If you’ve reached this page, congratulations are in order, since you’re probably already working on a story of your own or are interested in writing in some form. When you chose writing (or it chose you), you signed up for an amazing career.
As you’ll see from my bio, I was not always interested in becoming a full-time writer, but God had marvelous plans for me and my love of storytelling.
Writing is not really an easy line of work. The deadlines, rejections, rewrites, and solitary hours spent researching and crafting a story can be challenging at some times and downright discouraging at others. But the joy of creating something in partnership with God, something that will encourage and strengthen through the power of story, is a privilege like no other.
Since you’re here, I’d love to share a few things with you that helped me on my writing journey. Due to time constraints, I am not able to read unsolicited manuscripts, or send your work to my agent or publisher. But what I can do is tell you what worked for me in my pursuit of publication. I hope these tips will be helpful to you!
Things to remember when getting started:
- Read
- Beginnings, Middles, and Ends; Elements of Fiction Writing by Nancy Kress
- Word Painting; A Guide to Writing More Descriptively by Rebecca McClanahan
- Bird by Bird by Ann Lamott
- The Art of Compelling Fiction by Christopher Leland
- Scene & Structure; Elements of Fiction Writing by Jack M. Bickham
- The Marshall Plan for Novel Writing by Evan Marshall
- Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Maass
- Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell
- Novel Matters– A six-author blog about the writing life
- ACFW– The American Christian Fiction Writers Web site
- Between the Lines– The official blog of the Books & Such Literary Agency
- Study the art of writing
- Write every day
- Invest in your craft
- Join a critique group
- Write and rewrite
- Be tenacious
- Believe in yourself
May the Lord bless your endeavors.
Luke 1:37 “For nothing is impossible with God.”
