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Helping to Change the World Word by Word

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Home » Archives for Tamela Hancock Murray » Page 3

Tamela Hancock Murray

The Bronze Mirror

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon June 8, 2022
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I’m reading the HCSB Study Bible for Women with notes from Dorothy Kelley Patterson and Rhonda Harrington Kelley. The notes on Exodus 38:8 discuss how women donated bronze mirrors to build Temple basins for the priests. I thought, Bronze. That means they never saw themselves as we see ourselves. They only saw themselves through a yellow haze. I realize the Bible speaks of mirrors more than once, but I hadn’t previously thought about the significance of ancient mirrors being made of bronze.

I could base at least five devotionals on this thought, but my focus here is on writing. To wit:

Does your reader see your characters in a bronze mirror? 

Are parts of your plot seen through an inaccurate lens?

As you write and revise, consider that the reader knows nothing more than what you tell them. No writer can assume that a reader understands what a character is thinking or doing unless the author offers enough detail to make the image vivid. An author shouldn’t even take an ordinary device, such as a telephone, for granted. For instance, a reference to a Blackberry might be considered dated. Imagine a young person today reading a book in which the author didn’t think to describe a character in the 1950s calling into a party line using a rotary dial telephone, especially when that character overhears a secret!  

Of course, authors can take descriptions to the extreme. I may be odd (Don’t answer that!), but I don’t have to know that the heroine needs mustard from the grocery store or know that the hero brushes his teeth with baking soda unless the plot will otherwise perish. 

The talented author proficient at crisp writing and judicious editing will bring their characters and plots to life to help ensure forever a devoted readership. Look in the mirror. Could that writer be you?

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Category: Craft, Inspiration

What to Sell?

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 26, 2022
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Recently I had a conversation with a friend who shared this trick question: What do you sell to your customer? What they want or what they need? I answered, “Hopefully, both!” The answer? Neither. You sell them what you have. Aha! Now to connect this question to the art of writing: If you have an outstanding project but are hesitating to submit your work to our agency, don’t. Because the market …

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Category: The Writing Life

The Conference Appointment

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 18, 2022
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If you’re preparing to go to a writers conference, here are a few tips based on questions authors have asked over the years about agent and editor appointments: 1. What do I wear?  Each conference has its own personality. Visit the conference website to glean information concerning accommodations and weather. Comfortable, flattering clothes that show polish are available at different price …

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Category: Conferences

Communication Rules!

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon May 5, 2022
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You’ve heard about high-maintenance authors. But what about your agent? You want a partner who will work with you but not interfere. Ideally, your agent is an experienced and enthusiastic friend who will give you tips and brainstorm how to create a more compelling story but not insist that her ideas are better or—Horrors!—try to rewrite your book. I always talk to my authors about the level of …

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Category: Communication

Your Character’s Key Words

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 27, 2022
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We all need passwords to log onto websites that we can hope to remember, right? So we are likely to choose configurations that mean something to us but not to others.  Here is a fun exercise you can use to think about your characters. Pretend your character needs a password, whether for a shopping site today or a safe stored under the floor in the year 1877. What word or number combination would …

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Category: Creativity

Maundy Thursday

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon April 14, 2022
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Today is Maundy Thursday. As you feel led, visit this passage regarding the Last Supper and meditate upon it. I can never read this passage without thinking about how often I have disappointed Christ. And no matter how much I deny it, no matter how much I wish I were perfect, I am not. I will wretchedly and miserably betray Him again. And yet He forgives. I am nothing without Him. O Lamb of God, …

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Category: Personal, Theology

Chemistry Matters

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 24, 2022
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We’ve all heard about the stars who turned down roles that turned out to become cultural icons. For instance, at least six actors turned down the part of Neo in The Matrix.  Perhaps those who turned down roles might say, “Wow, that could have been me! I missed a great opportunity!”  Maybe. Or maybe not. Why? Because those films wouldn’t have been the same with the other actors. Perhaps the …

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Category: Career

Not Only the Lonely

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 16, 2022
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Since many publishers ask that authors have a robust online presence, I’m revisiting a topic that, sadly, hasn’t gone away since I wrote about it a few years ago. This article is worth everyone’s time if I can save even one person from being scammed. Recently, I received a private message on Facebook from a man I didn’t know, saying that he liked my profile and would like …

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Category: Career, Social Media

Ode to the Hefty Book

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon March 3, 2022
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Readers who love long books might want to check out the classics. I’m catching up on the classics as I write this post, which may take some time. Currently, I’m reading An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. Unfortunately, I could only get my hands on a mass-market, paperback size, which makes reading a book of that heft less pleasurable than it should be. The audiobook runs 34 hours and 12 …

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Category: Get Published, Pitch, Pitching, The Writing Life

No Need to Be Insulting

By Tamela Hancock Murrayon February 23, 2022
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Recently, my husband and I decided to sell his Lincoln sedan. The vehicle had been driven only a few miles and was barely out of warranty. The dealership always sent a valet to drive the 40-mile round trip for scheduled maintenance. Kept in a garage, the car had no ding or scratch; and the interior was spotless. Who wouldn’t want this fantastic car? I called up a local used-car dealership. They …

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Category: Pitching, Rejection
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