FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

And conscience' sake and righteousness' also fall into the exception column. Right. Most (but certainly not all) style guides adopt this approach. But conscience' sake and righteousness' sake are not stand alone exceptions, they're examples of a rule. It's the "three sibilant rule." (A si...

In my very best Elvis voice, I'd like to say, "Thank you; thank you very much."

Congrats to all.

I've read lots of the winners. So many great pieces!

Congrats to all. I guess the inclusion of my short, silly piece among all the great poems and wonderful stories proves that the judges give a fair shake to all "genres." Thanks.

Wow! What an honor and surprise.

Congrats to all.

Woo-Hoo Steve--loved that story!!! Way to go Mari, and Lynn, and Ambrose W--(that was REALLY original), and Brenda, Lollie, and Colin--and everyone:) Some very moving stories and poems. On we go... Thanks! There's just one problem--that was number 3. Now I have to go play with the big kids. :shock:

What about a series of lessons that is, in effect, a writers' critique group? You could start by posting one of your old Challenge entries and do a self-critique. You could point out certain things you were trying to accomplish with the piece and tell whether you think it worked well or not. You cou...

It seems to me that this is a hard one to talk about because it either clicks with the writer or it doesn't. I have only thought of a couple of things. 1. This is part of the function of editing. I ascribe to the school that all good writing comes from the editing. I try to write early, but even whe...

Sometimes we (or at least I) make the mistake of thinking those pomes we get introduced to at an early age are not worthy of more serious consideration as we mature as readers. Here is an “early introduction” poem that is really great: Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.” It is fro...

pheeweed wrote:Steve, I'm the one who asked about transitions. Thank you for a good example of how to do it.

Yes, I know. When I first posted, I didn't get the "here" link working, but I went back and fixed it, but the fix didn't stick. I'll try again.

Last week, I mentioned that it is hard to talk about endings because there is often no context. This week I think I have an example that doesn’t require too much set up. This is the ending of the introductory chapter to my book God Save This Honorable Court. This ending mentions the phrase “God save...

I think it’s harder to talk about endings than beginnings because beginnings don’t need any context. I think my best ending would need a fairly long set up and would probably need to be longer than 100 words. So, I’ll just put a link to it here , and people can read as much or as little of the entry...

Here's another great non-fiction opening I just stumbled upon: What's that chanting I hear? "Less than my team! Less than my team! Less than my team!" No, wait. It's getting closer. I can make it out more clearly now. "Lesson Nineteen! Lesson Nineteen! Lesson Nineteen!" It sounds...

I hope you find your essay! Here’s the opening to the essay: “Yellowstone National Park burned during the summer of 1988. Fire consumed more that 1.5 million acres. Meanwhile, I sat at a table in a library 2,300 miles away, pondering it all. For eight years I had made my living as a forester. Then ...

Well, my 2 favorite non-fiction openings are both longer than the 100 word limit. However, if anyone is interested in these longer pieces, you can find them here and here . (For the first, you may have to have an Amazon account and be logged in. Anyway.click on “first pages” on the left and then scr...