Writing for the Lord is an exciting ministry and an awesome responsibility. Writing - and marketing - is also a craft to be learned. Take a minute to peruse this online bookstore of writing how-to books and tapes and to ask the Lord what will best help you to pursue your call to write.

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38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes     Add to Cart
(And How to Avoid Them)

Jack M. Bickham

Writer's Digest Books, 1992

117 pages     $12.99      less 15% discount = $11.05

When you write fiction, you march onto a minefield. This book gives you a map through it. Learn how to conquer procrastination, dump wimpy characters, look for trouble, cut coincidence, escape the fog and more.

Complete Guide to Writing & Selling the Christian Novel     Add to Cart

Penelope J Stokes, Ph.D.

Writer's Digest Books, 1998

240 pages   $14.99      less 15% discount = $12.75

Angela Hunt says, "Dr. Stokes has written the definitive work on writing fiction for the Christian market. I wish I'd had this book ten years ago."

Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Christian Fiction     Add to Cart

Ron Benrey

Alpha Books, 2007

320 pages   $16.95      less 15% discount = $14.40  

A wonderfully helpful resource for creating strong, inspirational stories that deliver Christianity's messages.

Dialogue     Add to Cart

Gloria Kempton

Writer's Digest Books, 2004

232 pages   $16.99      less 15% discount = $14.44   

Many years ago my mentor asked why I had so little dialogue in the book I was writing. My pathetic response was, "It takes more time to write and more words." The truth was I really didn't know how to write dialogue and needed Gloria Kempton's book that was not yet written!

The First Five Pages     Add to Cart
A writer's Guide to Staying Out of the Rejection Pile

Noah Lukeman

A Fireside Book, Simon & Schuster, 2000

208 pages     $13.00      less 15% discount = $11.05  

Learn how to avoid weak opening hooks, overuse of adjectives and adverbs, flat or forced metaphors or similes, melodramatic, commonplace or confusing dialogue; undeveloping characterizations and lifeless settings; uneven pacing and lack of progression. Highly recommends by CCWC & GPCWC editors for both fiction and nonfiction writers.

Getting Into Character     Add to Cart
Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors

Brandilyn Collins

John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2002

212 pages    $15.95      less 15% discount = $13.55

Proven techniques for creating vivid, believable characters. This book will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for the  novelist's use.

How to Grow a Novel     Add to Cart
The Most Common Mistakes Writers Make
and How to Overcome Them

Sol Stein

St. Martin's Griffin, 1999

240 pages     $15.95      less 15% discount = $13.55

Details and examples from Sol Stein's behind-the-scenes work with bestselling novelists as well as talented newcomers. Stein shows what readers are looking for - and what they avoid - the experience of reading fiction. The book offers guidelines - and warnings - of special value for nonfiction writers who want to move into fiction. He points to the little, often overlooked things that damage the writer's authority without the writer knowing it.

How to Write and Sell a Christian Novel    Add to Cart

Gilbert Morris
Write Now Publications, 1994, 2000

186 pages   $12      less 15% discount = $10.20     

Learn from the author of 100 novels how you can break in to the highly competitive and exciting world of Christian fiction.

Let's Get Creative     Add to Cart
Writing Fiction that Sells!

William F. Nolan

Quill River Books, 2007

220 pages     $14.95      less 15% discount = $12.70 

Learn to handle conflict, characterization, plot, suspense, dialogue and more from the author of 80 books.

Modern Library Writer's Workshop     Add to Cart
A Guide to the Craft of Fiction

Stephen Koch

Modern Library, 2003

246 pages  Price: $13.95      less 15% discount = $11.85 

Highly recommended by award-winning author, Lisa Samson.

Now Write!    Add to Cart
Fiction Writing Exercises from Today's Best Writers & Teachers

Edited by Sherry Ellis

Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2006

270 pages     $13.95      less 15% discount = $11.85  

A collection of personal writing exercises form some of today's most celebrated novelists, short story writers, and writing teachers. While the rest of us are struggling to come up with a first sentence these writers are busy wrapping up story after story and novel after novel. Despite producing work that may seem effortless, all of them have a simple technique for fending off writer's block: the writing exercise.

Plot & Structure   Add to Cart

James Scott Bell

Writer's Digest Books

pages   $16.99        less 15% discount = $14.44 

Without a doubt Jim Bell's "Writing a Novel They Can't Put Down" at the 2006 Colorado Christian Writers Conference was one of the most popular continuing sessions I've offered in the ten years I have directed the conference. Plot & Structure was sold out before the conference was over.

The Plot Thickens     Add to Cart
8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life

Noah Lukeman

St. Martin's Griffin, 2002

220 pages     $12.95        less 15% discount = $11.00

Literary agent, Noah Lukeman, hears thousands of book pitches a year. Often the stories sound great in concept, but never live up to their potential on the page. Lukeman shows beginning and advanced writers how to implement the fundamentals of successful plot development, such as character building and heightened suspense and conflict.

