It’s that time of year again; Camp Nanowrimo is back, and this time it’s serious.
Camp Nanowrimo is an extension of the popular National Novel Writing Month, where participants join other writers to try to write a 50,000 word novel in a month. Just in case it isn’t immediately clear, 50,000 words in a month is a lot. Last year I took a swing and managed 30k towards my target. This year I’m going to do better. So how have I gone about preparing to beat my previous score?
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Narrative Perspective or Point of View (PoV) controls how the reader interacts with the world of the story. In part one of this series of articles I talked about the balance between intimacy and clarity in first and third person. In part two I used the second person to illustrate the ways in which the reader enters into the text, and how this can be used to influence their sympathies. In this final part I’m going to briefly talk about omniscient PoV and how you decide what the reader knows. This will bring us back full circle to the question of intimacy and clarity, before I finish with a few pointers I have assembled from my reading on how to manage PoV in your story. (more…)
This article is about the Writers’ Village Short Story Award 
, and if it is worth paying £15 to enter “the world’s largest short story contest that gives feedback to every entrant.”
The short answer is no, it isn’t. But I’m going to share with you the feedback I received, explain what I think are the problems with it, and you can make up your own mind. (more…)
In part one of this series, which you can read here, I talked about the choice between First and Third Person Point of View (PoV), where First Person tends towards intimacy while Third Person can offer greater clarity. But it is far from a simple dichotomy. Choices regarding PoV and perspective are part of a nexus of alternative ways to embody the reader[i] in the text.
An easy way to demonstrate how PoV puts the reader inside the text is via the much maligned Second Person Perspective. In Second Person PoV you are the protagonist – “you said, you picked up the knife, you walked out of the room.” The following example is from a book that just about every geek of my age has read: (more…)
Ever since the massacre at Charlie Hebdo I’ve been finding it harder to write. Instead of working on all the projects I’m supposed to be working on, I’ve scribbled page after page of notes trying to sort out what I’m feeling. It’s not an easy thing about which to write. I’m not even sure I should. But Paris is my home. And I can’t stop thinking about what happened here.
How do we write when you can be killed in the centre of Paris for drawing rude cartoons? (more…)
It’s that time of year again; Camp Nanowrimo is back, and this time it’s serious.
