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Showing posts with label SC Writers ACFW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SC Writers ACFW. Show all posts
Friday, February 19, 2016
To Conference or not to Conference?
Monday, January 25, 2016
How I Write My Novels - Guest Blog by MaryLu Tyndall
How I Write My Novels by Guest Blogger MaryLu Tyndall
(This is the first blog of award-winning historical author MaryLu Tyndale's Writer Tips we will be sharing on our chapter blog that have greatly influenced my writing. They come from her archive by permission and still have great information for writers. Hope they bless you like they have me. MaryLu's latest historical romance, Charity's Cross, will be released February 1. --Elva Martin)
Happy New Year, everyone! My dear friends and blog followers, you have
become so special to me over the years. I pray that with hard work and prayer,
all your resolutions and dreams will come true this year!
This week I began the task of
what I call the polishing phase of writing. I've completed my
first draft of Forsaken Dreams (All 65,000 words of it that needs to be 100,000
words! Yikes!) and now I start way back in Chapter 1 and go through line
by line, adding a little spit here, rubbing off a stain there, until it is
almost as shiny as I can get it!
For a writer who's a plotter, this may be a foreign concept. Once they've written their book, aside from a read-over, they are done. Not me! This is where the real fun begins. Where the scenes come to life, where the characters really take on individual personalities, where I actually feel the ups and downs and extremes of every emotion. (Anyone got a hanky?)
Yes, I do cry sometimes at my own
writing. I'm that sappy. Then again, I cry at Hallmark commercials too, so what
do I know?
This can be the most fun part of
writing a novel and it can be the most difficult. Spread out on my desk
as you can see in this picture, I have many things to help me keep track of all
the details.
To the right of my monitor, are
my character pictures. I have
a picture for nearly everyone in the story. This helps me visualize them while
I'm writing. Also on the right, you'll see my stack of Research books all ready for me
should I need to look up something I don't remember. In front of them on the
desk are very important index cards!!
There is one for each of the main characters (There are 6 in this book)
On each index card I list
important info such as:
- Hair and eye color
- Physical description
- Quirks such as, walks with a limp or very antisocial, or grinds teeth together when doesn't get his way
- Favorite expressions or sayings: Fiddle sticks, Oh Bosh!
- Personality: Are they a free spirit, independent, insecure, fearful, courageous, humorous, depressing, spooky, devoted
- Struggles and problems: Abandonment issues, bitter, angry, don't trust easily..
- Family and other connections
That way, if I forget a detail
(And I always do with so many characters), I can just glance at the card!
On the left side of my desk beside my coffee cup are my in-depth character sheets which go into much greater detail and give background for each character and secondary character.
Then on my computer I have other documents I bring up while I'm writing
On the left side of my desk beside my coffee cup are my in-depth character sheets which go into much greater detail and give background for each character and secondary character.
Then on my computer I have other documents I bring up while I'm writing
- A Chapter by Chapter summary of the story (I usually have about a paragraph for each chapter) These I already put together when I wrote the first draft. They also include the date of each scene so I can keep track of where I am in time.
- A To-Remember document which lists things I need to keep track of. Like how long someone was married. What year did their brother die? What battle they fought in. When did his father abandon him? (I mean who can keep track of all of this for over 20 characters???)
- An Add-in Document which lists all the ideas I came up with when I was doing dishes, taking a walk, running errands and taking a bath that I want to add into the main story.
Now, I'm ready to go!! I “polished”
five chapters this week, which is a good pace for me! I'm adding things
like:
Character descriptions
Emotions
Dialogue tags
Sounds, Smells
Scene descriptions
Polishing up sentences
Filling in historic details I didn't know at the time
Finally, getting rid of things that don't work or don't sound right. It's hard work but I finally see the story and characters coming to life!
Character descriptions
Emotions
Dialogue tags
Sounds, Smells
Scene descriptions
Polishing up sentences
Filling in historic details I didn't know at the time
Finally, getting rid of things that don't work or don't sound right. It's hard work but I finally see the story and characters coming to life!
