The Power of Point of View

I’d like to welcome Vonnie Davis to my blog today. Vonnie is a romance author of contemporary, historical and romantic suspense. She’s also held workshops on Savvy Authors. Today, she's offering her insights on one of my favorite topics, Point of View. And while she's here, I'm doing my monthly post at The Blood-Red Pencil.

Thank you for having me, Terry.

I’d like to share some thoughts about the bane of my existence when I first began writing full time—point of view.

You see, I’d majored in English and retired as a technical writer. So I knew how to craft a sentence. What I didn’t know was the craft of writing. Character arc? Conflict resolution? Dialog tags and beats? GMC? Isn’t that a truck? Point of view? After all the classical literature I’d studied, I certainly knew about that. I was good to go.

Yes, folks, I was blissfully ignorant.

My soon-to-be agent phoned to tell me I had some real point of view issues. When I told her I was using third person omniscient, I’m sure I heard her fall out of her chair laughing.

My learning curve just shot upward at a forty-five degree angle.

Gee, and I thought I knew so much.

Writing as Therapy

Today I welcome Karla Brandenburg to Terry's Place. Karla is the author of contemporary romance, with a hint of the paranormal.

It has been my experience that many writers begin the process as catharsis. Something traumatic happens in their lives and writing is a way to deal with what they’ve been through. For myself, I started writing as an angst-ridden teen. Back up. Amend that. I actually wrote my first story when I was VERY young (when I was first old enough to put a sentence together – yes, that young). I actually sent it to Random House! Writing was a way to express myself, but I didn’t make another serious attempt until my teen years. Even I realized, by the time I’d outgrown all the angst, that the stories I’d written weren’t very good, but as a quiet, introverted kind of person, it helped me to deal with things that I had trouble expressing.

As I got older and more vocal/outspoken, I didn’t need the outlet quite so much, but expressing myself “on paper” was still easier. I also had a vivid imagination – always. The stories continued to come and I still put them down, just to empty my head. They were less personal, more observational by that time. My imagination conjured up all sorts of stories about the people around me, people I’d never met and didn’t know. You might think of this as people watching at the mall, in greater detail.

Words

Recently, I was hornswoggled coerced invited to play Words With Friends, which, if you haven't heard of it, is an on-line Scrabble game, where you play against another opponent. As time sucks go, it probably has slightly more redeeming value than Angry Birds.

I also subscribe to the "Word of the Day" from Dictionary.com, and I get a random vocabulary word in my email each day. I post these to my Facebook wall, and some of my readers over there have fun coming up with alternative definitions.

Now, knowing obscure words might help when you're playing Scrabble. (Especially if you're savvy enough to understand the strategy of using all those bonus scoring spots on the board—I'm not.) And what about knowing the meaning of those Words of the Day?

Stick-to-it-iveness

Today my guest is Jenny Milchman.Jenny is the founder of Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day, and the Made It Moments forum on her blog. She teaches writing and publishing for New York Writers Workshop, as well as online, and has designed curricula to teach writing to children.I'm pleased to welcome her to Terry's Place.

I thought I’d talk today about perseverance.

They say success in this business is 1% talent and 99% perseverance, so it must be pretty important stuff.

But what is perseverance? The dictionary defines it as: “Steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.”

That definition pretty much sums up my own journey to publication. It took me almost eleven years to sell my “first” novel. And my first was really my eighth. Along the way, I was lucky enough to have three terrific agents, and fifteen editors who wanted to make offers on one or the other of five novels submitted.

Whenever I reveal these numbers, I get met with a range of responses. Some writers don’t want to hear them. And I don’t blame them a bit. Writing even one novel is hard. Really hard. During that process, the prospect of doing it again, and again, and again and again and again (you get the idea), before ever getting published is not a pleasant one.

I felt the same way. When I had just finished my first novel and was sending out queries to agents, my mom had one of those mother-is-always-right moments, though neither of us knew it then.

