What's Your Point of View?

What is point of view? The simplified definition of point of view is: the position of the narrator in relation to the story.  Essentially it's how and who is telling the story.  There are three points of view:  First (I, me, we), Second (you, your) and Third (he, she, they). But wait, it gets more complicated than that: Tense.  Past (I went, we walked) and Present (I go, I walk).  And in third person you have close third person and distant third person... Ah okay... I'm sure there's much more to it than just those things, but alas my mind is already on overload!

When I first started writing my novel, I began by creating a skeleton outline. I  mapped out scenes I knew would take place, starting with the beginning all the way to the end.  I went back and filled in tidbits of dialogue floating around in my head for the middle too.  My outline and scene sketches were I initially wrote in third person to give myself an idea of what would happen to the characters.  But as I started writing the meat of the story, after I really got to know the characters, it was pretty instinctual for me to switch over and write in first person past tense (he went, she sat, they walked). But I figured out relatively quickly into the writing process that this story demanded to be told in first person present tense.  

Now if you remember, when I first started writing my novel, I didn't have very much information on how to actually write it, I just started writing it. Needless to say, I didn't understand some of the major pitfalls of writing in first person present tense, such as it can slow the story down, you only get one POV, it can feel static instead of active etc.   I just knew that's what this story required.  So I went along my merry way, plotting and writing and creating Ali and Jacen's story in first person present tense.  And then I went to the ANWA conference and  quickly became aware of the fact that people have some pretty serious opinions on POV, especially when it comes to the first person present tense POV.  I mean, I know what I like to read but why it had never occurred to me that others have opinions that don't necessarily match mine never really dawned on me. I know what you're thinking... Duh, right? Leave it to me to pick the most "controversial" POV. I do tend to pick the road less travelled so at least I'm consistent.

Hmm...Now what?  Okay, it wasn't that I was discouraged about my writing, because if anything I was more motivated to write after attending the conference than anything, but I did begin to question whether  I was telling the story in the best possible way and if there was even an audience for my novel.  (In truth, I didn't start this with publishing in mind so it wasn't that I was heartbroken over it the fact that it might not ever be formally published, but I did want to create the best story that I could.)  So I decided to try a little writing experiment to see how the book would feel it I wrote it in a different POV.

My experiment was to rewrite the first five pages in first person past tense.  And Ugh.  I hated it.  Here's the funny thing: I enjoy reading books in first person past tense, I like present tense better, but reading past tense is fine. But writing in past tense?  Nope.  It just wasn't happening.  Maybe it's because I'm new to this art, or maybe it's just that I'm used to reading and writing this story from a certain perspective.  But, whatever it is, it just felt wrong.  

One of the big knocks on first person present tense is that it feels "affected" like it's a device used to sound more "literary." Another criticism is that this perspective gets in the way of letting the  reader "experience" the book for his or herself.  Welp, I certainly wasn't going for literary with this novel (I mean its an LDS Romance Novel for goodness sakes) and I certainly wasn't trying to "affect" people ( I mean I guess in a way I am, but not like that), but I knew that if I was going to write in first person present tense I had better have a good reason for doing so.  But did I?  

So I mulled it over, and over and over; Pondering Ali and Jacen's story and why this story needed to be told through their lens' as if it was happening to them right this moment.  And I realized, that in order to tell this story I had to be able to have the characters grow from their pasts.  Their pasts, like all humans, are one of the major things that define who they are.  My main character's are trying so desperately to avoid mistakes made in their pasts.  They are trying to get over it without having to get through it.  And it's not until later that the MC's figure out how to actually move on and I needed to be able to "flashback" to do this right. I know, the dreaded flashback... yet another pitfall.  But, it was necessary.  

This is about the time that most published author's are rolling their eyes.  And it's quite possible that they are 100% justified in doing so, because I'm not published and they are and I'm sure they know so much more about this craft than I do at this point. I have nothing but the utmost respect for anyone in the 1% who has EVER finished a novel (which is why I seriously paused to consider writing in a different POV) but in the end, I hope that my decision to use first person present tense does this story the justice it deserves.  Maybe, by the time I've completed my fifth novel I will have to write a revision to this post about my opinions on first person present tense, but currently I am confident in my choice to write this book in first person present tense.  

