Episode 46: Passive Voice
“What do you want for dinner?”
“Whatever.”
“Hotdogs okay?”
“Fine.”
Chances are, you read aggression in the voice of one or more of the above characters, and chances are, also, that you’ve been a party to such a conversation yourself, and in that moment thought, “(S)he is obviously upset, and not saying so. I wish (s)he would just tell me what the problem is, already!”
Just like no one likes passive aggressive behavior, very few readers can get down with a work that is loaded up with passive voice. Often, the trick to eliminating passive voice from your writing is identifying it in the first place, because it isn’t always as obvious as an attitude being flung at you by your spouse or your teenager.
Join us on the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast this week as we discuss how to identify passive voice in your writing, how to fix it, and if it is ever a good idea to just leave it alone.
See you there,
Jamie
Episode 40: Collaboration
Hi Christian Indie Writers,
In today’s podcast we are discussing collaborations. We here at the Christian Indie Writers Podcast recently decided to do a collaboration and thought we would let you all in on the process we went through to get that rolling. You’ll want to tune in for a special announcement regarding that very thing, as well as a chance to chime in on it.
As usual we will catch you up with what’s going on in our lives; check in to the accountability corner; and do a writing exercise. It was wonderful to have Jenifer back with us after her softball injury kept her off the air last week. We thank the Lord for her swift healing.
If you’d like to participate in the writing exercise just set a timer for fifteen minutes. No cheating by trying to think of an idea before you start the timer. Then write a story using the words twilight, council, polite, embox, and constraint. We would love it if you shared what you wrote with us on social media.
We would like to invite you to check out our Patreon page. We always post our podcast there for anyone to watch, including links to our writing exercises for you to read and see that we aren’t worrying much about punctuation, capitalization, and spelling in that 15 minutes.
For just $2 dollars a month you can be our Patron and watch our postcast, which is our writing group meeting. We each submit something we want critiqued or need feedback on. This is where we move from simple encouragement like we do in the podcast and actually give it to each other straight.
Until next time;
Christina
Episode 41: Back On Track
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
I think I’m a pretty encouraging person. Others might call me critical or blunt. They are probably right. But, understand, no matter how poorly I may at times articulate my ‘encouragment,’ it always comes from a place of wanting what’s best for others. My heart is to encourage you. Truly. I think it’s important to say that before continuing.
While perusing Twitter lately (yes, I realize the irony,) I have noticed a number of writers spending A LOT of time playing twitter games (i.e. autocomplete the following sentence, or, what’s your character’s favorite pie flavor.) I’ve also noticed a lot of Author Instagram posts with pictures of their workspaces…their immaculate, nothing out of place workplaces. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of these activities, but I have noticed it so often with some writers that it makes me wonder…are you actually getting any writing accomplished? I’m not posting any pictures of my workspace. It is a wreck…because I am writing there, not positioning my pencils properly.
So, here is my loving ‘encouragement’… stop wasting time! Sit down and actually write the words! (Was that too harsh? Reread first paragraph, please.)
In today’s episode, titled “Back on Track,” the ladies and I discuss the topic of distractions. We all have them, but if we are going advance our writing careers, we need to acknowledge those things that we allow to pull us away from our writing and learn how to avoid those traps.
If you missed the live broadcast, you can watch the replay HERE, or listen on iTunes HERE. But not if you haven’t written yet today. Go write first, then tune in!
Lovingly submitted,
Jen
Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
Episode 39: Short Story Guidelines
This 100 word story (aka a “Drabble”) was written in honor of today’s episode. We started out sending out thoughts and prayers to Jen, who was absent due to an incident on the ball field.
(Way to put your heart, and face, into the game, Jen!) Honestly, though, we missed her and hope she is feeling better. We then discussed the benefits of writing short stories. Finally, we
listened to 8 pieces of short story writing advice from Kurt Vonnegut. If you’d like to take a stab at writing your own Drabble using our prompts, we’d love to read it!
–
Jamie
Episode 33: Camp Nano…Should You Participate?
There were several title suggestions for today’s episode: Rhonda’s Inquisition, Three Tarts on the Spot, Convince Me…I could go on. The fitting title was “Convince Me” because I put them to the task today and they did convince me I should participate in Camp Nano for the first time.
