by Lindsey Brackett @LindsBrac For developing authentic characters—and yourself—learning the Enneagram is a great place to start. This ancient tool suggests nine basic personality types for people, which are all focused on how a person’s underlying motivation (or core sin) influences behavior. Enneagram experts believe every person carries tendencies of…

by Katy Kauffman @KatyKauffman28 None of our names are found in Matthew 1 or Luke 2 in which the story of Jesus’ birth is told. (Unless your name is Mary or Joseph.) But have you considered that we have something in common with angels and shepherds if we know Jesus?…

by DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Up on the bookshelf Editors hail. Out jump agents, writers travail. Down through the aisles With lots of books, All with metaphors and crazy hooks. Ho Ho Ho A writer would know. Ho Ho Ho A writer would know. Oh, up on a bookshelf Click Click…

by Lisa Carter @LisaCarter27 My grandmother loved Christmas cacti. Her house was filled with a variety of pink, white and red cacti. A Christmas cactus is thus named because they usually bloom around the holidays.  My grandmother died over almost thirty years ago, but sprigs of her original cacti were…

by Tamela Hancock Murray @Tamela_Murray A reader of novels: Expects the expected Wants something unexpected Offering both the expected and unexpected isn’t most effortless order to fill. However, there are a few ways you can try to keep from annoying your reader: [tweet_box design="default" float="none" inject="#writing #pubtip"]How Not to Annoy…

By DiAnnMills, @DiAnnMills Some of us revise as we write, and others choose to wait until the story is written. I suggest a writer complete a scene, a chapter, or even the entire story before switching to editor mode. Creating a story uses the left side of the brain. Revision…