While many people may knock this choice in perspective one only needs to look to the New York Times' Best seller list to see that readers are flocking to this perspective in unprecedented numbers.  Here are a few examples of books you probably know that are written in first person present tense:

Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Pivot Point Series by Kasie West

Pushing the Limit Series by Katie McGarry

Shatter Me Trilogy by Tahereh Mafi

Matched Series by Ally Condie

Mile 21 by Sarah Dunster

Perfect Chemistry Series by Simone Eckeles 

Everything ever written by Jolene B. Perry

First person present tense is currently a hot trend among YA books as well as New Adult books (and these are the readers who my book is aimed at) as you can see!

Anyways, I could go on and on about POV, but my point is... Maybe first person present tense deserves another look. Especially, since it's resonating so much with readers.  What do you think? What perspective do you prefer to read? 

*To learn more about POV: Read Character's and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card and take a look at the PEG website. Both resources were exceptional in helping me understand the benefits and pitfalls of each of the different POV's.

Writing the First Draft

At the end of this month I am scheduled to attend the Storymakers Conference in Salt Lake City.   In preparation for this conference I've been working like a mad woman to finish the first draft of my first book!  Squeee!  I'm so close it's painful! Seriously, I just want to write ALL the time.  Over the past year, my book has grown from an abstract dream of wanting to one day maybe, possibly write a book,  to a burning desire that my brain won't shut up about it until I had it down on paper. Well, I think I drove everyone around me a bit crazy, especially my husband and children (sometimes even myself), but it's been so satisfying to create it.  Around thirty pages into my writing journey it was pretty clear that I needed more knowledge to write this book, so I started writing authors I liked, looing up blogs, attending conferences etc. Now six months later, my writing is still in it's infancy, but I thought I  would share a few resources that have helped me to write the my first draft of my novel  (and a few things that I wish I had had before I started writing my novel).

First things first, if you are serious about writing, then attend a conference.  ANWA was a great conference and I highly recommend it.  Storymakers is another conference that I understand is amazing! And its coming up at the end of this month!   This is by far the best place to gain a vast amount of knowledge in a short amount of time, network with other authors, and develop your talent for writing.  So invest in it.

If you can't attend, there are other terrific resources that you can take advantage of too.

1. Dan Wells speaks here on Plot.
2. Writing on the Wall by PEG (a blog about all things writing)

A Few Books:

1. Story by Robert McKee
2. Plot and Structure by James Scott Bell
3. Eats Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss
4. The Elements of Style by Strunk and White
5. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Browne and King
6. Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card
7. The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

Devices/Tools:

1. Scrivener (software)
2. Alpha Smart Neo (keyboard with small screen for when you want to write on the go)

My first words of advice:  Write.  A lot. And then write some more.  For me, I didn't do any research on how or what to write.  I just started writing.  In some ways this served me well (I got to be creative without worrying about pleasing others or feeling like I was doing it "wrong") and in others it was such a disservice (wasted time, writing in circles, etc.).  All through school I loved my English and Writing courses (no, I'm not an English major, which is pretty clear because I'm sure my grammar and punctuation is atrocious... I'm truly sorry, I promise to hire a really good editor before I publish my first draft) and I also loved reading, but I never had a creative writing class, though I wish I had.  I just dove right in.  Starting with a skeleton outline (my story has remained a few of those elements, but it's grown and evolved so much since then) and then moving on to  a very brief character sketch and finally I began filling in the outline with scenes I knew I wanted in my book.

American Night Writer's Conference (ANWA)

In my last post about why and how I started writing my own book, I mentioned that I attended the American Night Writer's Conference held in Mesa, Arizona.  What an incredible experience!  It was so great in fact, that I am planning on attending the LDS Storymakers conference in Layton UT.  at the end of April.

I was a little nervous about attending a conference because I really didn't know what to expect or if I would fit in.  What I discovered was that writers of all backgrounds, experience levels and genres attend so there is pretty much a place for everyone-including me.

We arrived the very first night of the conference and jumped right in!  The first night, I participated in a critique group. Myself and five other ladies (who also write romance) each took a turn reading part of our story and then we went around the circle and told what we liked and what we thought could be done to make it better.  OH MY!  I was super nervous.  I had pretty much kept my book under lock and key until two nights previous when I reluctantly asked my husband to read it over with me.  Yes, that's right, up until two nights before the conference my husband hadn't even read it. That's how unsure about my writing I was!  I knew I loved it, I knew I thought it was romantic and funny and great, but the rest of the world outside of my own head?  I didn't know if it was actually all of those things (I still don't).  Anyways, I had an incredible experience sharing my story with those wonderful women.  They laughed in all the right places and gave me great insight that I wouldn't have seen on my own.  That made me believe in critique groups... I am hoping to find one ASAP now that I'm home.

