As a Christian who belongs to a Bible study group and many WhatsApp groups, I often hear about extraordinary miracles which happen to people close to me: people being healed from diseases by the power of prayer, others finding jobs after long, seemingly fruitless searches, people miraculously escaping from accidents. I love to read about Jesus’ miracles in the Bible; in fact, I love to read about them so much that my adult novel, Headlines in Heaven,  spotlights these very miracles. Featuring Raphael, a fictitious angel who is sent to earth with the task of reporting Jesus’ extraordinary miracles to the heavenly realms.

Prayer and Miracles

Because I firmly believe in the power of prayer and the reality of miracles, I like to weave stories about miracles into my fiction. In my short story anthology, Explorations, I have quite a few examples of miraculous events: in ‘Surprises Numbers 1-7, Jamey has been fruitlessly trying to persuade his best friend, Stephen, to believe in Jesus. But when Stephen’s father is suddenly taken to hospital, and it looks as if he’s going to die, Jamey’s prayers result in miraculous healing, which results in Stephen re-considering his position on Jesus.

Kirsty’s Wonder-World is also a story about an amazing healing. When her mother’s stroke results in her being in a very long coma, she is broken. She misses her mother so much – her mum, who faithfully told her incredible stories of the men and women in the bible. But after much prayer on her dad’s part, God finally heals her mother, but not completely, so that the roles are reversed, and it is Kirsty who tells her mother the stories from the Bible.

In the romantic story When You Pass Through the Waters, Nick, who becomes a lifesaver merely to impress the beautiful Tara, finds himself putting his life on the line to save her best friend from drowning.

 Lastly, in The Jesus Light, God helps Gracie and her brother find their father, who has gone missing in a storm, by using lightning to guide them to his crashed bakkie.

Miracles in Reality

But I also used actual, real-life miracles in my fiction. My picture book, Modern Manna, was inspired by actual events that happened in Kwazulu-Natal. Severe flooding and a shortage of food in that province resulted in rioting and the looting of hundreds of supermarkets in various towns and cities. The supermarket shelves were literally empty, and people didn’t know where their next meal was coming from. Even basic commodities like bread and milk were in short supply.

An appeal was sent out to the churches in the Western Cape, an appeal that didn’t fall on deaf ears. Collections of tinned food, mealie-meal, fruit, coffee, sugar, tea and other non-perishable items made it possible for multiple truck-loads of food to be sent to the KZN churches, from where the bounty was distributed.

In Modern Manna, Michael, a boy who lives in KZN, is upset with their pastor because his sermons are full of references to Jesus multiplying loads and fish to feed thousands and God miraculously supplying manna to the Israelites in the desert. Deciding he can’t stand it anymore, he storms into the pastor’s office, asking him why he keeps preaching about food when all of them are hungry. At that very moment, something truly amazing happens, a modern miracle, in fact, which is why the story is called Modern Manna.

I hope these examples have inspired some of you to write about or report on some of the ways that God is moving in your communities, healing His people, providing for them and showing his great love.

Happy writing!

If you're interested in reading more blogs related to faith, please check out the following recommendations:

• Finding joy in the midst of hardship
• The Importance of Community in the Christian Life

I often wonder how people who don’t believe in God can have hope in their lives. With this in mind, I did a Google search about atheists and have selected two quotes which highlight their bleak outlook on life:

1. “Every life is a tragedy that ends in death and grief.” Oliver Markees Malloy. Novelist and comic artist.
2. “I existed like a stone, a plant, a microbe. I was just thinking…that here we are, all of us, eating and drinking, to preserve our precious existence and there’s nothing, nothing, absolutely no reason for existence.” Jean-Paul Sartre. Existential philosopher.

