How transparent should we be for our readers?

“Mom, are you writing about me again?” My daughter sounded offended. “Again everyone will look at me, ‘Are you the girl who doesn’t like to apologize?’” I hugged her and showed her the letter I was writing was not about her. But her question made me think—she had a right to be disappointed. I had
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The Challenge for American Christian Authors

By Dan Balow The majority of Christian books published every year are written in English by authors in the United States. U.S. Christian publishers in a billion dollar industry publish many thousands of new titles every year. Still, I am not sure all American authors who desire to have their books spread across the globe
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Rewriting Is Rewarding

By Lawrence Darmani It took me a long time to write the devotional article I had been assigned. When I submitted it, I was sure I had done my best, but my publishers pointed out several weaknesses and asked if I would rewrite it. In my writing life, I’ve discovered several secrets about rewriting: (1)
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Dare I? Of course, I don’t!

By Joan Campbell Fear has many facets, and recently I discovered an unexpected one, which has taken a sneaky hold of my life. I’m not quite sure how to shake it, but naming it may be a good start, so here goes. Not too long ago, I was reading an article on the psychology of
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Beware of these blunders in writing for children

Avoid these common misconceptions when writing children’s books. Award-winning children’s author Emily Lim shared these points in her recent MAI webinar, “Writing for Children: Commandments to follow & sins to avoid.” 1. Writing for children is easier than writing for adults. This is very far from the truth. Adults may be willing to stay with
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Interview: Award-winning Children’s Author Emily Lim

Author Emily Lim of Singapore offers insights on her journey as a writer and tips on writing for children in this exclusive interview with MAI. Enjoy this preview of her upcoming MAI webinar on May 20. MAI: Your children’s stories have great characters and story lines. How do you come up with your story ideas?
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The Art of Implementing Dialogue into Your Story

Dialogue is conversation—language as we speak it. Forget that you are writing, and listen. Otherwise your characters will sound stiff and pedantic. No one speaks perfectly correctly in real life: if your character does, he/she will not sound real. Characters come to life when they speak. Good dialogue is the key to making your characters
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Win over Your Reader in Your First Chapter

Your opening chapter is your most important one because that is where you strike your deal with the reader—his or her reading time in exchange for what you’re offering. The cover, title, back cover and table of contents are all selling opportunities to bring the reader to this decision point. By the end of the
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The Importance of Drafting

This post was used by permission of award-winning novelist T. Davis Bunn and originally published on his blog as “The Hardest Thing A Novelist Faces” on August 6, 2013. During the creative process, there are going to be moments when you have explosions of bliss. For the Christian writer, this is a feeling of moving
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Write from the Heart

Are you writing a book that exposes your soul?  Different writing techniques are required when writing a book from the heart.  These books are not designed simply to present facts or information.  Award-winning author Robin Jones Gunn cites a few tips to keep in mind. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy-Y6Qtsx98 1)       Pull stories from your own heart. The story that comes
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