Tips & Insight for Writers

How Limitations Can Push You as a Writer

J. Grace Pennington, Guest Contributor On the surface, our possibilities may seem unlimited. We can sit down at our word processors and type out anything our imagination can come up with. There are, however, still many possible limitations. We are obviously limited by what we know or can find out about. We are somewhat limited by our own experience (“Write what you know!?”). We may be limited by word count, content, or subject if writing for someone else. But, like Spielberg, we can use these limitations to enhance our creativity and improve our craft.
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When Something You Love Has to Go

Justin Ferguson, Guest Contributor “Kill your darlings.” Unless you’re new to the writing life, you’ve probably heard this phrase before. It refers to chopping out those scenes, plot points, and even characters that you just love but, if you’re honest with yourself, don’t serve the story. And that means they’ve got to go. As writers, most of us know to be on guard against this natural weakness, but how do we go about killing our darlings?
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Is There a Right Time to Write?

Angie Fraser, Guest Contributor Although The One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN) is designed for high school students, we also have many adult students—some college-age, but others who write in the midst of parenting and jobs outside of the home. Angie, in New Zealand, has the distinction of being both the mother of OYAN students and an OYANer herself. We asked her to tell us about what it's like writing a novel as a mom and home-educator.
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A Young Writer’s Take on Jeff Gerke’s “The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction”

Hannah Mills, Guest Contributor Hannah Mills, a veteran student of The One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN), shares her thoughts about Jeff Gerke's book, The Art and Craft of Writing Christian Fiction, with special attention to how Gerke’s insights intersect with the fiction-writing structure taught in OYAN.
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