Write for a Reason

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In one of our recent Writers for a Reason Unite groups, one of the things we talked about was weaving a message into our stories. How do we do this gently, with respect? After all, we are not here to persuade, as much as allow readers to think through issues of faith, and make up their own minds.

Of course, as Christians, we would love everyone to share our faith! But not everyone will choose to do so, and that’s between them and God – our job is to simply to shar...

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We usually start of with a good idea of what our characters look like. But what about other parts of their personality?

Here's a writing exercise for you to do, that will help you get to know your characters better.

Try this in your writers' groups as well as on your own!

Hear you again soon,

Janet

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With your theme and message in mind, how will your protagonist, and any other characters, change during the course of your story?
 
 How will they be different at the end, than they were at the beginning?
 
 How will you show the difference?

Listen to the podcast and get some tips!

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Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
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Keeping up the pace in our stories is essential, if we want to hold our readers' attention.

This is even more true today than it was a few years ago!

So how can we do this?

Here are some fun creative writing tips, to help your story zip along at a great pace! 

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This may sound like a daft question, but knowing who you want to write for, and why, is an important foundation for our writing.

We can have what we think is a brilliant idea for a story, but will it resonate with our target audience?

This episode will help you narrow down your target audience and get your mission statement sorted... resulting in clarity - and that's a wonderful thing!

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Today I have a little tip for you, on writing dialogue. Someone was asking me recently about what mistakes I see most often in dialogue, and one of them is that their characters all sound too similar.

The way people speak will denote their character. A bold person, for example, will speak boldly. A timid person will use completely different words, and express them in a different way. The bold person will be direct. The timid person may beat about the bush, go red, fumble and look at the ground. The...

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We are leaving a legacy with our writing, whether we are thinking about it or not. So why not be intentional? Listen to this episode and be inspired to change lives with your stories. 

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this link to find out more.

Oh, and do leave a review on your podcast app - it really d...

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We may avoid conflicts in real life, but in our stories we should embrace them as our best friends, because without conflicts we do not have a story!

In this pocast episode we get deeper into conflicts, so grab your writing journal and get ready to take your story to the next level.

Oh, and there are a couple of exercised for you to do!

Enjoy!

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Hi, Janet Wilson here.

The issue with writing fantasy, and how we deal with it as Christians, came up in one of our Writers for a Reason Unite meetings recently.

One of our members had been reading a children’s book, where witchcraft, magic and spells were included in the story. As Christian writers, we’re not going to be including any of these things, of course… but what about fantasy? What about where a character is taken ‘as if by magic’ to another time and place, for example?

Where...

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In this episode, Janet looks at the whole subject of inspiration. 

Sometimes we have to go out looking for inspiration... it doesn't always come when we want it... here's how, and why.

Enjoy!

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this link to find out more.

Oh, and do leave a review on your podcast app...

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What writing times work best for you?

How often should you write?

The advice write every day is excellent advice!

But not for everyone can stick to that, and it can be counter-productive to attempt something that doesn’t work with your current lifestyle. It’s depressing to feel you have failed, and totally unnecessary! 

Listen to the episode for practical advice for fitting in your writing time with your own personal circumstances... and still get your story done. :-)

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Asking who you want to write for and why may sound like a really daft question, but when you think about it, it's absolutely foundational to writing a successful story. 

Listen to this episode and see if you agree!

Oh, and grab your writing journal and a pen, because there's a writing exercise for you. :-)

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Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write y...

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Show not tell is an essential part of creative writing.

We all know we need to show not tell, but how exactly do we do that?

Here are some ideas to help you.

Enjoy - and let me know what you think!

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
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<...

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Starting a story is great - finishing is even better! In this episode Janet gives 7 tips to help you keep on track and get your story done.

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this link to find out more.

Oh, and do leave a review on your podcast app - it really does help a lot. Thank you! :-)<...

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Dialogue isn't like real speech - it takes a lot of work!
Check you aren't making these three common mistakes with dialogue...
And if you find this episode helpful, subscribe to the podcast, and leave a review.
Thank you! :-)

Support the show

Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this link to find out more.