If you’re on the fence about committing your valuable time to Nano for the second time in the last five months, watch our discussion and see if it will help you decide.
Episode 31: Reading in Your Genre
When I was about 12 years old, my grandmother bought me my first Janette Oke book. I devoured it, and she bought me another. And another. I didn’t know it at the time, but my grandmother was not only influencing my taste in literature, she was influencing my spiritual life by exposing me to stories of love that were greatly influenced by faith in God and His hand in these characters’ lives. And, incidentally, she was also preparing me for my future as a Christian romance author.
It’s really no surprise to learn that most writers are avid readers. However, the types of books we choose to read varies greatly. Some, like me, seldom stray from their favorite genre. Others, like Tina, read across many genres. It should come as no surprise, I suppose, that I only write romance, yet Tina writes across multiple genres.
In today’s episode, the ladies and I have a chat about reading within (and outside of) our chosen genres. So, grab a cup of coffee, put on your fuzzy slippers and give a listen to our discussion. And let us know your thoughts! We really want to hear what you think about reading and genre writing in the comments of our YouTube webcast HERE or on the iTunes podcast episode HERE.
Until next week, keep writing the stories God has given you!
For Him alone,
Jen
Jenifer Carll-Tong is the best-selling author of historical Christian romances and co-host of the Christian Indie Writers’ Podcast.
Episode 32: The Art of Research
The other day, my son asked me why Friday the thirteenth was considered an unlucky day. Finding the answer was as simple as sitting down at my computer and clickety-clacking on the keyboard.
Amazing.
I don’t know about you, but I’m old enough to remember life before the internet. I remember, upon being assigned to write a report, pedaling my bike up to the library to do the necessary research. In those days, asking the librarian to help you locate a book was tantamount to asking for a particularly long and exasperated lecture on how to use the card catalogue for yourself. There was no efficient clickety-clack of keys to provide almost instantaneous book location information, much less today’s rows of multiple terminals which allow patrons to find the information for themselves. So, those of us on a quest for information would head straight to the card catalogue, pull open its tiny drawers, and thumb through yellowing pieces of cardboard to get a hint on where in the library we might find information on pilgrims, potatoes, General Eisenhower, etc. Armed with a location code as long and as potentially confusing as modern-day GPS coordinates, it was off to the indicated shelves.
Kids today will never know the feeling of hopeful anticipation we (ahem) older folks had as we found the right row of shelves and started down it, glancing at the numbers on the book spines as we endeavored to locate the section where our book would, hopefully, be found. Then the real hunt began. All the books in the same subject matter were grouped together, and often had numbers very similar to one another. Though they were supposed to be standing on the shelves in number order, they were often plucked from their correct locations, browsed, then shoved back into a random spot on the shelf, resulting in much squinting and chin tapping as one tried to locate a particular title. Then it was possible that after all your effort, the book you wanted had already been checked out by another patron.
Today on the podcast, we talk about research in these modern times. With the advent of the internet, we have a world of information available at our fingertips. With so much false information mixed in with the good stuff, how does a writer find reliable sources of information online? Or, is it perhaps wiser to eschew online sources in favor of good old fashioned paper – reference books or county records or journals? What are some strategies or preferred methodologies to follow when doing research for writing? What are some “tools of the trade?” Come join the conversation as we answer these questions and more.
See you there,
-Jamie
Episode 30: Reader Reviews; The Good, The Bad, and The Totally Awesome
This weeks Podcast topic is focused on reader reviews. (stay tuned for future episodes focused on third party reviews) In this episode we discuss the importance of reviews to an author in order to sell books, where and how to get them, and how NOT to get them.
Reader reviews were never on my radar before I started this whole process. Honestly, I didn’t really think about the marketing, selling books, publishing side of things at all. I just thought, I’ll write this book, it will be my magnum opus, people will read it and hopefully I will make lots of money. It wasn’t until the F.L.A.W.S. writing group got together that anything other than that even crossed my mind.
If you’re where I was, don’t panic. Take a deep breath and watch our podcast. We are by no means claiming to be experts. We are working through these things right there with you. With each step each of us take towards publication we learn something new, and we will pass it on to you. We are in this together.
If you have an experience on your journey toward publication you want to share with us, please reach out and let us know. If you’ve learned something invaluable pass it on for others to benefit from your experience. We are better together. We can do this.
In Him, Christina Cattane
