Writing tips God Assigns a Writing Exercise by John Backman Sometimes I have the urge to write but there is nothing to write, nothing that springs from the tenderest spot in my heart. Something is alive…
Writing tips King Lear – by Frederick Buechner There would be a strong argument for saying that much of the most powerful preaching of our time is the preaching of the poets, playwrights, novelists because it is often…
Writing tips The Reasons We Give The reasons we give for writing spiritual memoirs are often more practical than this abstract, heartfelt longing. We say we want to pass our stories along to our children, or…
Writing tips The Cabbage Looper - from “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard You write it all, discovering it at the end of the line of words. The line of words is a fiber…
Marketing tips, Writing tips Trust (part 2) When copies [of virtually everything can be copied] are free, you need to sell things that cannot be copied. Well, what can’t be copied? Trust, for instance. Trust cannot be…
Marketing tips, Publishing tips, Writing tips Flowing The Internet is the world’s largest copy machine. At its most fundamental level this machine copies every action, every character, every thought we make while we ride upon it. In…
Writing tips Is It Pertinent? - from “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard It is the beginning of a work that the writer threw away. A painting covers its tracks. Painters work from the…
Writing tips A Means to Engage That Creative Force It comforts me that I’m not alone. All sorts of people—elderly church-goers, prisoners, parents, teenage moms, recovering addicts, business executives, homeless people—are eager to put words to their spiritual journeys.…
Writing tips Do Not Write to an Audience On a retreat in Texas once, I heard Frederick Buechner say that he writes to people he loves and who really know him. “You use your real voice with those…
Marketing tips, Writing tips Father James Martin: “A Discussion on Spiritual Writing” The Rev. James Martin is a Jesuit priest, best-selling author, and editor at large at America, the national Catholic magazine. He is arguably the leading Catholic author. This extended interview…
Writing tips The Line of Words is a Hammer from “The Writing Life” by Annie Dillard When you write, you lay out a line of words. The line of words is miner’s pick, a woodcarver’s gouge, a surgeon’s probe.…
Writing tips Why Do We Write? What, then, could I do to ease my ache? If I prayed, God’s pervasive, dissatisfying silence only intensified my longing. Instead I dug into my jeans’ pockets for scrap paper…
Writing tips That Masterpiece Is In You by Patricia Kendalls A cool breeze tosses the sheer white curtain, allowing the sun’s rays to invade the tiny room. A sliver laptop and the aqua painted chipped mug…
Writing tips You Can’t be a Reader and a Writer - by Tony Jones A long time ago, someone told me, “The best writers are great readers.” The thinking was that if you read a lot — and read…
Marketing tips, Publishing tips, Writing tips Finding Your Blue Ocean In previous articles we’ve discussed the advantage of finding your own unique space in the market, which makes it easier for you to become “known” and build your following. Today…
Writing tips Our creativity rebirths the world Creativity can reveal the beauty and wonder of the spiritual life. Every time you create something, you are re-creating something that God created, and you are re-creating it in such…
Marketing tips, Publishing tips, Writing tips Trust Over the years, the concept of trust and how crucial it is for business success has evolved in my mind and grown in importance. The mental model I’ve chosen to…
Marketing tips, Writing tips Strong Is Knowing Your Own Power and Exercising It Humbly God’s grace sustains us through our beginnings and endings. Losing my mom when I was twenty felt like the end of being a daughter and the beginning of being a…
Writing tips Why fiction? – Part Two Originally posted on November 3, 2016 by Sarah Arthur A few weeks ago I woke up on a work day (I get only two per week) contemplating spending the morning…
Marketing tips, Writing tips Run It By Your Peers Neither test audiences nor managers are ideal judges of creative ideas. They're too prone to false negatives; they focus too much on reasons to reject an idea and stick too…
