I am 78 years old, and my love of writing began over 30 years ago, as I sat quietly each morning, asking God to teach me what He wanted me to learn from His Word – the Bible. Day by day He began to highlight a certain verse, or a passage or a chapter from His word, and impressed on my mind a thought about it. I began by writing down those thoughts, and as this continued I began to get the impression that others could learn from [...]
For those who don’t know me, and I realize that’s probably most of you, I am a middle aged mother of three teenage boys, who also happens to be a singer-songwriter. Some might think that being the mother of three teenage boys would provide plenty of fodder for songwriting, but that would not be accurate in my case. I don’t write about my sons, or my location, or my dog, or anything about my day to day life. I write love songs. I write heart wrenching, gut punching, [...]
Of course, there is a difference between fact and fiction. It is the job of the writer to selectively disregard facts, to reimagine and rework them into stories fantastic, but I believe Mark Twain got it wrong when he said: “Never let the truth get in in the way of a good story.” He should have said, “Always make the truth the way of your story.” As you learned in your high school English classes, the mark of an enduring work of fiction is that it explores and [...]
Hi everyone! Welcome to my journey to writing my debut novel, Winter’s Captive, The Georgia Series, Book 1. First, I must thank Taylor for inviting me to write this piece. I would love to share my writing journey with all of you. Writing has always been a part of my life, but not in a professional capacity. This is something that has come late in my life. Writing a novel was a dream of mine for my whole adult life, only life got in the way. My life’s [...]
There's only one person who can answer that, and it's you! Firstly, it has to be said that self publishing is not the easy way out and it's not just for authors who have been rejected by agents and traditional publishers. That being said, anyone can - and does - self publish which means you have to do something to make sure your book is good enough to rise to the top of the pile. And to start with, you need a good story! Once you've got that, edit [...]
If you are thinking about writing a story, maybe a full length novel, then I hope I can help inspire you. I've looked back at the experiences I've had between now, and when I was a kid, and compared it to some other people's experiences, and I think I have five tips, which honestly, I think other people have shared with me from time to time, which will help you. They can help you write a better story to share with others, whether it is your own life [...]
Self-editing is a double-edged sword that will certainly test not only the mettle, but the integrity of an author on many levels. To self-edit your own work, you must be prepared to be your own best and worst critic. That means reading your work over and over to the point where you can see the words dancing in your head when you are doing things not related to your editing. When that happens, you will see the good, the bad, the ugly, and the otherwise that you feel [...]
We all know that in order to be a good writer you need to write. The question is how many words a day is a good day, or how long should I write? Everyone is different and there’s no magic number. You have to find your spot and go from there. If you’re in the moment and find that the words are flowing then why would you stop? Keep going. I try and write at least 8-10 hours a day. That’s normal for me but if you’re a [...]
Well, focus is something I have to work into this mixture with this whole independent author journey. Hi! I’m A.D. Ellis, author of A Torey Hope Novel Series. I started writing in October of 2013 and published in April of 2014. I followed my debut with a release in July, November, and the newest released January 19, 2015. Four more books are scheduled for 2015. I wish I could tell you that I got all of this done because I was focused. But that’s not what this article [...]
You are well on your way to completing the first draft of your manuscript. You may even have it completed. Now, you ask yourself, “Do I really need an editor? After all, I wrote it and I know what it’s supposed to say.” Did you know it is nearly impossible to catch all of your own mistakes? Yup. Just because your brain knew what you meant to say, doesn't mean it’s actually what made it to the page. That means you need some outside editing help. But what [...]