The Power of Polish, Part 2 by Anita Higman

Anita Higman

Hey everyone, Annette here. Last week Anita Higman visited to share part one of her self-editing checklist. She's back with more items and will finish her series next week. Happy editing!

The Power of Polish, Part 2

by Anita Higman

• Are my heroine and hero relatable and likable? Do they have enough noble and endearing qualities—along with their flaws—to make readers want to cheer them on?
• Will readers know the year, the season, and the time of day easily, or are these story elements too vague?
• Does my timeline have inconsistencies?
• Did I vary the length of sentences in my paragraphs so they’re eye-appealing and easy to read? Are my paragraphs so long they’re like a wall of words in need of mental climbing gear?
• How is my pacing? Is there a good rhythm to my storytelling? Are there passages I need to slow down or speed up for effect?
• Do I have too many summary paragraphs? Do some segments need to be revised so I’m showing and not telling?
• Does my work have the fine brushstrokes of subtext dialogue?  
• If I’ve written in first person does it look like there was an “I” explosion all over the manuscript?
• If the professions and hobbies of the main characters are important to the story will the readers get a good look into this part of their lives? Was this material presented in a way that is organic to the story, and did I check the information for accuracy?
• Is my dialogue realistic and interesting or mind-numbingly boring?
• Do my characters have occasional and natural interruptions in their speech without being confusing?
• Have I taken out unnecessary words, such as some, began to, just, rather, and all at once?
• Does every scene have some element of suspense or conflict or intrigue?
• Is each and every scene important to the overall plot, or have I padded the novel to up my word count?
• Are some of my chapters too long?
• Do all my chapters end with cliffhangers?

