Introducing… When Lori Z. Scott won the Christy Award in the Young Adult category, she hadn’t prepared a speech. She never thought she would win, and she almost didn’t go to the ceremony. But this wasn’t unusual, because Lori Z. Scott never wanted to write Offsides in the first place. When it was suggested that … More The Write2Ignite Podcast: Ep. 5: Lori Z. Scott
Most of us have been writing for a while. Through the years we’ve worked on story and character development, struggled through plots, climaxes, and denouements, and even had some hard knocks trying to condense our manuscripts down to a decent word count that won’t scare potential publishers or agents. God may have even opened up … More Share Your Writing Skills with Others
It’s finally happened! You landed the writing assignment you’ve been waiting for. Now the stress is on. Not only do you want to produce a piece that is amazing and memorable (to be a good steward of the talent God has blessed you with and in case there is other work with this client in … More Working With Deadlines
Which came first? The chicken or the egg? As I am writing this post, I hear the faint “cheep, cheep†of a newly hatched chick—one of my son’s latest projects. So I can’t help but think about that old adage. Of course, as a Christian, I know the chicken came first because God created birds … More Hatching Our Ideas
Sometimes, no matter how many articles or stories you’ve written in the past, there comes a time when you don’t feel very inspired to write. You know you have to write something for a deadline, but you just don’t feel in the write mood (pun intended) to put pen to paper or fingers to the … More Inspire Me
I have a Spotify playlist called “In Case of Emergency, Hit Play.†These aren’t Christian songs for when my heart is in anguish. That’s a different playlist. No, this kind of emergency is strictly a writer’s problem. Whether it is writer’s block, or just a tight deadline I have to meet, this playlist has never … More Listening to Music While Writing
If you have ever researched rules in storytelling, you may have come across the famous Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling. This came from a 2011 tweet from a Pixar employee who realized there were 22 written (and unwritten) rules they implemented on every story. While Industrial Scripts does a pretty good job of explaining the … More Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling Part 2.
I breathed deeply as I uttered the last words of The Hello, Goodbye Window: “When you look from the outside, Nanna and Poppy’s house has lots of windows, but there’s only one Hello, Goodbye Window and it’s right where you need it.†Turning the page, I continued: “When I get my own house someday I’m … More Books That Change Us
We’ve had some unusual weather here in Southern California. We’ve had days of rain. And not just rain, continuous rain. That was what was the most unusual. I had some writing deadlines, but being cooped up at home wasn’t helping me whatsoever. I needed a different environment where I had no distractions and where I … More Change of Scenery
By now, you’ve probably seen Linus tell Charlie Brown what Christmas is all about, seen Snoopy reunite with his brother Spike, and felt empathy for poor Rerun who is probably still stuck on that bike. For many, it’s tradition to watch the Charlie Brown Christmas Specials every year. And for many, it is the only … More What Writers Can Learn from Charles Schulz