Jan 21, 2008
On The Edge: What Does “Standing on the Edge of Creativity” Mean?
This column is devoted to stirring the creative senses, overcoming writing fears, and learning ways to produce creative writing even when you think you can’t do it. “Standing on the Edge of Creativity” is dedicated to writers of all abilities and genres. The main goal will be fiction; however, many of the exercises will be applicable to writing in general since the focus is creativity.... read more
Jan 20, 2008
Help From Above: The Christian Mystery
I swallowed my fear and walked right up to Ralph McInerny, author of the Father Brown mysteries. He was shorter than I had imagined. I picture all successful authors to be skyscrapers. He was delivering a speech on writing the Catholic mystery at the first conference for Catholic writers at Franciscan University at Steubenville. Being stuck manning the a table for the conference, I would not be able to... read more
Jan 20, 2008
“Heaven Help the Christian Writer”
by Kathryn Lively During the formative stages of judging for the 2003 EPPIE Awards, members were called to construct succinct definitions of fiction and non-fiction categories. Most categories, of course, are quite self-explanatory – how much more does one need to say about science fiction or historical fiction in order for an author to choose his/her respective category for entry? If only it had... read more
Jan 20, 2008
Writing Powerful Endings
by Laura Backes The first few lines of any story are the most important — and often most difficult — words you’ll write. The next most challenging piece of writing is the ending. Once you draw your readers in and take them through your story, you need to leave them with a satisfying conclusion. Here, then, are some tips for writing powerful endings: Fiction picture books: The story in a... read more
Jan 20, 2008
PROOFREADING 101
by Tanja Rosteck While proofreading isn’t the most enjoyable part of writing, it’s the most important. A document full of typos, grammatical glitches, and glaring errors reflects badly on your business and can create more problems than it solves. Don’t rely on the spell-checker, as it can’t catch certain types of errors. It’s best to proofread the document with your own eyes... read more
