Writing to Breakout I – Characters
Posted on January 14, 2015 2 Comments
This week, we’ll be examining Donald Maas’ Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook. My goal is to inspire and educate you to the basics of writing, and hopefully help you find resources to enhance your writing.
Today, we’ll look at Lessons 1-12, Part I, Character Development from Donald Maas. The lessons cover everything from adding heroic qualities to a protagonist (the one we root for), to antagonists, to enriching the major cast with secondary characters. I’ll pick out one point from each, and encourage you to acquire this workbook and complete the fill-in exercises at the end of each lesson to help you grow your novel.
I love hearing from you, my readers and followers. And I love sharing my resources with you. I appreciate you taking the time to read this blog and explore the website.
Let’s see what we have for today.
POV III – How many? How close?
Posted on January 9, 2015 2 Comments
Self Editing for Fiction Writers
How many POVs (points of view) should you have in a story? How “close” should third person narrative be? We’ll be looking at that from Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King. It’s a great book and will help the beginning writer discover their writing weaknesses and how to correct them. At the end of each chapter is a checklist summary of the main points, plus some exercises to do to incorporate what you’re learning. A friend of mine I just met last September at a conference bought this book as a result of an agent’s recommendation, and she said it opened her eyes. “I’d been doing just everything they said – wrong.”
I just completed a romance mystery-type book that had five POVs – two major, and three minor. The two major characters were the guy and the girl. The minor POVs were put in there I think, to enrich the story and to help bring perspective that neither the two major characters could have had. Interestingly enough, the fifth POV wasn’t brought in until after one of the other minor characters died. I’ll admit I was surprised at the late insertion of another POV, but it turned out OK.
If we writers can get this right, it enriches the experience for the reader. As a voracious reader myself, I know I appreciate it. Let’s look first at how many.
Point of View II – First, Omni, Third
Posted on January 8, 2015 Leave a Comment
Self Editing for Fiction Writers
Yesterday, I talked about “headhopping.” That’s jumping from one character’s POV into another’s head in the scene. If you write this way, you’re in good company, but it’s jarring to the reader. In Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, by Renni Browne and Dave King, they open Chapter 3, Point of View, with a short passage from Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove. It’s an example of headhopping.
“Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove is a powerfully written book, yet some readers find it hard to get involved in the story, in part because of passages like the above. The characters are clear, the dialogue has an authentic feel, but in the second paragraph we’re seeing the scene as Joe sees it, in the third we’ve switched to Elmira, and in the last paragraph we’ve switched again, to July. We never settle in to a single point of view.” (Page 41) The passage is page 40. We’ll see it below.
This chapter explains the differences between first person, omniscient, and third person. My favorite way is third person, because if you write only from first person POV, you’re only going to get one person’s POV. It can be a very powerful vehicle, but keep in mind, it’s only one person’s perspective.
No Headhopping Allowed
Posted on January 7, 2015 2 Comments
What’s “headhopping?” Simply stated, it’s multiple points of view within one scene. It’s jarring to the reader, and it shows me, the reader, that the author doesn’t have a complete understanding of Point of View (POV). Mostly I read it in either poorly edited books or self-published books.
Blunt people would call it “headhopping.” Let’s say we’re writing a scene with three characters, Bob, Dick, and Sue. Headhopping would mean that we might start out with Bob’s POV, but about halfway through the scene we read a sentence or a paragraph of something from Dick’s POV, in other words, something only would know or think about at the time. Then, at the end of the scene, we might read something from a totally feminine way of thinking, that’s Sue. It’s confusing to the reader. I’ve read scenes like that. I used to write them like that – before I knew better.
Sol Stein, in Stein on Writing, says, “The term point of view as used by writers is mis-defined even in good dictionaries. It means the character whose eyes are observing what happens; the perspective from which a scene or story is written.” Page 141 gives you a POV checklist in ten bullet points to help you examine your own work. I’ll give you a couple for free.
New Book Review – Beyond All Dreams
Posted on January 5, 2015 Leave a Comment
by Elizabeth Camden
I just posted a new book review under the book review tab. Check it out. It’s Beyond All Dreams by Elizabeth Camden. It’s available from any Christian bookstore in paperback currently. The ebook should be available in about a week or so.