In case these quotes make you feel miserable, here are two biblical quotes to counter these depressing views of life:

1. “In his great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 3, v. 36
2. “In my Father’s house are many mansions; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also.” John 4, v.1-3

Despair versus Hope

What a contrast: despair versus hope, defeat versus victory, a bleak view of life versus a triumphant one. It amazes and saddens me that more people don’t want to explore this road to victory. Perhaps some people become so swamped by life’s trials, hardships, and tragedies that they become disillusioned and even angry. They just live one miserable day at a time with the vague belief that things will get better. Living in this fallen world can indeed be difficult, sometimes intolerable. Disease, death, financial difficulties and bankruptcy, fires, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, relationship issues and breakups, separations and divorces. The list could go on.

But if you believe in Jesus, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Because God raised Jesus from the dead, we have a living hope. When He comes back to judge the world, He will take us to be with Him. Jesus never promised us that life on earth would be easy. But what He did promise was eternal rewards for those who believe in His name: for those whose sins have been covered by His very own blood; for those who can look at the cross and beyond to Jesus’ triumphant ascension and His victory over death. God has reserved for every believer who trusts in His son, His saving work on the cross, and His conquering of the grave, which is a special place in heaven.

Yes, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. There’s hope. There’s eternal life. Through my writing, I hope that in some very small way, I can sow a few seeds that will perhaps lead some people to Jesus.

Discover how God fills our lives with hope by reading these blogs:

• Finding Purpose in Times of Suffering: A Christian Perspective
• The Power of Gratitude
• The Significance of Fear in the Christian Life

I am very fortunate to teach in a Christian school, attend a Bible-believing church, and know so many people with high moral standards. Because if I look around me, I see so much greed, corruption, selfishness and ‘I want it all now’ attitudes.

As authors, we can counter these attitudes, spotlight moral behaviour, and teach children, via our characters, how they should behave. Through the pages of our books, as our readers identify with our ‘good’ characters (although it’s important, for authenticity, that even our heroes and heroines have flaws), they will subconsciously want to emulate their behaviour.

Teaching Values through Stories

So, how do we authors teach values? How do we highlight attributes like kindness, a willingness to share, thoughtfulness, generosity, standing up for what’s right, and self-sacrifice? By making our characters so real that they will seem like real people. Allow your heroes and heroines to have failings as well as strengths, get them to behave in surprising ways, and make sure your dialogue sounds natural, like real-life speech, and isn’t stilted. If your dialogue doesn’t either reveal something about your characters or move the story forward, then it should be scrapped, and you should go back to the drawing board.

The Importance of Characters and Their Development

Your readers will be influenced by what your characters say, do, and think, how they deal with crises, where they receive help, and how they cope with the situations that are thrust upon them.

A few examples in my own children’s and young adult fiction of characters who make a difference in the world are:

1. Dumisa, the Joy-Maker (in Tapestries), who tries to cheer up her friends who are going through a hard time by making music with them. Howver, she has an ulterior motive for giving them make-shift musical instruments which she gets them to play: she wants them to praise God with her, so she boldly praises God and Jesus herself through song in the hope that they will join in her celebration of God’s goodness, mercy and love.
2. Claire in A Good Neighbour (in Explorations) who visits the mean Debbie in the hospital even though she doesn’t feel like it. And even when Debbie is totally unappreciative, she still tries to cheer her up by offering her favourite chocolate and asking her what she would like her to do for her.
3. Greg in Vuyo’s Love Lesson (in Tapestries) who risks his own life to save her from drowning. This sacrificial act ultimately teaches Vuyo about Jesus’ amazing act of love in dying for her sins on the cross.
4. Jeremiah in Stand Firm Jeremiah (In Explorations) single-handedly stands up to a powerful group of bullies despite the risk to himself. His courageous actions are even more commendable because no-one else, not even his best friend, is prepared to support or help him in his lone stand against the bullies.

Opportunities to teach valuable lessons in fiction

If you want to teach children valuable values that will stand them in good stead throughout their lives, embed the values in your plots, design your plots to highlight these values, and allow your characters to demonstrate these values through the way they behave, what they say and think, and what happens to them in the end.

