Lord God Adonai,
I am about to write.
I have nothing to say,
nothing to offer.
I am a poor writer,
and an even poorer Christian.
And yet I must try
to find words
that will bring into being
something that has never been before.
Help me, Lord.
Inspire me.
Empower me.
Flow through me.
Grant that I may write
better than I can write,
and thus know that
all the honor and glory and thanks
belong to you,
in Jesus’ name, amen.
Blog
Conflict And Characters: Mess ‘Em Up Good
Congratulations! You know your characters backward and forward and maybe a little sideways. It’s now time for the next step in crafting your story. Let’s talk about creating conflict for those characters. Now that you know what makes your people tick, the next question you should be asking yourself is: “How can I really mess them up?” You want to start brainstorming ideas and scenes that will keep …
Labor Day Metaphor
Today the U.S. celebrates Labor Day as a national holiday. Eight years ago I posted the below video on Labor Day and asked readers to think of ways this bear’s activity is a metaphor for the writing life. For life in general. Or write a 100-word short story about what you saw. I’ve left the creativity of those comments below. Add yours to the mix! Enjoy!
Fun Fridays – September 1, 2023
The invention of the child-proof medicine bottle proved to work too well on many occasions. Today’s video demonstrates.
The Writing Journey
I love maps. Very few things make me happier than the excitement of surveying the made-up lands of Narnia or Middle Earth. Scanning the page for landmarks, important features, or new locations makes the reading experience so much richer for me. In the same way, I like to utilize my love of maps and imagination to communicate timelines, identify benchmarks, and check progress. I even use them to …
From Page to Stage: How To Adapt Your Writing Into a Captivating Speech
Public speaking is historically one of the best ways to sell books. Find out how you can turn your book into an engaging and memorable talk.www.NovelMarketingConference.com Support the show
The Heavenly Minded Author
Some people are so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., was quite a guy. A prominent, influential physician and writer, his friends included Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was born in 1809 and died in 1894. His son was Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., who fought in some of the bloodiest battles of the …
Food for Writing
Some foods are better to eat than others when you’re writing. Right? It goes without saying (but I will say it anyway) that Cheetos are not the most keyboard-friendly food to snack on while you’re writing your next article, blog post, or book. And tacos get all over your keyboard, research, and outlines, right? So, I asked some Steve Laube Agency clients, “What IS the food you most …
Do You Tsundoku?
You may have heard of the numerical Sudoku game, but I play a much better game. And a lot more fun. Tsundoku. Do you tsundoku? That may be unfair, so let me have the Cambridge online dictionary give you the definition: The practice of buying a lot of books and keeping them in a pile because you intend to read them but have not done so yet; also used to refer to the pile itself. Until I recently …
Fun Fridays – August 25, 2023
I sing bass. But this fellow sings BASS. The note he hits at the end? Impossible. Enjoy the video!