Tips For Finding Your Groove

What I'm reading: The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly

First, today is the last day to request a copy of FINDING SARAH. If you want a copy, email me at bookstore @ terryodell (dot) com with Thanksgiving in the header, and tell me whether you want a Smashwords coupon or a Kindle gift. This is NOT a contest. Everyone who asks can have a download. My only 'catch' is that you download the books when you get your email, since this giveaway ends today. If you want to preview the book, you can find the first chapter on my website.

And pop into the Deals & Steals tab to see how you can enter my contests.

As faithful readers of this blog might know, lately I've had little time to work on the WIP. I was sidetracked by edits for DEADLY SECRETS, my upcoming mystery. One daughter came to the states from Northern Ireland to visit. Hubster and son had birthdays. Our other daughter competed in the Iron Man in Arizona, which meant two driving days each way plus the event itself. Then came Thanksgiving.

Since I'm not under a deadline, I didn't even try to move forward on the WIP. Didn't even have my laptop. But now that I'm home, our daughters are back to their own homes, and the laundry is done, it's time to get back to work.

How to deal with lapses in writing time? I'm sure everyone has his or her own system, but the following works for me. Your approach will differ, depending on your own writing system.



1. Get rid of chores that will nag.
If you are going to worry about cleaning house, paying bills, going through email, take the time to get the critical things dealt with. Otherwise you're not going to be focused on your writing.

2. Do critiques for my crit group.
This might seem counterproductive, but freeing your brain from your own plot issues and looking at someone else's writing can help get your brain into thinking about the craft itself.

It's a Marathon, not a Sprint

Tomorrow, daughter #1, Hubster and I are heading out for Tempe, Arizona, where daughter #2 (by 3 minutes) will be competing in her first official Iron Man triathlon.

She's been training for triathlons for a couple of years now. She started by joining Team in Training to help raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. She thought she'd give it that year, but went on for another year, this time as a coach. That grew into her setting up her own business, NEO Endurance Sports as a coach for endurance athletes. (And yes, there's a writing tie-in, so please keep reading)

During that time, she ran her first full marathon. That's over 26 miles, for those who might not be familiar with the distance. And, the first marathon runner died at the end. Not something a mom likes hearing when her child says she's going to run that distance.

Nicole finished the race, and said she'd probably never do it again—she just wanted to prove she could. You can imagine my surprise last year when she said she'd signed up for the Arizona Iron Man. She's going to run a full marathon AFTER she swims over 2 miles and bikes 112 miles.

How did she prepare for this? Slowly. Gradually increasing distances, doing more workouts (even if it means getting up 2 hours early—she has a full time job and husband as well), and totally changing her eating habits. This was the child who existed on bread and potatoes, with the occasional ear of corn. Her idea of a green vegetable was canned green beans. Now she's making and eating things like kale, and adding veggies to every meal. According to her records, since January 1st, she's spent 200 hours on her bike logging 3115 miles, 108 hours have been spent running 568 miles, and 293,451 yards were swum over 125 hours.

As writers, especially those of us stepping into the world of indie publishing, it behooves us to remember that we're entering a marathon. We see authors like J.A. Konrath, Bob Mayer, or Barry Eisler who are bringing in huge sums of money. But these authors started in traditional publishing and came in with their established brands and followings.

Finding Inspiration

Today I'm welcoming back author, photographer, and pilot Mark Danielson to Terry's Place.

Sometimes it’s easier to find Nemo than it is inspiration. You sit down to write and then mindlessly stare at the silent keyboard and blank screen. The closer you are to a deadline, the more difficult it is to find the words. Authors refer to this as writer’s block. As a pun, Writer’s Block is also the title to my next murder mystery, which happened to be one of the easiest novels to write. Since my characters led me through this story, I never had to search for words and it was fun learning from them. Now they are leading me through its sequel.

People often ask, “Where do you get your ideas?” Honestly, most have been fermenting for some time, and when some event triggers my brain, suddenly I’m delving into the new story. But sometimes my ideas come out of the blue, perhaps in a dream. This was the case for the sequel to Writer’s Block while I was well into a different one. I ended up postponing that story to write the new sequel based on a true haunting in Fort Worth. Both stories are fun.

