POV- What’s Your Pleasure?

Welcome to Week 6 of the MFRW 52-week Blog Challenge. This week’s topic is Point of View: Choices and Preferences.

Wow, is it really week 6 already?

My preference for writing is third person omniscient, from the narrator, or another character’s perspective.  This for me is easier as an observer of the story that plays out in my head like a movie. Most of the time.

Roxy Sings the Blues was written primarily from a first-person perspective, because it came to me as if I were sitting in a bar, interviewing Roxanne Winters.

One thing I absolutely do NOT like is head hopping. For my personal taste in reading and writing,  I understand the need to shift perspectives at times to get an idea of the other character(s) and their perspectives, their inner thoughts, and turmoil. The best way to handle this is at the beginning of chapters, or at least designated by headings.

I remember doing an edit for an author who had written their story from four different character’s perspectives.  It was confusing and I said as much.  The reader would have to be two pages into the chapter before they realized, oh,  this is from Joe’s perspective.

The author did not like my calls and chose to ignore it,  but then when they started getting bad reviews, they went back in and revised the story by adding headers at the beginning with just the character’s names.  It was enough to at least understand that it was someone else speaking.

I am not complaining about the author not taking my advice,  as the author it’s your choice to take edit calls OR NOT. I’ve disagreed with my editor at times on choice of word, a phrase, or expression, and even the POV.

The trick in fiction writing is to convince a reader this is real life. In real life, we only have one viewpoint—our own. We can’t step outside of ourselves and look at things from someone else’s perspective.

Well, I suppose you could,  if you were constantly trying to guess what they are thinking as you talk with them but I don’t think you would establish many relations, and I think you would drive yourself insane by doing such!

For that reason, to step out of viewpoint in fiction can shatter the illusion that the author is weaving. A reader instinctively realizes something is odd. He or she may not immediately pinpoint what it is, but a good editor will. As a reader, it just feels jarring or confusing.

Most successful short fiction is written in a single viewpoint. It can be first person, which automatically eliminates head-hopping but can be confining, or it may be third person, the form most often seen. In longer fiction,  like novel-length fiction, multiple or shifting POV is frequently used. But even then, a good writer only shifts POV when they also shift scenes or chapters.

One benefit to writing in first person,  it can help the reader to be in the scene,  to experience the world you have created and vicariously experience the emotional rollercoaster you are taking them on safely in their comfy chair. Third person can make the reader feel like an outsider or observer, at a distance.

To get the most emotional punch, I would suggest first person. If you are interested in that emotional roller coaster, I suggest you read Roxy Sings the Blues! Have tissues handy!

If you prefer third person narrative, try Red Wine & Roses for a steamy rendezvous!

A this is part of a blog hop, go check out what the other authors are saying HERE.

What POV do you prefer to read? What POV do you prefer to write?

FYI, I’m getting ready to drop my first newsletter with the latest scoop, dirt, recipes, and freebies.  If you are interested in getting my newsletter, go to:

newsletter sign-up

Life is good,  the results from the pathology stated that the pots they found were benign!  I am so relieved and happy. I may just do a happy dance!

Write on my friends, write on!

 

Untamed -An Interview with Madeline

My guest today  in my virtual studio is the lovely Ms. Madeline Dyer. We met through that wonderful/horrible social media world of Facebook via NANOWRIMO.  Madeline is a pleasure to talk to and discuss writing with.

Hi Ellie!

Tell me a little about yourself. 

I’m a twenty year-old speculative fiction writer, and my debut novel released in May 2015 from Prizm Books. I’ve always loved the “What if?” aspect of writing, and how, when you create a new world, practically anything can happen.

When I’m not reading or writing, I can usually be found on our farm—we breed Shetland ponies!—or doing some art. I love drawing animals.

What genre do you write?

Most of my work falls into the Science Fiction/Fantasy category. I absolutely love the freedom that fantasy and science fiction offers, but I’m also fascinated by human nature and the capabilities of man—for this reason, most of the societies I write about can be classed as dystopias. This is certainly true of my first novel, UNTAMED, which is a dystopian fantasy for young adults.

How did you get started?

