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Words For Writers

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Let’s Get Crafty!

Let’s Get Crafty!

We often hear “Show rather than tell.” But sometimes, showing becomes a distraction for the reader as they attempt to picture something as they read. This is especially true when attempting to show common physical actions. For example: Showing: The corners of her...

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What’s Your Why?

What’s Your Why?

  Why do you write? Why do you put fingers to keyboard and pound out words? Why do you push forward? Most people who embark on a writing adventure discover writing is hard, sometimes excruciating, work. It’s work that requires much, including long periods of...

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Surrender in the Deep

Surrender in the Deep

What happens when you, as a writer, find yourself flailing in deep water? What do you do when you're ready to give up and go under? How do you stay afloat? What if God asks you to surrender? Does the deep have anything to offer a writer? In my interview with Erin...

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The Ultimate Rejection

The Ultimate Rejection

  It was the ultimate rejection. One of my favorite authors read my manuscript and . . . hated it.   Actually, he didn’t just hate the novel I’d written, he really hated it. As in, he emailed me and wrote: “I hate this story.” There was no silver lining,...

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Inspiration for the Writing Life from Merriam-Webster

Recently, I was accosted by a stereotypical Monday. I emerged from the gauze of sleep, stretched, pulled the covers tight, and nestled in like it was Saturday morning. Just as I was falling back into the bliss of slumber, the distant drone of traffic tapped at my...

Walk Away

Occasionally, you may want to walk away from something—a writing project, an overwhelming task, a relational issue. Just walk. Walk away despite the insistent voice hissing its condemning messages to your mind, your soul. When the voice condemns, there’s a good chance...

Finding the Forest

Sometimes, as writers, we lose sight of the forest for the trees. Focused on the details of our writing life, we forget to rest in the shade of God’s perfect plan. Over the last three years, I’ve struggled to see God’s plan for my career as a novelist—a struggle I’ve...

Preaching to the Choir?

Are those of us who write for the Christian marketplace “preaching to the choir,” crafting a message for those who already embrace the message? That question has swirled in my mind for many years. It came around again last month during the Words for Writers Book Club...

Live the Tension

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Hebrews 11:1–2 NIV Tension. Tension is unanswered questions. Tension is unresolved conflict. Tension is a crafting tool for writers....

Tips for Solid Planning

I am not a planner by nature. Instead, planning is a skill I’m nurturing, especially this month. I’ve set aside time to rest, recharge, and reevaluate the work I’m doing. To consider what, if anything, needs to change. To determine what I want to focus on moving...

In All Circumstances

Do you sometimes wish for things you don’t possess? Do you long for gifts you haven’t received? Each morning, I set out from my house in search of unobstructed views. I walk, hoping to find vistas where beauty beckons. Where the breeze whispers reminders. Of purpose...

Promote Myself? No, Thanks!

  Platform building is the consistent work of offering relationships to email subscribers and social media followers, first by attracting them, then by serving them with our authentic selves through the content we create and provide The 31-Day Platform Challenge...

Five Lessons from the Road to Publication

I pulled into the cabin’s driveway, put my car in park, and turned off the ignition. I stared into the inky night. The giant redwoods that surrounded the cabin, boughs stretched wide, offered strength and steadfastness in the light of day. But at night, they loomed.  ...

Rest + Community

Last week marked the end of a very long, busy summer of packing up my house and moving. Finally mostly settled, I put my to-do list aside and hopped in my car for a 45-minute drive across town to meet two other busy writers for lunch. A long lunch. A lunch that...

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