In my Christian fiction, good behaviour usually gets rewarded in the end in the most surprising ways, with the help of prayer and God.

If you are interested in improving your writing skills for Christian children's books, I recommend checking out the following blogs:

• The Joys of Writing Children’s Books
• Want to Change Your Picture Book into a Short Story?

Story-telling is a powerful tool. Readers who are invested in stories walk with the characters through their trials, struggles, dramas, and triumphs.

When I am writing a Christian story, either a short story, a young adult novel or an adult novel, I become so invested in my characters’ joys and sorrows that I’m not consciously sharing the love of Christ with my readers. But when one of my characters behaves in a Christ-like way, I’m subconsciously sharing Christ’s love with them.

Surrounded – Sharing the Love of Christ

A good example of this occurs in my brand-new young adult novel, Surrounded. My protagonist, Margaret, has a friend, Karabo, who, despite being victimised, bullied and framed, behaves in an extraordinarily unselfish way towards the very person who causes her expulsion from the school. When his younger brother gets very sick, she prays constantly that Jesus will heal him. This has surprising consequences both for her, her friend Margaret and for the perpetrator himself. And when Karabo’s mother, the school’s cleaner, resigns in support of her daughter, instead of bitterness, she radiates love. She is so passionate about spreading love, not hate, that she makes beautiful beaded stuffed animals with a difference. All of the animals appear in the pages of the Bible: a dove, an eagle, a lamb, a horse and the Lion of Judah himself. Each of these animals has a representative Bible verse attached to them so that when the creatures are sold at the market, she is sharing a striking message from the Bible with her customers. And Joshua Speranto, the famous gospel singer, is so invested in sharing the love of Jesus with young people that he comes to Margaret’s break-time Bible study at her school to sing his latest numbers. This, despite the fact that he is preparing for a sell-out concert at a huge stadium. At one of these break-time sessions, he gives Margaret a wonderful surprise. He hands her ten tickets to his concert.

Demonstrating Christ-like love in fiction

There are many more examples in my fiction of characters who share the love of Christ with others. There are characters who make great sacrifices for other people, like Themba in The Provider (a short story in the anthology, Tapestries), who shares his only warm jersey and the only food he has for the day – a piece of bread- with a destitute young girl. Or Jade and her mother in Jade’s Heaven Dream (also in Tapestries), who want to cheer up and inspire the people in their town. So they pins up Jade’s picture of heaven in every possible place so the people can be encouraged. In my picture book, The Biggest Blessing Julia, admittedly reluctantly, shares her most treasured possession, a beautiful angel, with someone less fortunate than herself. All these kindly and unselfish actions reflect in a very small way something of Jesus’ light. The characters in these stories are examples of how to behave in a godly way. When readers get caught up in these stories, they will root for these characters whose good deeds reflect some aspect of Jesus’ love shining through them.

The conflict between good and evil in fiction

Of course, the converse is also true: characters acting in very un-Christ-like ways are walking, talking examples of how not to behave. There are plenty of examples of that kind of people in my fiction, too, as I present the age-old conflict between good and evil in most of my work.

Christian virtues revealed in fiction

Christian virtues like kindness, generosity, thankfulness, forgiveness, patience, honouring others, displaying a servant heart, caring for each other, avoiding gossip can all be show-cased through your characters’ behaviour.

The fruit of the spirit

The fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – (Galatians 5, vs. 22-23), can be demonstrated in your characters’ lives. Stories are truly powerful tools for spotlighting Christ’s love that shines through his people, making the world a better place.

A challenge for Christian authors

So, to all Christian writers out there, if you want to spread the love of Jesus through your work, have your characters behaving in Christ-like ways so your readers can see Jesus’ light shining through them, just as if they were real people who actually lived in your community.

