@EdieMelson Writing is hard work, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We spend hours at a computer, neglecting exercise and proper posture. Beyond that, we pour our hearts and souls into the words we arrange into stories, articles, even blog posts. We spend time and money learning how to write, constantly improving…

@CindyDevoted When I attend conferences folks are always asking, “After the contract comes, what next?” Often, we focus on only learning the craft. Don’t get me wrong. We need to know the craft inside and out, but it’s important to understand what does happen once we earn that contract. Let’s…

@JennyLCote I’m often asked, “How do you organize your writing schedule? Do you designate a certain amount of hours in a day? Do you get up early or write in the middle of the night?” My answer is that, for six days a week, any hour is fair game. Sometimes…

DiAnnMills Our characters are plunged into an unsteady world brimming with high stakes and a strong potential for failure. The character chooses to go after a goal or solve a problem and is determined to do whatever it takes to succeed. But does the character understand that determination and commitment…

@ADGansky Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them–in order that the reader may see what they’re made of.–Kurt Vonnegut No one likes to betray a friend, but we sometimes feel that way when we make bad things happen to…

@EdieMelson A lot of newer writers I meet find themselves overwhelmed with the myriad of opportunities in the field of writing. They struggle, trying to decide between writing articles, devotions, fiction, non-fiction, etc. Writing is a big field, and if you didn’t study some aspect of it in college, the…