Darswords

Every story, and therefore every novel, has a protagonist: at least one. I wrote yesterday about troubles I’m having with a character trying to fight her way up, becoming more and more my novel’s dominant presence, and that now has me asking: how do you balance multiple protagonists?

Do you HAVE to balance them? Who says that when you have two or more characters linked with your narrator, they have to have equally distributed time in the spotlight?

MANAGING PAGE TIME

I love the term “screen time” in reference to television and film, so I figure for books, it makes sense to talk about a character’s page time (or even page presence, if you go in for alliteration.)

I’ve read posts and comments by fellow author-bloggers who sometimes get frightened by the thought of not keeping to a pattern where narration is concerned.

They worry that breaking an established…

As a newly converted Whovian I’ve been binging on “Doctor Who” lately on Netflix, and the show has really got me thinking about effective storytelling. You don’t have to be interested in Time Lords, Tardises, or sonic screwdrivers  to find this post of value, and I promise I won’t deliver any spoilers.

Doctor Who–in addition to great acting and compelling characters–is an all-around solid show, though it isn’t perfect. For some reason, it’s inspired in me a reflection on the nature of storytelling that I hope will be applicable to writers in any genre.

More than most other shows that I love, Doctor Who demonstrates the magic that can happen when we focus on the art of storytelling, and not just on the raw, plain details of the story.

Here are some storytelling tips I’ve picked up from the last of the Time Lords:

• ALWAYS INVOLVE “SMALL” OR “NORMAL” PEOPLE…

This is, I think, the final piece in what has turned into a trifecta of posts dealing with the BS that fat people have to deal with.  The first two pieces are here and here 

I get a lot of e-mails from readers who want to know what I say to various fat hate that I have to deal with.  Here are some examples, some are serious, some are jokes.  As always your mileage may vary and feel free to use these as is, change them up, or don’t use them at all:

You have such a pretty face

• Sure, but wait until you see my fine, fine ass.
• Thanks, it matches my beautiful body

Do you need to eat that?

• I thought that you were an accountant, are you also a dietitian?
• Yes, because dealing with your rudeness is depleting my glycogen stores at an alarming rate
• If…

By Sharla Rae

One of the things we’ve discussed in our critique meetings is the tendency all writers have to repeat certain words and phrases. “Echoes” is a term I’ve heard applied to frequently repeated words.

Read your chapter out loud, and that’s exactly what they sound like.

Common Causes of Echoes:

• Using lame and boring “to be” verbs. When used, they often produce not only echoes but also wordy constructions.
• Many echoes are subject oriented. For example, let’s say that in one chapter a wagon plays a big part in the action. Echoing “wagon” may be your repeated offense. Subject oriented words are sneaky. At first, they seem absolutely necessary. A closer inspection proves otherwise.

Helpful Echo-Zapping Sites

Laura Drake found a website that counts repeated words: www.wordcounter.com/

The writer simply copies his/her chapter then pastes it into the provided box. The program allows a list of 25 to…

It’ll soon be Christmas. No, come back. Even sooner, it will be NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month).

Okay, that’s not until November, but many serious NaNo-ers will be starting to prepare in the next few weeks. So I’m at Multi-Story, with a plan for creating your NaNo novel – by starting with its people.

Why start with the characters? Because if you know who they are, you’ll want to tell their stories. If you like to plan in detail, you’ll understand who must do what and when. If you like to wing it, the characters will take hold and drag you into an adventure. So if you fancy designing a novel this way, come over to Multi-Story.

The day has come, everyone!  Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower is live on Amazon.com!  See the adventure that Luke Callindor and his friends have found themselves in now.  Meet the hot-tempered, magic-hurling Nyx and her cunning rival Trinity the Chaos Elf Queen.  Filled with more humor, action, drama, and adventure than Legends of Windemere: Beginning of a Hero, this book is already being praised on Goodreads.

Anyone that received preview copies, feel free to write up reviews for the Amazon and Goodreads site.

For the month of August, Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Towerwill be .99 cents.  After that, it goes up to $2.99.

Thank you to everyone that has helped me and supported me.  I couldn’t have gotten this far without you and a big thank you post is coming soon.

Those who might have thought the Wayfarer congenial up until now must know The Godmother from New York has taken over this leg of the trip (see Uncle?) and California Girl’s backseat, engrossed in a book.

Last I checked, blogosphere was a beautiful democracy. If you are offended by what follows, remember you are free as the wind to check out or unfollow this blog. My point today is simple: learn the basics. Please.

I am not speaking of the innocent blue-moon typo. This proof of human fallibility is why we’re thankful for the saving grace of the edit. I’m not speaking to those whose native tongue is a language other than English. I’m talking to people who publish anything blissfully careless in the basics. You who faithfully streak your blog with words missing apostrophes or a whole letter as in your vs you’re, unabashed at the moments you regress…

In honor of my birthday (which is tomorrow), I am running a 5 day sale from July 30-Aug 5. BOTH of my books will be just .99 cents for those 5 days. While Dusk is permanently set at .99, this price on Darkness will not last long at all.

Please help me spread the word by reblogging, posting, pasting, tweeting, etc. The best birthday weekend ever would be to wake up next week and welcome new fans into the fold. If they’re as great as all of you, then I will be blessed indeed 🙂

Price adjustments are good only on Amazon and Barnes and Nobe.

BN: http://bit.ly/12ClvWx
Amazon: http://amzn.to/16cNVrc