It seems every writer has created a top 10 writing tips list. I have viewed dozens of these lists and compiled the best of the best for Christian writers. Collectively they contain valuable insight about the writing process.
1. Write only when you have something to say. (Playwright David Hare).
2. The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator. (Jonathan Franzen)
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New writers often ask how many words their book should contain. That answer is not as easy as it used to be. Times are changing and people are busier and attention spans seem to be shorter. The old norms no longer apply.
The epic War and Peace (1869) by Russian author Leo Tolstoy is 565,146 words in the English edition. American author John Steinbeck used 179,148 words to craft the classic Grapes of Wrath (1939). The Di Vinci Code (2003) by Dan Brown is 138,380 words.
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You saw the movie “Jerry Maguire,” starring Tom Cruise, so you understand how sports agents earn a living. They try to sign a young promising athlete, and then they try to sell that athlete’s skills to sports teams, trying to get one of them to pay top dollar for a soon-to-be star. Of course, the sports agent takes a healthy portion of the athlete’s income for services rendered, but that’s the way of the world.
Book agents, better known as literary agents, are in the same game. They’re looking for fresh talent that they can pitch to publishers. If they can place your book with a publisher, they will get a cut of your income for the economic life of the book. How much does a literary agent get? I remember when it used to be 10%, and when it climbed to 15%. These days, some agents want as much as 20% of your hard earned advances and royalties. [Read More]
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No matter how advanced you may be as a writer, no matter how many articles or books you may have had published, you can benefit from the feedback of their peers, colleagues, friends, and sometimes even family.
Why? Your point of view on your work is always going to be extremely subjective; that subjectivity is bound to cause you to overlook basic things in your work—facts, form, and function can suffer because your focus might be on some detail of the work. I suggest you seek the opinions of others about your work, and for you to read the work of other writers and offer them your perspective. This exchange is a tried and true method of improving your writing. [Read More]
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Many people think we are living in a post-Christian era. That’s not actually the case because there are 1.9 billion Christian believers in the world. Each of them is eager to learn more about the values they hold dear.
Christian writers have a responsibility to share their message with others. It ‘s not only a matter of winning others to Christ, but it’s also a matter of building up and encouraging those who already believe. There are wonderful opportunities for all Christian writers, not only to share their message, but also to have an opportunity to receive an income from their Christian writing projects. As the Bible says, “The worker is worthy of his wages.” (Luke 10:7) [Read More]
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