The Write Focus

Alice followed the White Rabbit into a hole that dropped her into a strange world. Writing is like that, a hole into a strange wonderland. A project is an intriguing white rabbit luring us to follow even as it reminds us that the project has to meet a deadline or be “late for that important date”. Our Writing Wonderland operates on 3 Basic Rules. Get these writing rules right, and your Wonderland...

Consider your Cover is Quick Tip #12. One of the greatest expenses that an indie writer will have is the cost of a professional cover. Yes, yes, people say that the editorial cost is the highest one. Development editors and content editors and line editors are expensive. Let me argue with that. The first attractor for a book is the cover design. To capture and charm readers, invest in a great cove...

Writing constantly, writing fast ~ these can outpace our creativity, leaving us drained. The answer is to Juggle Projects. I cannot simultaneously write two fiction projects; the projects we juggle have to be different. This episode talks about that HOW. TIMINGS 00:41 Introduction 01:15 Juggle Projects 04:50 Closing Total Run Time = 5:49   LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/ju...

“Cocoons” is the Quick Tip for Writing in this episode. When the words do not come as soon as we are ready to write, what can we do? We have to think like inchworms, the ones that eventually become beautiful butterflies. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:15 Think Cocoons 03:43 Closing Total Run Time = 4:42   LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/06/think-cocoons-quick-tips-for-writers-1...

Long before a writer pens the last word in a story and launches into the Proof-Plus, that writer is considering promotions. Promotions, marketing, that’s the same thing. So much of marketing depends on spare cash and good fortune in eyes discovering it. The chief marketing tool, however, is something the writer can totally control. Let’s look at the Loss Leader, also known as the Reader Magnet. TI...

Every successful story, short or long, has two key elements. These two keys recur throughout the story. One takes a new form at every instance, teasing the reader into reading more. The other also teases the reader, but this time the key remains the same, merely doubling and re-doubling, increasing and intensifying. What are these key elements? You’ll have to listen to discover that answer. ;) TIM...

In our second episode on antagonists, we discuss the additional evil actors that drive a plot, as much a part as our main character, our Protagonists. We offer three Quick Tips, first about our major antagonist and then two more about minor antagonists. A key element whips by pretty rapidly, in that each minor antagonist teaches the protagonist a skill or a way to defeat the major antagonist. We d...

Pentecost concludes the Easter Season. Fifty days after the Resurrection, ten days after Ascension, it completes the jubilation that starts before sunrise on Easter Day with the Son’s rise. “He is risen” does not complete everything. Pentecost is the completion. Let’s ground ourselves in the reasons.   TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 00:50 Pentecost 08:55 Closing Total Run Time = 9:54   LINK Website ht...

In the Quick Tips series, episodes 6 and 7 are linked, for both are about antagonists, twisty and surprising antagonists. A truth of conflict is that a weak antagonist creates a weak Protagonist. Since we writers want our main characters to be strong, then the conflict-creator of the story needs to be equally strong. The first way to do this is to twist our readers’ expectations of the antagonist....

40. Forty days after Easter, the Resurrection of Christ Jesus, we have another important date to commemorate, a date that’s been part of the Christian Church since the early days. The first documented festival occurred in 68 A.D. Along with Easter Day, the regular observance of Sunday, and Pentecost, we have Ascension Day, the day when Christ ascended to Heaven, back to His Father. The later addit...

As writers we control many things about our writing, but times do come when we lose control. And that is not a bad thing. It’s actually a blessing. That’s our topic: Be willing to lose control. The Write Focus offers the Quick Tips for Writers series from Spring into Summer. We hope these bite-sized takes on writing inspire your words this week. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 Be Willing to Lose...

Our topic this time is a little tricky, but we have a fairly simple solution—if we will use that solution. Here’s the question: How do I make my writing form a coherent story? Because if the story confuses us when we finish it, in what state will our readers be? Quick Tips for Writers is a Blast from the Past, extricated from much longer episodes a year ago. TWF hopes you enjoy these quick takes....

