How to Devour Books Without Really Trying

Anyone who knows me knows I go through phases where I do things. I've been this way as long as I can remember.

By Bob AuBuchon

In the last 10 years or so, my activities usually have a revolution over the course of a year or so which include intensive times of writing/editing, reading, and some sort of craft (primarily crochet, but sewing and candle making have taken that spot as well.)

I'm in a weird spot right now where I'm actively pursuing all three activities with almost equal vigor.

And, I have my friend Juliet to thank for that.

A couple months ago, probably the last time I was physically at my local critique group, Juliet as well as one of the other ladies asked if I'd read a certain author. I'm like, "Who?" I'd never heard of Craig Johnson. They were going on and on about the books, then the fact the books were being made into a TV show on cable and how well it was done.

Well, Juliet insisted I read the first book, The Cold Dish. I'd hoped to have it from my library before going out of town a couple weeks later. (Didn't happen--apparently, they're very popular right now, probably because of the TV show!) It took me about 4 - 6 weeks to get it...

... and I couldn't put it, or its sequels down.

Really.

I've read the first 5 books of the series in the last 6 - 7 weeks, have yet to watch the TV show online (I don't have a working TV for broadcast or cable, so only catch stuff on Hulu when it's available). And, on top of that, I've started reading other books again. Like Robert B. Parker, Lisa Gardner, and I have a stack on my nightstand that includes Kathy Reichs and Diane Mott Davidson.

Going back to my opening statement, I get into grooves where I'm only pursuing one task. Writing and editing had really taken over my life for the first 5 - 6 months of the year. This usually means I won't read any books whatsoever--not even writing help books--except review books for CCBR. The longest non-children's item I may read is a news article or a lengthy blog.

But the last two months have been wonderful... I've been writing actively, and reading when I'm not writing, then about 2 weeks ago, added in a craft project--crocheting a cotton afghan for my son (it's going to be a belated birthday present.)

All because of Craig Johnson.

And Juliet of course.

If you write, do you find you can do all of your other interests in close proximity with each other? Or, do you usually divide up your time whether intentionally or inadvertently so you write during the course of a few days/weeks/months and do other things in a different time frame?


Until next time,


P.S., are you on GoodReads? If so, feel free to connect with me! LS

Choosing the Right Point of View

How many writers actively think about point of view and how they're going to tell their story?

If you as a writer, want to be successful, you'll give some thought to it before sitting down at your computer. It can make or break your story.

This became clear recently when I was critiquing stories by two of my fellow-members of the Port Yonder Press mentoring group I'm in this year.

I am most comfortable writing in 1st Person--i.e., I said, I did. And while I don't exclusively read first person stories, I am drawn to them more than their third person counterparts (i.e. he said, she did.)

This came across to at least one of my crit partners in a pretty obvious way--both of them got suggestions from me to switch from third to first person.

Why would I suggest this?

Because the story they were telling needed a more intimate experience, at least in my opinion.

There are a lot of reasons to take into account when you're choosing your point of view. Most authors and writing coaches indicate that scene-to-scene, you should write from the POV of the character who has the most to lose in any given scene. This works better when you're in 3rd Person, when it's more acceptable to switch from John's head to Mary's head, then pop into Peter's across three scenes.

But that's not always possible, especially if you're writing from a singular point of view, whether it be first person or a very tight third.

I ran into this problem when I was writing the first few drafts of Homebody. My problem? I'm a bit of a romantic at heart, and while Homebody is told in first person point of view, there were several scenes I needed to tell that would work best from a second person's perspective.

My solution?

A very unorthodox approach. I switched to 3rd person for several scenes so I could show things from MC Amanda's boyfriend's POV. Being able to work from Rick's (the boyfriend) perspective opened things up. I was able to show things that Amanda wouldn't know, including several scenes where Amanda wasn't even present. While he (Rick) doesn't show anything critical to the mystery in the story, it does open things up to the romantic side, one where Amanda has been cold far too long.

This is an approach I have seen infrequently in novels: the most notable example I can think of is a particular Alex Cross novel by James Patterson (although it's been several years since I've read any of James Patterson's work, so I can't recall which one.) But, it *is* out there, it's just used infrequently. The important thing to remember is you have to be a good storyteller before you start breaking the rules of storytelling. While I'm not sure I'm a great storyteller yet, this was what worked for me in how I tell this set of stories.

I'm hopeful an agent and an editor will agree.


Until next time,

Welcome & make yourself at home!

Hey there!

This is a new blog that will focus on the topic of writing, especially of writing fiction. I hope you'll find it informative, and hopefully, a little funny at times.

Let me introduce myself. I'm Liberty (yes, that's my real name!), and I've been actively writing for about half my life. I've probably been writing longer than that, but became serious about it in my early-mid teens. Since that time, I've written and re-written at least 6 novels, and started others that are in various stages of editing/writing. None are published at this time, though I'm hoping to rectify that problem before too much longer.

I have several "open" projects right now, though the two that have my biggest focus are Cora's Song, a futuristic suspense/romance set in 2117, and Homebody, a present day mystery/romance set in Kansas City. I prefer to write mysteries, though having had such influences as Nora Roberts and Janet Evanovich, I almost always have some element of romance in my stories.

My intention with this blog is to publish twice a month for a while, around the 1st & 15th, and to cover topics most applicable to writing fiction, though I do have a background in journalism, so there may be some crossover. Future blog entries are likely to include: characterization, believable settings, creating backgrounds, and story arcs. If you have suggestions for other topics, feel free to leave me a comment; I'd love to hear them!

In the meantime, welcome! Please be sure to leave me a note to let me know you're reading, and enjoy!

-- Liberty --