Here’s a handy tip for those of us looking to improve our habits: re-place. Enjoy the link below and then I’ll apply it to writing.
Category Archives: Writing Tips
Reading Psalms and Reading Ourselves
I’ll admit it. I make use of secondary sources. So here’s another link to my dad’s blog, this time on his post Reading the Psalms. For our sake, I thought we could apply the Tips for Reading the Psalms to reading and writing in general. Reading Psalms and reading ourselves is obviously different, so I shift content a bit to get to some food for thought as writing tips.
Filed under Writing Tips
CS Lewis
Something I admire about CS Lewis was his tender kindness responding to fan letters from children. From such letters we can continue to glean from his pithy wisdom and literary heart. If not from his letters, then perhaps we turn to one of his publications or, let’s face it, some random Internet find full of his quotations. Today I’ll link to a helpful piece detailing 15 Pieces of Writing Advice from CS Lewis, put together by Justin Taylor, executive VP of book publishing and book publisher for Crossway. Continue reading
Filed under As Christian Writers, Writing Tips
Spring Poetry
Spring has come. Why not celebrate with a little spring poetry (whether it’s rainy, sunny, bright or blue!)? Since April is National Poetry Month, maybe the next few days can be a time to plan ahead a little. Think about your favorite poets or consider a foreign—or feigning poet—to read! Or you could think about a way to incorporate poetry into your writing, whether you are into haiku Tuesday or not.
Filed under Poetry, Writing Tips
Organizing
I want to take writing seriously, and I know I need to work on organization. What kind of organizing? Admittedly all of it. And this is one of those cases where knowing your need is only a half-step toward meeting that need. Sigh. So let’s brainstorm a little about tools we already have, but might overlook.
Filed under Writing Tips
Author Section of a Proposal
I have a brief overview of proposals on my Publishing Tips page, but I was asked to expand a bit on the author section of a proposal. I’m happy to do so, and would also welcome any words of advice anyone else would like to share on the topic.
Filed under Publishing, Question Asked, Writing Tips
Mary Sue
Lutheran writer Lars Walker posted a great piece over on Patheos.com as part of the Patheos Public Square on Myth, Imagination, Fairy Tales, and Fantasy. And Faith., titled, “Mary Sue the Barbarian: Mining our Inner Evil.” In it, he explores character formation in light of what we know to be true: actual evil!
When You Don’t Have Time
A fellow Lutheran blogger has graciously offered us a guest post on learning to write when you don’t have time, or at least not much! Thank you, Anna Mussmann, and you are welcome to write here any time!
Filed under Writer's Life, Writing Tips, Writing Tools
Time Commitment
It’s pretty rare to find someone who can make a big time commitment to anything, let alone writing. We may put pressure on ourselves, but juggling hectic schedules isn’t always a personal matter. We may want to write more than anything in the world, but that doesn’t mean we are actually able to find that hour or two. And, what if we don’t feel inspired when we actually have a bit of time on our hands?
Filed under Inspiration, Writer's Life, Writing Tips
Deep-Seeded
The human drive to express is a deep-seeded one. Or should I say, “deep-seated?” The truth of the matter is that that human drive of ours is often in a hurry, thinks for a second, and misspeaks, mistypes, and misses . . . in this case the deep! Although deep-seeded could make sense, the phrase with historical connotations is deep-seated.
Filed under Books to Purchase, Writing Tips, Writing Tools