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Fast Tips for Writing Flash Fiction
I’ve been writing a lot of flash fiction lately. Most of it I’ve shared on the blog, but some of them I’m still working on. And then, of course, are the horrible pieces that will never see the light of day. I’m doing a summer creative writing class through my college and I’ve been learning a lot about writing better flash fiction! I wanted to share a few tips with you, to help you write your own flash fictions. Focus on one thing Flash fiction, by its very nature, is incredibly short (usually less than 1,000 words). There isn’t time to dive into subplots or explore a fantasy world. When…
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Defeating Writer’s Block
The hero is just about to triumph. He’s made his way to the villain’s hideout. His army marches behind him. But the villain lurks in the shadows, ready to attack. As Admiral Ackbar would say, “It’s a trap!” The same thing also happens to us writers. Everything is going splendidly. We got good feedback on our short story, we just wrote two thousand words, and on top of that, we fixed a major plot hole. We sit down to write the next day and we smack into an immovable wall. There’s no way over, under, or around it. We’re stuck. Everyone faces obstacles. Think of any story. The heroes always…
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5 Christmas-Themed Character-Building Activities!
Merry early Christmas, friends! Are you ready to celebrate Jesus’ birth? I have finished almost all my Christmas presents and most of them are wrapped. I’ve also really been enjoying my daily advent devotional my church provided. Now that it’s Christmas break (hooray!), I’m hoping to write more for fun. I’m guessing some of you are too. Sometimes, it’s hard to regain momentum if you’ve been taking a break for a while (too busy with school, etc.). The best thing to get you writing again are some fun prompts you can do with any of your characters! Here are 5 Christmas-themed character-building activities! #1. What would your characters get you…
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The Importance of Taking Breaks: Recovering From Burnout
As writers, we like to write as fast as we can and as much as we can. We often don’t know when it’s time for us to stop. We keep pushing ourselves and pushing ourselves until we can’t go anymore. We give ourselves burnout. Burnout is caused by continuously trying to write when you are out of mental energy or motivation. It’s the equivalent of driving on fumes. You can’t expect to finish a road trip if you floor it the whole time. You’ll need to stop and refuel a few times. Let me tell you something from my own experience—it’s very hard to come to that realization and understand…
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Not Squirrels–Things We Call Distractions, But Really Aren’t
A few weeks ago, we talked about my dog Reese who loves squirrels. I compared her obsessive focus on the furry beasts to a writer’s tendency to chase “squirrels” when he should be writing. You can find that post here! Today I’d like to address another problem that has come up in my own life. That is the subject of “not-squirrels” or things we think are distractions but actually aren’t. God and Church Do you know how tempting it is to skip or shorten your devotional time so you can go write? This particularly becomes a problem on busy days. It won’t really hurt anything if we skip…
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The Power of Words
Words have rent nations, formed alliances, changed history forever. Two words bind one man and one woman in a covenantal relationship until death. They can build people up and they can tear them down again. Words have power. An immense power, even greater than that of an atomic bomb. James talks about the untamable tongue in the third chapter of his letter. He compares it to a fire. Flames can provide heat to warm us and cook our food. But they can also consume entire cities. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue…
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Celebrate Small Wins!+A Poet’s Dictionary Release!
context: The good guys (Snyder and co.) just captured one of the villains. “A crooked grin slanted across Snyder’s face. He was having too much fun. But he deserved to celebrate a victory. They all did. It was easy to forget they actually succeeded sometimes.” – Checkmate While I’m no longer working on Checkmate, I still like this quote. Why? Because it reminds me to celebrate small victories. As humans, we get so focused on the destination (getting published, graduating college, etc.), we forget the journey. The individual steps that make the path to the end. We forget the careful outlines, never-ending drafts, A+ assignments. We forget them all…
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Squirrel!–Dealing With Writing Distractions
Our dog Reese has a concentration problem. If food or a toy is involved, she’s all ears. But when it’s time to go outside for you-know-what, every single thing is a distraction. Birds. Bugs. Kids screaming at recess. Power tools. Squirrels. Those furry little creatures have captured her attention for countless hours. We often find her at the patio door, watching them scurry around. We all have our squirrels. Things that might be good, but take our attention from what really matters. Whether that is school work, Bible study, or writing, we need to learn to deal with and eliminate distractions. I get easily distracted by my…
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Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Writer–The Value of Practice
I love writing. I love music. So it only makes sense that I would use them to create an analogy. When someone decides to learn an instrument, say piano, they don’t expect to be as good as this when they first sit down, right? So why do we as writers sit down and expect to write like Tolkien on our third draft? Be Content With Baby Steps One of the first real songs you will play on an instrument is “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.” It’s nothing fantastic, but when you manage to play a recognizable tune for the first time, you have a moment of triumph. Writing is the…
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Become an Inspiration Lightning Rod
Output requires intake, and literary output requires literary intake. Wordsmithy, by Douglas Wilson, page 30. I think all of us have experienced creative burnout at some point or another in our writing journey. Whether it’s simply running out of ideas or the inability to write at all, burnout is no fun. When you face this monster, the best way to conquer it is by getting more inspiration. But finding inspiration isn’t just like sitting out in a thunderstorm and hoping to get hit by lightning. It’s more like intentionally tying yourself to a lightning rod in the middle of a storm cell. Though it’s a little less dangerous. 😉…