A Christy Award finalist and best-selling author, MaryLu Tyndall dreamt of tall ships and swashbuckling heroes during her childhood years on Florida’s Atlantic Coast. She holds a degree in Math and worked as a software engineer for fifteen years. Trapped in a land-locked cubicle, she was often seen pounding furiously upon the keyboard during her lunch hour, creating what would become her Legacy of the King’s Pirates series, all the while believing God’s promise to her that. “If you write it, I will get it published”. And He did! Fourteen books later, her loving husband and six children still haven’t gotten used to her historic costumes and nautical speech. MaryLu describes herself as an introvert, patriot, mother of six, the neighborhood cat-lady, tall ship enthusiast, friend of pirates and mermaids, obsessive compulsive control freak, history lover, hopeless romantic, and a sword wielding princess-warrior of the King of Kings. Her books are filled with adventure and romance and themes that are guaranteed to touch your heart! She continues to pen her romantic tales on the California coast while managing a home, husband, six adult kids, and several stray cats who have decided that her keyboard is the best place to sleep! She believes that without popcorn and chocolate, life would not be worth living, and her sole motivation in life is to bring others closer to God.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
Five Ways To Manage Your Writing Life
By Fran Lee Strickland @FranLStrickland
It’s the beginning of another new year and as writers we want to make the most of our minutes, hours and days! Here are what I consider the basics of time management.
1. Prioritize
2. Plan
3. Set a timer
4. Develop an accountability method
5. Review
Prioritize. As Christian writers, we should prioritize in the following order: God, Family, Writing, and Play. On a blank sheet of paper, write down in a column the major activities of your week.
Then add four more columns, one for each of the four major categories listed. Place the number of hours per week spent on each activity in the appropriate column.
How much time do you have in a week?
Let’s figure it out. If you allow 8 hours of sleep per night, that’s fifty-six hours per week. If you work at a full time job other than writing, that’s forty hours per week. What you have left is seventy-nine (79) hours to prioritize. You can adjust this according to your actual sleep and work time.
A priority chart like the one shown will summarize the time spent in each category, and may prompt you to reduce hours in some areas and dedicate more in others. The percentages are calculated by dividing the total number of hours in each category by the overall total number of hours (in this case 79).
Plan. Once you prioritize the number of hours assigned to each category, it is time to plan the details of the activities. From the chart I see that I have sixteen hours dedicated to writing this week. I can choose to split the 10 hours into 5 days of writing, 2 hours for each day. Or I can plan to write two days a week, 5 hours each day. The other writing hours are for research, blog posts and social media.
Always plan flexible hours into your week for unexpected events.
Two hours a week for social media is not much at all, but the only way I can allot more time toward it in my busy schedule is if I utilize some of the Flexible hours from my Priority Chart. Always plan flexible hours into your week as a cushion for unexpected events. If unexpected events do not eat up all the flexible hours that week, then more hours will be available to utilize for social media, or research or whatever may need a little more attention. If nothing else, then you can use flexible hours to take a nap!
Set A Timer. When you sit down to write, make sure your friends and family know that you are not to be disturbed for anything other than an emergency. Set the clock and start writing. When the time is up, get up, reset the clock and move on to the next activity on your schedule. Otherwise, you might get a lot of writing done, but the children will go hungry!
Develop An Accountability Method. There isn’t much point in creating a time management system if you are not going to hold yourself accountable. Most of us respond well to a reward system. It might be a piece of chocolate at the end of the day if you stuck to your daily schedule or an outing to a movie if you stuck to the schedule for the whole week.
Review. The demands life places on you will change. Take time periodically to review your Priority Chart then factor in new activities or remove ones that are no longer a part of your life.
What about you?
How do you manage your week to ensure there is always time to write?
Leave a comment and share this blog with your social media friends!
