Why start with creating your characters? If you write fiction, you know that there are two kinds of fiction. There is action-driven fiction that is fast-paced and all about the plot. Then there is character-driven fiction which is what I write. While the plot is slower, the characters and the […]
Learning the Craft: Genre
What is a genre? It is a category, a definition that files your book into an accepted compartment or sort. Why is genre important? Because there are specific rules for each genre. Word counts, plots, marketing, and publication all depend on the kind of genre you write. That’s not to […]
Learning the Craft: Finding your Voice
What is the writer’s voice? It is that special magic that agents and publishers look for. The literary agent, Rachel Gardner, defines the writer’s voice like this: “Your writer’s voice is the expression of YOU on the page.” It is the essence of the author and reflects the writer’s personality, […]
Learning the Craft: Introduction
It’s never too late! I didn’t start writing until I was fifty-two. I loved reading religious magazines and while I was reading I thought to myself, I would have phrased this that way or I would have written about this. Finally, one day, I put pen to paper, or rather […]
Review of “Charlotte’s Honor” by Ellen Gable
I eagerly awaited the second installment of this trilogy. I so enjoyed the first of book, Julia’s Gifts, that I couldn’t imagine Ellen Gable would be able to top book number one. I should have known better. Ellen Gable is so extremely talented that she never fails to entertain and […]
Online Writers Conference to Coach Catholic Writers to Success
Online Writers Conference to Coach Catholic Writers to Success Contact: Karina Fabian, Catholic Writers Guild, 805-304-4433 Online–September 14-16, 2018, the Catholic Writers Guild will host, via webinar, an online writers conference focused on helping Catholic writers succeed in their craft. The Catholic Writers Conference Online provides Catholic writers with […]
The Twelve Steps to Being a Spiritual Writer
Step Twelve- Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we will carry this message to other writers and practice these principles in all our affairs. What are the principles we learned as we traveled through the twelve steps to being a spiritual writer? In step […]
The Twelve Steps to being a Spiritual Writer
Step Eleven – Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our writing by seeking a conscious contact with God – praying only for the knowledge of His will for our work and the power to carry that out. I have always loved the term that the early Christians used […]
The Twelve Steps of being a Spiritual Writer
Step Ten – Continue to examine ourselves, our writing and our writing gift daily and when we are wrong, promptly admit it. By now we have asked God to reveal all the mistakes and sins of our past. We have made amends to those we have hurt in our […]
The Twelve Steps to being a Spiritual Writer
Step Nine – Make direct amends to fellow writers, publishers, illustrators, family or readers that I may have harmed wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. Last week we worked on reparation. Did you make amends for your wrongs? Did you find creative ways to […]