When creating an outline for a novel, I think very carefully about point of view. The biggest problem I usually have is picking a point of view that works for the entire novel but also has a thematic purpose. Today’s most common point of view is third person singular which follows one character throughout the … Continue reading »
Tagged with writing a novel …
I’m Batman
I must say that this writer’s favorite superhero is indeed Batman. Why? Well, mostly because some of the best writing in the genre has surrounded that shadowy detective, because he solves all of his problems with his incredible analytical mind, because he holds his own with the Justice League and can best all of them … Continue reading »
The U.S of After Chapter 9
Howard Morax flew at the back door. He snaked out a hand, his fingernails long, the color of onyx, his skin grimy, and held the door knob fast. The fire raged around us. His inky dark eyes flashed in my direction and he grinned that same grin he always did, that same grin I had … Continue reading »
Inspiration Comes from Everywhere
As you all know, I just finished the rough draft of This Broken Earth: Book 1, The U.S. of After and after revising a few times sent it off to my readers for review. This does not mean I stop working. I am simply in a holding pattern while I work up the nerve to start … Continue reading »
Finishing a Rough Draft: a Retrospective
Yesterday at 3:17pm I finished the rough draft of Book I: The U.S. of After, the first installment of a larger novel This Broken Earth. The novel is about the lives of several individuals on a trek to find their way to New Orleans from Norman, Oklahoma after the events of World War 3 and a vicious pandemic … Continue reading »
5 Editing Strategies for the Self-Published Novelist
We self-published authors don’t have the luxury of a team of editors, a crack commando unit of wordsmiths that go through our rough drafts and snipe away at the roguish bad writing, errors, type-os, and other problems that will drag down our work and make it look less than professional. I have taught writing for … Continue reading »
5 Ways to Meet a Deadline
As an independent author, I set my own deadlines for rough drafts and the final draft publishing date. However, just because I do this myself doesn’t mean I don’t hold myself to the standard of finishing on time. You might say: “You’re not like a real novelist who has a deadline from a publisher set in … Continue reading »
Finding Time To Write on Vacation
The first installment of my latest novel This Broken Earth is due out on August 1st, and I am feverishly working on it, but I also have vacation plans this summer…or rather my family does, and I’m going along. I say this with tongue in cheek. Of course I like to spend time with my … Continue reading »
How to Use Scrivener to Create Easy Outlines
I use a little program called Scrivener created by the wonderful folks over at Literature and Latte (click the link to the right for more info). It is a fantastic word processing program that meets all of my novel writing needs. Today I wanted to you how easy it is to plan and outline a … Continue reading »
Serializing My Novel: The Monster Is Too Big to Tame
I have had the release date for my next novel posted in the right hand column of this blog now for several months, but something happened to me yesterday that may push the thing back even further. More story popped into my head. After wincing and shaking my fist at the powers that be who … Continue reading »