I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing! Even as a small child, I remember trying to write a ‘book’. It was only a few pages long, and at that point, I was more interested in doing the illustrations of fairies to go with it! But as I got older, I started writing more and more. When I was nine or ten, our schoolteacher wanted us each to write a story. We were told to write it by hand, then type it up on the computer in the next lesson. I remember being shocked that I was the only one who changed my story, adding in new bits and taking out several scenes, when we were in the computer room. No one else in my class could understand why I was doing that. In the end, I didn’t finish typing it up in the hour—in fact, I never finished typing it up at all, as the next day we were learning something entirely different. But, that’s really the first time I can remember having the desire to edit something I’d already written and make it better.

From there, I never really stopped writing. I had all these ideas that I just needed to get down on paper.

When I was fifteen, I started writing seriously, reading up on the craft and how to edit. At sixteen, I had my first short story published, and had completed the final draft of a 137,000 word novel. Incidentally, I’m still waiting to go back and edit that manuscript!

I got my first book contract when I was nineteen, and UNTAMED was published when I was twenty.

Wow,  that’s a great start and at such a young age.  KUDOS to you for going for your dream. This should be motivating for young writers or those of us that started later in life. Can you describe your writing routine?

When I’m not working to deadlines, I don’t really have that much of a writing routine, as I just sit down and write most days. I suppose, mostly I write the first thing in the morning, or the last thing at night. The words seem to flow better then. The main chunk of my day is often spent working on other things—marketing, promoting, researching, reading, thinking. But I do try to write everyday. Sometimes, I only manage a few hundred words. On a good day, I’ll get about 4,000 words done. I’ve had a couple of days where I’ve managed 12,000 in a day.

If I’m on a deadline, I tend to spend all day—or as much of the day as I can—working on the manuscript.

I’m also a student, studying for an English degree, so I have to fit my studies in as well!

It is certainly difficult to fit writing time into an already busy schedule. Unfortunately it takes money to pay the bills, therefore we work/go to school/ and fit our writing in whenever we can. What part of writing do you find to be the most difficult?

The first section of the first draft is always one of the hardest parts, for me. This is the stage where I don’t usually know the characters that well, the plot, the setting, or the shape of the manuscript. I tend to just have a simple idea in mind, or an image, and know very roughly what I want to happen by the end of the manuscript. But the beginning? The lead-up? Who the characters are, and how they’ll help or hinder the main character’s goal and the final image? I have no idea; I just have to feel my way around, experiment with different opening sections, until I write the ‘right’ one. And this can take many attempts. But once I’ve got an opening that I’m sort of happy with (even if I know it will change during subsequent drafts), I find it a lot easier to continue writing. And, by the time I get to about 35,000 words on the first draft, I usually know exactly where it’s going and how I’m going to fulfill the original idea I had. Then I find it much easier to keep going with this draft as I’ve built up momentum, made myself interested in this new story.

What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Just to write. Write what you enjoy, and what you want to write, not what someone else wishes they were writing. So many times, I hear people say something like, “Oh, I’m writing this book because my friend though this would be a cool idea” or “She/he said they want me to write this idea for my next story.”

No!!!!!!!

You should be writing what you write. It’s your story—not anyone else’s. (Unless, of course, you’re co-writing).

But, most of all, have fun.

I’ll admit,  I’ve fallen into that trap myself. I’ve followed the conversations in various threads in writing groups, then doubted my own writing to the point that I either gave up on it,  or changed things. Most of those are sitting in my dead-file.

 Have you ever trashed entire scenes or changed the direction of your story after you get to know the characters better?

Yes! This happens all the time, particularly in rewrites and edits. With UNTAMED, during the pre-sub edits, I cut out about 15k words worth of scenes, and during edits with my editor, we got rid of three or four scenes that just didn’t fit the tone. But quite often, a large portion of my first drafts (particularly the beginnings) get trashed anyway.

I tend to write in a chronological order, so I know the characters a lot better at the end of the draft than at the beginning. This nearly always means that I scrap the first opening (usually a 30k word chunk) and rewrite it, introducing characters in a way that is more appropriate and moves the plot on faster.

Which  part of the writing process is the easiest for you?

Hmmm. I think maybe working on a completed first draft. I love editing. I love trying to make my writing better. And, always, when I’m editing and revising a manuscript, I’m researching as well. I try to fact-check everything, and put as much detail in. Often, in the first draft I use placeholder names, and now I need to sub these out. Typically, this happens with the cars my characters drive, the clothes they wear, the background possessions they have. Once I’ve got a first draft done, I know my characters well, and I can go back and add details, trying to be as specific as possible. After all, I think you should be able to tell what sort of person the character is from the material goods he or she has.

