Author Archives: Steph Nickel
A Writing Plan-of-Action by Steph Beth Nickel
Do you write what you love? What you’ve volunteered to write? What may sell—someday? Or what you’ve been hired to write? How much time do you devote to each? Do you write for the masses? For a small circle of readers? For the one individual you envision yourself “speaking to” when working on a project?… Read more »
Fiction 101 (12) – Point of View by Janice L. Dick
Point of view can be a tricky subject. Basically, it refers to how we decide to relate our story, the perspective from which we see it. Which character(s) will communicate the story most effectively? Do we want to tell the story from one person’s perspective?
What are You Reading? by Brenda J. Wood
As you will read, Brenda sat down to write something much different but felt God had a word of encouragement for each of us.
Showing or Telling by Carolyn Wilker
A student wrote a story about a memory from her childhood when she went on a walk by herself. Fascinated by the water that flowed in the ditch alongside the road near her home, she got into mud and was stuck. She didn’t know what to do. Fortunately, her parents were not too far away… Read more »
The Greatest Day of My Life by Jack Popjes
It happened at sundown. My wife and I, with our three preschool daughters, had just arrived and were staying with some missionary friends in their home on the edge of a small Brazilian town. At dusk I went outside to cool off. I looked over the fields below the house where a wide… Read more »
The Rest of the Story by Pamela Mytroen
Does a writer’s waking time impact their creativity? This is a question worth asking, as the amount and quality of sleep have obvious effects upon our alertness and ability to concentrate, two skills that we all need. Sleep Patterns Examined Maria Popova, a Bulgarian writer, blogger, and critic from New York, asked this same question…. Read more »
6 Reasons to Enter Writing Contests by Steph Beth Nickel
Sure, it’s fun to win a writing contest, but that isn’t the only reason to enter. Here are six other reasons: Practice Makes … Better Every time you put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, hopefully the result is better than the last time. While practice doesn’t really make perfect, it certainly does make… Read more »
Effective Endings – Fiction 101 Part 1 by Janice L. Dick
Satisfaction Guaranteed! That’s our motto. We want to make sure that once we’ve shared with our readers the journey our characters have taken, we also grant them a satisfying ending. It doesn’t matter how great the story is; it must leave us content on some level by the time we turn the final page.
Writers Write by Brenda Wood
We just started a writers’ group, and more than half of the folks in attendance haven’t written a word. They don’t even journal. I’m not sure they even do a grocery list. However, in our breakout session, every one of them asked the same question. “How can I find a publisher for my book?” I… Read more »
Emphasis, Only When Necessary – Carolyn R. Wilker
There was once a writer who emphasized so many words in his text that it felt as though he was screaming at readers. His message was full of capital letters, underlines and italics, and so nothing important stood out, not even the writing. I closed the book and put it away, but I didn’t throw… Read more »