For the singularly minded.

I love series as much as the next writer. I feel I am constantly picking up books for series I have started that are not finished yet, and I love it! I love spending so much time with the characters and getting to know them and exploring the world with them. But what about those of us who do not think in series? Who want to wrap up their story in just one book? How can we achieve the same staying power with just one book where there seems to be such much pressure to write a series?

I have known for a long time that my book would just be one volume and perhaps a companion book or two but mostly I’m just writing one book. And I think just writing one book has a different set of challenges then writing a series.

Now I know that series writes have their own problem with timing, because the whole game is stretching out the story without making it feel forced.  But for a single book the problem is opposite. How do we condense so that it feels organic but not rushed? How do you pull up all of those little plot threads, detangle them and lay them all out in nice little rows in time? And the only thing I can come up with, plot. Plot until the cows come home, I feel like all I have been doing the last year is plotting but I have finally come to a place where I feel I can do all of my story lines justice by the time the book ends.

It’s the same with character development, the only way I can make sure I have a fully rounded set of character by books end is plotting.

But here is one little problem that I didn’t know was going to crop up: other writers. If you are writing a singular book then you know what I mean. It’s not something they say *directly* at you but they think they are better then you. It’s like you can hear them in their minds when you tell them you are only writing one book and they are saying things like “oh, your story only takes one book to finish? Mine takes 3/4/5 books to finish; I guess that just means mine is SOOO much better than yours.”  Or “One book? How are you going to sell that to a publisher? They want series to hook the reader so they make more money.” Ok, maybe they are not thinking that at all, but it feels like they are. (But maybe that is just my own self-doubt talking lol) but I am going to take a stand.

We need solidarity! We need other writes who understand the problems we have. So here I am offering my support. Because our stories are just as wonderful and just as worthy to be told! So I am raising my glass to all of you who are singularly minded and I am giving a toast. Because, bottom line, we rock. So let’s have a drink and then get back to work. Those novels are not going to write themselves. 

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And don't forget, the Now Starring Blogfest being held on April 25^th by Lindz and myself.

Blogfest Announcement!

In about a month we will be hosting our very first blogfest! And this is Just a quick update to tell you that the linky tool is now fixed! (huzah!) Sorry for the technical difficulties, but everything is better now so please continue think up your cast and submissions for the Now Starring Blogfest being held on April 25^th by Lindz and myself.

Who is telling your story?

Ever since I learned about them I have been fascinated by the concept of POV. And I have always felt limited by the concept of first person OR third person POV, I even remembered getting in a ‘fight’ with my 3rd grade teacher that second person HAD to exist because otherwise why not just call third person second person. I’m pretty sure she went home and drank that night after class; I mean she was just trying to get through her lesson about basic POV’s and this little 3^rd grader would not let the moment pass without an explanation she was not prepared to give me.

I did my best to control my little 3^rd grader outrage, but this was before Wikipedia and my parents had yet to invest in a real set of encyclopedias so I had no way of knowing. Luckily (for my parents and teacher) it was 3^rd grad and a few days later something else happened that took my focus away from this prevalent issue. But it was still there someplace, lurking, waiting, and biding its time.

Eventually in high school a teacher would break it down for me like this:

First person means I am telling the story

Second person means you are telling the story

Third person means they are telling the story

Ah I get it.

Choosing a POV to tell my story from seemed to me as big of a task as anything else about plotting. I know a lot of people just pick first person or third person and go with it. But for me, there had to be a reason. If I tell from first person, what am I trying to achieve from showing the story from my MC’s eyes? What special can she bring? But if I tell it from third person how would it be different? What things would change? What meaning would change? And what way is better?

Finally being me… I settled on the most difficult thing.

Technically, my story is told from first person. But it reads third person omniscient because the character telling the story is not physically in the story till the very end.  It’s a precarious balance because I want to hint at this the entire story so it is not a crazy surprise when it is reveled. But not have it obvious either.  Oh… and the person telling the story is psychic and tells the story in real time.  What can I say?… I’m an earth sign; I like to make my life difficult.

So what I want to know is, was choosing your POV natural? Did you think about it as hard as me? Why did you choose the POV you chose? Is there anything different about your POV?

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And for a little bit of more fun, to meet some cool people, and for the chance to win a few more super fun prizes be sure to check out the Now Starring Blogfest that I am hosting with the love of my life Lindz from Rapturous Randomocity.

Share The Love Blogfest

 

Happy Sunday all!

I have been very remiss in my blogging lately but I swear I will have more posts up soon. Who new life could be so demanding sometimes? *lol*

What brings me here today is Sari Webb’s Share The Love Blogfest she is doing for her birthday! So happy Birthday Sari! I hope it is an amazing year to come!

Ok I fancy myself a writer so I will ask for help, but anything I want to post is WAY too long (re: 1000+ words) so I think instead I will just ask a question.