Which book that you’ve written is your favourite?

I think I’ll have to go with UNTAMED on this one. I absolutely loved writing it, and I adored the editing processes. Although it was the third completed manuscript that I wrote, it was the first book that got me an offer from a publisher. (Well, four offers to be precise). UNTAMED is very close to my heart, and I’m so pleased with the feedback I’ve had so far. I’m currently writing the sequel, so still get to play in the Untamed world.

What are your top 3 favorite books?

Ooh, this is tricky. My top three books change a lot each year, depending on what I’ve recently read. At the moment, I’d have to say Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel and The 5^th Wave by Rick Yancey.

Very interesting choices. If you watch the movie Gone GIrl – a bit of FYI,  it was filmed in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where I attended college. It’s a wonderful little town. I am truly surprised that you have read Jean Auel’s book.  Most people of your age ( you are the same age as my oldest daughter) either don’t read,   or list only contemporary YA novels. 

How do you handle research? Do you gather all data first or start writing while still gathering?

When I’m writing the first draft, I try to keep the heavy research to a minimum (unless it’s absolutely necessary), as I’ve found if I leave the writing and get bogged down in details it slows me down a lot and I lose a lot of momentum. Because I write SFF, I rely heavily on my imagination. That’s what I love about speculative fiction: the freedom it offers. How anything can happen. How I can invent technology, societies and traditions, and not need to rely too heavily on researching ‘current’ things.

However, usually before I start the first draft, I do carry out some research—particularly if the world is based on existing mythology, or if I’m writing science fiction. I can’t be too ‘out there’ with my new SF technology—or if I am, I want to explain how it happened, what it arose from—and I like to have some scientific explanation as a sort of basis to any technology that I do create. I think it makes it more realistic then, and isn’t that what we want?

I also do a lot of research around human behavior and emotion during the later drafts. I’m really into body language as a major part of communication between my characters—as it reflects real life and also helps with the whole ‘show don’t tell’ rule—so I spend a lot of time researching this.

But yes, the bulk of my research comes during the second and third drafts. Mainly, it’s fact-checking stuff really, or finding images of landscapes that work for the setting and then working my own descriptions of these into the manuscript.

Do you outline or are you a pantser?

I think I’m a bit of both.

Before I start writing a new manuscript, I always have a rough idea and know where I want to end up. Sometimes, I’ll know a few of the events that will lead the main character there, but I won’t know how to get from one stepping stone to the other, or what the consequences of the events will be. Also, the only character that I can claim to know at this stage is the narrator, and so when I’m writing I suddenly find subplots unfolding thanks to the motivations of other main characters (who suddenly make themselves known), and secondary characters.

I’ve found working like this is best for me. Because I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, I still find it exciting myself to write, as if I’m reading it for the first time, being introduced to this new world. I have to keep myself interested, make myself want to write more. If I’m not interested, then I don’t think readers will be either.

Thanks, Ellie! These were some great questions.

UNTAMED, BOOK #1 IN THE UNTAMED SERIES

About Untamed…

As one of the last Untamed humans left in the world, Seven’s life has always been controlled by tight rules. Stay away from the Enhanced. Don’t question your leader. And, most importantly, never switch sides, because once you’re Enhanced there’s no going back. Even if you have become the perfect human being.

But after a disastrous raid on an Enhanced city, Seven soon finds herself in her enemy’s power. Realizing it’s only a matter of time before she too develops a taste for the chemical augmenters responsible for the erosion of humanity, Seven knows she must act quickly if she’s to escape and save her family from the same fate.

Yet, as one of the most powerful Seers that the Untamed and Enhanced have ever known, Seven quickly discovers that she alone holds the key to the survival of only one race. But things aren’t clear-cut anymore, and with Seven now questioning the very beliefs she was raised on, she knows she has an important choice to make. One that has two very different outcomes.

Seven must choose wisely whose side she joins, for the War of Humanity is underway, and Death never takes kindly to traitors.

Published by: Prizm Books, the YA imprint of Torquere Press.

