Tag Archives: novel

Change Your Stripes – Part 2

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Do you write non-fiction books? Heck, do you write non-fiction BLOGS? Then you should write a novel.

What better way to demonstrate how your non-fiction topic works in someone’s life than, you know, actually demonstrating it someone’s life?

elephant
This might take changing your stripes too far.

Depending on your topic, a common approach is to afflict your main character with the problem your topic corrects. Establish a mentor figure who coaches your main character in your topics step-by-step solutions to reveal how well your solution works.

Two such didactic (teaching) novels spring to mind. Eliyahu Goldratt’s The Goal, and my own novel Do Angels Still Fall?

In The Goal, the main character runs a failing manufacturing company. At home, he is also having problems with his marriage. An old college professor runs into the main character and ends up drive-by mentoring him in process improvement. The mentor isn’t always around, the hero has to fumble through his own discoveries and even begins to apply them also to his marriage. Who knew the Theory of Constraints could be so interesting?

In my novel, a Guardian Angel is given charge of a rambunctious young boy who is allowed to see and interact with his angel. This is new to the angel, as well, who makes a rash promise, prompting him to wonder if angels still fall. In his interactions with the boy, the angel corrects his misunderstanding of God, who is not the angry deity we too often believe he is. As a Sunday School teacher and father of three, I wrote this to introduce people to the God I know and love.

Another writer is writing a time travel novel so his main character can apply principles he learned late in life to his younger self.

There is no set formula, just write a compelling story that teaches (subtly or not) your principles. Readers who love your non-fiction books will not only buy this for themselves, they’ll buy it as a gift for those they love.

Go ahead, get started! And keep checking back here for writing hints.

www.prevailpress.com

I Write, Therefore I Am… Tired a Lot

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Yesterday I told you why I love books. I doubt it’s a big surprise that I became a writer after that.

My first novel was in 5th grade. It was 30 pages long and in the shape of a coffin. Much to my surprise, when I was going through my parent’s things after they passed, I found it. Mom liked to hang onto things. It was just eh but the start of things to come.

My second novel was in 8th grade. We were assigned to write the journal of someone on the Western Movement. Mine was a hundred pages, surprisingly good, and earned me an A. My teacher suggested trying to get it published. I thought he was being nice. Still have it; he wasn’t kidding. Color me amazed.

I became a playwright in college, a screenwriter after that (terrible, terrible movie–so glad we didn’t have Internet back then).

Several dozen plays after that and a marriage later, I began my first real novel. It was supposed to be a 6,000 word dime novel (bet you don’t remember them) but it turned into an epic 150,000 word suspense novel. No traditional publishers bit and I understand why. It was uneven and had voice problems.

I began working as a technical writer but needed more income, so I turned to ghostwriting. Twelve books later, I was inspired by my children to write my own.

Do Angels Still Fall? was the result, a middle-grade novel about a boy and his angel. Because I had established Prevail Press to publish my client’s books (most of whom didn’t need it), I published Angels that way. Soon thereafter, I began Me and the Maniac in Outer Space.

A word about backing up your work. I kept it all on a thumbdrive, which I lost at a play. The fragments I had left on my computer became a different, longer book. It was supposed to be an adventure but became so much more. Redundant backup is the key, but this worked out for me. Thank the Lord for happy accidents.

Throughout much of this process, I was part of a writer’s group… but I’m getting ahead of myself. More tomorrow. 🙂