Which is better, first person or third?  And which character should handle the narration?

Sometimes, it depends on how much of the plot the writer wishes to reveal at each point along the way.     Other times, the writer chooses the POV character who has the most to lose, gain, or learn.  Sometimes, the character with the best voice gets the viewpoint slot.  First person is tight and allows the reader to know one character deeply.  Multiple third is great for revealing lots of information—or competing lies.

Choosing the best possible POV takes full cooperation between You and Your Muse.

Log in and join the discussion.

Last week I started a short story I developed while taking HTTS and this morning I wrote more in one sitting than I have since Nano. . . . Now I am 4,147 words into my story and I can see an ending starting to form. This will be the first project I have finished in a long time. It may only be a short story, but in my mind, that is still huge. It gives me the confidence that I need to start planning my YA novel again.

Because of you Holly I know that I not only want, but I NEED to be a writer. Because of you I have found stories that MATTER. Because of you I am excited about writing again. Because of you I feel like I can fly.

No words can describe my thanks. You are amazing.

She can finish her story—can you?  Sounds like a challenge, doesn’t it?

Cheer her on and maybe show a little commitment to your own story.

We are proud and happy to announce a new forum in Holly Lisle’s Writers’ Boot Camps:

HTRYN (How To Revise Your Novel) Lite.  This forum is for the grand folks who took Holly’s Crash Revision Course at Savvy Authors (wow, I’m running out of capital letters) and who wanted to continue their writing community.  The HTRYN Lite forum is also open to members of the regular HTRYN group.  So, rousing good bunch of novel revisers, all working on renewing their vision and bringing their fiction up to professional levels.

Log in, and introduce yourself and your cat.

It’s an old trick to take an employee to lunch in a nice restaurant, feed him some shellfish laced with a subtle yet intriguing sauce,—and tell him he’s not going to be the new vice president in charge of satch-widgets as he was previously promised.  The theory behind this tactic is that the disappointed exec won’t dare make a loud scene in a dignified eatery.

Balderdash.

The scene isn’t about noise.  The scene is all about the twist.  Here’s a cool game that you can log in and join, just for fun and profit.  No special shoes required.

This Sideways Student didn’t actually issue a challenge–all she did was to set a goal for herself.

I am on lesson 13 of HTTS.

I have set up my schedule so I will be done with my first draft of my novel by the end of April! I guess I am an April fool!
My house will look like a bomb went off… but priorities! I told my husband to hang in there for 30 days LOL!

I bought Holly’s ebook How To Find Your Writing Discipline a few weeks ago. I used the exercise to evaluate my schedule.

This looks like a call for action.  So–if you’ve been sitting on that novel and waiting for someday–how about right NOW?

Take a look.  Bring a gauntlet, or pick one up at the scene.