tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-127680442024-03-18T00:42:32.525-05:00The Savvy Christian Writer"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anais NinVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-27267069629291834492017-11-15T17:25:00.003-06:002017-11-15T17:35:37.342-06:00Black Friday Book Sale on Facebook
Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-46007562393692481512017-10-30T12:44:00.001-05:002017-10-30T12:44:44.705-05:00BookSweeps Giveaway!
Have you seen this awesome giveaway
from BookSweeps? You can win my book Never Say Goodbye, plus books from authors like Elizabeth Ludwig and Jan Thompson, and a
brand new e-Reader. PLUS you get FREE e-books just for entering. This
giveaway ends soon, so make sure you hurry and enter! Good luck!
Join the fun here! http://bit.ly/inspy-oct2017
When you’reVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-87473942294094752682011-02-16T23:56:00.000-06:002011-02-16T23:56:35.705-06:00Creative Writing TipsEnrich Your Prose with Figurative Language
Our word choices can either enrich or flat-line our prose. The sound of words combined together in a sentence can enhance our readers’ enjoyment of our writing, or invoke less positive emotional responses. Let’s look at three of the more common elements of figurative language that affect a word’s sound: alliteration, assonance, and consonance.
Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-4092637063598619532010-12-08T09:44:00.002-06:002010-12-08T09:51:57.720-06:00Beguiled by Gist and BertrandBeguiled, a romantic suspense by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand, published by Bethany House.
Rylee Monroe is a young, beautiful dog-walker for the wealthy families who live along the Battery on the waterfront in Charleston, South Carolina. Rylee, alone in the world except for a grandmother with Alzheimers (who lives in a nursing home), is drawn to the area where she had lived as a child Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-672055340864676472010-11-16T12:00:00.002-06:002010-11-16T12:00:32.460-06:00NaNoWriMo Week 1Write His Answer: Encouragement for Christian Writers
When I am weak, then I am strong--the less I have, the more I depend on Him." (2 Corinthians 10:10)
I'm reading Write His Answer by Marlene Bagnull, the "Crisis of Confidence" chapter.
Marlene discovered that "suddenly everything seemed to be getting in the way of my writing. Other things, good things, were demanding time and energy." She Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-80344278935959624072010-11-16T12:00:00.001-06:002010-11-16T12:00:17.342-06:00If You Want to WriteIf You Want To Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit
Good morning, NaNoWriters.
Congratulations on a successful week of writing! Even if you, like me, have logged in a lonely "0" word count once or a few times this week, that's a form of success, too! We're still in the game!
This morning I am reading "If You Want to Write" by Brenda Ueland. She is very encouraging to beginning Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-87853028867517085762010-11-16T12:00:00.000-06:002010-11-16T12:00:00.790-06:00Just Do It!from the Inside...Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you!
I read somewhere that when you don't feel like writing, just sit down and write anyway. I don't know where I heard that first, but it can be so helpful.
Even if you start out literally writing "I hate this, I hate this, I hate this" as someone posted earlier, you are still writing. And pretty soon, something worthwhile comesVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-65087987979452671762010-11-16T11:59:00.001-06:002010-11-16T11:59:39.826-06:00Unleashing Your Writing MuseA Writer's Book of Days: A Spirited Companion and Lively Muse for the Writing Life
I have a built in hour each day for writing; sometimes I use it for reading craft and planning, but I have dedicated this hour each day for NaNoWri. My hour is every afternoon when I drive my 15 yr old son to the gym; he exercises his bod while I exercise my writing muse! I take along my laptop and a drink, andVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-81638997257361195542010-11-16T11:59:00.000-06:002010-11-16T11:59:10.798-06:00Pre-writing Counts TooSomeone wrote "I may not have won...accomplished my best yesterday, but today...tomorrow...they are new days that require of me all my might for that day's task."