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Serves as treasurer of the American Christian Fiction Writers chapter of South Carolina and is a member of Blue Ridge Writers group, near Asheville, North Carolina. Contributor to three non-fiction anthologies: Divine Moments, Christmas Moments and Spoken Moments. Near completion of first fiction suspense novel, Roots That Run Deep. Mother of Jake. Loves intrigue, chocolate and coffee! Blogs about faith and writing at http:/www.scatteringwordsandsowingseedsblogspot.com.
Thursday, September 24, 2015
Dollars & Sense for Writers—Guidelines on Where and How to Spend Your Money—Part Four
This is an
ongoing series designed to give writers guidelines on where & when
to spend your money.
If you missed
the first three posts in the series you can find them here:
Writing Conferences—When
Am I Ready for One & Which One Should I choose
I have my
favorites, of course! But just because they’re my favorites doesn’t mean they
are the best choice for YOU. I’ve tried to break it all down and give you some things to consider so you can make an informed decision.
The first thing
you should consider is your experience level. You need to look at where you are
with your writing, that will be the biggest factor in your decision. As you
look at the categories realize that your experience may overlap.
Beginner
- Never submitted anything for publication.
- Hasn’t told many people he writes.
- Has submitted a couple of things, but nothing published.
Advanced
Beginner
- Has several rejection letters and a couple of acceptances.
- Is a member of a local or online writing group.
- Regularly reads articles or books about writing.
Intermediate
- Has attended a writers event (either a workshop, conference or online class).
- Has an idea of where he wants to go with his writing.
- Has been paid for his writing.
Advanced
- Spends time each day working at the craft of writing and has an income derived from writing.
- Has definite goals and aspirations for his writing.
Once you know
which group you fall into, it’s easier to evaluate each individual event. There
are 2 reasons to attend a writers event.
- To learn more about the craft of writing .
- To network with professionals within the writing world .
Here’s a
general breakdown of what is usually offered at each kind of event.
These events
vary slightly, so the following information is generalized. You should read all
brochures and websites carefully to know what to expect.
Large,
National Writing Conference
Expect lots of
classes for a wide variety of writers - from beginner to advanced.
- Continuing Classes – these are classes that last for more than one class period and concentrate on one subject. Even though they are continuing, they rarely provide advanced information on a given subject.
- Workshops – these are classes that give an introduction to a concept (like dialogue, plot or setting).
- Breakouts or Panels – these are groups of professionals giving instruction on a given subject. The information here is usually very basic.
- Appointments with Faculty – most large conferences include a private appointment with a member of the faculty. This is where you would pitch a book or article idea to an editor. It can also be valuable to let a seasoned author look at your writing and give one-on-one feedback.
Regional or
Local Writing Conference
These tend to
have more classes for the beginner and advanced beginner writer, although there
are exceptions. Depending on the length of time, the conference will
follow the same basic setup as a national conference.
Workshop or
Seminar
Many of these
are very specific in what they offer. They aren’t for a large number of writers
and generally target the intermediate or advanced writer.
The important
thing to remember is that it’s never a good idea to write in a vacuum. I have
always tried to attend one large conference a year—as a student—to expose
myself to the writing industry, both for networking and education. I also try
to attend at least one focused workshop or seminar each year I and I try to
keep my eyes open for online writing courses and take at least two a year.
Let's share our experiences with specific conferences and events. Leave comments about ones you've attended and how they've helped your writing
journey.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Dollars & Sense for Writers—Guidelines on Where & When to Spend Your Money—Part Three
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
This is an ongoing series designed to give writers guidelines on where & when to spend your money. If you missed the first two posts in the series you can find them here:
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Dollars & Sense for Writers— Guidelines on Where & When to Spend Your Money—Part Two
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
Last week, I began this series on Dollars & Sense for Writers Part One. I gave you a run-down on where to start by suggesting you look for a
local writers group and an online group or two. Today I’d like to continue by
looking at books and magazines for writers.