Discover the importance of love and its significance in Christianity through these blogs:

• The Importance of Love in the Christian Life
• Why forgiveness is essential to the Christian life

Because of my Christian faith, my motivation to write fiction that highlights different themes and ideas in the Bible has been strong. But although I have been writing for more than three decades, it was only in 2013, when I first came to Cape Town, that I seriously sat down to write stories that had as their core biblical themes. My own explorations and discoveries of meaningful Bible passages very much influence me in my writing, both in the content and the themes in my books. My journey through various aspects of my faith is definitely linked to my travels through my own fiction: my plotting, my character development, the ideas I wish to highlight and even the direct quotations from the Bible that I use in most of my books.

The Influence of my Personal Faith Journey on my Books

Whether I’m writing picture books or teenage or adult fiction, my starting point is always the Bible, which I find to be a great source of inspiration not only for my spiritual journey but also for my journey as an author.

Some examples of biblical themes in my books

The Rainbow Game – highlighting God’s promises and his love

 Here are some examples of biblical themes/ideas I use in my picture books: in The Rainbow Game, I explore the significance of the rainbow and what it represents as I hope to teach young children about God’s promises and His love. And incidentally, I use the game itself to highlight the fruit of the Spirit.

Trees Full of Treasure – the value of lasting, eternal treasure

But in Trees Full of Treasure, which is an ideal Christmas gift, I take the protagonist and her cousin on a treasure hunt to find real treasure, lasting treasure, on the way referencing the biblical stories of the pearl of great price which Jesus talks about in one of His Parables (where a man sold all he had to purchase the field where he finds this priceless pearl); the gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh that Jesus is given by the wise men; the great banquet in heaven which Jesus has invited the faithful to share, and of course, Jesus himself who is the most priceless treasure of all.

Modern Manna – the power of modern miracles

 In Modern Manna, the spotlight is on God’s provision and the power of miracles, whereas in The Biggest Blessing, God himself encourages a young girl to share her most precious possession with the most unpopular girl in the school.

Tapestires – stories inspired by verses from Psalms

In Tapestries, my collection of short stories for middle grades, I deliberately construct each story around a verse from a different Psalm: the story, Xola’s shield, a story about protection from an illegal electrical connection, for example, is based on this verse from Psalm 3 –But you are a shield around me, O Lord; whereas the story, Wide Awake and Watchful,  about a whole community being saved from a wildfire, is based on a verse from Psalm 121 –The Lord Watches over you – the Lord is your shade at your right hand.

Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts and its sequel – an insightful, summarised journey through the Bible

But it is in my book, Mighty Master Plan and Significant Signposts, and its sequel, One Day and Then and Now, that my journey through the Bible is the most obvious. In each book, a young girl, a sceptic, a pastor, and an angel are having a conversation about what is actually a different aspect/section of the Bible. From creation to the cross and beyond: the resurrection, judgment day, heaven on earth and heaven in heaven, I summarise key biblical messages. You could say that these two books summarise my journey through the Christian faith. As a taster, I quote from page 1 of the first book:

Out of Nothing

Small girl: Look. The moon is smiling. And all the stars are twinkling.

Pastor: What an awesome creator.

Sceptic: Rubbish! The Big Bang caused all that.

Angel: Oh no. God spoke. He stretched out his hand – and there was the universe! All this was created from nothing – by the mighty hand of God.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons, and days and years. (Genesis 1, v.14).

The books, accompanied by significant quotes from the Bible and beautifully illustrated with striking but simple line drawings, reveal my key beliefs, so it’s a great joy for me to share them with the world as I attempt, in all humility, to glorify the name of Jesus and praise God for His salvation plan.

To learn more about the influence of my faith journey on my writing and how your journey can do the same, check out the following blog posts:

• Four Ways to Approach Non-Fiction Writing.
• An Author’s Guide to Coping with Rejection Emails.

Now more than ever, in our violent and uncertain world, children need wholesome literature, stories that give them hope and help them believe in their future. Stories centred on acceptable morals that teach them valuable lessons about life. Exciting, engaging stories that will intrigue them as they follow their protagonists through the plot twists of the narratives.

