Helping to Change the World…Word by Word
The Steve Laube Agency
Helping to Change the World Word by Word
If you missed this before, spend a little time this week with this great four-minute animated video written by Nalo Hopkinson on writing great fiction.
It is also helpful for the nonfiction writer because you, too, tell stories. But yours happen to be nonfiction!
Once you are done watching, you can take a short quiz and even go deeper on the TED-Ed site. (Click here for the quiz.)
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I joke that if I didn’t like my husband, I could arrange to be away at writers conferences 90% of the time. The truth is, Christian publishing blesses industry professionals with many excellent opportunities, including classes, worship, professional speakers, the chance to meet top agents, editors, and writers, along with mentorships and fellowship, to name a few. Each conference is unique and …
Let’s dig a little deeper into how subtext in dialogue works and what it looks like. In the previous post, I talked about how people rarely say exactly what they mean—especially when under stress or in a sticky situation—or maybe when the truth would hurt someone’s feelings. We dodge, deflect, soften our words, or hide our true feelings behind sarcasm or politeness. Great fictional dialogue works …
Are you starting your book in the wrong place? I’m not referring to giving too much backstory. I mean, are you starting your story in the wrong place? Pantsers often start at the beginning and just let the story unfold. Plotters often want to outline the entire story from beginning to end before they write the first page. But what would happen if you started writing your book from the …
According to various sources, there are about one million words in the English language. Approximately 750,000 of them are technical or scientific. That leaves us with 250,000 words with which to communicate. I doubt any of us know all of them or use them. According to the TestYourVocab.com website, the average person knows about 20,000 words and uses only half of those in everyday speech. Go to …
Subtext is the hidden layer of meaning beneath the words and actions of a story. It’s what characters don’t say, what emotions they suppress, and what truths are left for the reader to infer, rather than being explicitly stated. Great writing isn’t only about what’s written; it’s also about what’s implied. Readers love engaging with stories where they have to read between the lines, piecing …
The phrase “driving by the seat of your pants” dates back to the era of steam locomotives. In those days, engineers could sense how the train was handling by feeling the rumble through their seats. Decades later, early aviators adopted the phrase “flying by the seat of their pants” to describe piloting by instinct, rather than relying on instruments. Writers later …
In many ways, my life in books began in elementary school. I discovered our city’s public library with the help of my mom. I soon began walking there regularly after school. While there, in what seemed to be a massive building, I would explore the rows and rows of books. Plucking one off the shelf here and there and skimming pages. One day, I discovered a complete section of books on …
I have been on the faculty of nearly 200 writers conferences over the years. Some might say that is the definition of insanity… !?! But I would not be where I am today if it were not for the fine people I have met over the years at those events. I am a firm believer in the purpose behind a writers conference and what can be accomplished. After a while it became clear which writers were going to …
Common Pitfalls and How to Fix Them Hello, writer friends, I hope you’ve all had a great holiday and are back at the craft, learning and writing. Before we took some time off, I was writing a lot about point of view (POV). I want to wrap that up with this post, which can serve as a final checklist to ensure that you’ve got this topic down. So feel free to go back and look at your work in progress …
