Is Your Creativity a Mirror or a Flashlight?
Is your creativity a mirror or a flashlight? Is it a thermometer or a thermostat? Does it reflect what’s in the heart already or change the surroundings? A mirror reflects what’s in front of it. The viewer sees what’s already there. A flashlight sheds light in darkness. The viewer gains new insight that’s useful in moving ahead. Here’s […]
Always a Learning Curve
There’s plenty of advice available about what to write and how to “speak” to children readers through story. But how do you get your stories out there to parents who buy a large percentage of children’s reading material after you publish those fantastic tales? You can Google information on how to use Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, […]
Always a Learning Curve
There’s plenty of advice available about what to write and how to “speak” to children readers through story. But how do you get your stories out there to parents who buy a large percentage of children’s reading material after you publish those fantastic tales? You can Google information on how to use Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, […]
The Charlotte Mason Method, Part Four
In Part One and Part Two of our series about writing for the homeschool community, we talked about some of the main components of the Charlotte Mason Method of education. In Part Three, we explored how to create copywork. This month, we’re going to take a look at what other types of resources we can […]
The Dreaded Elevator Pitch
When I worked as a Human Resources executive, one of my responsibilities was to offer outplacement training—a fancy term for helping people who lost their jobs find new employment. Outplacement training included creating a resume, polishing interview skills, and developing an elevator pitch. The elevator pitch is something writers need as well. A pitch is […]
Limitless Creativity
The creativity of God never ceases to amaze me. He created plants that grow underwater, He created diamonds and dandelion dust with equal ease, and He called a single woman with no children to write for the Christian homeschool market. I wasn’t homeschooled as a child. I went to a very small private Christian school. […]
The Charlotte Mason Method, Part Three
Copywork is a key component of the Charlotte Mason Method, but it is also enjoyed by many homeschoolers who do not use her method exclusively. You can create copywork that is connected to the themes you write about or you can create it based on Scripture, classical literature, etc. The first thing you need to […]
Spotlight on Lisa Albinus
My name is Lisa Albinus. I get to live the dream of being an artist and author as I live my life with a Bible tucked under my arm and a paintbrush in my hand. My greatest desire is to breathe hope into the latent, creative dreams of your childhood and the crayons that have […]
The Child’s Voice in Writing
Engaging young readers is important for children’s authors, but in an effort to reach them, how do we understand our young readers? Maybe we are parents or grandparents. We might be teachers or caregivers. Maybe we just have a heart for littles. I think every children’s author would agree that effective writing for children requires […]
Stories Matter
“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.” —Muriel Rukeyser Once upon a time… … in a Galaxy Far, Far Away… … a young shepherd boy stood before the giant with only a sling. … a starship set out to boldly go where no man had gone before. … four reptiles stumbled upon green ooze […]