Masterfully Crafted Plots

In order to write engaging Christian literature, I believe that the themes and key ideas must be embedded in the stories themselves. It mustn’t be obvious to young readers that you, as the author, are teaching them a lesson or two. Key messages you want to convey must rather be revealed through the natural progression of the story and the way the characters think and behave.

So, even if your starting point as a Christian author is a biblical verse or story significant to you, you need to construct your plot carefully and masterfully create your characters to rivet your readers. A reader hooked on the story or empathising with its characters is more likely to assimilate the implied messages in the story or the wise words that come from the protagonist’s mouth.

Conventions of Fiction Literature

Like any other piece of well-written fiction, your story needs to comply with various fiction-writing conventions :

1. It needs to be well-constructed. Make sure that your plot has no flaws—unlikely events, timelines, or character quirks that will irritate your readers, making them critical or uninterested.
2.  Include convincing characters, whether they are models of good behaviour or the polar opposite. It is essential to include both good and bad characters in your fiction. The protagonist must battle it out with the antagonist if the story is to be engaging.
3. Whether you are writing a fantasy or a more realistic story, your settings need to be believable. Fantasy must be grounded in reality, so even fantastical settings must be recognisable somehow.
4. Writing realistic dialogue in Christian writing is a challenge. You won’t want any foul language escaping from your characters’ lips, but at the same time, your characters must be authentic. This will often involve trial and error as you seek to convince your readers that your characters are ‘real’.
5. While you don’t want to use particularly flowery or artificial language, it is advisable to choose your lexis carefully. The right words can replicate the mood or feeling you wish to convey. Therefore, your language must be worked on to create the best possible style that aligns with the purpose of the piece.
6. Unusual stories are acceptable, but I would be reluctant to write in various genres where the Christian message would be lost. For example, horror stories, ghost or vampire stories (of which there seems to be a proliferation), and even dystopian stories are out of bounds for me as a Christian writer. Not wanting to appear prudish, I personally steer clear of those genres because, in my opinion, it would be difficult to ‘spread good seeds in the world’, which is part of my mission statement as a Christian writer.

Taking inspiration from Biblical Writing

If you think about it, the Bible is full of dramatic and engaging stories of soldiers, like David, who have triumphed over their enemies – consider the story, for example, of David and Goliath – unselfish women who have made great sacrifices, yet have triumphed in the end – think about Ruth, the Moabitess, who gives up her family and her homeland to go with her mother-in-law, Naomi, to a strange land – and great queens like Esther, who risks her life to save her nation. There is plenty of conflict you can tap into as an author without having to include elaborate plots about demons, vampires and disfigured creatures.

So enjoy your writing as a Christian author by employing traditional but enticing fiction writing techniques.

To excel as a Christian author, it's essential to be constantly learning and improving your skills. Therefore, I highly recommend checking out the following blogs to gain valuable insights and tips:

• The Joys of Writing Children’s Books.
• Christian Fiction for All Ages

It has been my great delight to write both fantasy and more realistic fiction for young adult readers. As I’m writing Christian fiction, my hope is that my readers will learn some key Christian principles as they read my books. However, I’m very conscious of the fact that my stories must fascinate my readers, so I wrap them in adventure. A good example of this is my young adult trilogy, The Golden Highway, The Diamond Pathway and The Emerald Treasure Chamber.

The Golden Highway: Christian themes of good and evil

A core theme in all of these novels, as in most fantasy fiction for this age group, is the age-old battle between good and evil. In the first book in the set, Julia enlists the help of four of her friends to search for her missing parents, archaeologists who have gone missing in the Cradle of Humankind region in Gauteng. At the outset of their search, what they don’t know is that the evil witch-like creature, Livedia, has something to do with the disappearance. An epic battle between good and evil ensues as they go on an extraordinary adventure. But what will happen when they face temptation? When they are enticed by delectable feasts and promises of rewards, will they take the easy, wide road, which, by implication, leads to destruction, or will they take the narrow road with all its difficulties and challenges? And what will the consequences of their choices be?