Here’s the link to the book review: https://donnalhsmith.com/book-reviews/beyond-all-dreams/
No Resolutions – Just Plans
Posted on January 1, 2015 Leave a Comment
I learned a LONG time ago, that New Year’s resolutions don’t work. We’re not committed enough to them. And why wait until New Year’s Day, or the beginning of a month to start something new?
I’m finding that if I want to change something about myself, I have to contemplate it, then plan it, then implement it. I don’t know why it takes me so long to do it. It just does. I’ll use a Fast as an example. People always want to lose weight after the holidays. Why wait?
Photo via Flickr
Contemplate
I think about it. If I decide to do a fast, I think about it, and think some more about it. My flesh practically screams at me when I think about it – maybe it’s because in 2006, I did a 40-day partial fast. I did what would be called a Daniel Fast for 21 days, then a liquid fast for 19. By the end of it, I’d lost 25 pounds, unfortunately it didn’t stay off, and I was beginning to feel hungry. Really hungry. I couldn’t even be around food. I was supposed to go to a political interest banquet, but I found I couldn’t. No way.
MY version of The Year in Review
Posted on December 31, 2014 2 Comments
This blog only began in February – it’s not even a year old. I started it about the same time the other blog I contribute to also began – When Readers Write. Here’s the link: http://whenreaderswrite.com. It’s getting an overhaul and will be fiction central, if you love to read fiction.
At the commencement of this year, I was still a chocolatier, producing, packaging, and shipping organic chocolate truffles across the country, especially for Valentine’s Day. I made the decision in January to close that business, to concentrate more on my writing, and being intentional about it.
I felt urgency about several things after I closed the business and started this blog. I felt an urgency to get as much done on novel revisions, my writing Craftsman class, and the contest I was entering the novel in early March. I’m glad I heeded that urgent warning.
2014 in review – thank you
Posted on December 30, 2014 Leave a Comment
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. I want to thank each and every one of you who has read and commented on my blog. This blog has done better than all my other blogs put together. Thank you again for your support and let’s have a great 2015 together!
We’ll be talking about writing, about my journey, and all kinds of other fun things. Thanks again.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 18 trips to carry that many people.
The Day After Christmas
Posted on December 26, 2014 1 Comment
What will you be doing today? Exchanging gifts, hitting the After-Christmas sales, seeing extended family, going back to work? Is the “day after” Christmas a time to get things back to normal? Was Christmas Day just another day for you?
I’m not sure what I’m doing today yet. I definitely will not be doing the After-Christmas sales. My husband will be going back to work. I have no gifts to exchange or take back to a store, so I don’t know. Maybe I’ll do some reading. Maybe I’ll watch a movie or listen to a CD. Maybe I’ll get in touch a few friends and ask how their Christmas Day went.
Chances are though, that I’ll be looking forward to next year. It’s only six days away. Amazing to think of it. This year has gone so quickly, although if you’d have asked me last spring, I would have said it was going very slowly. Because of my broken wrist, I could do nothing. I’m typing two-handed right now, and have been for about six months. Whew, does that make me feel better! There’s only a scar and a bit of immobility left to remind me it happened. Oh, except for all the pictures my husband took while we were in Israel with my arm in a cast and sling. I had to learn to persevere. I’ll be talking about that next week as well. I’ve talked about it some before, if you look at my past posts from April and May.
I guess I’m looking back a bit today in preparation to look forward. I’ll be doing more looking back at the year next week. What will you be doing? Do you have great party plans for the New Year? This blog is about my writing journey, and sharing my writing resources with you, which you seem to like.
Bethlehem Today
Posted on December 25, 2014 Leave a Comment
A star symbolizes the place where Jesus was born
Have you ever stopped to think about why we celebrate Christmas when we do? Because it’s likely that the baby Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th. I believe early church fathers decided to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice and to give believers something to contemplate and revel in during the shortest days of the year when life seems bleakest.
But I’m sure Jesus doesn’t mind when we celebrate His birthday. I think He’s happy that we do. That we give to each other as He gave Himself for us – and let’s not forget the Wise Men. They were the first men to give presents at the birth of a special baby whom the stars had told them would be a great king. They gave gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Mary and Joseph would need the gold for expenses when they fled to Egypt. Frankincense and myrrh were valuable spices and perfumes.
Donna L.H. Smith 