Hello again Christian writers! A writing tip today on the subject of showing not telling. I know, It’s something I mention every now and then, but there’s no harm in reminding ourselves of the basics from time to time!

Suppose one of your characters is rude and stand-offish. Do you need to tell your readers that the reason she is behaving this way is because she is frightened to get close to people?

Could you show them instead? Could you . . .

A few days ago, several people lost their lives in a terrorist attack on London. The deaths were sudden and unexpected. Our hearts go out to the bereaved families.

Similar events have happened in Paris, Nice, Brussels . . . and in many other places all over the world. In our church, a family lost a young nephew/cousin last week in an plane crash in Zimbabwe. These tragic deaths are heartbreaking, and they remind us of the honest truth, that none of us knows how long we have to live.

Suppose you only had six months to finish your writing project. Would you complete it? Would you . . .

I have been thinking recently about things we just can’t do without in our writing – here are, in my opinion, four essentials we all need to remind ourselves of, time and time again:

1. We need to . . .

This week I thought I’d remind us all of something I mention every now and then, and that’s the importance of humour in children’s stories. Not every story has to be laugh out loud funny, but most books gain hugely from at least having some lighter moments.

So here are seven reasons . . .

And now for something completely different! For a change, instead of a writing tip, today I have set you a creative writing exercise. For this you will need a pen and a journal (OK, if you must use a keyboard you can, but pen and paper is better) and half an hour you can shut yourself away . . .

Good morning Christian writers, and welcome to this week’s writing tip! As you know, sometimes these writing tips are for encouragement to keep going (I know from experience how hard it is to stay focused); sometimes they are tips for better writing. This is one of the latter, because . . .