Mind the Clutter One writer’s clutter is another writer’s inspiration. MY clutter is the secular world calling for my attention: bills, investment decisions, lists of things we need, chores to do, birthday cards to buy.… Read More>>
Do You Believe?
Teddy Roosevelt was called “Teedy” as a child. He was sickly, scrawny, nearsighted, and pampered by a mostly female household. That was not the life for him and he wanted to change it. He believed… Read More>>
Music to your ears
I learned to not play music while writing, especially when I am writing fiction. So should you. If you use music to inspire you as you write, you are fooling yourself. The tone or… Read More>>
Time, Time, Time
I recently sat through another of Jerry Jenkins’ (Left Behind series) on-line seminars. One of the many tips he passed on was to set aside time to write. He’s not alone with that advice. Jack… Read More>>
Capture the Muse
Where do you have your best ideas? In the car? Falling asleep? Watching or reading another author at work? I take notes on Sunday sermons and the margins are full of story notes. Do… Read More>>
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Stories
Here’s a prompt for Veterans’ Day drawn by Norman Rockwell in 1943. How many stories are here? Where is she? (Check what is around her.) Where is her family? What is her prayer? Where is… Read More>>
You gotta git to gittin’.
Mark Twain was a journalist before he was a novelist. He wrote short stories before he wrote novels. It is fun read the first chapter of Tom Sawyer knowing he started it to be a… Read More>>
“You gotta git to gittin'”
Mark Twain was a journalist before he was a novelist. He wrote short stories before he wrote novels. It is fun read the first chapter of Tom Sawyer knowing he started it to be a… Read More>>
Who Steals Your Minutes?
Having trouble getting focused? Do your ideas disappear when you finally get to the keyboard? Some writers find they have obsessive compulsive disorder and need to make things “just right” before they can write.… Read More>>
Flat little writer’s block
Having trouble getting focused? Do your ideas disappear when you finally get to the keyboard after a long day? John Eldredge talks about how when Satan can’t get a believer to stop working for God,… Read More>>