Andrea Renee Cox's Blog, page 9

End-Goal Mindset

Recently, we’ve chatted about creating a chapter-by-chapter outline, writing the first draft shortly afterward, and maintaining creativity within the first draft.

In one of those articles, I mentioned that we ought to keep the end-goal of our stories in mind as we’re penning them. This is crucial for me when I’m drafting (if I know the end of the story before I begin writing) because it keeps me on track. It’s all too easy to fall into rabbit holes of research or let the vein of flexibili...

God Still Speaks

In Bible days, God spoke to His children quite often. You can open the Bible to virtually any page to discover that.

Over the years, I’ve heard lots of people say that God no longer speaks to His children.

This always seemed odd to me–for two reasons. One, His nature never changes. Two, ever since I was a little girl, He has spoken to me pretty regularly, in several different ways. This year especially, with my One Word being Listen, I’ve found again and again that God still speaks in nume...

First Draft Creativity

I love the creativity of the first draft of a story.

Even when I switched from writing by the seat of my pants (pantsing) to planning out my books (planning), I still found a wealth of creativity in the first draft of a story I had already outlined chapter by chapter (see this article for more on that process).

I’ve heard a lot of writers say that they don’t outline because they don’t want to feel stifled in the first draft–that they don’t want to lose the creativity. That is completely un...

Don’t Wait–Draft Now!

Remember a while back I explained my chapter-by-chapter outline method? If you don’t, that’s okay. A lot of life has gone by since then. You may check out the details in this article.

Outlining is all well and good, and it’s become quite a necessity for me in my writing process, but if we don’t draft the story shortly after finalizing the outline, we risk losing the momentum we built up in that creative process.

Once the outline is finished and fleshed out with solid faith, physical, an...

Giveaway Winners

Last month, there was an opportunity to participate in a giveaway that included a paperback of Springtime in Surrey and a handcrafted charm bracelet inspired by the collection of novellas.

Today, we have a winner of the grand prize and a winner of one of the secondary prizes.

Grand Prize: Lynnette
Secondary Prize: Saraina

Congratulations to both winners! Your prizes will be mailed out soon.

While the giveaway might be over, the reading fun doesn’t have to be. Springtime in Surre...

Writing Update August 2023

It’s been a while since I did a writing update. So here goes.

In June, I joined the 100-for-100 challenge despite being in the midst of my busiest editing month of the year with a book that was over 550 pages in the editing document. I won’t be finishing the challenge this year, as I had to choose between helping my team in a reading game and making sure to write at least 100 words every day. When I weighed all the options, the two things that stuck out to me were that team activities take sa...

Blog Swap Wrap-Up

Well, friends, we’ve made it through the entirety of the Springtime in Surrey Blog Swap. Thank you so much for following along all summer! I hope you enjoyed the articles my fellow authors and I put together for you. If you missed any of the articles, they may still be found at the links in the below schedule.

Springtime in Surrey is now available. The purchase links are on my books page here on Writing to Inspire. I’m already hearing that readers are enjoying the stories in the collection. I...

Be My Guest: Katja H. Labonté

Today we have another Blog Swap article, this time by my friend and coauthor Katja H. Labonté.

What I Learned Writing a Difficult Book
by Katja H. Labonté

Writing is a journey. No one will tell you the opposite. But what everyone does not tell you is that the path of true writing, like love, never runs smooth. My novella for the Springtime in Surrey anthology, The Tussie-Mussie, was quite possibly the hardest writing experience I’ve had to date. It took me way too long, overwhelmed me, d...

Contemplating… “No Foul Language”

There’s a verse that keeps coming back to mind every time I stumble across a Christian fiction book that has a plethora of bad words splattered across the pages. (I found another one of those books yesterday, sadly.)

Ephesians 4:29 HCSB says, “No foul language is to come from your mouth …”

Yet there are so many “Christian” books that use foul language as liberally as the roughest of sailors. Even one bad word is too many. The verse says “NO foul language” (emphasis added), not “only a litt...

Be My Guest: Erika Mathews

Today, we have another Blog Swap article. Please welcome my fellow Springtime in Surrey author Erika Mathews.

I Have Three Small Children, and I Write Books:
Finding Balance Between Writing and Motherhood
by Erika Mathews

“I write books,” I nearly shout over the normal child-noises from my three littles to the new friend I’m making. “Oh, you do?! When do you have time to write?” the new friend asks, usually with surprise on her face. “Mostly when they’re in bed.” I laugh.  

~~~

Hel...