by Alycia W. Morales   @AlyciaMorales How do you thank an author who has poured into you or your writing career? Authors make a habit of encouraging others to reach their full potential as writers in a variety of ways. Some have poured into me as they’ve mentored me along my…

by Rhonda Rhea @RhondaRhea Infomercials almost always worked at my house. When we were raising our five kids, I’m not sure a week went by without one of them running to me with some version of: “Mom! We have to get the Kitchen Magic Missile! It does the work of 25…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Story Payoff is not a writer gripping the handle of a slot machine and hoping the reader gets it. That friends, would be a gamble. Who wants to risk their story, a work of the heart that has taken weeks, months, or years to create? The…

By W. Terry Whalin @terrywhalin When you boil it down to the basics, writers and editors are both seeking the same thing: excellent writing. For many years, I’ve been writing for magazines and I’m a former magazine editor. One of the publications (Decision) where I was Associate Editor reached 1.8 million…

by Ane Mulligan  @AneMulligan I cut my writerly teeth on dialogue: As a script writer for stage plays, particularly sermon-starters. I didn’t add directions or interpretation. I left that up to the director. Of course at that time, I was the director, but that’s neither here nor there. In the…

By A.C. Williams by @acw_author When did someone spoil a book or movie for you? Generally speaking, people in the storytelling business are very cautious about spoilers. But sometimes you can be too careful, especially when you’re writing a story. Sometimes, one of the best sources of tension in your…