“And then whenever I stop and think—why did I want to do something?—how did I work out how to do it?—I get a very strong desire just to stop thinking about it.” Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy We worry and ask ourselves “why?” a lot. As a Christian, of course, I do…
On Writing
A collection of lessons, tools, and techniques on writing.
The “Meet the Characters” Email Autoresponder
I recently joined a lot of online groups of writers. Many of the members of these groups ask about email newsletters. They know they should have one and many of them do, but they are not quite sure what to send to their subscribers. I signed up for a lot of author email newsletters to…
Stages of Platform Development
I was thinking about the progression of an audience from hearing about an author for the first time to becoming a true fan. It looks something like this: 1. Notice People notice your name or books. They hear your name or books mentioned in conversation or in an interview or in something they read online….
Writing Advice from R. J. Palacio, Author of Wonder
R. J. Palacio, author of the popular book and now movie Wonder, offers two pieces of advice to aspiring writers on her website about page: 1. Write every day. I would sum it up with another precept I wrote down when I was a teenager. It was from The Agony and the Ecstasy: “The most…
Stories > Strategies
When I read books these days, I read to learn what the author has to say but I also pay close attention to how she or he says it. I’m always very curious about how an author chooses to structure the book and the individual chapters. I hope to learn from them and improve my…