The problem with subconscious thoughts is they are so transient they may be lost if not immediately written down. Later, I’ll create a Word document to keep these ideas for future use. Thankfully a few key words mind can usually take me back to the story behind the thought. Assuming I don’t lose that document, I probably have enough ideas to last decades.

Metaphorically Speaking – or Not

What I'm reading: Seal Team Six, by Howard E. Wasdin

First – a new contest in my Deals & Steals tab. I've got too many books, and would love to find new homes for them.

Next: I'm over at Beth Groundwater's blog today, responding to her interview questions, one of which requires I reveal something I've never posted anywhere else. 

Note: today's post is based on the kind of reading and writing I do--often referred to as "commercial fiction" to distinguish it from "literary fiction." If you're reading or writing literary fiction, feel free to ignore my observations.

I struggle with descriptions. I don't like metaphors. Or similes. At least I don't like having to come up with good ones. And they have to be good, or they're a waste of time.

Things to watch for:

1. Use the vocabulary of your character, not yours.

Here's a snip from DANGER IN DEER RIDGE. Grinch has brought Elizabeth to his private place in the woods.

“I used to sit here and look at the sky. I knew someday I’d be a pilot.”

“Just the sky?” She swept her arm in a broad circle. “What about the way the water sparkles in the sunlight. And how the aspens dance when the breeze passes through their branches. It’s like the trees are wearing sequined evening gowns.”

He smiled. “I admit, I never conjured up that evening gown image. But yeah, this whole place is … serene, I guess.”

Now, Grinch was brought up in the country, became a pilot, and works for a covert ops team. If he'd been the one describing the scene using Elizabeth's words, would it have worked? I don't think so. (Obviously, because I wrote it with Elizabeth speaking them!)

Do You Dream of Fame and Fortune

Today, my guest is author Judy Alter. Judy is the author of fiction and nonfiction for adults and young-adults. Having spent much of her career writing about women in the American West, she has turned her attention to mystery. Today, she considers what constitutes success for a writer.

When do you consider yourself an author? And how do you define success as an author? The late Dorothy Johnson (A Man Called Horse, The Hanging Tree, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance—you have to be old to remember those) used to say you were a writer until you published a book and then you became an author. I know for years, even after I’d published books, I’d look over my shoulder when someone asked “You’re an author?” I was sure they were talking to someone behind me.

And how do you define success as an author? For most of us that first book means success—you’re a published author. But as we grow and continue to write, our goals move ahead just enough to keep us always striving. There’s that first major award, the breakthrough book, always a new step to be taken. I read that Blackbird Fly, which I really enjoyed, was Lise McClendon’s first venture into suspense (she did very well!), and Rosemary Harris recently posted that she’s writing her first novel with an omniscient point of view, after having written several from first person view. Both were challenges.

When I fretted, early in the first decade of this century, that my writing was stalled, a straightspoken friend asked, “Did you ever consider you’ve had as much success as you were meant to have?” No, I’d never considered that and didn’t intend to. I thought my success pretty moderate in spite of a lot of titles in print and several awards hanging on my wall. I wasn’t rich, and I wasn’t famous—as I tell school kids all the time. But is that really the goal?

Editing and Sewing Machines

What I'm reading: Blind Faith, by CJ Lyons

There are those who write via a "discovery draft" racing to get from page one to 'the end' and then going back and revising. And revising. And revising. This is the approach of NaNoWriMo--write it all; no edits. That's a process I've never been able to embrace, so I was heartened once when I attended a workshop given by Linda Howard. She said she writes, then backs up and fixes, then moves forward, then backs up and fixes some more. She likened her process to using a zig-zag sewing machine. When she finished, she said, the manuscript was ready to send to her editor.

Her method is close to the way I write. I edit as I go. (Heck, I plot as I go, too!)  Here's an example of my process from my current WIP, another of my Pine Hills Police series.

Overall, my heroine's goal was to open her own bakery, so, of course, my goal was to keep that from happening—or at least, to delay it.

Since I prefer to escalate the conflict rather than throw the reader into a full-blown crisis on page one, I began with simple accidents and setbacks as her contractor and crew (which she refers to as the Klutz Brigade) worked to get her bakery finished so she could open on time.