Oh, and do leave...

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Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer, and get your books out into the world.

Today we’re going to be looking at surprises and twists!

These can deepen the emotional impact of your story, which, of course, is...

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Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer, and get your books out into the world.

The best way to approach descriptions

When setting a scene, it's good to begin with a description of the general panorama before getting...

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Chapters cut your story up into manageable chunks, but there are so many brilliant ways of ending them. The aim is to keep your readers turning the pages because they just have to know what happens next (even after lights out; did you do that? :-)). Even the most desperate of readers may have to break off at some point, and that's usually at a chapter break, so you want to make sure your readers can't wait to get back into the action.

Of course you need...

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If you're here, you're writing for a very important reason! Writing Christian books for children is so important.
Even so, there can be days, weeks or even months when you just don't seem to be able to get round to write...
In this podcast episode I give you some ideas on how to get writing fit again!
And if you'd like to join the Write for a Reason Zoom training that I mention, click here to find out more and book your place.
Hope to see you there!
...

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Do you have an author website? Do you wish you did?

Twenty years ago, this wouldn’t have been a thing, but these days every author needs to have a website of some description.

Would you like to know exactly what you need to do and how you need to do it? In really easy steps?

Look no further than today’s episode! My guest, Sonja Anderson, is the perfect person to talk to us about websites for authors, as she is a writer for a reason (just...

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We all love to root for the underdog, don't we? In this week's episode of the Write for a Reason podcast we talk about several different ways you can make your readers feel so angry for your protagonist, because of what they are being put through unjustly, that they won't be able to put your book down!

Have a listen, and let me know what you think!

Every blessing,

Janet

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Hi, Janet here. Today I have a fun writing assignment for you!

Listen to the podcast, then bust out your writing journal and get writing...

Have fun!

Every blessing,
Janet

P.S. Would you like to join our Writers for a Reason Unite membership group? More details here. We'd love to have you!

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while...

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Just a quick writing tip today, to help your improve your writing.

Janet Wilson talks about adding colour to your stories...

Enjoy!

If you'd like more free writing tips, or would like help with your story, hop on over to the Write for a Reason website.

See you there!

Support the show

Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
...

Send us a text

Support the show

Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

Or perhaps you would like to join our membership group, for support while you write your novel?
Click on this...

Send us a text

Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer.

Today we’re going to be looking at the whole subject of book reviews. It’s something that came up in our writers for a reason unite group -  there’s a certain amount...

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In this episode of the Write for a Reason podcast, I talk to author Jubilee Lipsey about the structure of chapters. That may sound like a bit of a dry topic, but actually there's so much more to it than meets the eye. It’s fascinating, and I’m sure you will learn a lot!

After all, you do want your readers to find each of your chapters enthralling, right?

So grab a pen and paper, or your writing journal, and get ready to find out what needs to go i...

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Today I interview Sharon Tedford, who is here to talk to us about the whole big issue of rejection. 

Sharon is an English writer, living in Dallas (I know, listen to the podcast for how that happened!). She’s a talented creative writer… but still suffered from that awful pit-in-your-stomach feeling when facing rejection – as most of us do.

Rejection is a big thing, isn’t it, for writers? Whether we fear rejection so much it stops us from sending proposals/pitches in the first place, or whether it hits us h...

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Are you thinking about publishing your book on kindle?

Today on the Write for a Reason podcast I’m delighted to welcome Christopher Benner, author of The Dragons of Ederstill. This is Christopher’s first book, and is for young adults.

Christopher decided to publish his book on kindle because he was on a limited budget, and today he gives us the simple steps anyone can take to get their book on to the kindle platform quickly and easily.

As a bonus, Christopher also shares a ma...

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The better we can express deep emotions in our characters, the more we will engage our readers.

Here's an exercise for you to do that you need never show to anyone, to help you get your emotions out into words. It will help you with your stories, I promise!

Write freely without editing for at least ten minutes on each of the following topics (if you find it too difficult to write in the first person, write as if a narrator is watching you):

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Hi folks,

I have another podcast for you! This one is from Pam Daunton, who recently had her first novel, The Dove Stone, published. (Congratulations, Pam!)