As a writer, I love books. Beyond that, I love books about
writing. I have an extensive library of books on the craft of stringing words
together—truthfully more than I need. But early on in my career I just couldn’t
pass up a recommended book. Looking back I should have spent more time at the
library than on buying books.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Dollars & Sense for Writers—Guidelines on Where & When to Spend Your Money—Part One
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
I remember what
it was like when I was just starting out as a writer. I thought it was
something I wanted to do. I even felt like it was something God called me to
do. It’s an exciting time—a time when we’re trying on the moniker of writer.
I’d say one of
the most valuable ways to learn about writing specifically and the publishing
industry in general is by joining organizations. It’s important that you don’t
just concentrate on learning to write, but you also need to know the process of
publication so you can begin to earn money. Here is what I suggest.
So which of these
choices should you make? It depends, in a large part, on what you want to write
and where you want your career to go. I recommend you start local, if possible,
and look for recommendations.
I remember what
it was like when I was just starting out as a writer. I thought it was
something I wanted to do. I even felt like it was something God called me to
do. It’s an exciting time—a time when we’re trying on the moniker of writer.
It’s also a time
when we’re deciding exactly how big a commitment we’re going to make. We
evaluate how much time we’ll spend an how much money we’ll invest. And it’s
rarely an all-ahead-full sort of decision. I took it one
step at a time. I would try something, evaluate the results and then readjust.
It was about the
time of my first few forays into the writing world that I discovered this
writing thing can get expensive . . . fast.
There are books to buy,
organizations to join, classes and workshops to take, even conferences to
attend—all without a single bit of profit to support these investments. My
budget was limited and I had to make some judgments about where to spend my
money.
Today, after many
years in the business, I’d like to offer some guidelines on where and when to
spend your money. It’s not always a straight-forward answer, but I’m going to
try to cover most situations.
Which Organizations Should I join and Why
1. Find a local
group. Good places to look are local libraries and bookstores. They will often
have a listing of any local writing groups. You can also do a search online. I
know it’s not always possible to find a local group, but that’s where I always
recommend you start.
2. Find an online
group. There are many excellent national groups that have an online presence.
I’m a member of several. Here are some I can recommend:
- ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers): is for Christian fiction writers. The membership is reasonable, starting at $50 per year. It also offers lots of benefits to members, including free online classes from publishing professionals, a national conference, and an email loop where you can ask writing related questions.
- My Book Therapy: This is another fiction group, specializing in Christian fiction. It’s a bit smaller and there is a free membership option. That’s good to give you a chance to try it out before you invest money.
- Word Weavers International: This is a great critique group option. They have local groups, as well as an online presence. This group was developed over years of experience in what works to help new and even more advanced writers.
- SCBWI (Society of Childrens Book Writers and Illustrators): This is specifically for those who write for children and young adults.
- ASJA (American Society of Journalists & Authors): This is specifically for the non-fiction writers.
- RWA (RomanceWriters of America): This is a national group for romance writers, and ACFW actual was formed from the membership of RWA.
- NWU (Nationa WritersUnion): I’m not a member of the national freelance writers group, but it’s a reputable group and I hear good things about it.
- NWA (NationalWriters Association): Again, I’m not a member, but this is another reputable group that I hear good things from.
If you don’t have
a local group, you can often find communities of writers through writing blogs.
There are a large number of regular readers here on my site and they will be
more than happy to give recommendations about this sort of thing.
I’m out of room
for today’s post, but below are the topics I’ll be sharing in subsequent posts:
- Which Books Should I Own and Which Should I Get at the Library—and What About Magazines, are They Still Relevant?
- How Do I Evaluate Which Classes I Need or Could Benefit From
- Conferences—When Am I Ready for One and Which One Should I choose
- Website—When Should I Spend the Money?
- When & How to Hire a Freelance Editor?
Now it’s your
turn. What questions do you have about organizations and what other things
would you like to see covered in this series? Be sure to leave your thoughts
below.
