As a rule, I don’t think it’s appropriate to review a book based on only reading the Kindle sample. But I recently found a book that was bad enough that unwary writers need to be warned against it … and I could tell just from the sample. The introduction promises a book in four parts, …
Last year, I published a post on using miracles in fiction. After reading this post, one reader asked me an interesting question: what about healing? Can we have a character receive a miraculous healing … like a resurrection? The short answer is yes, you can have a healing in Christian fiction. But the longer and …
One of the most important rules of editing is that a document needs to have correct and consistent spelling, grammar, and punctuation. How do we ensure correct and consistent spelling? We check in the dictionary. But which is the best dictionary to use for fiction? First, you can’t rely on the dictionary in Word. Or Grammarly. …
Writing believable Christian fiction, especially writing what David Bergsland calls Redemptive Christian fiction, relates back to two of the most oft-quoted pieces of writing advice: write what you know, and show, don’t tell. Write what you know. We can’t write with accuracy, authenticity or believablility about a topic we don’t know, whether that is art …
One of the complaints about Christian fiction is that the novels are filled with cliche characters who don’t reflect real life: Mr Almost-Perfect meets Miss Practically Perfect, they overcome a minor doctrinal difference (are you a real Christian if you read the 1769 King James Version rather than the 1604 version?), and live happily ever …
All authors need to understand the various paths to publishing so they can make the best decision for them (and not spend their life savings on publishing through a vanity press that promises the world and ends up paying $2 in royalties). How do I find a publisher? Paths to Publishing: Trade Publishing (aka traditional …
I was recently cruising one of the Facebook writing groups when an interesting question came up: Why should I publish with a small traditional publisher? I’ve partly covered this before, in Dear Editor | Should I Publish with a Small Press? But one group member made some good points about what a good traditional publisher will …
The foundations of a good novel are genre (which I discuss here), plot, structure, and characterisation. If you’re writing (or have just written) your first novel, I suggest reading Tips for writing your first novel. If you’re writing Christian fiction, you may want to consider these questions: What is a Christian Book? What is Christian …
I’ve recently returned form the 2019 Omega Writers Conference in Sydney, Australia. Our keynote speaker was US literary agent Steve Laube, who inspired and challenged us all to pursue excellence in our writing. He also talked about reading. Specifically, he pointed out that we shouldn’t restrict ourselves to reading (or watching) things we agree with. …
This post is a compilation of posts on writing, revising, and editing fiction. Mechanics of Writing Plot and Structure Most novels follow the classic three-act structure. Different writing instructors teach this in different ways. Here are a few: Michael Hague’s Six-Stage Structure Randy Ingermanson’s Snowflake Method KM Weiland’s 10 Steps to Story Structure Scenes also …
