Write for a Reason
For Christians new to writing novels for kids and teens. Creative writing tips, encouragement and inspiration from Janet Wilson, writer, speaker, and publisher of Christian fiction for young people. Get ready to take your writing to the next level! You can do it - all you need is a bit of help. Don't miss out!
- Update frequency
- every 15 days
- Average duration
- 10 minutes
- Episodes
- 64
- Years Active
- 2021 - 2025
Do You Need an Antagonist?
Do you need an antagonist in your story?
Not necessarily!
Listen to this podcast episode to find some other ways of introducing conflict into your stories.
Like to do my f…
Weaving a Message into Your Story
In one of our recent Writers for a Reason Unite groups, one of the things we talked about was weaving a message into our stories. How do we do this gently, with respect? After all, we a…
Divide Your Character into Four
We usually start of with a good idea of what our characters look like. But what about other parts of their personality?
Here's a writing exercise for you to do, that will help you get to…
The Changed Character
With your theme and message in mind, how will your protagonist, and any other characters, change during the course of your story?
How will they be different at the end, than they were …
Improving the Pace of Your Story
Keeping up the pace in our stories is essential, if we want to hold our readers' attention.
This is even more true today than it was a few years ago!
So how can we do this?
Here are some f…
Your Writing Mission Statement
This may sound like a daft question, but knowing who you want to write for, and why, is an important foundation for our writing.
We can have what we think is a brilliant idea for a story…
Different Voices for Different Characters
Today I have a little tip for you, on writing dialogue. Someone was asking me recently about what mistakes I see most often in dialogue, and one of them is that their characters all sou…
Leaving a Legacy with Your Writing
We are leaving a legacy with our writing, whether we are thinking about it or not. So why not be intentional? Listen to this episode and be inspired to change lives with your stories.
Conflicts in Stories
We may avoid conflicts in real life, but in our stories we should embrace them as our best friends, because without conflicts we do not have a story!
In this pocast episode we get deeper…
Some Guidelines for Writing Christian Fantasy for Kids
Hi, Janet Wilson here.
The issue with writing fantasy, and how we deal with it as Christians, came up in one of our Writers for a Reason Unite meetings recently.
One of our members had be…
Where Do You Find Inspiration?
In this episode, Janet looks at the whole subject of inspiration.
Sometimes we have to go out looking for inspiration... it doesn't always come when we want it... here's how, and why.
En…
How Often Should You Write?
What writing times work best for you?
How often should you write?
The advice write every day is excellent advice!
But not for everyone can stick to that, and it can be counter-productive t…
Pinpoint Your Target Audience
Asking who you want to write for and why may sound like a really daft question, but when you think about it, it's absolutely foundational to writing a successful story.
Listen to this e…
Showing Not Telling - Some Ideas to Help You
Show not tell is an essential part of creative writing.
We all know we need to show not tell, but how exactly do we do that?
Here are some ideas to help you.
Enjoy - and let me know what y…
Keeping on Track and Getting Your Story Done
Starting a story is great - finishing is even better! In this episode Janet gives 7 tips to help you keep on track and get your story done.
Like to do my free writing cou…
3 Common Mistakes with Dialogue
Dialogue isn't like real speech - it takes a lot of work!
Check you aren't making these three common mistakes with dialogue...
And if you find this episode helpful, subscribe to the podca…
Surprises and Twists
Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to wri…
The Best Way to Approach Descriptions
Welcome to the Write for a Reason podcast. My name is Janet Wilson; I'm a publisher of Christian fiction for young people with Dernier Publishing. If you are a Christian, and new to wri…
Tips on Chapter Endings
Chapters cut your story up into manageable chunks, but there are so many brilliant ways of ending them. The aim is to keep your readers turning the pages because they just have to know …
Flexing Your Writing Muscles
If you're here, you're writing for a very important reason! Writing Christian books for children is so important.
Even so, there can be days, weeks or even months when you just don't see…