Early on in my writing career, I read or heard somewhere that a writer couldn’t consider himself a “serious” writer until after he or she had written their first million words. Orson Scott Card further qualifies this by saying the first million “serious, polished words.” I was thinking about that statement last night, and considered … More Whatever it takes

I got a call from my son last night. He works as a security guard, but his real passion in life is filmmaking. And when a filmmaker doesn’t have a gig—or money for one of their pet projects—that filmmaker turns to scriptwriting. Matt has had this idea for a while about a guy who is … More Conflict and characterization

I’ve had my share of rejection–in publishing and in life. I think back on all the girls I had crushes on, some of them so profound I thought my heart would jump out of my chest. Invariably, they would say something like, “I like you…but not in THAT way,” or “You don’t want to ruin … More Handling Rejection

I belong to a group of Adventist Authors on Facebook, and someone recently brought up the question: “How do you go about finding your voice as a writer?” As the others discussed it, I will have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure what they were talking about. Were they talking about point of view? … More About Voice

As I mentioned yesterday in my first official blog, I love being published, but I hate rewriting. I had company in town the last two days (my son, daughter-in-law and grandson), so I was otherwise distracted. But they headed back to Austin this afternoon, so I am faced with no excuses to keep me from … More Your God Is Too Small

I’ve been writing for a long time. And yes, I have learned a lot in the last three or four decades of writing articles, short stories and book-length stuff. Some of it has even come from reading advice from other writers. I remember about a five-year period when I read Writer’s Digest religiously when it … More Bring Your A Game