We then had a great agent/editor speak on query letters.  I am getting closer to that point, but I'm not quite there, so my info. on that will be posted at a later date.

Some of my favorite speakers from the conference were: Sarah M. Eden who spoke on "3 Essential Elements of Romance" and  Jenni James who spoke on "Writing Secrets".  Victoria Curran who gave us her experiences as an editor of Harlequin Heartwarming and there were so so many other great speakers such as Dr. Blasingame, Annette Lyon, Adam Sidwell and Jon S. Lewis.  Really, everyone was fantastic that it's hard to spotlight everyone! So here are my favorite things I took home:

Sarah M. Eden (sarahmeden.com) was the keynote speaker at the conference.  She is the author of so many amazing regency romances and I was so excited to hear ANYTHING that came out of her mouth about writing romantically.  Here are her main points:  In the romance genre the books question will always be, "will the couple end up together?"  and in a romance book the answer will always 100% of the time be, "Yes!"  This can be difficult to write creatively because it will always be the same.  In this genre the love story is what drives the plot, or in other words, Romance is the point.  I love that don't you?  Some of my favorite tid-bits of information are: "totally hot is not an emotion"  (oh that's just so true! and ohh it had me laughing because we've all read books like that haven't we?!). "Emotional connections take time and interaction."  The whole love at first sight thing is great, but to build a realistic story with feeling it takes time.  "Each character needs strengths and weaknesses. No one can relate to a perfect person."  (As writer's we sometimes have trouble putting out characters through things, but that is exactly what creates a great book).  "Don't write annoying characters." (Amen to that!) and last, "We need a reason to cheer for the couple... They need to be something to each other that no one else can be, and it must go beyond the physical, love at first sight, infatuation phase."

Isn't Sarah amazing? The answer to that will always be yes.

Jenni James (http://authorjennijames.com) spoke at the conference on her writing secrets.  I loved this class because it was SO incredibly helpful to a newbie like me. Some of her secrets:  Put your work up on Wattpad.com to gain followers. To up the number of words you are writing each day, work with a partner and give yourself word challenges and then read each others work.  Did you know that only 1% of authors actually finish their books? I didn't either... So If I do nothing more than just finish the book then I'm ahead of the game! She also spoke on what to do when you are having writers block..."If you get stuck, then something is missing.  A kiss, a death, something!"  Go back and fix it and then your story will keep moving on.  She also mentioned to not be afraid of putting your character through things. Give your characters flaws, not bad, but maybe a little bad! The characters need to grow in the story.  She reminded us that every scene must move us forward, there must be a reason for the scene to exist.  When editing watch for double words, send your work to beta readers, give your self word challenges, keep dialogue snappy, fast, witty. There are two types of humor:  Mean humor and the element of surprise.  One of the best points she made was on pacing.  There are certain things we don't need a play by play of ex.  Cutting vegetables.  There are other times when we need to experience EVERYTHING like when the characters finally kiss, draw that out second by second.  Show through your actions what the character is feeling don't say "she felt sad".  Use action tags instead of "said".

Okayyyy there is SO much more I want to type about the conference, but I'm pretty sure that I've already overwhelmed you by this information in this post!  Can't wait to tell you how Storymakers goes!

P.S. If you're an avid reader and you want to be a beta reader for my book, I'd love it! Just email me so I can send you a few chapters!

Let's start at the very beginning...My Adventures in Writing (Part One)

About three years ago I lived in a three-bedroom apartment with HORRIBLE laundry facilities. After several ruined shirts and countless "less then clean" loads, I made the decision to only use said laundry facilities if it was an absolute emergency. Every week for 4 years, I would load up my laundry, my three babies (aged three and under), into my little red lancer and make the 30-minute drive down to my grandma's house to do wash.

Now at the time if you had asked me how I felt about the arrangement I might have said, "Oh, you know it's a hassle, I wish that I didn't have to load it up every week, but I enjoy the time with GG (Great Grandma)." But now, I can tell you that it was nothing short of The Lord's hand in my life working miracles and guiding me along... For many many reasons.  One of those reasons is the quiet time it gave me to start dreaming up stories.

It's pretty clear from this blog, that I love to read.  I love being whisked away into the written world.  Whether its back to the singles ward, a dystopian society or even into Medieval times, I just love the reading experience.  What I didn't realize, at least consciously, was that it's more than just a love of reading, but a deeper love of story-telling that has my heart.

