Have you noticed the amount of ebooks now available for us to purchase today. They are so prevalent. There are so many authors going the indie route as they have more control over how their book is published, or for that matter, getting it published at all. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to see your book in print, you had to go to one of the big New York publishers and hope, that by some small miracle, they'd publish your book. Today you can go to a place like CreateSpace and publish your … [Read more...]
D is for Deep POV
In many of today's novel, the writer wants to delve deeper with their stories giving the reader a more in-depth look into who the characters are and what they're thinking. The technique being used is called deep POV (point of view). I remember when it was first suggested that I do this with my fiction novel. I had not earthly clue what that was. I understood POV to be what character the scene would be told from whether it was first person, third person, omniscient. However, deep POV was a new … [Read more...]
B is for Backstory
How do we get to know the characters of the stories we either write or read about. One way is to weave backstory into book. However, you don't want an info dump of information where you completely lose your reader as they've lost interest with your novel. You want to engage the reader from the first page to the last. One place considered a no-no is to put backstory in the first chapter, and especially the first scene. As a reader they may say who cares because she wants to feel like she's … [Read more...]
A is for Antagonist
The antagonist, the one we all love to hate, or at least most of the time, as we read our stories and immerse ourselves into the world of the characters we grow to love. In my fiction story, my antagonist is my protagonists mom. She one of these types of characters that likes to make sure appearances count. She doesn't know how to show lover to her two girls because her own mom never showed her what love is really supposed to look like. Sometimes within a story the antagonist happens to be … [Read more...]
Day 103: Closing the Gap
In our own world as we are learning to write down what has formed in our heads, whether a story idea or a journal entry, we all have a place where we start and somehow learn to close the gap to where we want to be. I still remember the first night I sat down to start writing the story idea that came to me. I wrote a little bit of it and then read it to my hubby. It was listening to his reader perspective and how in his experience of reading that he helped me to better the story I had come up … [Read more...]
Day 99: Writing Your Own Corner
I love this. Most of us only know the areas where we have lived or been surrounded by. For an army brat they're constantly being moved around the country and sometimes even living in different countries. For another they may have lived in the same small town their entire life. Another might have been raised in the foster care system constantly being moved from one home to another. Think about it. We are all so different. No two people have lived the exact same life. Yes, many people have … [Read more...]
Day 89: Worries of Writing Memoir
I want, no, I need to share this excerpt from the book I'm using. Even as I sit here writing this, I feel my eyes moistening. I hope you will see why this has touched my heart and maybe why God lead me to the very book to use in my 365 day journey. "Robin Romm worried whether to publish the memoir she had written about the last three weeks of her mother’s life. She wrote thirty pages of notes during those weeks, then ninety pages in the ten days after her mother died. Romm felt there were … [Read more...]
The Journey with Yvonne Anderson
Please welcome this weeks guest Yvonne Anderson for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? The Reluctant Writer My mom had a lifelong desire to write. So much so, in fact, that when I, her third born, came into the world, she inserted announcements in that year’s Christmas cards informing family and friends of “the publication of our third edition.” On his part, my dad was an avid reader, and I’ve loved books ever since I can remember. … [Read more...]
Day 88: From the Desk of God
This one is interesting. When we write we are writing out what is playing in our heads. Read this section from the book: "Writing a novel is like living in a parallel universe. A universe that, unlike reality, you can more or less control. Every day, you find your characters sitting around like polite house-guests waiting to see what you have planned for them. It can be exhilarating on good days, and on other days so difficult and frustrating you think your head might explode. But if you keep … [Read more...]
Day 85: Motivation
Motivation. What a word. It can mean so much to so many people, yet what motivates us is all so different. Just like our fingerprints are all different, so is the motivating power behind what we do. For me, what motivates me to keep writing on my daughter's dedication website is my daughter. I can write about the good times and the bad. When I'm feeling lonely or have a need to write down the thoughts that swirl around in my brain like a tornado. On this website, my fiction writing and how … [Read more...]