The Diamond Pathway: An adventure highlighting the armour of God

Just as adventurous is the second book, The Diamond Pathway, which is set in the amazing land of Namibia. I wanted to highlight the importance of the armour of God, so as they once again fight evil, Sean and Julia, the only two of the five friends who manage to resist Livedia’s enticing wiles, go on a quest (another typical feature of fantasy novels) from the southern end of the country near the Aughrabies falls, to the northern end – the desolate Namib desert, in search of the five vital weapons that will help them to fight the enemy.

The Emerald Treasure Chamber: A Christian’s Battle Against Temptation

The third book in the set, The Emerald Treasure Chamber, set in Egypt, the land of the pyramids, Julia’s biggest challenge of all comes when her boyfriend (romance is also a typical feature of fantasy novels for teens), Sean, is captured by a disguised Livedia; this time, in order to beat the enemy, she has to fiercely fight the temptation of idolatry which her other three friends have succumbed to.

Making Christian Themes Engaging for Young Readers

In summary, my purpose in writing these novels is for the readers to be so gripped by the stories that the Christian themes in the narratives will influence them as well, encouraging them to think about important issues. In my more realistic stories, I write about common problems and difficulties that teens might face, for example, divorce and the separation of families, friendship issues, jealousy and bullying, amongst other things. The more realistic, but just as adventurous paths my characters take is to solve these problems and to learn how to cope better with trials that might come their way. Hopefully, my readers will be able to identify with my characters as they learn how to navigate some of life’s problems.

What would novels for young adult readers be without drama, adventure, tension and conflict? My intention is not to be didactic, forcing Christian themes down my readers’ throats, but to interest them so much in the action of the story that they will, on the way, be exposed to important, life-giving messages.

To learn more about writing for Christian young adults, you can read the following blogs:

• Overcoming the Challenges of Writing Young Adult Fiction.
• A Christian Guide for Writing Fiction for Adults.

You’ve been deeply hurt. Someone has blackened your name. Deserted you. Your mind is churning. You can’t sleep. Like Macbeth, your mind is full of ‘scorpions’. You’re desperate for the poison to stop doing its work, but you’re powerless to block damaging thoughts that are flooding your brain.

How do you find peace? How do you still your mind? How do you heal?

Self-Reflection

Difficult though it may be, the first step is to take a long, hard look at yourself. Have you ever hurt anyone or gossiped about them? Should you be darting accusations at someone else when you yourself have been guilty of the same thing? If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll admit your own failings and remember Jesus’ warning about taking the plank out of your own eye before you try to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Consider examples of forgiveness in the Bible.

You only have to read the story of Joseph in Genesis to marvel at the power of forgiveness and how truly healing it is. Despite the fact that his brothers sold him into slavery, he forgave them from the bottom of his heart. His words to his brothers, You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives, (Genesis 50, v.20b), reveal how completely he had forgiven them. What an inspiring example of the power of forgiveness.

Look to Jesus

The next step is to look at Jesus himself. Consider how His own family didn’t believe in Him, how all His disciples abandoned Him when He was arrested, and how His name was maligned. He was even accused by the religious leaders of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebub. Yet Jesus remained dignified; He spoke truth to power, prayed for His enemies and in His great love for sinners, He even gave His life for them in the most sacrificial act that has ever been performed in the history of the world, dying on the cross to shield them from God’s wrath and taking the punishment for their sins. He taught His disciples to pray for their enemies, too. And as He was hanging on the cross in agony, He cried out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” What an inspiration and what an example to model.

Think about Jesus’ teaching about forgiveness.

