By Jen Richards Audiobooks are big business. According to some they are ‘the new reading’. Whether or not they are going to take over from traditional written books remains to be seen. But the trajectory of growth is undeniable, with the Audio Publishers Association recently revealing double digit growth in audiobook sales for the tenth …
Category Archives: Writing Tips
Writing Historical Fiction That Readers Will Love
Historical fiction lovers are also lovers of history. Every time we write a novel, we’re creating a special place for our readers to visit. We build a world for our characters to live in. The details of that world are up to us, but whatever we create, it must be believable. Even fantasy and sci-fi …
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Writing a Spiritual Arc That Feels Real
One thing that distinguishes Christian fiction from general market is the role of faith in our characters’ lives and the realistic spiritual arcs in their story. Some know what they believe and why, and they try to live accordingly. Others were raised in Christian homes so they’ve heard the Gospel. They might call themselves Christians, …
Throwback Thursday | The Enneagram for Christian Writers
Over the last few years, I have seen more and more questions referring to the Enneagram. It’s yet another in a long line of personality assessment tools designed to help people understand themselves and others better. I’ve recently read two books on the Enneagram. One has a lot of applications for Christian writers, regardless of …
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Writers Life | Using Cinematic Techniques as You Write
Most writers have a collection of books on the writing craft. A few are treasures, filled with gems of writerly wisdom that had a profound impact on how we write or market our books. Some are valuable tools with lists and instructions that make our writing task easier. Others are somewhat helpful, containing the occasional …
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Regardless of Genre, We’re All World-Builders
When you see a post about world-building by an author, what comes to mind? Fantasy? Science fiction? Dystopian? We’d all agree creators of these kinds of stories build fictional worlds very different from “real life.” It’s the quality of their world-building that makes what might seem unlikely feel believable as we read. Every author is …
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Book Review | Hook Your Readers by Tamar Sloan
Tamar Sloan is an Australian psychologist and author who has combined her talents to write this book. In it, she explains the importance of story to the human psyche (which Lisa Cron also addresses in Wired for Story), and discusses the key psychological components that make a book compelling. Sloan starts with the 1944 Heider …
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The Decision Tree of Plotting
By Nola Lorraine Have you ever read a book and been unhappy with one or more of the choices the author made? How could Bailey Flanigan marry that guy instead of the other one I was cheering for? How could Lucy Maud Montgomery kill off that character at the end of Anne of Green Gables? …
Book Review | Write Better by Andrew T LePeau
Write Better had some ideas I disliked or disagreed with. Le Peau even appeared to contradict himself on a couple of points. But it’s definitely a book worth reading, because the good far outweighs the less good. I found three main faults with the book. First, Le Peau points out the importance of a great …
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Ways to Lose a Reader
I first wrote this article a couple of years ago about ways to lose a reader. It came about due to chats with other readers. Its a good reminder for today as authors rely on readers. This post has been revised due to some of it being out dated. This post first came about because …