If I had a dime for every person who said to me, “I want to write a book,” I’d have ten dollars! I smile and encourage those with big dreams! I love big dreams. But the moment I start to speak the realities of writing a novel, smiles fade, light dims from behind the eyes, and I can see I’ve killed hopes. Why do we love dreams without substance? Why is it we think dreams just come to us? Most dreams are the result of very hard work. American Idol winners aside, most singers, artist, musicians, writers spend hours and hours on their craft. On a recent drive to visit family in Tennessee, I listened to a book, Outliers. The author, Malcom Gladwell, looked at societies and individuals to see […]
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About Rachel Hauck
Author Archive | Rachel Hauck
Dropping the bomb – A MyBookTherapy Moment
Well, we’re back to blogging! It was great seeing so many of you at the ACFW conference in Denver. Please make plans to attend the conference in Indianapolis next year. For those of you who attended our continuing education class, thank you. It was great to have such a large, lively group. I wanted to bring some clarification on “dropping the bomb.” In the class on Saturday, I talked about not hording a plot point, but going ahead, getting the “big news” out there and see where the story ran from the “explosion.” Here’s what I mean. If you’re telling the reader your heroine is pregnant outside of marriage, but the hero doesn’t know, GO AHEAD, tell him, see what the fall out would be! Don’t “horde” the point. Or […]
Read the RestMBT Interview: Thomas Nelson Senior Editor, Ami McConnell
I’ve been privileged to work with some wonderful editors in the CBA. For the past four years, I’ve been under the tutelage of Thomas Nelson’s Senior Acquisitions Editor, Ami McConnell. She’s such a gift to me as a writer and story teller, helping me hone my skill and art, but by being my champion. When I sold my first 2 books to TNI, the ACFW Conference was in Nashville that year, home of country music and Thomas Nelson. The conference hotel was right across from the fiction (then West Bow) offices! Ami had just given birth to her third child, a beautiful girl. Even though she was on maternity leave, she took time to meet with me, picking me up from the hotel, driving me to coffee, and spending a […]
Read the RestCharacter and story arc
I had someone ask me about character and story arc, so I thought I’d blog on it today. A novel or story is about the journey of a character from point A to point B. The protagonist starts out his day, smiling under blue skies as he heads to work, but before noon, his entire life is turned upside down. This disaster is the launch or inciting incident of the book. Every book has to have this. Otherwise, the story meanders. What is the story about? What is the story question? You should be able to summarize in a few sentences. Even a literary novel can be summed up quickly if there is a inciting incident that sends that character on a journey. Along the way, the story and character […]
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