Again, take your time on this list. The extra effort you're expending will strengthen your manuscript. We're almost there. Next week we'll finish the list.

~~~~~

CBA bestselling and award-winning author, Anita Higman, has over thirty books published (several coauthored) for adults and children. She’s been a Barnes & Noble “Author of the Month” for Houston and has a BA degree, combining speech communication, psychology, and art. Her latest books are A Merry Little Christmas (Guideposts/Summerside Press) and Where God Finds You (Standard Publishing). Anita loves good movies, exotic teas, and making brunch for her friends. Please visit her online at www.anitahigman.com. 

Texas Wildflowers

Romance is in full bloom for four McBride sisters living in Texas. A jilted Rosy goes home to Galveston to nurture her broken heart. Will she find the courage to love again? Lily has just opened a Christian counseling business. Will an eccentric client cause her to break the most solemn of vows? Violet runs a business that shows people how to live romantically. Will a quirky geek teach her the real meaning of love? Heather’s perfectly planned life has just come undone. Will an unexpected date give her the courage to let go—in life and love? 


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Writing by Faith by Becky Wade

Becky Wade

The Christian writing community is one that offers support. We cheer each other on when the going gets a little rough. But what happens when we sit at our computers alone? Author Becky Wade shares encouragement for those days when discouragement tries to make  a home within our hearts. 

~ Dawn

Writing by Faith

by Becky Wade

  Writing is daunting.

There are times when I'm certain my w.i.p. is drivel. Times when I'm not sure how the storyline should play out. Times, during revisions, when I doubt whether I'll be able to make the book as good as I long for it to be. Times, once it goes to print, when I doubt whether anyone other than me will like it.

Some of you may be doubting if you'll ever be able to find an agent or snag a publishing contract.

Over the years God has had to gently, repeatedly, inexorably remind me of this truth: I may be daunted, but He is not.

He's not frozen by doubt. He's not afraid. He has a plan and He's only waiting on my willingness to be His vessel. God can accomplish exactly what He wants to accomplish through me, through you.

As writers of Christian fiction, our job, at its core, is simply this. To walk by faith. Or, in our case, to write by faith. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith not by sight."

WALK

Have you heard God call you to write novels? Then write! In order for something to happen, we must first do the action. Writing is challenging. There will be worries, trials, moments of utter frustration and heartache. But God meets the writer who shows up at her keyboard and pushes up her sleeves. He can do nothing in the life of the author who hears the call, is full of faith, yet doesn't have the perseverance to finish her manuscript—or quits because she can't handle rejection—or stalls because she can't find the time.

BY FAITH

Faith in what? That we'll one day be published? Hit bestseller lists? Earn a fortune?

No. Our faith is in the character and the will of our Father. Money, career achievement, and fame are not the reward of our calling. The reward "that neither moth nor rust destroys, that thieves cannot break in and steal" (Matt 6:19) is the joy and satisfaction that comes from completing the work God has set before us.

NOT BY SIGHT

What is more invisible than an unwritten novel? When we open our computer document to fill the day's pages, there is literally nothing there to see. May the blank screen serve as God's reminder to us that unlike the non-believers around us, we are not to act based on what we see. Job 37:5 says, "He does great things which we cannot comprehend." Much of what God is doing through our writing we will not understand until we get to heaven.

To me, this writing career is like walking along a gangplank. There's safety behind. Below, raging waters full of danger. Before, only uncertainty and empty air. Every time I come to my manuscript, God beckons me forward. If I try to walk by sight, I'll find myself either drowning or cowering.

 But if I walk by faith, stepping forward into thin air, trusting the One who instructed me to walk, then I've discovered that—amazingly, wondrously—God lengthens the gangplank just that little bit further each time. My foot hits secure wood. Every step I take gives Him an opportunity to support my weight.

When I encounter doubts, I'm learning to trust the process. Or, rather, to trust God's process of writing books through me.

He who beckons is faithful!

What part of your writing life most challenges your faith? Has God proven Himself reliable?

           

Click to reach Amazon.

 

 

 

Becky Wade makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and adored) cavalier spaniel. Her CBA debut, My Stubborn Heart, was released by Bethany House last spring. Her next contemporary romance, Undeniably Yours, will hit shelves in May.

To learn more about Becky, please visit:

Web Site: www.beckywade.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorbeckywade

JANUARIES by Tanya Hanson

January

When I was little, January was the cruelest month. Watching the Rose Parade only reminded me I had another year to wait before Christmas came again. Oh, I don’t mean just presents and cookies and new black patent leather Mary Janes. I mean the whole wonder of memorizing Luke 2 for the Christmas program at school. The joy of the carols, the “gloria” of the angel wings I wore in the pageant. Most of all, the splendor of a tiny baby who was really the King of all kings...

The Januaries of high school and college weren’t much different. January only meant the end of Christmas break and back to the grind. And as a teacher myself later on, January slung me headlong into final exams and report cards.

January five years, though, found me barraging God with gratitude. After a long sophomore slump, I had a second romance novel scheduled to release!

