What do you think about first point of view?

Check out this post from Jean’s Writing Blog that asks: What do you think about first point of view?

Jean's Writing

Which do you prefer second, third or multiple?When I first began, writing in first person POV was frowned upon. Many bloggers insisted it was a hallmark of a novice. This was frustrating as hell because I love writing in 1st POV.

Now I understand that’s not what determines you, as a writer. Each writer is unique as is their story. A good story stands out no matter the POV.

There are pros and cons to everything, even the chosen POV. However, good stories are good and the only thing (IMHO) that waves the red flag of a novice is bad editing.

Thanks to one of my favorite bloggers for sharing…

10 Advantages of Writing a Single-POV Story (What I Learned Writing Wayfarer)  by K.M. WEILAND

Why I like first person POV…

• Understanding who is narrating the story is simple. No flipping back and forth to refresh my memory on the…

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The Road Traveled – From Michele Jones’ Blog #stockphotochallenge

Follow the yellow brick road they said. It will take you to the wizard they said. What did she have to lose? Dorothy was far from home and anything would be better than being stranded.

Everything changed after she started down the yellow brick road. The little people and the beautiful woman in pink vanished. Dorothy’s path transformed from yellow brick to green grass with nothing by miles of foliage ahead. She slumped down on the grass and cried.

“Get up. You’re not safe here. Hurry. Run.”

She woke up, breathing hard, heart pounding. That same nightmare haunted her dreams.

Check out Michele’s blog HERE.

10 Reasons Why Authors Should Stay INDEPENDENT

Check out this post from the How to eBook blog with 10 Reasons Why Authors Should Stay INDEPENDENT

How To Ebook

by adminPublishing in Self-Publishing | Comments Off on 10 Reasons Why Authors Should Stay INDEPENDENT

What would you think if a business sells their products only through one retailer? Economic suicide! Isn’t it? Why sell books only to one company? And it is not even selling, it is a kind of consignment… as they don’t pay you upfront, only when your book is sold, will you get money!

Authors would be wise to sell their books not only through Amazon but as well on Barnes & Noble, Apple and especially Kobo and other online book retailer websites, to have their “eggs in more than one basket”.  Either directly or with the help of one or more international distributors – who also can distribute it to libraries and the independent bookstores.

If you go the indie route and choose for example the POD services and worldwide distribution through Draft2Digital, IngramSpark, 

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Take the 8:15 Into the City*

Check out this great post from the Confessions of a Mystery Writer blog with the use of bedroom communities as settings in crime fiction.

Confessions of a Mystery Novelist...

About sixty to seventy years ago, families in many countries started to move from larger cities to then-new ‘bedroom communities,’ smaller towns where the taxes were lower, it was easier to get a house, and schools were new. Many of those new suburbs grew and are now cities in their own right. Others were swallowed up as cities grew. But there are still plenty of ‘bedroom communities’ out there.

Crime writers can use those settings in a lot of different ways, depending on the author’s purpose. There can be all sorts of conflict among the people themselves. And there are all sorts of possibilities when it comes to encroaching development and other factors. There’s also the fact that the peaceful setting can serve as a very effective backdrop to crime.

For instance, in Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party, we are introduced to the residents of the ‘bedroom community’ of Woodleigh…

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Surprise, it’s a case study

C.S. Boyack is breaking the rules with this great case study post on The Story Empire Blog.

Story Empire

Hi Gang. Craig here again, breaking rules left and right. I’m surprising my colleagues today, because I’m supposed to pick apart a book cover. We have assignments on Fridays, and I don’t feel like it today.

We can learn a lot from covers, but I think that knowledge is finite. We’ve talked before about the rule of thirds, the S curve, and other visual elements. Besides, I have something else I want to talk about today.

I rewatch a lot of movies with an author’s eye. In other words, I dissect them to learn things. This got me to thinking some of you might appreciate bits of what I look for. Films are like the Cliff’s Notes of stories. A lengthy work is depicted in a short time frame on the big screen.

A few weeks ago I re-watched Sherlock Holmes. This is the 2009 version with Robert Downey Jr…

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Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links

Check out Author Inspiration and This Week’s Writing Links from this post on Staci Troilo’s blog.

Staci Troilo

Ciao, amici! How was your week? I’m sorry to say mine was less than productive. I seem to have hit that mid-winter wall where doing anything requiring more effort than pouring a cup of coffee doesn’t seem worth it.

In fact, there are days I even wonder whether I should make coffee. Shocking, right?

Never fear; the coffee is always made. Some things just can’t be skipped. For example, laundry? That can be skipped. Or at least, ignored. I know because I didn’t do it this week. But coffee? That’s mandatory.

For those of you following my coffee bean saga, I still haven’t gotten any. And Lent is coming, so if I don’t get them soon, I won’t be eating them for a while. My son is still clueless, so I’m guessing it’s just not going to happen. He did, however, surprise me with an iced coffee today. IHOP makes…

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I Couldn’t Finish My ‘Romance Novel’ Until I Fell In Love for Real

Check out this post from the Novelty Revisions blog with the topic:I Couldn’t Finish My ‘Romance Novel’ Until I Fell In Love for Real

Novelty Revisions

Love stories captivate me. They always have. I grew up in the ’90s, so Disney movies did a pretty good job of filling my head with images of what it was supposed to look like when two people fell for each other.

I am not a romance novelist. But as many stories do, mine always feature characters struggling to figure life out — which often means trying to figure out how to fit another person into their world.

For a long time, I had pretty low expectations for my own love life, and tried to give my characters as many satisfying endings as possible (IMO, the guy doesn’t always get the girl, and all that). I tried very hard not to let my own loneliness and discouragement get in the way of telling good stories.

I never realized the problem might have been the absence of a real-life love story…

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