We’re onto our third episode in the Quick Tips for Writers series. What are the three cornerstones of every story we write, no matter the length or genre or purpose? TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 01:10 QT 3: Three Cornerstones of Every Story 03:17 Closing Total Run Time = 4:17   LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/04/three-cornerstones-of-story-quick-tips.html   Licensed Music with t...

In this second episode of the Quick Tips for Writers series, we look at another topic which trips writers up. Whether a total newbie or a seasoned writer, we all ask the same question. It’s the same questions every time we start a new story. How much do I need before I start writing? TIMINGS 00:40 Welcome 01:10 How much do I need before I start writing? 04:33 Closing Total Run Time = 5:33   LINK W...

The Write Focus brings in a Blast from the Past, from Summer 2025. Thirteen—count `em, 13—posts that distill over 30 years of writing knowledge and 10 years of publishing writing. Host M.A. Lee has 60-plus novel-length titles under three pen names that guide this information. We hope you find a spot of wisdom in each of these Quick Tips for Writers. In our first episode of the series, we answer ev...

Our More: Easter series concludes in this episode with my confession of a longtime failing and the way I’m casting off that sin … which was one of the motivations for the entire series on More. And our final Creativity for Writers segment, we consider the daily practice of gratitude to the greatest Creator of all. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 00:50 Bright Sunday 06:20 Creativity Refresh 15 10:22 Las...

David’s prayer in Psalm 143 is our focus, following God’s timeline rather than the world’s. In the Creativity for Writers segment, we look at three techniques to generate new ideas from the blankness. TIMINGS 00:40 Introduction 00:50 Bright Saturday 06:06 Creativity Refresh 14 11:12 Closing Total Run Time = 12:12   LINK Website https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2026/02/more-easter-bright-saturday...

As we age, we think the three most common bedtime prayers for children are only for the little people. They seem too plain for our complex lives. Our mistake is when we try to make our prayers more when simple is better. In looking at the simple, we often see things we have forgotten because our so-called complex lives are actually only filled with distractions. In the Creativity for Writers segme...

While the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed and even little Glory Be offer the basic tenets of Christian faith, we can still add more to intensify our daily walk with Christ. More can mean a greater understanding of the church year, such as knowing Holy Week and Bright Week. More can also mean additional readings to add to our daily devotions. Reading through the Bible can be a challenging dai...

He is Risen! That’s the word the women gave, based on the evidence of the tomb and the word of the bright angel who reassured them. Yet the disciples could not bring themselves to believe. They wanted to, desperately, but their earthly realism prevented complete belief. Our focus today is on the event three days after the Crucifixion, on the day of the Resurrection, when two of the Jesus’ follower...

In this day of contemporary music and blended worship services, with guitars and drums accompanying the pianos and organs, the bland traditional services of my childhood now seem strange. God calls upon us to make a joyful noise in praise to Him. Music creates a harmonious celebration. Psalm 150 even lists the instruments for accompaniment. Our question today is how do we use music in our daily li...

Easter began with Sunrise—the tomb open and empty, the faithful women first to see, first to receive the good news, first to spread the good news. This week should be the most celebrated time in the church, yet it is often more neglected than any other time of the church. Fasting and grief are over; feast and joy return. Christ is Risen!  Christ is Lord of All! Today is Easter Monday, Bright Monda...

On Easter, we greet each other with “He is risen.” The traditional response is “He is risen indeed.” Easter is our great hope and assurance, the fulfillment of the promise of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” My efforts for an Easter reflection to share with you were poor indeed, a...

What is the key to Holy Saturday? The church is bare, the altar blackened, all hope entombed with Christ. Black Saturday is the vigil before Easter’s Resurrection. After the Crucifixion, the black veil is removed from the altar cross, for Christ is brought down from the 300-pound cross that the Sanhedrin and the Romans intended to be His failure. They didn't know the key, though. After our focus o...

Why is Good Friday “Good”? That is the official title of this meditation, but the focus is something else. First, the answer to the question is basically because we received the best gift in the world, the gift of redeeming salvation from Christ Jesus. Our focus is an aspect of that question / answer, wrapped up in a behavior of self-denial. On this Good Friday, let us consider the reason we say n...