Writing From the Trenches - Tips & Techniques from Ten Award-winning Authors

by Connie Almony, Ane Mulligan, Lynnette Bonner

TEN-HUT! Gear up for your writing with tried-and-true tips from the trenches. Ten award-winning authors share invaluable tips and secrets they’ve gleaned the hard way, offering a broad range of insights and opinions on the best way to tackle subjects such as the following:

Plotting Techniques
Research
Characterization
Villains We Love to Hate
Dynamic Dialogue
Sigh-Worthy Heroes
The Right Heroine for the Job
Hooking Your Reader in the First Chapter
Scene Endings to Lead Your Readers On
Creating a Movie Set
Making your Readers Cry
Deep POV
Copyediting your Manuscript
Indie Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing
Marketing for Those Who Hate Marketing

At last … a writer’s tool that provides the experience and expertise of ten authors who’ve been on the front lines of publishing and lived to teach about it: Connie Almony, Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Louise Gouge, Michelle Griep, Julie Lessman, Elizabeth Ludwig, Ane Mulligan, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Vetsch.

260 pages, ebook

First published September 1, 2018

About the author

She’s just a suburb gal from the Baltimore-Washington megalopolis. And that’s what Connie Almony’s fiction is about, a diverse population which is truly, and beautifully, colorful.

Trained as a mental health counselor, she hopes you won’t hold that against her. Though this training helps her delve into the motivations that drive her characters, she promises not to therapize you.

Her favorite things to do include listening to awesome Christian Contemporary music (like Third Day and NeedtoBreathe) and read great stories with colorful characters while spending time with her adoring family. She loves to brainstorm with her almost thirteen-year-old daughter, who writes chapter books on the side, and share peaceful moments with her sixteen-year-old son (who’s like a gentle breeze).

The bantering style of her characters is inspired by her husband’s deep love of mischief, particularly that which craves a sharp response ;o). Still, she loves him anyway … which covers a multitude of sins. She’s been married almost twenty years and counts each one better than the one before.

Reviews

[Julie Jobe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a treasure trove of writing info from some incredible authors with varying writing styles. I really appreciated that a variety of writing methods were represented. Each author shared her own "writing system" and each one is unique with many good, practical suggestions for planning out your book (or semi-planning and still following your pantser tendencies if that's what you lean toward). As a beginning writer, I believe that portion of the book could be extremely helpful in helping you pick and choose which pieces of each system would most fit you and your style as you start to write. There are so many aspects of writing that the book covers that probably not all writers starting out would think about or consider or even know how to tackle. I love that these award-winning authors have taken what they've learned and compiled it to help those just starting out, giving them a good foundation and solid writing wisdom to make their books the best they can be without those writers having to make so many mistakes to get there. They've even included some helpful worksheets and exercises to help you with your process. While I might not follow every piece of advice given in the book or use all the techniques they mention in the ways they do because it might not fit me or my style, all of it was very helpful in showing me what does resonate with me and things I might want to use. Thanks to the authors of this book for "spilling their writing secrets" to help others hone their own writing style and skills. I imagine this book is a bit like having a writing conference's worth of classes in a fun and entertaining book form.

**I received a copy of this book from one of the authors. All opinions are my own.

[Jennifer Purcell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book in exchange for an honest review, and I am so glad I got the chance! Not only does the book have advice from some of my favorite authors, but it is focused on Christian fiction. There are constant reminders that writing Christian fiction is a ministry and is centered on God, and I loved that!
As a writer working on her first book, I love how extensive the advice is, especially the research and character sections. I found myself bookmarking pages so I could return to them later. Some of the authors even include pictures and examples of how they work, and it was a relief knowing that every author has their own method. I appreciated the advice to find what works for me. I'm also glad there is a chapter on Indie vs. Traditional Publishing. I've heard a lot of people say the publishing industry is changing, but so many have said that traditional is the only way to be taken seriously. But the authors give honest opinions on the pros and cons of each, and their candid insight is valuable. I think my favorite chapter, however, is the one on marketing. Marketing is overwhelming, in my opinion, and the authors provide plenty of advice on what works for them and what doesn't.
Overall, this is the perfect book for any writer. Not only does the advice cover the entire writing process, there is also plenty of encouragement.

[Sydney · Rating 5 out of 5]

For aspiring and published authors alike, Writing from the Trenches by Connie Almony, Lynnette Bonner, Hallee Bridgeman, Louise Gouge, Michelle Greip, Julie Lessman, Elizabeth Ludwig, Ane Mulligan, MaryLu Tyndall, and Erica Betsch, is an excellent resource. This book is filled with many writing tips and tricks of the trade that will benefit any author at any stage in their writing career. Not only is this book helpful in the writing process, but it is filled with the humor and personalities of each of these fabulous authors, as they share their wealth of knowledge and views on tackling writing projects. This book is has a plethora of information that is bound to help any author.

Genre: non-fiction, writing
Publisher: Olivia Kimbrell Press, Inc.
Publication date: September 1, 2018
Number of pages: 260

A review copy of this book was provided by author Julie Lessman. A review was not required and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

[A.M. Heath · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Thoughts: This was a terrific overview of writing. There were so many sections covered that it’s a must-read for aspiring authors. The beauty of it was that it was compiled together by ten different authors so you’re getting the strengths from each author. I found it so helpful that I immediately offered to buy a copy for the aspiring author that I’m coaching.
As a published author, I didn’t really find “new” information but rather a new way of explaining old information which I found really helpful. I kept finding myself quoting something from this book as I pulled my notes together for the aspiring author I was critiquing.
The layout was perfectly arranged so that one point naturally flowed into the next. The beginning opened with all ten authors sharing how they plot their novel. While it did start to feel a tad repetitive with each author giving nearly the same intro, all ten authors had vastly different styles of plotting. I found this section really interesting and I didn’t find any one author who did it exactly like myself, so I certainly walked away with some ideas for things I could try in the future.
I do feel obligated to share a warning for more conservative writers. There’s a section on how to create a great hero which was extremely well thought out and packed full of outstanding material. The author even shares a vast selection of examples from her writing. I’m the sort who learns best by example so I double appreciate that sort of effort. But in this particular case, I found the majority of the examples a bit steamier for my personal tastes. While I wholeheartedly stand by the information, for more conservative writers, I would just caution you that may find yourself skimming. But the information itself should NOT be skimmed over but soaked up instead.

Rating and Recommendation: I’m giving it 5 stars and highly recommending it to aspiring authors looking for a solid overview and to published authors looking to finetune some areas or seeking a great teaching aid.

~ I received a copy from the authors. I was not compensated for my review. All thoughts are my own.

[Crystal Caudill · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love about this resource is how easy it is to read. I simply read one entry a day/night and I glean so much information from this resource. Each entry takes me ten minutes or less to read, so it makes it easy to squeeze in some work-study time without being a hassle. I like to highlight, so a print version is what I prefer, but the e-book has links you can click within the book. Having both versions will be great.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!
Great tips.

[SaraBettyReads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great way to sample different author's styles while also picking up helpful tips for writing. I especially enjoyed the chapters on developing characters, descriptions and the different author's plotting styles.