Here’s the June 2019 issue of the Faithful Writers Toolkit newsletter: encouragement and resources for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. June 22, 2019 Faithful Reflection: Beware being too preachy I am productive most of the time, but I have had a mental block about finishing a 40-day devotional I started several […]
Writer Resources
Not Just A Writers Conference
My guest today—fellow Faithful Writer and author Mary L. Hamilton—has generously shared her report on the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference she attended last month (April 2019). Live events can be extremely valuable for writers, but with so many to choose from, it’s hard to know where to put your time and money. I’m grateful […]
Word Of The Week: Smithereens
The word of the week is “smithereens.” Smithereens fragments bits I know this is not an obscure or unfamiliar word, but it’s just so much fun! It’s also a bit unusual in that it’s almost always used in the plural form and in conjunction with such verbs as blow or smash. According to Merriam-Website: […]
Word Of The Week: Cacophony
The word of the week is “cacophony.” Cacophony a harsh discordance of sound; dissonance a meaningless jumble of sounds in music: the frequent use of discords that seem harsh or out of place “Cacophony” derives from a combination of Greek words: phone (sound or voice) and kakos (bad). Similar derivations from the root word phone include symphony (together […]
February Faithful Writer’s Tookit
Encouragement for Faithful Writers everywhere. Please share with your writing friends. Reading time: less than 4 minutes. Faithful Reflection: Remember the seasons As I write this in mid-February in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, we’ve just had five inches of snow, and sleet is now falling on top of that. We’ll be inside until […]
Word Of The Week: Fructify
This week’s word is “fructify.” Fructify make fruitful or productive bear fruit become fruitful “Fructify” began with an agricultural meaning as far back as the 14th century and derives from the Latin noun fructus meaning “fruit” and later from the Middle English word “fructifien” (fruit). Its usage was later expanded to convey a figurative sense of “fruit,” and it […]
Word Of The Week: Vituperative
This week’s word is “vituperative.” It invokes fire and brimstone in my mind. Vituperative abusive and venemous (educaliingo.com) uttering or given to censure: containing or characterized by verbal abuse (Merriam-Webster) According to Merriam-Webster, the word vituperative first appeared in the early 1700s, though some sources date it as far back as the 1500s. It is derived […]
Word Of The Week: Xenophobia
This week’s word is “xenophobia.” Sadly, it’s a word we’ve seen in the news a lot lately, and it may be useful in your own writing or journaling. Xenophia fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign (from Merriam-Webster) fear or dislike of customs, dress, etc., of people […]