Edie Melson is the author of numerous books, as well as a freelance writer and editor. Her blog, The Write Conversation, reaches thousands each month. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains ChristianWriters Conference and the Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy. She’s also the Military Family Blogger at Guideposts. Com, Social Media Director for SouthernWriters Magazine and the Senior Editor for NovelRocket.com. Connect with her on Twitter and Facebook. Don't miss her new book from Worthy Inspired, WHILE MY SOLDIER SERVES.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Sowing Faith in the Hard Times Brings a Harvest of Joy
by Edie Melson @EdieMelson
There are times, when life is lived in the dark. The days
are long and hard, and the rewards nonexistent. Everywhere we turn—inside and
out—the landscape is bleak and barren. It’s times like these that only faith
will get us through. There is no proof we’re on the right path, no confirmation
that God is at work. Often, even God Himself seems distant and unreachable.
I’ve been through the those times—and come out on the other
side. My time of darkness came when our oldest son was deployed to Iraq as a
frontline infantry Marine. We don’t come from a military family, so everything
about his choice to enlist was an opportunity for growth. Every step in his
journey was a time of stretching for our family. Oh don’t make the mistake of
thinking we were disappointed in his choice. We were button-busting proud of
our son’s willingness to serve.
But as his mother, I didn’t want to face the prospect of my
son going off to war.
I’d always assumed I’d have a grace period between childhood
and adulthood, some time of transition. College would have been that time. Marine
Corps boot camp doesn’t provide that grace period. One minute I was hugging
goodbye to my child, my oldest son. The next time I saw him, he was a fully
formed man—still a son, but without any trace of the child I’d said goodbye to.
And before that year was out, he’d be half a world away,
fighting an enemy whose main focus was on killing him. It was during those
deployments that I learned about darkness of the heart. I wanted to protect
him, I ached to shield him from what I knew he was experiencing, but I could
not. So I did the one thing I could do. It became my course of last resort
because I was at the end of my own strength.
I prayed.
And I prayed.
And I prayed some more.
I learned to take my overwhelming fear to the only One who
could protect him. And I left my son in God’s hands. The prayers weren’t
pretty. Often times they weren’t even words. They truly were the groanings we
read about it Romans 8:26-27.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was like a seed,
planted deep in the ground. I was surrounded by darkness, by rough, rocky soil,
pressing in on all sides crushing the life from me. But through that incredible
pressure, the shell of my own strength fell away, and I slowly began to push
toward the light that I knew was just beyond the darkness.
And my course of last resort became my strength, and the
first place I turned. Instead of praying in desperation, I began to pray in
confidence. I learned to lean into God, instead of turning in on myself.
The final harvest of that time of darkness is has come to
fruition with the release of my newest book. While My Soldier Serves is
a book of prayers for those with loved ones in the military. How I longed for
just such a book during that dark time. Now God has taken my time of darkness
and is shining it as a light for those who are also facing the incredible
stress of having a loved one at war.
Never doubt that God will bring a harvest of joy, no matter
how dark the days you’re facing now.
Thousands
of families send loved ones off to fight on a daily basis. These families spend
a lot of time living in a world out of control. This kind of stress can take an
incredible toll, but there is hope. When we feel helpless, we can take our
fears to the One who loves us more than anything and holds the universe in His
hands.
In
this book you’ll find the words to usher you into His presence. These prayers
are a place to visit again and again as you take your own fears to God. They’re
just a starting point, written to help you find your own voice as you call out
on behalf of the one you love.
As
the mother of a frontline infantry Marine, Edie Melson lived this book before
she wrote it. Edie understands what it is to face adversity and come out
triumphant on the other side. Her years as a wife, mother, and ministry leader
have given her a unique perspective to reach out
to others facing the same
struggles.
She's the Military Family Blogger for Guideposts.org, social media director for several writing
websites, and a popular ministry and conference speaker. Connect with her on
her blog, The Write Conversation, Twitter, and Facebook.
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