But that's not really enough of a conflict to carry the entire book. Since the book is a romantic suspense, and the hero is a former homicide detective, I threw in a dead body.

Unsolicited Advice

Today my guest is Cicily Janus. As a published author, a journalist and sleep deprived intern for one of the best agencies on the planet, Cicily would like to think that maybe, just maybe, that her unsolicited advice helps others.

Being a published author, I was hesitant to tell people, mainly other writers, that I wanted to move over to the dark side. The agent side. Trust me, this isn’t some kind of power-trip. I honestly wanted to help writers become successful in their goals.

The question was, how to do this without losing myself and becoming, what much of the writing world considers agents, a member of the dark forces. To tell the truth, there wasn’t a way around it.

Let me explain.

This process has afforded me considerable perspective as a writer. When I set out on this journey I was optimistic that good writers were in abundance. But after working for two of the best agents in the country for over two years, I’ve learned that it isn’t about being good, it’s about being sparklingly impressive from word one in both your query and MS.

These days the market is overly saturated. The effect it has on agents (and their interns) is this: We’re simply unable to give feedback, advice or anything BUT a form rejection. So...here’s a new angle on agents. Over one year I rejected 3,000+ writers. Among these: 90% were form rejections, 9% didn’t follow published rules for queries and 1% had pages requested. Of that 1%, only one...and that’s one person...was signed. So I began to ask myself, how do writers go from good to great?

The Currency of Romance

What I'm reading: The Arranger, by L.J. Sellers

Don't forget my book giveaway. It runs through Labor Day.

Last weekend, Jaxine Daniels spoke to my local RWA chapter. Her topic: The A,B, C's of Romance Heroes. After going through different interpretations of different types of heroes, including the all-too-prevalent alpha male, and quoting a good number of authors, all of whom had their own categories and definitions, the takeaway gem was that there is no need to sweat whether your hero is Alpha, Beta, or Theta. Or a Thinker, Ruler, Warrior, or Sorcerer. Or a Chief, Bad Boy, Best Friend or Charmer.

Write the character you love. Let others worry about where to pigeonhole him. I would say that her description of the Warrior Poet seems to be closest to the heroes I write and love to read about. They're strong when they need to be, but aren't afraid to show their sensitive, loving side. They have the courage to walk away from an unnecessary fight.

However, the biggest gem I carried away from her presentation was that women express their feelings using words, while men show their feelings in actions, using their currency. In this context, currency is what matters to a person. (It's almost another example of "show, don't tell.")

The Author's Voice

What I'm reading: Blue Heaven, by C.J. Box

A reminder. I'm giving away e-books for a limited time. If you want one, don't delay. There's a link to the post in the Deals & Steals tab (or scroll down to Sunday's post). And, if I don't respond immediately, it's because I'm out of town for a couple of days. Be patient; I promise to honor all requests.

While at a recent writing seminar, I met several people who had attended the presentation I gave for a local book club. One of them said after hearing me speak, she read one of my books. Her comment was, "You write the same way you talk."

And I think that sums up my author's "voice."

I've discussed voice before, and since Hubster and I are taking off for our "official" anniversary celebration today, I'm going to repeat some points from other posts I've done on voice several years ago.

From what I understand, voice develops as an author writes. I judge the growth of my voice with the increasing ease of writing narrative. Not dialogue, because that is someone else's voice on the page—the character's.

Cowboys don't talk like artists, who don't talk like sailors, who don't talk like politicians. And men don't talk like women, no matter what job each has. When I write my male characters' dialogue, I always go back and cut it down by at least 25%.

But all the other words, the way the sentences are put together, how the paragraphs break—that's the author. And that's where the intangibles lie. When I was starting, and I'd enter contests, I'd get very disparate feedback from judges. Another author told me it meant I had a strong voice, which might or might not appeal to a reader.

BDISB?

What I'm  reading: The Search, by Nora Roberts

I came home from RomCon with lots of swag. I'm sure the authors spent a lot of money on it. But Does It Sell Books? I don't know. I've offered my excess swag to anyone who asks for it. So far, no takers. (Check the Deals & Steals tab)

At the RomCon reader forum, the discussion of book trailers came up. While many of the readers raved about some of the trailers they'd seen, not one said that they'd ever bought a book because of a trailer.

