Hello Christian Indie Writers,
Welcome to another episode of our Podcast in which we discuss Story Structure. Whether you are writing a romance novel, a thriller, or a noir detective story your story will have a structure. The genre you choose may determine the one you use, or you may choose to stick with a basic 3 act or 4 act structure.
But how do you choose? That is just one of the questions we try to answer on todays podcast. For example, we talk about the dystopian novel that I am writing and how I chose to use a heroes journey type story structure. We will also discuss several other kinds of structures; what they look like and how they work.
I hope that you will find value in todays discussion. Please leave us a comment to let us know how you’re liking the podcast so far and what type of things you’d like us to discuss in the future. Speaking of the future, we are having a NaNoWriMo kick-off party on October 31st. It will be a live-stream broadcast starting at 11 pm Eastern time concluding with a word sprint at midnight. You won’t want to miss it. It’s going to be a blast.
Subscribe to our newsletter or Youtube channel for more information, or to get access to our free resources which include; the “Critique Cheat Sheet”, the “Romance Plot Sheet”, the Creating “Captivating Characters” worksheet, and the “It’s a Wonderful World Building Worksheet”.
Episode 12: Increasing Your Word Count
Good Morning,
In today’s podcast we discuss strategies we’ve used to increase our word counts. I think it’s funny that topics similar to this are the ones assigned to me. I know that these assignments are random, but I also know that God is in control. He knows that I need to pay extra attention to these topics in particular. Of the four of us I’m the worst at keeping a writing schedule, so as I host today’s podcast, I’m really working on myself. I hope you receive as much helpful advice and motivation as I did.
Are you a plotter…or a panster?
Good morning Christian Indies!
What a crazy month October is turning out to be! We’ve been so busy over here at the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast, not only prepping our own stories for National Novel Writing Month (lovingly referred to as NaNoWriMo around the world), but we’ve been hard at work with our #Preptober series [Read more…] about Are you a plotter…or a panster?
Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
Inspiration
Hi, Christian indies!
Jamie here, with a dose of weekly encouragement!
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. – Genesis 2:7
When I learned the topic for this week’s podcast was “inspiration”, I immediately thought I remembered learning once that the word had something to do with God’s breath, or God’s breathing. So, when I set to write this article, I just had to go and look it up.
From The Online Entomology Dictionary:
“c. 1300, “immediate influence of God or a god,” especially that under which the holy books were written …The sense evolution seems to be from “breathe into” to “infuse animation or influence,” thus “affect, rouse, guide or control,” especially by divine influence.”
How wonderful!
I’d like to believe that when I am seeking inspiration, I am literally asking for a breath of life from our heavenly Father, a sort of “spiritual resuscitation.” But, it feels rather presumptuous for me to then say “this story was brought to you by the Holy Spirit,” or some such thing, as that feels awkwardly close to comparing my own works to holy writ (All scripture is given by inspiration of God, – 2 Timothy 3:16a )
But, I do believe that it is appropriate to acknowledge that God created all things, even, ad perhaps, especially, the things that we look to for inspiration, as the word is commonly used. Also, the Great God and Our Creator was responsible for our formation – for our flesh and bones, and for the very gray matter inside of our skulls that churns out all these ideas. For these things, and for a great myriad of other reasons, He alone is worthy of our worship and praise.
Check out this week’s podcast to find out where, in God’s creation, we seek out inspiration for our writing.
We love encouraging others! Drop us a line and let us know how we can encourage you today!
Episode Nine: Prepping for Nano
Dear Readers,
When you watch our podcast about Prepping for NaNoWriMo today, you might notice that I look flushed and unprepared. There is a good reason for that. It’s because I was completely unprepared. For whatever reason, I missed the planning meeting in which our recording time was changed and where I’d been assigned hosting duties for the week. When I got the call saying I was expected to be recording at that very moment, I was forty minutes into a treadmill session and a twenty minute drive from where I record.
You’ll see that my lovely co-hosts were able to pick up my slack and everything went smoothly, but I hope this week you will take away something from it as valuable as I did. I was reminded of the importance of preparation and the need to be intentional in my writing career. Proverbs 6:6-8 reminds us to see the ant and watch how he labors. He has a goal that no obstacle short of death will stop him from reaching.
Last year when I decided that I wanted to be a published and successful author, achieving my daily writing tasks was my first priority. But since then, my fiction writing has taken a backseat to… well, basically everything else in my life.
- My local history and genealogy work has taken a much larger portion of my time than I originally allotted to it…
- My garden…see, our gardening season is pretty short here in Michigan so I need to spend as much time out there as I can…
- And then of course my husband and family want a huge chunk of time too…
Excuses, all. I needed this podcast today to get my priorities back in order.
I hope this week’s show will be an encouragement to you whether this is your first NaNoWriMo, you’ve stayed on track since last year’s Nano or you’ve fallen off the horse like I did. Let us know in the comments how your Nano plans are coming along then be sure to tune in all of October for our “Preptober” episodes.
Sharing the Gospel Through Your Writing
Hello Christian Indie Writers!
I just want to say thanks again for allowing us to be a part of your writing journey! I know I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for other great, supportive writing friends!
When my career transitioned from “I’ll be a writer someday” to “I AM a writer…let’s do this!” I learned that the journey wasn’t exactly what I had expected it would be. One thing I discovered was that the story that had been stirring around in my head for years was far more than just the sweet boy meets girl tale I had originally thought it was. The more I wrote, the more I realized that God had a story to tell as well, a story that I hope will someday enrich the life of a reader, or, better yet, further God’s kingdom.
[Read more…] about Sharing the Gospel Through Your Writing
Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
You can fit writing into your faith, family, and career.
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ~ Proverbs 31:29-30
Hello Everyone,
We all live busy lives. Whether we work in or outside the home, help at our church, have [Read more…] about You can fit writing into your faith, family, and career.
Episode 6: What Does It Mean to be a Christian Writer?
Are you a Christian Writer?
Trust the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths. ~ Proverbs 3:5-6
Hello Everyone,
Well, this week was our fifth podcast. Can you believe it? I hope that you have been enjoying these podcasts as much as we have enjoyed doing them. Please, if you have any comments, questions, or ideas for future topics, drop us a line and let us know. We would love to hear from you.
This week we tackled the subject “What does it mean to be a Christian Writer? [Read more…] about Episode 6: What Does It Mean to be a Christian Writer?
Episode 5: Is Indie Publishing Right for You?
Good morning,
I hope you are looking forward to a day full of writing success. I speak for all of us when I say we are thrilled to be a part of your day. In this episode of our podcast we discuss the big goal: publishing.
This digital age we live in has created a whole new world of possibilities for writers. No longer do we have to find an agent to promote our book in the hope that some faceless editor will bet on it and put it in print years after you made that final edit. The good news is that now anyone can publish their book [Read more…] about Episode 5: Is Indie Publishing Right for You?
Episode 4: Establishing Daily Writing Habits
Good Morning,
In today’s podcast we discuss our writing habits. It’s easy to sit down at the writing desk when the ideas are flowing, but what do you do when you have writer’s block or just don’t feel like writing? Well, we’ve been there too. Writing Group is a huge source of motivation because of the built-in accountability to one another, but our Christian faith is even more helpful.
2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV) says “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” [Read more…] about Episode 4: Establishing Daily Writing Habits
