Today I had a meeting with the Idea Team of the church newsletter I write for. We took our theme and brainstormed. It was fun to take a strand of thought and turn it something creative and potentially usable. Our minds were stimulated by the exchange, allowing the ideas to flow freely. We walked away [...]

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As a beginning writer it’s important to set short term goals. This way you can ease yourself into a writing routine. Start out by setting aside ten minutes each day to write. Try to set that ten minutes for the same time each day. After two weeks increase the time to twenty minutes. Continue this [...]

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I finally signed my first children’s book contract. What an exciting feeling! I almost don’t believe it’s happened. One of the dreams of a writer is to be published anywhere. But to get a book contract–well, it’s amazing. Some people may say I’m lucky because I caught the attention of a publisher and now a book is under [...]

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You’ve worked hard developing your writing skills, including learning how to properly format your manuscripts. Your critique group has given the thumbs up on some of your articles or short stories. The next step: try to market your work. But who do you submit to? There are many resources to help you find the right [...]

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In order to improve a skill, one needs to make an investment of time. A good writer doesn’t just happen. You must dedicate a certain amount of time to develop your storytelling skills because even if you write non-fiction, you are still trying to deliver a message. But with such busy lives, how do you [...]

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Do you have dreams of sending out your first manuscript and having it instantly picked up by the first publisher you send it to and then selling a zillion copies? To be honest, I think most writers have that thought hidden in the back of their heads. But that is just an illusion. The reality is [...]

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Before you send out articles or manuscripts, you need to know the proper way to format or present your work. With the stiff competition in this field, you do not need a badly formatted manuscript to ruin your chances of success. Writer’s guides often give some specific tips that will help, but it’s better if you can [...]

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Now that you’ve figured out your target audience and genre, you need to study the type of books you want to write. Don’t call it homework: call it creative researching. If you want to write picture books for kids, go to your local library and start pulling out stacks of books. Try to read the [...]

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A genre is a particular style or category of writing. Western, mystery, romance, adventure, and science fiction are all examples of genre. There are even stories that mix genres, like a mystery in space or a historical romance. Although recognized more for fiction, genres can be non-fiction, too. Biographies, action/adventure, and police stories are examples of [...]

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As you start developing your writing skills, you need to think about your target audience. Who do you want to write for? Do you want to write for adults, kids or teens? If you want to write for children, what ages? These are very important considerations because each target audience will have very unique requirements. [...]

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