Nowadays, whether you've got a print deal with a traditional publisher, or are publishing yourself, marketing and promotion become part of the drill. Note: if you're a best-selling author, the publishers will probably handle much of this for you, because they're going to want to earn back that huge advance they gave you. But for the rest of us, we've had to become our own promoters.

This not only takes away from writing time, but it can cost money. As they say, it takes money to make money. But, in most cases, it's really tough to know how effective marketing attempts are.

I'll go out on a limb and say there aren't a lot of book sales via the social networking sites. At least I haven't seen any uptick in sales when I've used them to point out sales on my books, or other marketing deals. And if all you use the social media sites for is marketing, you'll probably turn off readers more than you'll increase sales.

Develop Those Characters

What I'm reading: Pray for Silence, by Linda Castillo; Crazy for Love, by Victoria Dahl

Thanks to Maryn for her post yesterday. I'm working on re-editing a backlist book so I can publish it when I get my rights back. It was the first book I had published—and actually, the first book I wrote, although it had been rewritten countless times before being picked up by the publisher. Anyway, I know exactly what she's talking about. And don't forget – you have until Friday to leave a comment to win a book. Since she's giving two books away, that doubles the odds that you'll win.

And don't forget the summer sale at Smashwords. What's in a Name? is 25% off, but only until the end of July.

In my blog hopping the other day, I came across two posts talking about developing characters. One used worksheets and questionnaires, and suggested spending a LOT of time getting to know characters before putting words on the page, including suggestions to spend ten minutes writing and reflecting on the character. This, while it might work for some, is a total turnoff to me. If I'm going to write for ten minutes, I want to be working on the WIP.

The other said you could do that, but it wouldn't create the depth of character you'd achieve by looking at how your characters behaved, and that you have to write beyond the character notes. If I may quote their guest blogger, Harry Bingham:

First of all, character emerges from every tiny detail. Those little snippets of dialogue. The humour. Weird little choices of vocabulary. You can’t get those things from writing character notes, you just get to them by writing the character. Letting yourself sink into the moment.

Character Quirks

What I'm reading: Burn, by Nevada Barr

Thanks to Laurin for her excellent advice on making settings matter. Settings are excellent ways to show more about your characters.

My recent visit home triggered some thoughts about other ways to approach dealing with the characters who populate our novels. We've all met people with identifying characteristics. Sometimes it's physical appearance. Sometimes it's an unconscious gesture. Sometimes it's speech patterns.

All of the above are ways to help your reader see and understand your character. But what about some other idiosyncrasies? Does your character have an endearing habit? What about an annoying one? Is the character aware of how the habit might affect other characters on the page? Does he care?

You know those clever little magnets that you put on the dishwasher that say "clean" on one side and "dirty" on the other? In our house, they would have been a waste of money because my mother never left clean dishes in the dishwasher. As soon as it finished running, it was emptied. The one night she complained about how tired she was, but couldn't go to bed until the dishwasher finished, my dad told her she could do it in the morning. No go. We finally agreed to wait until the cycle was over, and one of us would empty it.

When Inspiration Strikes

Karla Brandenburg writes contemporary romance with a hint of paranormal thrown in. She’s blogging today on finding inspiration.

If you ask Nora Roberts, she’ll tell you that she has a million ideas roaming around in her head so she’s never at a loss for a story line. I think it’s like that for most authors. The challenge, on my part, is organizing those ideas into an interesting story.

I’ve been working on a project that I’d completely written, but it was fairly lackluster. Even I knew that. When I finished it, I let it “rest” and moved on to something else, figuring I could revisit it later, when I could take a more objective look at it and figure out what went wrong. It was a story that I wanted to tell, but I needed to find a way to tell it better. That time is now.

As I began reworking it, I started getting all sorts of new ideas, and attempted to weave them into the fabric of the story, until I realized I was pulling in too many tangential threads and losing any semblance of cohesiveness to the story. So I stopped. I redrew the story outline and plopped in the places that needed to be jazzed up and the places that were nothing more than “blah-de-blah.” And then I started with the “what-ifs.”

