At the Oregon Christian Writers Summer Conference, an agent I spoke with commented journalism is a great place for novelists – fiction writers – to start. I agree in many ways. In journalism, you learn to write concisely, use vivid, moving quotes, hook your reader from the very start, and follow the stylebook to the letter. One problem, however, is the differences in writing style. For instance, journalists use the AP Stylebook while CBA publishers use the Chicago Manual of Style. There are many key differences that after four or five years as a journalist, I find difficult to switch to. Spelling out all numbers, among other things, are habits...
My first interview…
Not job interview, not a radio interview. No, the first time I interviewed someone else. I was thirteen. My family and I journeyed to La Pine, Oregon, to visit my grandparents. I already took up my insatiable habit of writing all the time, so I carried a little notebook with me and worked on my stories, drafting new ideas for novels and reworking the novel I had already completed. My grandparents took us down the road to a little house and a huge garage. A garage bigger than my horse’s barn twice over. Inside there was a collection of old cars and World War II memorabilia. The owner, a World...