For many writers participating in NaNoWriMo, this is the time to reach those word count goals. Maybe they've already researched, plotted, developed, all of the preparatory work before sitting down and writing the story. And that's Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-85337870816212619802010-08-26T15:36:00.009-05:002010-09-24T08:34:53.830-05:00Blogging from ACFW Conference September 17-20"The Premier Christian Fiction Conference"Indianapolis, IndianaSeptember 17 - 20, 2010"Serving Him in WORD and Deed"
If you aren't attending the American Christian Fiction Writers annual conference in Indiana next month, check back on this blog. I'll be attending and keeping you updated. With pictues! (I hope).
Here we are at Susan May Warren's MBT Pizza Party Line Dance!(BTW, Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-41903811436148602092010-08-26T15:18:00.002-05:002010-08-28T10:30:49.853-05:00If I were you, and other expressions contrary to factIn my work as an editor, I’ve noticed otherwise good writers avoiding ideas that express the subjunctive mood of the verb were. Perhaps it’s because of confusion over subject and verb agreement, number, passive constructions, or any number of reasons. I can empathize. Each time I read a sentence with a singular subject attached to the verb were, I have to stop reading and check its accuracy. Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-73737037566592960202010-08-24T12:24:00.000-05:002010-08-24T12:24:29.178-05:00Writer's Wisdom"The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say." - Anais NinVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-76138491944975834482010-08-17T20:31:00.003-05:002010-08-17T20:54:11.777-05:00Freelance Editor Scam Dependra SanthaBeware of a scam directed at freelance editors. It's a "fake check overpayment take-you-to-the-bank and get-your-money" scam. Below is Dependra Santha's (the scammer) first email contact:
From: Dependra Santha
Subject: In need of an editor
To: mellow060@gmail.com
Date: Tuesday, August 3, 2010, 5:49 PM
My name is Dependra Santha, I will require your service to assist me in proof Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-83982408226230744462010-07-17T12:13:00.000-05:002010-07-17T12:13:56.035-05:00Books On My Night StandI'm currently reading Beguiled, by DeeAnne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand, and The Centurion's Wife, by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke. Both look great! I'll review both books after I read them.
I'm also finishing up a great suspense novel by James Rollins, The Doomsday Key (Harper Books), which isn't Christian fiction, but I love suspense, and Rollins is really good. Lots of fast moving action, Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-4407875537476091132010-07-08T19:02:00.031-05:002010-07-08T19:14:55.491-05:00ECPAs 2010 Christian Fiction FinalistsThe Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's 2010 Fiction Book Awards Finalists
Blood Bayou
by Karen Young,
Howard Books Publishers
Michal
by Jill Eileen Smith
Revell/ Baker Publishing Group
The Centurion's Wife
by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
Bethany House/ Baker Publishing Group
Veiled Freedom
by Jeanette Windle
Tyndale House Publishers
Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-60495088215434146872010-07-08T14:06:00.000-05:002010-07-08T14:06:22.212-05:00A Writer's Sense of PlacePublished in The Ready Writer's E-Zine, by Vicki McCollum, 2009
We love to read stories by writers who stir our memories, stoke our passions, and draw us into their fictional world. We go gladly because we sense truth in their writing—we trust them because we see ourselves in their characters’ struggles, our values upheld in their themes, and sense that we may discover something more aboutVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-24002165863813912572010-07-08T13:58:00.000-05:002010-07-08T13:58:09.594-05:00The Basics of Good DialoguePublished in The Ready Writer E-Zine, by Vicki McCollum, © 2008
Quotation marks are used to punctuate a speaker’s actual dialogue in fiction or to punctuate a direct quote in nonfiction. Speech tags (also known as attribution tags in nonfiction) identify the speaker using speech verbs: he said, Janet yelled, Jack shouted.
