We don’t want readers to read about our characters, we want them to experience their lives in the pages of our stories.
More Thoughts on the Birth of a Character
Recent Blog Posts
Writing
Birth of a Character
People have asked where my characters come from. My response frequently is, “I don’t know. He just showed up one day and said he had a story to tell.”
Finding the the Right Word, Part 2
Finding the right word is part of editing when we look to improve the first draft by finding words that better express what we want to say.
Finding That Right Word, Part 1
It seems to me the more writing I do, the more I find myself looking for the right word, the perfect word to convey what I want. Maybe it’s the color of a character’s eyes, or the fury in the sky as a thunderstorm scuds across the sky. It might …
Discouragement Is a Choice
There are plenty of others in the writing universe eager to stomp on someone’s dream. I don’t want to be one of them.
Choose to Succeed
Recently, I received a rejection from an agent. One of those non-specific rejections. You know, the ones that say something like “not a good fit for me.” Something about my writing did not strike either the agent as worthy of representation or publication. And it added to a string …
What Makes for a Successful Writer?
Or is success for a writer a whimsical gift distributed apparently without rhyme or reason by the fairy god-agent-publisher?
Spiff Up Our Writing, Part 2
In last week’s blog, Click Here I wrote about some things we can do to spiff up our writing by looking at the words we use. I recommended avoiding boring words and delayed action words. This week, I want to look at what are sometimes called filter words. Words like …
Spiff Up Our Writing
One definition of spiffing up our writing means composing stories that draw the reader into the world we’re creating. How do we do that? We hear about creating interesting characters, writing vivid descriptions, and having plots that can carry the weight of the story. One of the basic tools we …
The Call to Create
As writers, we create works to inspire others, to encourage others, to give to others, to share Jesus with others. Even when writing seems a drudge, even when we are not inspired or when the muse is silent, we are called to create, to keep writing through the muck.