• Mid-Year Writing Check-In

    People all around the world add “write a book” to their list of resolutions at the start of each year. By July many forgot they made that promise to themselves. Life gets busy and responsibilities start to stack up. Dreams of becoming an author slip to the wayside—only to be dusted off at the onset of another new year. Did you promise yourself you would finish a writing project this year and stalled out somewhere between January and now? Don’t worry, there’s still time to focus back in and accomplish your writing goals before 2019 comes to an end. Here…

  • Great Beginnings: Starting a Novel

    By your side is a ratty notebook, bruised black and blue with the smeared ink of furiously scribbled ideas that came to you at midnight, dotted with translucence from the epiphany you had about your villain, while still wet from a shower.  You’ve finally decided to write the story that has been stirring around in your heart and mind—now what do you start typing on that blank page facing you? How do you introduce readers to the crazy, beautiful world in your head?  Starting a novel is tricky, but those first few lines are vital to your book. The characters, setting,…

  • 6 Tips to Make Your Book a Page-Turner

    Have you ever read a book you just couldn’t put down? Have you ever stayed up way past your bedtime because you just couldn’t stop reading? Can you imagine your book capturing a reader like that? Here are six tips that can make your book a page-turner: 1. Write about something you are passionate about. Prayer, evangelism, your story or testimony — whatever has the most meaning to you. Passion is always the key ingredient to great writing and is very contagious. 2. Develop a compelling theme overflowing with meaning. Pick a solid message or strong story for your book…

  • 10 Steps to Becoming a Highly Effective Writer

    Writing and procrastination might stereotypically go hand-in-hand, but no one has ever written a book by procrastinating. The only way to write a book is to write. It’s a crazy concept—I know. But if F. Scott Fitzgerald procrastinated on The Great Gatsby, none of us would even know such a book existed. So, how do we reverse procrastination, start putting words on paper, and cross the finish line? Let’s break it down. Here are 10 habits you can adopt to become a highly effective writer. Become a reader. The best writers are the best readers. Read anything and everything you can get your…