Now, the “what-ifs” can take you on a wild roller coaster ride, but ultimately, the thrill of the ride will leave you with something worthwhile. I had myself laughing with the ridiculousness of some of my ideas and bored with some of my “are you kidding?” ideas. And then, once I found some that stuck, I had to look at the bigger picture. The “if this, then that” repercussions of the changes I wanted to add. That process culls out more of the “that will never work” ideas.

New Look to Terry's Place

First – I've revamped my blog. I spent a good long time at my son's on Sunday. He may be a landscape/nature photographer first, but he agreed to take some new head shots for me. If you're one of my Facebook friends, you might have seen the ones I posted there. You know they say pictures don't lie. Well, forget that one! At least that adage doesn't hold true here, and for that, I'm very grateful! And daughter Jessica worked with a graphics artist friend of hers to create a new logo for me. With all that support, I figured I should update my blog. I've also changed my profile picture here and on my website. Any thoughts about the results?



Next: My Buy 1 Get 1 Free sale will be gone after the 4th of July. Don't wait too long. (Details under Deals & Steals)

As for a post: I'm visiting Carol Kilgore at her blog, Under the Tiki Hut. Carol's a frequent visitor here, and provided those gorgeous Galveston shots last Friday.

She has a clever slant on her guests. She provides everyone with the same "what if" setup, and has her guests create their responses. (She also has a tight work count, and anyone who knows me knows that was more of a challenge than dealing with her scenario!) This is her theme:

You brought your laptop to the Tiki Hut for some peace and quiet.
What drink do you order? Any snacks?
You're writing away when something catches your eye.
What is it? How do you stay focused on your writing?

If you want to see my interpretation, be sure to check out her blog. Carol posts at 7:15 AM Central time, so if you're an early bird here, wait a bit and then pop over. And comments welcome!

That Second Paragraph

Today I welcome author Jacqui Jacobi to Terry's Place. With her trusted computerized day planner, Miguel, by her side, she is able to work in many aspects of the writing community: as an author and contributor to the Kiss of Death as well as RWR Magazine; as a chapter volunteer and contest judge, and as a workshop presenter, both live and online.

Every writer faces it. Every writer worries and dreads that it is going to arrive. You sit down to the computer, whether the project is a novel, an article or a blog entry, and there it will be: a blank document with a blinking cursors asking you to type.

We sit in our chairs, ready to write, the ideas in our head ready to pour onto that page, but we just can’t get it. We can’t get it to sound perfect, moving from our minds to our fingers, even when we think we know what to say.

“Why don’t you just start on the second paragraph,” Lucien Carr said when he at worked at the United Press International, no doubt kick starting a cub reporter at a type writer. And Carr was right. Sometimes leaving the beginning to fill in later and moving on to what comes next, is all it might take to get forward momentum.

Rules? Why?

What I'm reading: Mystery, by Jonathan Kellerman

Remember,Ellis Vidler is giving away a book to one commenter, and you have until Friday to leave yours on her post. Scroll down to Tuesday.

There was a very interesting discussion at the Mystery Writers of America Yahoo group about when a dead body should show up in the book.

This puzzled the heck out of me. I know when I started writing romance, people told me I broke the "rules" because the first male character on scene wasn't the hero. Rules? I'd never read a romance, but the mystery I thought I was writing was, according to my daughters, turning into one, so I thought I should start reading them.

At first, looking at the short category romances (I tend to think of them as romance Garanimals because of the color and design coded covers), that seemed to be true. Now, I have no problem accepting conventions and reader expectations. If it's a romance, then there's going to have to be a hero and a heroine, and figuring out who's who is part of the reading experience. And in those very short books, I could understand why you had to get there early on.

Luckily, I had just about finished my first draft of my novel or I might have given up. I expanded my reading horizons and found there were very successful rule breakers out there. Allison Brennan even killed off a character that seemed to be set up as the hero. And Linda Castillo didn't bring her characters together into anything resembling a relationship until well into one of her books.