Use speaker tags, also known as attribution tags in nonfiction, and Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-78168998386863742722010-07-08T13:36:00.000-05:002010-07-08T13:36:12.153-05:00Creating Life-Like CharactersPublished in The Ready Writer E-Zine, July 2010 By Vicki McCollum (c) 2010
We know that research yields vivid, concrete details that bring our characters and their settings to life and enrich our plots. However, the editorial task of sorting through the piles of objects, images, and textures arrives where we select only the most meaningful and significant details for our characters. This processVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-70071453876721820682010-01-12T08:35:00.000-06:002010-07-08T22:25:45.302-05:00Research to Develop Your Characters and SettingsResearch to Develop Your Characters and Settings© Vicki McCollum
Get to know your character through his or her possessions. Try this exercise: Describe a character’s living space using the five senses. What’s on the walls, under the bed, in the closet? Imagine your character’s room and "brainstorm" a quick but specific list of everything in the room. Don’t limit yourself. Next, free write about Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-60413725792629495532010-01-08T22:18:00.000-06:002010-07-08T22:37:12.704-05:00Interview with Martha Rogers, author of Becoming Lucy and Morning for Dove, Winds Across the Prairie seriesAn interview with Martha Rogers, author of
Becoming Lucy, Winds Across the Prairie Series #1
Tell us about Lucy Bishop, Becoming Lucy’s main character.
Martha: Lucinda Bishop is a seventeen-year-old young lady from Boston whose parents are killed in a carriage accident. She becomes the ward of her aunt and uncle, Ben and Mellie Haynes, who live in Oklahoma. Lucinda is due to inherit aVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-53330003599494902872009-11-10T08:40:00.000-06:002010-07-09T04:36:09.583-05:00Writing4Success, Marg McAlisterWriting4Success Tipsheet #5
Building Your Skills
© Marg McAlister
Sometimes, it seems that the more you learn about writing, the more you realise how little you know. Beginning writers often look at the work of published authors and despair of ever being that good. Some even give up the idea of writing altogether - which is a great pity, because writers NEVER stop learning.
Persist! If you Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-65947046018559554982009-10-22T08:38:00.000-05:002010-07-09T03:36:49.396-05:00Point of View, the Story Teller's Perspective, by Vicki McCollumPoint of View Vicki McCollum © 2008
Point-of-view (POV) is not just the character’s opinion or world view, although, characters may express strong opinions. Point-of-view is a literary term that describes the perspective of one (or more) characters from which a story is told. First-person and third-person POV are commonly used in modern fiction. Let’s look closely at first-person Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-63165171254580419712009-10-10T19:39:00.003-05:002010-07-09T04:33:31.572-05:00Create Suspense with Story QuestionsSearch Amazon.com for sparks nicholasUsing Story Questions to Create Suspense
How do you grab the readers’ attention and make them keep reading even though the phone’s ringing,
the soufflé’s scorching in the oven, and hubby's boss (and wife) are pounding on the door in the pouring rain? By holding them in suspense created through your expertly-crafted story questions.
Vicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-52294262812592669782009-09-11T09:01:00.000-05:002010-07-09T04:37:36.977-05:00Writing Tips From Around the NetWhat Color is Your Pig's Lipstick?Danielle wrote to ask, "In 100 words or less, what is the best writing advice you ever received?" Chip MacGregor.com
That's easy... On page 71 of Strunk & White's Elements of Style (3rd Edition), they give this advice: "Write with nouns and verbs, not adjectives and adverbs." In the words of E.B. White, nouns and verbs "give to good writing its toughness andVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12768044.post-72615691019209605682009-08-27T10:36:00.001-05:002010-07-09T03:47:33.495-05:00Writing Mechanics Comma Splices, Fuses, and FANBOYS!
By
Vicki McCollum (c)
Just when I think, “I’ve got it!” I punctuate it incorrectly. Usually, it’s because of that dreaded, sneaky, and misleading piece of punctuation—the comma. How can anything so miniscule be so problematic?
What’s the purpose of punctuation, anyway?
Perhaps like me, you have questioned the purpose of punctuation when deep in the process ofVicki McCollumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12669909207828246829noreply@blogger.com0