Category: narration

• May 21, 2024

  I got the first chapters of the audiobook for “The Crimson League” in! My thoughts:

  I’m beyond excited. I have the first chapters (1-8 or 1-9, around there) in from Dana Allen, the narrator of the audiobook of The Crimson League: The Fight for Hope. I listened through for fun yesterday (as I write this). Today I need to listen for notes/feedback/corrections. But some first impressions: -I’ve always known dialogue…
• May 4, 2024

  The fine line you have to walk when writing fiction

  There is a fine line any author needs to walk. To a real extent, this applies to writers of nonfiction as well, but it’s true of fiction in a unique way. This “fine line” is one of the major reasons we all need beta readers and editors, because it’s hard, if not impossible, to tell…
• January 26, 2024

  Advice for beginning writers 5: hive mind compilation!

  I recently asked on my Facebook page what advice my fellow writers have for beginners. I got some great responses! Paraphrased by me, with credit given to the author who contributed the idea, here is what people offered. I will put author names in quotes as their official Facebook page is named, so that you…
• January 22, 2024

  Advice for beginning writers 3: focus on learning the craft (by doing)

  When you’re writing your first novel or first few short stories, focus on learning, growing, and on the story you want to tell. Focus on discovering the process that works for you as a writer. Don’t worry about the market or what you think will or won’t sell. Don’t have expectations about how good it…
• November 7, 2023

  What a GREAT first person narrator (in fiction) always has . . .

  What does a great first person narrator in fiction always have? There may be a small number of exceptions to this, but in general, the answer is: AN AGENDA. The great first person narrators have an agenda. They have a good reason to be telling their story, that agenda will influence what they tell and…
• October 3, 2023

  My toxic writer trait: my vocabulary

  My toxic writer trait is my vocabulary, and possibly not in the sense you think. It’s rather expansive. This isn’t good or bad, it’s just a result of my particular interests and background. I’ve always been a VORACIOUS reader, I have a particular affinity for the 16-19th centuries, I have studied multiple languages in grad…
• September 13, 2023

  Movies can get away with being action-driven. Novels can’t.

  

  While movies and novels both tell stories, it’s important to remember that they do this in very different ways. They are two very different mediums. Movies can get away with being action-driven because they are visual. (And boy, do modern superhero flicks and other modern films try to pull this off!) An action movie can…
• July 18, 2023

  Questions to ask as you write in first person

  

  When I recently shared (on Facebook) my post about the issues I personally have with first person narration a lot of the time, it sparked a great discussion. Some great points were raised. I wanted to share the insights I took away from that discussion, reading all the comments. I still don’t trust myself to…
• July 10, 2023

  Jane Austen showed me the trait that will make any character unlikeable

  

  Mr. Collins will bloviate about Lady Catherine de Bourgh and things that interest no one, completely incapable of taking a hint that he should shut up. Elizabeth Elliot will casually dismiss any thought of her middle sister, Anne. “It’s just Anne, she doesn’t matter.” She never once wonders how this might appear to other people–Anne…
• July 8, 2023

  Questions to ask before writing in third person

  

  I write my fiction in third person. There was never a question of first person for me; I could never write readable fiction in first person. Just not in my interest or my skill set. Still, third person opens up so many expansive options! There are some great questions to ask yourself before you start…