It’s contest season in the writing world! Perhaps you just submitted your entry to the ACFW Genesis contest earlier this week. There are lots of other contests coming up later …
Scene Equation: How to Start a Scene
When you unpack a novel, it is nothing more – and nothing less – than a series of scenes strung together. String the scenes together in the proper order – …
When an Author’s Backstory Sparks a Story Idea
At the very first My Book Therapy (MBT) Storycrafters Retreat in 2010, Susie May Warren had the attendees complete a seemingly simple – and insignificant – exercise on page nine of our workbooks.
I kept that workbook, the one with the working title of my manuscript scribbled inside the front cover: Wish You Were Here. Thanks to that weekend and how it changed my life and my writing, Wish You Were Here became a “real book” in 2012.
And I refer back to that seemingly insignificant exercise on page nine time and time again.
The What and Why of Writing: Essence
At the beginning of a novel, a character starts out in his identity – who he thinks he is. By the end of the story, if you’ve developed the story correctly, he ends up in his essence – who he really is.
The What and Why of Writing: Theme
There are so many vital elements that go into crafting a can’t-put-it-down manuscript: engaging characters, a vivid Storyworld, a strong spiritual thread and knowing what’s at stake in your story. …