I’m starting to get emails from the local NaNoWriMo organizers, and writers like you should be too. If you aren’t, go on over to nanowrimo.org and sign up. Somebody decided to make November into National Novel Writing Month and set up this national nonprofit organization to provide local structure–write ins, email support, writing buddies, and more. […]
You Are an Author
You’ve followed your creative urge, spend hour upon hour for months curled over your keyboard pecking out words, paragraphs, and chapters, and you’ve finally finished a novel. You’ve shared your accomplishment with friends and family, and now they’re starting to call you a writer–an author. Maybe you laugh and agree. Or possibly you glow with […]
Persevere in Your Writing
I often tell people that the keys to publication are a willingness to learn and perseverance. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I understood that to persevere means more than enduring. You don’t simply put up with waiting until you are published, you must actively work towards it, improving your writing, contacting agents and publishers, […]
When Discouragement Swallows Your Strength by Jennifer Slattery
So you want to be a writer. More than want to, you feel compelled to. As if every cell in your heart and brain is urging you in that direction. So you throw a party, invite all your friends, and don all the authorly-attire, convinced it’s only a matter of time before Mr. Publisher becomes […]
The School of Hard Knocks
When I first began writing, I had no formal training, just a story to tell and the sense that it needed to be told. God encouraged me through the six months it took to write my first novel, and when I finished the rough draft, I naively thought the hard part was behind me. Instead, […]
An encouraging teacher pushed Janet K. Brown, and …
English was my favorite course in school until Mrs. Machir taught me in ninth grade at Stockard Junior High in Dallas, Texas. She pushed me. Her red pencil decimated my papers. She seemed to dislike anything I wrote. Near the end of school, I worked up the courage to ask why she picked on me. […]
Creativity comes from laughter: Ralene Burke
Let’s find out more about how writers nourish those creative sparks from one of Castle Gate Press’s editors, our Social Media Director Ralene Burke. When did you first start writing? What got you started? Well, if you don’t count high school, I started writing in 2006 on a challenge from a friend. I had an […]
The importance of encouragement to an author: Linda Yezak
Let’s find out more about the role of encouragement from one of Castle Gate Press’s editors, author Linda Yezak. Like most authors, I started writing when I was a kid–I don’t remember how early. I wrote song lyrics and little rhymes and worked up from there. What started me most recently was a prompt from […]
Author Resources – Best Writing Advice
We Want Your Input At Castle Gate Press, we want to work with and encourage not only our own authors, but all authors. One of the ways we would like to do this is by offering great resources on everything from brainstorming story ideas to sample proposals to marketing ideas. The internet offers a vast […]