Up In Smoke...

Just had to share...

My short "Up In Smoke" is live at Mysterical-e.

This is a really nice market for mysteries so check them out and send something.

Follow me...

...over to Let's Write a Novel...Together. For the next couple weeks I'll be posting there.

Tomorrow's post is on naming our characters and I list some very good name sites to check out.

See you there!!!

POV Dilemma - Pt. 2

Well, I did it. I revised my first chapter back into third person, added a chapter two from a second character's pov that because I was writing in first couldn't be used and then revised chapter three back into third person. Not serious revision, just a change of pov.

While studying where I wanted to add this second character's pov, I realized he'd have ch. 2, maybe 5 or 6 and then 10. I also realized after rereading the revised chapters that I'd lost a lot of the MC's voice which was one of the things I really, really wanted to keep.

I also realized third person just wasn't the POV for this novel. First person is just better for the story. And like I said at the Let's Write a Novel...Together! blog, the story is the most important thing.

So, I saved the third person chapters in a seperate file and now I'm feeling confident in my choice of POV.

Sometimes it just takes a while to figure out which POV works best. So, when you wonder if you made the right choice, play with it a bit. See which works best. You aren't stuck with your original choice.

Now, off to ponder where I'm going from here.:-)

POV Dilemma

Those of you who stop by here on a regular basis know the horrid time I've had deciding on which POV to write my novel in.

I started the darn thing in third and had about three chapters done. Then, due to shoulder vultures and encouragement from a friend, I gave first person a try and actually liked that better.

At about the 10k mark, I started questioning my choice though. It's been nagging at me for about 35k now and I finally decided to revise part of chapter one back into third person since I'd gotten a better grip on my MC's voice.

Both POVs worked well. I still couldn't decide which way to go. So, I talked to my mentor tonight.

She told me a couple things I already know. First, that first person POV is a weaker pov to write in. You are limited by just what the character sees, knows, hears, smells, etc.

Next, that first person had a different structure than third person. Meaning, you have to plan your scenes so that you can get in the info you need instead of being able to use others to get the info to the reader.

So...you guessed it. I'm back to third person pov for the novel. I'm going to continue where I left off on Friday in third person and will revise the previous later.

I feel good about the change. Not only can I get in a bit more info, I can add another character's pov and get his take on things too.

I'm ready to get started.

Be sure to stop by Let's Write a Novel...Together! and see what's happening there. I'm posting every day there during the week and we'll start planning our NaNo novels in Oct.

Checking in...

I've been writing like crazy and working on the Let's Write a Novel...Together! blog so this place has been a bit neglected. Sigh.

But...I'm officially over halfway done with my novel. I figure to have the rough draft finished by the end of this month and it to come in at about 65k. I'll have to revise and add the meat to get up to the 80k I was told to aim for. But that won't be a problem. My first draft is very, very, very bare bones.

I do want to encourage you to stop by the Let's Write a Novel...Together! blog and join us as we get ready to start planning our NaNo novel. I'm planning a sequel to the WIP.

So...what you writing? What you reading?

Passion

I'm cross-posting this from the Let's Write a Novel...Together! blog. Hope you enjoy. And, if you've ever considered writing a novel, click over and join us.

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I'm so mad right now I could bite nails in half. And while I won't go into the cause, it gave me the topic for this post.

We must have passion in our writing…and for our writing. Our characters must be passionate. Without passion in our writing, it's meaningless.

I'm not talking about passion of a romantic nature though sometimes that can be good too but more of the kind of passion that moves a story, that connects the reader with the story and causes them to remember it long after the last page is turned.

I'm not sure exactly how to get that passion in the story though. Maybe be finding something the characters are passionate about and channeling (so to speak) our passion into them as we write? Or do we somehow fuse our passion to that of our character?

A while back, I'd lost the passion for the writing process and for writing in general. I'd begun to think of writing as work for the most part. It was something I had to do instead of something I wanted to do. And honestly, I wasn't having any fun.

I took some time off from writing, did some serious pondering and found my joy again. I'm having fun, the writing process is exciting again and I look forward to each day's writing time. In fact, it's gotten to the point I get cranky when I have to miss a day. Thankfully for the family, that doesn't happen often.J

I think the thing I want y'all to take away from this post is what is your passion and how can you use it in your writing? Why are you writing in the first place? Heaven knows it's darn hard work, the pay is practically nil unless you manage to grab the brass ring and even if you do "make it" there will always be someone out there to put you down. You must find satisfaction in your writing, not for someone else, but for yourself. In fact, if you are writing for someone else, I sorta think you are doing it for the wrong reason.

Now that's not to say you don't have to keep your potential reader in mind as you write and revise, you must. But it's also important to take your own happiness in mind.

So…how do you impart passion into your story? And how do you keep that passion for writing and the process involved? How do you keep the passion you have for the idea throughout the writing process that may take months and months?

Share your thoughts in the comments for all of us. I'd love to hear from you.J

Been gone too long...

But I'm back now. I didn't plan this blog neglect but sorta got wrapped up in this novel.

As you can see...I'm just over 29k and should reach 30k by this afternoon. That's if the writing muse cooperates.

I've also started another blog project for NaNoWriMo called "Let's Write a Novel...Together" and encourage everyone to stop by and check it out.

This month, we'll be talking about different aspects of writing. Next month, we'll plan our NaNo projects, have some brainstorming chats maybe and then together in November, we'll write those novels. It'll be fun so don't miss out.

My internet diet is still working. Making writing a priority has been a very good thing.

Remember, if you don't get it written, you don't have anything to revise!!!