit before the generative flow is finished. They start thinking analytically too early, and so the material…
Writing tips An opportunity for personal growth A great many writers are interested in memoir because they understand it to be a spiritual practice. On the surface, writing memoir may seem like a flat transcription of memories,…
Writing tips Voice Equals Psyche Unfortunately, nobody tells a writer how hard cobbling together a voice is. Look under “voice” in a writing textbook, and they talk about things that seem mechanical – tone, diction,…
Writing tips To Recall and Relive “Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings,” writes William Wordsworth in his preface to Lyrical Ballads essentially the opening sentence in Romantic literature. He goes on to say that…
Writing tips Kurt Vonnegut’s Advice for the Impatient Writer Hint: Don't Wait For Your Loved Ones to Die https://lithub.com/kurt-vonneguts-advice-for-the-impatient-writer/
Writing tips A Matter of the Will A few years ago I had lunch with a friend in Chattanooga. His name is Chris Slaten, and he’s an excellent songwriter, performing under the name Son of Laughter.…
Marketing tips, Writing tips You are the only one who can practice your skills You are not in control of the process by which your art is made. But you are the only one who can practice your skills so that you have the…
Writing tips What we are writing is the book we wish we had read When we write with the professed hope of helping others, I suspect that many of us are really writing for our former selves. The intention to help others is generous;…
Writing tips The Long Lovely Journey During my first years of serious writing, I labored under the conceit that I was writing a book. The thought was bracing; it motivated me to climb out of bed…
Writing tips Out of the Great Hodgepodge of Your Life – by Frederick Buechner The word fiction comes from a Latin verb meaning "to shape, fashion, feign." That is what fiction does, and in many ways it is what faith does too You fashion…
Writing tips Revision Changes the Writer’s Role If a first draft is a private romp in the woods, consequent drafts teach us about the flora and fauna, the geology, the contours of the landscape. Our intimacy with…
Writing tips The Three Hats On a shelf in the little room where I write, there are three hats. The first one is a black beret. If you could see me walking through the…
Writing tips A Matter of Life and Death by Andrew Peterson When I was a freshman in high school I got a Yamaha scooter for my birthday. Actually I bought it for a few hundred bucks earned…
Marketing tips, Writing tips Integrity: Who I Am A person of integrity is congruent, outwardly manifesting who she or he truly is on the inside. Integrity requires that, first of all, I know who I am; then,…
Writing tips When we write and publish about spiritual matters, we stand in a pulpit We may think we are just journaling in public, writing about our day, and how we interacted with God. Readers may find our experiences and reflections helpful or…
Writing tips Using WordSeeking to Get Your Story Started from "Your Story Matters" by Leslie Leyland Fields One of the biggest misconceptions about writers is that they sit around and think up Important Literary Things and…
Writing tips A Tightrope Writing is a tightrope because on the one hand we are told as Christians not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought, and on the other we are…
Writing tips It’s Okay to Make a Scene from "Your Story Matters" by Leslie Leyland Fields Sometimes it’s hard to write about something we know well. We all have pieces of our lives that are…
Writing tips Good Habits: Choose Your Influences Every day I am formed. Situations, pressures within and without, and my own fears and desires shape me through conversations and mundane activities such as commuting or preparing a…
Writing tips In the Midst of It All, Your Writing Still Matters by Jevon Bolden https://www.jevonbolden.com/blog/2020/3/27/in-the-midst-of-it-all-your-writing-still-matters