See Jane Write    Add to Cart
A Girl's Guide to Writing Chick Lit

Sarah Mlynowski and Farrin Jacobs

Quirk Books, 2006

192  pages    $14.95      less 15% discount = $12.70  
 

 A bestselling novelist and veteran chick lit editor collaborate to every state of developing and selling your own chick lit. Topics include developing an idea; deciding on a point of view; making your characters likable;  learning the basics of plotting, pacing, and conflict; and finding an agent.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers     Add to Cart
How to edit yourself into print

Renne Brown and Dave King
Collins, 2004
280 pages    $13.95     Less 15% discount = $11.85  

Chapters on dialogue, exposition, point of view, interior monologue, and other techniques take you through the same processes an expert editor would go through to perfect your manuscript. Each point is illustrated with examples.

Stein on Writing     Add to Cart

Sol Stein

St. Martin's Griffin, 1995

308  pages  $14.95      less 15% discount = $12.70  
 

 Highly recommended by editors and authors this book is a must-read and must-study for both fiction and non-fiction writers.

Story     Add to Cart
Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting

Robert McKee

Regan Books,, 1997

466 pages     Hardback     $35.00      less 15% discount = $29.75  
 

Award-winning methods from Hollywood's master of the craft. This book is highly recommended by fiction editors.

Techniques of the $elling Writer     Add to Cart

Dwight V Swain

University of Oklahoma Press, 1965

330 pages    $26.95      less 15% discount = $22.90
 

This book provides solid instruction for person who want to write and sell fiction, not just to talk and study about it. It gives the background, insights, and specific procedures needed by all beginning writers. Here one can learn how to group works into copy that moves, turn movement into scenes, and scenes into stories; how to develop characters, how to revise and polish, and finally, how to sell the product. Highly recommended by CCWC & GPCWC faculty.

The Weekend Novelist     Add to Cart

Robert J. Ray and Bret Norris
Billboard Books, 2005
266 pages     $16.95     Less 15% discount = $15.30       

A dynamic 52-week program to help you produce a novel . . . one weekend at a time.

What If?     Add to Cart
Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers

Anne Bernays and Pamela Painter

Collins Reference, 1990

230  pages   $13.95      less 15% discount = $11.60  
 

 Contains more than seventy-five exercises for both beginning and more experienced writers designed to develop and refine two basic skills: writing like a writer and, just as important, thinking like a writer. The authors deal with such topics as discovering where to start and end a story; learning when to use dialogue and when to use indirect discourse; transforming real events into fiction; and finding language that both sings and communicates precisely.

What the Wind Picked Up     Add to Cart

From the Novelists of ChiLibris

iUniverse, 2005

170 pages  $13.95      less 15% discount = $11.85 
 

 If you've ever worried that someone would steal your idea, this book is for you. The 21 short stories in this book all contain the same first and last line and three other elements and yet they are vastly different. In addition, the multi-published ChiLibris authors who contributed to this book share their most valuable lessons about the writing life.

Writer's Little Helper     Add to Cart

James V. Smith, Jr.

Writer's Digest books, 2006

246 pages, hardback     $19.99      less 15% discount = $16.99  
 

There is nothing little about the dynamic fiction writing advice inside this very appealing, full-color book. Filled with big ideas, time-saving tips, and revision-made-easy charts.

Writing the Breakout Novel     Add to Cart
Insider advice for taking your fiction to the next level

Donald Maass

Writer's Digest Books, 2001

264 pages     $16.99      less 15% discount = $14.44
 

Author and literary agent Donald Maas details the elements that all breakout novels share - regardless of genre - then shows you writing techniques that can make your own books stand out and succeed in a crowded marketplace.

Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook     Add to Cart
Hands-on help for making your novel stand out and succeed

Donald Maass

Writer's Digest Books, 2004

230 pages       $19.99      less 15% discount = $16.99  
 

This book is highly recommended by CCWC and GPCWC faculty regulars, Angela Hunt and Nancy Rue. Donald Maas presents the patented techniques and writing exercises from his popular writing workshops to offer novelists first-class instruction and practice guidance. You'll learn to develop and strength aspects of your prose with sections on building plot layers, creating inner conflict, strengthening voice and point of view, discovering and heightening larger-than-life character qualities, strengthening theme, and much more!

Writing Magic     Add to Cart
Creating Stories that Fly
Gail Carson Levine

Collins, 2006

168 pages   $5.99      less 15% discount = $5.09 

Newbery Honor author Gail Carson Levine shows writers, ages 10 and up, how to get terrific ideas for stories, invent great beginnings and endings, write sparkling dialogue, develop memorable characters, and much, much more.

See also

Craft & Writer's Life

Marketing, Publishing, and Promotion

Tapes for Writers