Jesus taught his disciples to forgive those who had wronged them, even as much as seventy-seven times. He was emphasising how generously we should forgive others, but he also warned his disciples that if they didn’t forgive their brothers, neither would His Father forgive them. An extremely sobering thought.

The path to forgiveness

Of course, forgiveness is hard, sometimes almost impossible if we’ve been hurt deeply enough and still bear the scars. But no one could even come close to being hurt as much as Jesus was: betrayed by one of His closest companions, abandoned by all his disciples when He needed them most, brutally scourged and crucified by mocking, ruthless, sinful people. Yet He showed all of us His incredible love and His vast capacity for forgiveness.

So if we try to follow Jesus’ example, we’ll feel our heavy burdens being lifted from our shoulders. When we forgive from our hearts those who have wronged us, we’ll feel liberated. There’ll be a lightness in our step and ‘peace like a river’ flowing through our souls. Unburdened and free from resentment, we’ll find the great gift of forgiveness is a balm not only to our souls but also to the souls of the people who have hurt us. If they could be freed from their guilty feelings, they could be liberated, too.

What a worthwhile journey it is to embark on the hard road to forgiveness. Wonderfully, you’ll experience deep inner peace and healing. No more restless, damaging thoughts. Peaceful sleep. Balm for your soul. May you be blessed as you walk with Jesus on this difficult but restorative road.

Empower yourself on your journey of forgiveness by exploring the following must-read blogs:

• Why forgiveness is essential to the Christian life.
• The Importance of Love in the Christian Life.

Faced with the vast range of titles in all sorts of different genres, how do you even begin to write a book that people will want to read? What can you contribute to the world of literature that hasn’t already been done? How can you be original…unique…interesting?

The good news for us writers is this: a fellow writer once said: ‘There are no new ideas; only new ways of presenting them. I would agree. For example, the number of ideas for stories is finite. There are only so many plot arcs. But the structure of the stories keeps getting re-organised. So don’t try to invent a brand-new plot. You can’t. It’s all been done before. But never fear. You can still be original. It’s not what you write but how you write it that makes all the difference.

So how DO you write a publishable manuscript then?

Tip number one: Get started

Don’t dither or procrastinate; whatever you do, don’t keep feeding your head with negative nonsense. You can be a writer, even a published one if you try hard enough. The only difference between a published and an unpublished writer is – the unpublished writer gave up. So put on your writing hat and begin.

Tip number two: Persevere

Once you’ve begun, keep at it. Write often. And persevere. Write every day if you can, no matter what. If your schedule doesn’t permit it, set aside particular times for writing, where you go to your favourite writing place. Don’t make excuses. No matter how busy your life is, if being an author is important to you, you will find the time to write. You put aside time for other tasks, some of them very mundane. So why wouldn’t you set aside time for something you’re passionate about? Although a challenging discipline, even the mere process of writing can be very rewarding: you’re exercising your brain cells, exploring possibilities, and going on an amazing creative journey that so many others have gone on before you. It would be a shame to throw in the towel when you’ve barely begun this journey. My father once told me some facts about Thomas Edison that I’ve never forgotten. The story goes that his assistant said to him one day: “Mr. Edison, we have now tried 365 experiments and all of them have failed. We haven’t had any results.”

“But we’ve had wonderful results,” Edison reportedly replied. “We now know 365 experiments that don’t work!” He and his assistant then persevered, trying many more experiments until, voila, one day, they finally did an experiment which did actually work. They had discovered electric light.

Although this anecdote may not be directly relevant to your writing pursuits, it illustrates perseverance's value. Don’t be concerned about your failures. Just keep refining your writing skills.

Tip number three: Don’t keep comparing yourself to other writers

As a writer, you have a unique style. The way you express yourself is not the same as any other writer’s style. Celebrate this. Who knows, you may even start a new trend. Think about James Joyce’s lack of punctuation in his famous novel, Ulysses. Who would have thought that his unusual work of art would become such an important part of our literary history?

Keep enjoying your writing. Keep editing your work and improving your writing. But realise that your particular style may be a gift to the world of literature.

