Toolkit

The Pros & Cons of Multiple POV

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Freedom never felt so sweet! You sit down to write and have TEN different points of view (POV) to choose from. Who should you go with today?

Hold on! Not so fast. Before writing a novel with multiple POVs, let’s take some time to assess whether this technique is best for your story.

On Tuesday we talked about when to write multiple points of view. Today, we’re going to focus on parsing out the pros and cons of using this writing technique. As I was curious (for top secret reasons of course) about this topic I spent way too long googling all the pros and cons for this. I’m hoping I can save you some time through my learnings here.

Let’s start with the bad…

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YALL Write Cheat Sheet: Day 2

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Didn’t get a chance to attend Yall Write? Still hoping to go back and watch the replays? I don’t know about you, but the holidays are already hitting hard and I’m barely finding time to check all the boxes on my mile-long to-do lists. In case you don’t have time to go back and listen to the full replays, I’ve taken notes for you. Skim the day one notes here. For the day two cheat sheet, just keep reading!

Here’s the lineup of what you can expect:

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YALL Write Cheat Sheet: Day 1

~ The Spinning Pen ~ 1 Comment

This past weekend was the virtual version of Yall Write conference. I’ve never been before so I don’t have a baseline to compare with, but the virtual version was great! I could meal prep, deep clean, even do a little yoga, while listening to some of my favorite authors. Who knew 2020 would provide such flexibility!

I know several of you were working or had other obligations and couldn’t make it but have no fear! I have taken copious notes for you. Well, mostly copious notes. There may have been a few sessions where my meal prep was burning or I was distracted…so those sessions are a little sparse and/or nonexistent.

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The Final Frontier: Starting Your Sci-fi

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Pen Friends ~ We are starting a series of posts on tips and how to write each genre- Fantasy, Contemporary, Sci-fi, Action-Adventure, and more. This Month is all about WRITING SCI-FI! 

First post of the Writing Sci-fi series:

Where do you start when you want to write a science fiction story? Just as with any story, you need to have an idea of your plot, your characters, their world and the struggle they’re going to face.

Plot Structure:

If you begin with a basic plot in mind, how are you going to structure your story? Is it going to be a straightforward and linear, or will you use frequent flashbacks?

You could insert official reports or journal entries to open a window into other perspectives. Or you could even jump around in the timeline – though this is tricky to keep track of – unless there’s a very plot-specific reason for it, I would caution against this.

Or perhaps you like to start with at your characters, and let the majority of the plot evolve with them.   Continue reading →

How to be a Writer and a Mom

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Ok, you just did something really hard. You might be getting back on your feet after having a baby or after stepping on a race car that your precious child left on the kitchen floor. Either way, your responsibilities and the calls for your attention just increased enormously, but for the sake of yourself and of your family, you are striving to keep doing what you love.

Session Goals, Space, and a Set Time are the elements that can help you keep writing even as your life is being turned upside down. What makes these things important is that they all clear the way for you to be able to get down to writing. If you’re looking for tips on content, check out our Character Development, Plot Development, and World Building sections on the menu above.

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Becoming An Expert (The Writer’s Way)

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How many times have you heard “write what you know”? It’s good advice – to a point. Because if everyone only wrote what they knew, we’d have no space odysseys, no dragons, no magical words, no elves or dwarves or krakens… and we’d be poorer for it.

So where does one draw the line between what you “should” write and what you can write? I’d say there isn’t a line, and if you’ve been limiting yourself, STOP! If you can make your readers want to enter the world you’ve written, no matter how unrealistic or crazy, then you’ve still succeeded in writing something good (i.e. interesting). You don’t need to be an expert in fighting to write a fight scene, or on trains to write about your characters taking a train ride. Same goes for flying on the back of a dinosaur, or piloting a ship through outer space – if you can make it interesting and immersive for your readers, only a few are going to nitpick the details. ♦  Continue reading →

What To Do In That Post-Conference Glow

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It’s Conference Season, Pen Friends! If you’ve ever been to a writer’s conference, you know the wonder and the crazy exhaustion and overwhelm that come as a result of being immersed in a gathering of a couple hundred (or more) writer friends.

I just got back from Realm Makers in St. Louis, and as I myself am feeling the end-of-conference feels, I thought I’d share this #throwback post for you in case anyone else is going to be conferencing soon (or if any of my fellow Realmies need a boost as they readjust to real life).

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