How do you make your battle scenes flow? I can’t help but get lost in them, struggling through every action. So do you have any helpful tips for writing action scenes? 

And for a little extra credit I will also talk about the other part of the blogfest I will share about a book I LOVED recently and why.

The book I have fallen in love with recently is Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. This book was beautiful. Bottom line, it was beautiful to read and it was beautiful to hold. Revolution is a contemporary YA novel but with the added aspect of very well researched historical fiction layered in. and it is layers in beautifully. It is the story of a girl named Andi Alpers who is popping antidepressants and flunking out of her New York prep school, grieving over her younger brother's death. She finds solace only when playing guitar. When the school notifies her mostly absent scientist father that she's flirting with expulsion, he takes Andi to Paris for Christmas break, where he's testing DNA to see if a preserved heart really belonged to the doomed son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. Andi is ordered to work on her senior thesis about a (fictional) French composer. Staying at the home of a renowned historian, Andi finds a diary that relates the last days of Alexandrine, companion to the doomed prince. The story then alternates between Andi's struggle with depression and Alexandrine's efforts to save the prince.

I truly love this book for touching on so many levels, and wish I had had it to read when I was in high school. Donnelly has such an amazing voice that you really truly feel for each girl and connect with them even if you have never thought about killing yourself or tried to save a dying boy. There are so many layers to this story that I feel are revealed beautiful and at the correct time. You really get to see inside of Andi’s head and to know her completely. Just truly a stunning work. I highly recommend it to any and every one.

100 followers contest winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered! It was so much fun to read how all of you think of fire! But there was one entry that really spoke to me and I will be awarding the $15 gift card to amazon too …. *drum roll*

Gina Blechman

Please send me an e-mail at AvenueBDancer(at)gmail(dot)com with the e-mail address you would like your gift card sent to.

Again thank you everyone for helping me celebrate my fist 100 followers!

My first 539 words

Ok, here it is. My first 539 words of my W.I.P Born For This. Specially for the Catch Me if You Can Blogfest held by Kristina Fugate over at Kaykay’s Corner.  The idea is to answer the question we all have "Does my W.I.P. catch people's attention right away?" this is the first 539 words; minus my prologue that is still under major construction. Luckily my prologue is not necessary to the start of my book (more so it is for a hint and an overall flow for the book)  so it is all good.

So here it is, I’m bearing my soul (and a little scared)^.^ but please feel free to comment and critique. I know it is still pretty rough around the edges but it is only my first draft and I would love to improve my craft. If you have a lot to say, or don’t feel like sharing your critique publicly, you can e-mail me at AvenueBDancer@gmail.com

And without further ado, Born For This:

She could not run forever. On some level even she knew that, but running was the only thing on her mind. Right. Left. Right. Left. Breathe in. Breathe out. In. Out. The only thing that mattered was putting ground between  herself and her pursuers one step at a time. Ahead she saw a fallen tree trunk, pushing herself into sprint her body screamed its protests but the extra speed was what she needed, and with one final push both feet left the ground sending her flying over the obstacle.

She landed, crouched, on the forest floor and everything seemed to slow. Her breath catching in her chest as her small pack slammed into her back. Her black boots crushing into the dirt, a sharp pain screaming up her calves. Her deep crimson hair curling around her sweat soaked face sticking to her pale skin. Slowly lids closed over red irises, fingers digging into rocky soil, nails breaking under the pressure, her breath catching up with her again and with it everything was slammed into fast forward once more. She was off again.

Leaving the slightly worn deer trail the red head darted into the thick foliage hoping to lose the men that where chasing her.  It was an act of desperation, she had never been able to navigate within the tress as well as one would expect from a girl who had lived within their protection for years. To the red head it was as if the tress knew what she was, as if they knew what she could do, that with a flick of her wrist she could destroy this whole forest, and they hated her for it, willing her to be caught, slapping at her face, ripping at her skin and clothing. And just when she thought the forest would have its way she stumbled into a clearing. She would make it out of this alive!

The happy thought had barely crossed her oxygen starved mind before her eyes settled on the only thing worse than more trees. A lake, deep and blue, it didn’t expand far but it cut off her exit. She cursed herself for not sensing it, for not making herself more aware to this danger. Somehow over a flurry of frantic thoughts and her blood pounding in her ear she heard them. Cutting through the trees had only cost her time. Shit. They would be on her in a moment. She needed time to think, she needed longer then she had to think, she needed time to breath.  Lifting her left hand she could feel the heat of her intentions starting to spread down her arm. She spread her fingers turning her hand so her palm faced up. Closing her eyes she pulled at the primal energy housed within her, heat burned through her for an instant and she quickly lifted her arm above her head setting it free. When she opened her eyes she saw the tress surrounding the clearing had been engulfed in flame. She knew it only bought her a few minutes and the wall of fire was not fool proof, but it was better than nothing. And hopefully a few minutes was all she would need to gather herself.