Tip number four: Plan your manuscript carefully

Whether you’re writing fiction or non-fiction, you must structure your manuscript carefully. Some of the methods you might use are: story-boards, chapter outlines or multiple spider diagrams in the case of fiction.

Timelines, chronological sequencing or detailed plans for a particular period in the case of non-fiction.

Whatever method you use, it’s good to have a rough idea of where you’re going before you begin your journey – even if the details change, which they often will.

Tip number five: Add conflict/ tension to your writing

Readers like to be kept on the edge of their seats. This tip is more relevant to fiction, but even non-fiction pieces will be more intriguing if something is at stake. So make sure you structure your writing to build tension and drama, adding interest to your piece, whether it is fiction or non-fiction.

Above all, enjoy your writing journey. The journey itself can be ultra-rewarding if you have a positive attitude. And how amazing it is when a publisher recognises the fruits of your hard labours, and you can finally hold your completed book in your hand.

Happy writing!

In our 21st-century world, it’s very difficult to contemplate what the world was like before the arrival of the Internet. How did writers do their research? Going to physical libraries? There, too, they would have verified their facts. Or maybe some of them had huge tomes at home, like the complete Encyclopaedia Britannica in goodness knows how many volumes. How did they connect with other authors, readers, and publishers? By phoning them or using snail mail, I’m assuming. And where did they find new opportunities? By chance, meeting on a street corner? In a supermarket? At the school gate?

In this blog, I will restrict myself to talking about three, albeit rather obvious, uses of the Internet for Authors. Nothing new in the zoo!! But it’s good to be reminded of these things.

1. Research

Mega-articles, blogs, books on almost any topic under the sun! You don’t have to search very far to find just the information you’re looking for. And just the fact that you were trying to check up on it. Or just the data to prove what you were trying to say. You’re writing a historical novel, and you want to find out about the costumes of the time. Boom-bang – all the information you need is right there on Mrs Google. You’re setting your adult thriller in a foreign country you’ve only visited once, and you need to check on some facts about restaurants and street names in a particular city. Voila! There it all is. Right in front of your very eyes, including maps. Your biography about a scientist has some statistics you need to check. Hooray. You’ve found just the graph you need, including a detailed explanation of the significance of the data.

How wonderfully useful the internet is for checking up on your facts, fleshing out the details in your book, finding more information about a place and being inspired by many different examples.

A word of caution

Of course, like any good researcher, you’ll have to ask yourself questions about the source of the information in the article, blog, or snippet. Much of the information you’ll find on the net is written from one particular point of view, so you do have to be discerning when scouring through the net. You also have to be careful of plagiarising. Just because it’s not a ‘book’ you’re copying from, it doesn’t mean that you won’t get into trouble for taking chunks of information and using word for word in your next book. Please don’t go there!! It’s definitely not worth it.

2. Connections and Opportunities

Being a member of the older generation myself, I feel totally inadequate writing about this topic. So I’ll be very brief! In any case, I’m sure that in the next couple of years, all the platforms people use now will already be outdated!! But of course, your personal website, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, email lists and so on are useful ways of connecting with other authors, readers, publishers and the general public. Many authors use these platforms and opportunities to great advantage.

3. Tutorials and Lessons

If you want to learn how to do anything, the internet is your oyster. Tutorials a-plenty about any topic under the sun, including the ones relevant to writing skills:

• How to write a book
• How to write non-fiction in six easy steps!
• How to write an adult novel
• How to write YA fiction…and so on….

I have to smile because some of the blogs I’ve been writing cover similar topics.

              But my advice, in a nutshell, is: use the internet with discernment, sift out the unnecessary, keep what might be useful to you, and never take shortcuts on research. It might, after all, be advisable to visit your local library – to check on the facts you gleaned from the internet!! How ironic is that?

Enjoy the benefits of using the internet.

And most of all, happy writing.