And it released the same day my husband was diagnosed with cancer.

Those horrible months taught me it wasn’t about the book. It was prayers and tears and caretaking as he battled to live, then struggled to regain his health.

Because of my husband’s ordeal, and the stretching of faith so taut my breath can still stop, I got the urge to write inspirational romance. By January 2010, I believed God had opened a new window, and I soon contracted a bunch of novellas about a fictional Colorado ranch family. I stood there, glowing, atop my pretend Rocky Mountain town. Into these stories flowed the people and stories of my own life and heart. Despite my best efforts and prayers, though, I can’t say I’m any kind of success. So once again, I realized it isn’t about the books. This time, it’s about the message.

Maybe reading Book three, a woman will get her husband or son to check himself for testicular cancer and help save his life. Maybe somebody will realize there can be falling in love during cancer. Maybe, like in Book Four, some reader’s estranged family will break down barriers that divide them. Maybe some couple on the brink of collapse, due to the stresses of an unimaginably disabled child might, can find the faith and trust to make it, upon coming across Book Six.

Maybe, like in a few of the stories, readers will simply realize that taking a city slicker wagon train trip can be just plain fun!

I don’t know.

This January has opened a new window, and it’s a terrifying one. By year’s end, I’ll be another name, Anya Novikov, and part of a young-adult launch. I left teaching years ago, I’m a gramma now of two tiny boys, and I have no idea how to reach a teenage audience. I guess I’ll have to use the next few months to try to figure it all out.

One thing. Mine won’t be the only set of footprints in the sand as my new journey starts.

 

Determined to get her life back on track, Mary Grace Gibson takes on a substitute-teaching job, grateful for the room and board offered at Hearts Crossing Ranch. The bustling family life helps her heal after abandonment by her ex. But her little boy’s serious disabilities make her cautious about revealing her secrets to anybody. Even Scott Martin, the handsome cowboy who’s fast stealing her heart.

Her former student now grown up, cowboy and graphic artist Scott Martin is instantly drawn to the beautiful single mom. She’s had some hard luck but never let go of her faith. Their age gap doesn’t fret him, and their kisses ignite his love. But as they fall for each other, Mary Grace’s lack of trust in him shatters his feelings, for he’s been down that broken trail before.

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I’m a California beach girl happily married to my personal hero (firefighter and cancer survivor). We’ve got two grown kids, who are the best thing I’ve ever done, and two little grandsons who totally obsess us. I love travel, country music, Hallmark movies, and McDonald’s iced coffee. I don’t like to cook, am terrified of down escalators, am a proud Defender of Wildlife, and I volunteer at our local horse rescue.

Ask O: Must I Weep? Creating Emotional Connections

 

Happy Wednesday, my writing friends,

Last year at Mt. Hermon, I attended a mentor class lead by the most-awesome Mary DeMuth. One piece of advice stuck with me. “You must PEE on your readers,” she said with a sly grin. Then she explained. “Create Profound Emotional Experiences.”

Of course, she’s right. The books that stick in my mind and, more importantly, in my heart, are the ones Irelate to emotionally. As a writer, I want my stories to resonate with readers.

 But how does one PEE on her readers, you ask?

Well, for me, undersanding how to create intense emotional connections has been a journey—and not an easy one. You’ve heard the saying, “No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader.” I heard that a long time ago, and I believed it. I thought I got it.

When I wrote, back then, emotions would surface; a tear or two might trickle down. I’d think, Wow, this is good stuff. I’m really touching an emotional nerve.

Looking at those scribblings now, I don’t feel a thing. I may have scraped the surface, but I didn’t dig down deep into the painful core of my being and bravely display it for all to see. And I certainly didn’t weep when I wrote.

When I write my stories now, I have to be careful in public because I literally sob. Yes, I do. Just yesterday, in the foyer of the church where my homeschool co-op meets, I decided to get a little writing done. A teenage student sat next to me on the cushioned couch, and another mom was taking a little snooze on the other side. Within moments, I lost myself in the story and tears began to flow. I knew if I didn’t stop myself, the sobs would erupt and I’d create an awkward moment for the teen and wake up the mom. 

Why is weeping important? Because she knows. She is one of my critique partners, SW’s very own Annette Irby. When I don’t cry as I write, she always catches it. “Um, I’m not feeling this, O,” she may say, or “Am I supposed to feel something here, because, honey, I’m not.” (Don’t worry, we’ve been critiquing together long enough that no-one’s feelings get hurt.)

I’m so grateful she catches these lapses, because if she doesn’t feel it, readers won’t either.

So after she marks up my pages, I go back and plunge deeper into the emotions I fearfully avoided in earlier drafts until my heart aches with the character’s pain. Then I close my eyes and type, tears streaming down my face, accompanied by audible, undignified, outbursts.

And something else. A sense of healing.

As vulnerable as I feel; as heart-wrenching as it is, by God’s kind mercy, these weeping sessions do more than boost my writing. I learn things about myself. Ugly roots are exposed and pulled out, and those emotional breakdowns often become some of my most intimate moments with God.

Must you weep? Well, I suppose not. But I recommend it.

 

What about you? Do you cry when you write? I'd love to hear your experience with creating emotional connectons.

 

God bless and happy writing!

 

Ocieanna