Genre: YA dystopian/fantasy/science fiction

Word count: 95,000 words

Pages (paperback): 314

Pages (kindle ebook): 301

Find Untamed:

Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Waterstones  |  The Book Depository  |  Books a Million  |  Kobo |  Prizm Books  |  Torquere Press  |  Indigo Books  |  iBooks  |  Smashwords |  Hastings Books  |  All Romance ebooks  |  Omnilit  |  Goodreads

Praise for Untamed: 

“From the first line, Untamed pulled me in. This is the sort of book that is incredibly difficult to put down, the kind of book you can fall into and forget the world, forget you’re reading words on a page. Our narrator is a true heroine in a tumultuous futuristic world in which the [Enhanced] Ones are “better, faster and stronger than you.” The premise is unique and engrossing, and by the end of the book I was left wanting more (good thing – it’s a series). As a person who rarely reads fantasy/sci-fi but grew up with it always on the nightstand, Dyer’s book reawakened in me a buried love for the genre.” – Jen Knox, author of AFTER THE GAZEBO.

“Seven is a satisfyingly human main character, whose strength arises not from athleticism or fighting prowess, but loyalty and tenacity, in the face of wobbly self-confidence and the powerful attraction of a superficially attractive lifestyle that’s there for the taking. The other characters are recognisable and individual in their particular failings and weaknesses, and occasional redeeming strengths. The action is plentiful and the pace high as the Enhanced close in – there’s not a lot of stopping to smell the roses. The ending managed to twist and turn [and] left me with no idea of how things might pan out, so I look forward to future installments in Seven’s journey” – Matthew Willis, author of DAEDALUS AND THE DEEP.

“I really enjoyed this book and look forward to the rest of the series. […] Seven was really a heroine I could root for – she was imperfect, conflicted, and real. I could identify with her struggle to choose the easy way versus the way that meant more work and pain. Something almost everyone struggles with at one point or another. […] I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes young adult sci-fi/dystopia” – Samantha, Amazon Review.

Madeline Dyer, author of Untamed

Madeline Dyer is the author of Untamed, a YA dystopian fantasy novel from Prizm Books (May 2015). She is currently working on book two in the Untamed Series, as well as a new dystopian trilogy for adults. Aside from writing, Madeline enjoys reading, painting, and inline skating.

Madeline can be found at:

http://www.MadelineDyer.co.uk

http://www.facebook.com/MadelineDyerAuthor

http://www.twitter.com/MadelineDyerUK

If you haven’t read a dystopian,  you should.  If you are looking for agood summer read – look no further!

Thank you Madeline for a lovely interview and thank you to all the followers for visiting my little corner of the world!

Write on my friends, write on!

Dominus: Von Trapp Interview

My guest today is author Von Trapp.  He submitted to my interrogation, I mean, . . . an interview for your reading pleasure.

1.  How do you manage writing with the rest of your life?

I’m a night writer. I usually have to wait until after work, once everyone goes to sleep. I mostly write between 10pm and 2am. I function pretty well on four hours of sleep. It also helps that I write mostly on my phone. I use Evernote. It’s really handy. I write a lot laying on the couch. I try to make time on the weekends, but my wife usually has the weekends pre-planned, so literally when I can.

2. How in the world can you write with your phone? I’ve tried to use my phone, but I can’t do it. Maybe it’s the type of phone. 

*Von laughs, telling me I need to up my thumb game*

3. What part of writing do you find to be the most difficult? Other than finding time? Dialogue. Just filling in the gaps with dialogue. Creating dialogue that helps move the story along in between action.

I can relate to that. I have in my mind a certain bit of dialog, then I have to fill in around the edges to make it believable.  At least I hope it’s believable.

4. Which is the easiest for you? Developing a general story and character backgrounds. I see the big picture. I know what I want to happen almost immediately. I know the beginning and ending, it’s just getting the characters there.

5. What is your most treasured possession? It’s always my current cell phone. I’m lost without it. I have a mini panic attack when I can’t find it. I’m one of those people.

I can relate. My husband and kids told me I was addicted to mine. I’ve recently cut back but it was a hard process – like staying in a rehab place to dry out. 

6. What is your greatest regret? Do you need her name, or … Other than the girl who will remain nameless, it’s not writing sooner. I’m not a naturally driven person. I wish I would have had more confidence in myself to chase my dreams down. Now that I’m older I definitely regret that.

 7.  Which book have you read the most in your lifetime? The Odyssey by Homer. I used to really like Greek Mythology and such and this was my Bible.

8. What advice would you give to aspiring authors? My advice would be to never let your dreams die. When you’re a kid people tell you that you can be anything you want to be and you believe them. You dream these huge dreams and you’re naïve enough to believe they can come true. Then we get older and the same people who told us we can be anything and do anything tell us to quit dreaming and be realistic.

