This post is a blogged draft excerpt from The Author Training Manual (Writer’s Digest Books, March 2014). Read the previous blogged excerpt, here. Most aspiring authors think they know exactly what their book is about and why someone would want to read it, which means buy it. In truth, they often don’t. Typically, they have just a general idea. When…
Read More
Prayer Definitions Monday This may be perhaps the easiest writing prompt I’ll ask you to do. I want you to look at your lifestyle and surroundings and carefully compose a list of 100 things to be thankful for. That is basically what a thanksgiving prayer is – – a prayer expressing gratitude. Irrespective of any religion we practice or choose…
Read More
Group Prayer Friday The act of worshipping the creator of the universe takes many forms, as we have already seen. Two distinct ways people may choose to worship is in private or as part of a community. These two forms of prayer are uniquely tied to a person’s choice of affiliation or nonaffiliation to a specific religion or place or…
Read More
Want to be an effective critique partner? Here’s the challenge: Drop the comment “I liked or didn’t like…” from your critique tool box. Sure, when reading for pleasure, likability of a work is important. However, when in the draft stage and developing the work, someone “liking” or “not liking” what you wrote is not all that relevant. The “like/didn’t like”…
Read More
Approach to Prayer Wednesday A unique approach to prayer is the concept of adding one’s private prayer requests to a piece of paper, folding it, and dropping it into a basket that contains many prayers from others. It reminds me so much of the story I heard a long time ago about a dad who calmed down his child’s fears…
Read More