Welcome to the Friday CAN post this December from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com. I always happy to share information for writers on techniques of writing, especially writing fiction. Readers are important so knowing how to help them connect to what you write is important. I hope this post will provide you with techniques and ideas that work. Readers love stories that mean something to them. They may never experience the same event or problem, but they’ve had similar experiences or fears that those things might happen to them. It’s through the emotion authors bring to the characters that makes…
Category: Writing craft
This is our archive pagePUGS Pointers #28
Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about "PUGS"–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories. For more PUGS tips, check out my website, or get a copy of my book Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors (due for release in January 2014). If you’re interested in working with a freelance editor (or know someone who is), e-mail me through the contact page of my…
Writing Devotions for Children
When writing devotions for children, the challenge is to keep them kid-friendly while addressing a variety of spiritual topics. A picture book can zero in on one theme or concept and use 24 + pages to develop the lesson. In devotional books, however, the writer has only one or two pages to develop a complete message.
The Aching and Powerful Fragility and Strength of Memory
It is poignantly fitting that National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month occurs in the same month as one of our most memorable holidays – Thanksgiving Day. Alzheimer’s is a disease that robs people of their memories. Thanksgiving Day is an occasion when people gather to celebrate, give thanks, and weave conversation from past to present to future memories. Photos, videos, and audio recordings will be made during the festivities. And some of these will make their way sometime in the future into the lap of someone who once participated and remembered, but now needs to be gently coaxed to even recognize the…
Backstory Is a Whole Other Story
Hi, Dave Fessenden here with some thoughts on writing for this Friday blog. I am experienced in nonfiction—I wrote a book on the subject, in fact—but when it comes to fiction, I still have a lot to learn. My first novel is coming out this month (The Case of the Exploding Speakeasy), and though I’m getting a lot of good reviews, I am not sure I’m ready to teach about fiction. With that disclaimer, let me share an observation I had when reviewing a potential client’s fiction manuscript.
Themes: Give Your Fiction Purpose
Good morning and a joyful November to you from Gail Gaymer Martin at www.gailgaymermartin.com Time has flown and here I am again to share with you some thoughts on making our novels even more meaningful so readers remember than weeks and months to follow. Readers remember some novels long after they’ve read them, and one of reasons is the theme or the message that the story delivers to the reader. When working on your novel, ask yourself these questions: What will happen, and why does it matter? What will the characters learn and how will they grow? How will this…
PUGS Pointers #27
Hi! I’m Kathy Ide. In addition to being a published author, I’m a full-time professional freelance editor. For CAN, I’m blogging about "PUGS"–Punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling…tips for writers based on the most common mistakes I see in the manuscripts I edit. Each blog post will have one tip for each of the four categories. (For more PUGS tips, check out my website, or get a copy of my book Polishing the PUGS (available through the website or at the conferences where I teach). If you’re interested in working with a freelance editor (or know someone who is), e-mail me through the contact…
Tips From the Pros: David E. Fessenden
Greetings from Colorado this colorful season. Davalynn Spencer here to introduce David E. Fessenden, author, editor, and teacher. Welcome, David. Tell us how you got into writing? I have always loved words and been good at expressing myself in written form. So when I prayed about what major to pursue in college, I sensed God saying, “How about a writer?” and so I studied journalism.
No Time Like the Present
Hi! Maureen Pratt here with my monthly blog. Usually, I write in this space about the craft of writing. But today, I want to take a bit of time out to ask: Are you ready for the flurry of the holiday season? Or, more to the point, are you looking ahead to the next couple of months to make sure that writing commitments can be fulfilled in a quality way while the social and spiritual whirl of November and December move all about? I find this time of year one of the most inspirational, but also one of the most…
Are You Stretching Yourself?
Hi, Dave Fessenden here, with a question for my fellow Christian writers: Are you stretching yourself? There are many times in my ministry as a Christian writer in which I feel like I’m becoming stagnant, like I’m writing with my eyes closed. When I feel that way, I try to counteract it by delving into a genre of writing with which I am unfamiliar. Though this is hard, it can be be a great growing experience. No, I don’t always come up with something publishable that way, but that’s OK; the purpose of the exercise is not to produce great…