Ain’t that the truth!  The very same people. It’s always  “Get a real job.”

Why do we do that? So, we put our dreams on the shelf. My advice would be to never put your dreams on the shelf. If you wake up every day and the first thing you think about is writing, then you are meant to be a writer. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

9. What are your top 3 books? Really? Three books. Oh, okay. The fact that you are only allowing three… anyway. 1. The Catcher in the Rye. I was sixteen when I read it. I was Holden Caulfield. All the angst and cynicism – that was me. 2. The Alchemist. I just read this a year ago. If I would have read this instead of reading Catcher in the Rye, it would have changed my life forever. It should be required reading for middle and high school students. 3. Bridge to Terabithia. I read this in 6^th It almost ruined me. People weren’t supposed to die in books. Especially not kids. Up until this point everything was happily ever after.

 I’ve been told before how cruel I am for only allowing three.  You get the nice version actually.  I used to only allow one favorite but as I couldn’t stick to it myself I decided to loosen up. 

10. Where do you get your greatest ideas for writing? A lot of my ideas come from dreams. I am a really vivid dreamer. Most of the time I can remember them when I wake up. Other than that, I just have a really amazing imagination.

• ON the subject of dreams as this is a fascination of mine. Some people say they never remember their dreams, and as a vivid dreamer I can’t fathom it. There are times when I can’t remember them but on the flip side I can remember in vivid Technicolor and detail dreams that I had when I was a child. (We won’t go into how long ago that was.)

• Do you ever have repetitive dreams? Do you put any stock in dream interpretation, or prophetic dreams? Did you ever have night terrors as a child? Or nightmares? Have you ever had sleep paralysis?

   I dream about random things. It’s always in color. For this book, I dreamt it as an episode of Scandal. Like Olivia Pope had to help this lady who was the madam of DC. Lol.

• I think it is fascinating how our subconscious mind takes the things from our conscious life and contorts them into something far removed from reality.

11. Do you use real people as your characters or do you completely make them up?  Describe your process. I used characters based on real people. I use people as identifiers in a way. I will use them as a basis of how I want a character to look or sound so I can be more descriptive. Sometimes it’s not even the person themselves, but maybe a character they’ve portrayed – or an attitude they’ve given off, maybe some of their mannerisms. For Dominus the characters are physically/aesthetically based off actual people. For example, Jennifer Sparrow-Gallagher is Charlize Theron in my head. I kind of pretend everything I write will be made into a movie and base my characters on the people I would want to play them. Sometimes though, I inject myself into the story. I write what I would say or how I would respond.

A certain writer friend of mine has stated that he feels that every character is in some way an extension of ourselves, the writer. Do you feel that you do this?

Yes. At least in what they say. If they reply in a smart ass manner, that’s basically me saying what I would say.

Interesting. I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it, in the dialog. 

12. Do you outline or are you a pantser? I’m a jotter. I jot down ideas and scenes. It’s not a full-fledged outline, but I usually have a general sense of the storyline in my head. Any new ideas or storylines I usually type in Evernote so I don’t forget them. I try to write in sequential order … except for when I don’t. Sometimes I’ll have an idea and run with that and incorporate it if/when I can. I have “jots” that didn’t make it into this book. Some may not make it into any book. I don’t know. I just write.

13. Is there one book that you wish that you had written? (Not for the profits – but for the quality of the writing.) Again, one book? Oh, okay. Well, I’m giving you two. I already talked about The Alchemist, so I won’t go into detail. The other is Queen by Alex Haley. This book is amazing. Mr. Haley traces the roots of his grandmother back through slavery. I don’t know. The story is layered. There’s love, hate, morality, introspection and a study on the human condition. Its epic in every way and it’s what I aspire to as a writer.

You can read Von’s current book now.

 

 

 

 

Available in Paperback and in Kindle edition.

 

 

 

That’s just a brief look into author Von Trapp’s creative mind.

About the Author:

Von Trapp – 36/M/OH.  I’m a married father of four. I like to write things. I like to think I have a good personality. I’m funny, I think. Sarcastic definitely. What else …? Oh, I go by the pen name Von Trapp.

(By the way, he’s right.  He has a wonderful sense of humor and a delightful sarcasm. Well, the sarcasm that I got a taste of was delightful.)

Write on my friends, write on and read a good book today!