You will be inspired by her writing journey. She started off great, but then gave up when she realised that writing a book was much more difficult than she thought it would be.

Then... well, I'll let her tell her own story!

If you struggle sometimes, having realised that there's much more to writing and...

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The idea of talking about this came from one of our Write for a Reason students. She asked me this excellent question: "My question concerns what target I should set myself in my writing. I know I've made some progress over the last few years, and hopefully a bit more as a result of your course [The Write for a Reason Academy]. Now I need to decide to be motivated to focus on a new story, or new draft of a previous one, so any guidance you can give me on...

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Thanks for coming over! I think you will enjoy this episode - it's more than a creative writing tip - there's an exercise for you to do... and I get real about some of my own childhood memories!
So, a  generally excellent piece of advice for writers is to write about what you know. It makes sense. How can you describe the atmosphere of the crowd at a football match during the taking of a crucial penalty unless you have experienced it for yourself?

If you were bullied, bereaved, lonely o...

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Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to writing stories for kids and teens, stay tuned for encouragement, creative writing tips and actionable strategies you can implement immediately to become a better writer – and in this episode we’re looking at using all the senses on your novel.

To fully engage readers in your story, you need to help them not just to 'see' your...

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After fracturing my elbow, everything has become more of a challenge, including one-handed typing! So this week I asked you for your own best writing tips and here they are...

Shout out to all of you who sent in tips to encourage and inspire your fellow writers. They are brilliant!

Enjoy. :-)

If you'd like to look at doing the Write for a Reason Academy, check it out here.

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Like to do my free writing course, Gripping Beginnings?

...

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Today I have  five simple tips that can improve your writing immediately. You might be thinking yeah, yeah… but keep listening and you’ll see!

So, taking a few minutes to prepare yourself before you sit down to write can improve your creativity and your output hugely.

I wonder what you’re thinking – what will these simple ways be? Reading, a practice exercise, turning off the internet? Well, those are all great things, but the five things I have for you today are much more basic!

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Hello and welcome! Lovely to have you here.

One of the brilliant ways you can increase visibility for your novel is with a book blog tour.

Katherine Blessan, author of Lydia's Song and Home Truths with Lady Grey, strips away the overwhelm and gives us 6 simple steps we can follow to do our own DIY book blog tour!

If you are starting to think about how you will sell your book once it's published (whether you are self-publishing or hoping for...

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Hello and welcome!
I'm delighted to introduce you today to Ruth Leigh. Ruth has been writing for a long time, but has only recently starting writing fiction... and she hasn't just dipped her toes, she's jumped right in with both feet! When her catering business crashed at the beginning of the first lockdown... well, I'll let you listen for yourself. :-)
Ruth gives us some excellent writing tips, as well as inspiring us with her story - and gives us some excellent information about getting your work critiqued.
You can...

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It's never too early to start to think about your book launch!

Joy Vee is about to launch books 5 and 6... so is getting good at launches. :-) She is kind enough to come on the podcast and give some tips as to what worked for her.

So get out your writing journal or the notepad app on your phone, and get ready to make some notes...

If you'd like to get in touch with Joy, or buy any of her books, you can get in touch with...

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Once the goal has been reached and the purpose of your story fulfilled, you need to tie off loose ends fairly quickly.

You know the story of Cinderella? Have you ever wondered what happens to her nasty step-family? Me neither! We don't care, because the story is about Cinderella – the only thing that matters is that good has triumphed over evil and she has her prince!

Allow your readers to sigh in satisfaction as your hero revels in their success at the end of your story – then leave them on t...

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If you know your protagonist's key goal or final outcome in advance, you can work towards strengthening everything that takes them towards it (one conflict after another). Again, if you know what that key goal or outcome is (if you already have it in mind), you can avoid/remove anything that doesn't serve to move the plot forward!

Simple, eh? Well, OK, it can take some thought, and some practice!

First, you need to decide what the key goal is. It could be that your very normal character becomes...