Please welcome this week's guest Alison Bryant for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? I never wanted to be a writer. Well, I never planned to become one, at least. You know those amazing authors who began cranking out crayon-scribbled stories at age two? That wasn’t me. Instead, I contented myself while growing up to feed on the fruits of authors. They were my heroes, and I inhaled books. My literary identity into adulthood was a … [Read more...]
Day 129: Imaginations Going Nuts #acfw #365days
I had to laugh. Not too long ago I was talking to a friend on the phone and telling her about my story. She said, “Well, I’m glad I’m not in that family.” I had to agree. My main character is goes through a tragedy that so few will ever go through, and thank goodness most people never will. However, I hope it will still resonate because everyone in life at some points has some type of tragedy that befalls them. Whether it’s as simple as being laid off or as tragic as losing a child, we all go … [Read more...]
Day 127: One True Sentence #acfw #365days
In writing, there is both fiction and nonfiction. Obviously, nonfiction is going to be based on a true story or based on something that has happened in real life. However, fiction is all made up in the mind of the individual who writes it. However, even with fiction, there is a little bit of truth behind. I might be wrong, but from what I've experienced and other authors I’ve talked to, they always put a little bit of either themselves and/or people they know into their writing. Not that they … [Read more...]
Day 122: Fiction vs. Nonfiction #acfw
I think back to the day Mari was in the hospital and I told someone whether Mari made it or if she passed I was thinking about writing a book about her life. I’m not exactly sure why I would've thought to do something like this as I definitely didn’t believe I was a writer. After she passed and a little time went by, I decided to write a book about her life. The only drawback is I had no idea what I was doing. My husband tried to help me with editing it the best he could. His main comment was … [Read more...]
Day 114: The idea That Won’t Go Away #acfw
Have you ever had one of those moment when you're writing where your characters just won’t shut up. They continue to talk and talk and talk. They won’t quit until you write what they're telling you to write down. This has happened to me a few times with the fiction novel I’ve been writing to the point I have a major rewrite in the works that'll need to be completed by the time I go to my first writer's conference in September. If you aren’t a writer you may think that we have something … [Read more...]
Day 110: Reading in Russia #acfw
Have you ever read a book and loved it so much you contacted the author either by snail mail or email? I have. I read a book called The Wedding Kiss by the pen name Hannah Alexander. The names of the actual authors are a husband and wife writing team. There real names are Mel and Cheryl Horde. I loved this book so much I wanted to let them know so I sent an email to them to the email address listed in the book. Cheryl actually wrote me back. We ended up talking back and forth for several … [Read more...]
Day 104: Writing Your Own Front Yard #acfw
Think about this for a moment. When we write or talk about things do we use our past experiences during those times or do we just guess and hope what we say makes sense to others. Personally, I think our best writing comes from the things we have personally experienced. I'm not saying that those who haven't experience something they've written about is good. What I do mean is when we write from things that have happened in our past, we're able to put part of ourselves into what we write. There … [Read more...]
E is for Ebook
Have you noticed the amount of ebooks now available for us to purchase today. They are so prevalent. There are so many authors going the indie route as they have more control over how their book is published, or for that matter, getting it published at all. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to see your book in print, you had to go to one of the big New York publishers and hope, that by some small miracle, they'd publish your book. Today you can go to a place like CreateSpace and publish your … [Read more...]
Day 48: Community
When I think of a writing community I think of ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers). This little community of writers is so much more than writing. There is Novel Track. It's a place of accountability and support. You let the group know what your goal is at the beginning of each month. Then, as each day goes by you report in your numbers for that day. In return, you will receive positive reinforcement. Even on the days where you did nothing and tell the group you have a great big goose … [Read more...]
Day 40: Inspiration
I think inspiration can come from anywhere at anytime. It just hits us. I still remember being up in my bedroom when the story idea came to me and that very night I started my first attempt at writing fiction. To take a simple idea and then turn that into a 100,000 word book is mind-boggling. Not many people have the patience or stamina to do it. You really have to want to be a writer to do it. The amazing part about all of this is when you type out that first novel you'll find out what so … [Read more...]