As a young child I would often ask GG to tell me a story from her mouth, meaning tell me a story in your own words, not one from a book.  On one family vacation my cousin and I began a co-authored novel about medieval times-- even at age 10, my book was a romance that contained a love triangle- It's a sickness, I know.  So what I failed to realize until about two and half years ago was that I really wanted to write my own novel. And lucky me, the hour plus drive to and from GG's gave me the perfect opportunity to dream the novel up.

The first book that started to take root was/is a dystopian trilogy and while I will one day write it (I have notebooks of notes and 40+ pages complete with outline) I just can't seem to get the words our right.  Don't worry, I wasn't discouraged, in fact if anything it is what started the fire of writing in me.

In 2012, I found the New Adult genre, if you want to know more about it click here to learn more about the genre in general or here to read what USAtoday says about the New Adult Genre. Essentially, the New Adult genre is the time between YA fiction (think high school/teen years) and Adult fiction (grown up problems, think married with career).  New adult fiction is the bridge.  These books are about college, identity crises, leaving home for the first time, not the first romance, but maybe the lasting romance.

Unfortunately, as I got more into reading this genre, I realized that there were not so many books out there that were what I would consider appropriate to read.  (This is me making a super sad face.)  Honestly, this genre has become synonymous with what can only politely be described as soft sex or in other words Fifty-Shades of Grey's little sister. Now here is where I make a confession that I got sucked in.  At first, I would skip the pages with the scene and then I decided it really wasn't a big deal and there ya go, that flaxen cord had become a nylon rope.

After some discussions with my husband, and if I'm totally honest one discussion with a kind-hearted bishop, I made it my mission to find the best books that I could to read.  That meant no more sex scenes, everything needed to take place behind closed doors and books needed to be at a "PG-13" rating.   I figured that if the prophets counsel not to watch R-Rated programs, that would probably go for books too right?

Let me tell you what. There are so many great books out there!  There are authors who are writing books that are worth something, that entertain me and make me laugh and cry and swoon and guess what I don't have to feel guilty for reading any of it.  And more importantly, I have never felt the Lord's hand, the Lord's blessing so fully in my life.

In the book of Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon it says:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness.  I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

Okay, this is not me saying that I am a "strong" writer or that I have books that will ever see the light of publishing, but what I have been given is strength and courage to write. I have a passion to write.  I have a desire to write.

While on my quest to find "the best books"  I decided to check out what was going on in the LDS world.  Guess what?  There are so many talented LDS authors out there and LDS Fiction has really changed over the last few years.  Women (and men too) are writing stories that are so great (in pretty much every genre you could ever be interested in).

One such author is Melanie Jacobsen.  Melanie writes New Adult LDS romantic comedies, if you want to put it in a box, although I think she will break into the national market by this time next year if not sooner.  This is where I tell you to read anything this woman has ever written, I love her novels.  I first came across her book, The List, while looking for New Adult fiction that I could be sure was clean.  After that book I read every that had her name on it.  I then discovered authors's like Julie Wright, Susan Auten, Janette Rallison, and Kaylee Baldwin, among so so so many other talented LDS Authors.

One night after I had put the children to bed, I was working on my first novel (the dystopian one) and I realized that that wasn't the story I wanted to be writing. I was writing it, but it just felt kind of dead. Like a body without a spirit or something.  Well, I had been listening to a song earlier that day at the gym (Beneath Your Beautiful) and a story for a book just started to pour into my head.  At that moment I opened up a new document and wrote the first ten pages of a book that I am now nearly 95,000 words into (or 250 pages).  I told you, it just started to flow.

I started slowly, chugging away a little each day, not really knowing what I was doing and about 50% of the way through I decided I needed a little advice.  I wrote Melanie and asked for any tips she might be willing to give in writing LDS Romance, but not really expecting a reply.  A day or so later, I received a reply... guess what?  She lives about 10 minutes away from me.  I told you the Lord had His hands all over this.

She suggested we meet up and talk instead of switching emails back and forth.  About  a week later we did just that.  I took at least a full-page of notes from that one sit-down.  I came home and wrote another 10,000 words over the next 24-hours.  Her biggest encouragement was for me to attend an LDS Writer's Conference with her.  Which, let me tell you was absolutely incredible. That will be a second post because I just have too much to say about ANWA and how it has shaped my writing experience.

I am now about 4 scenes away from completing a very very rough first draft of my first novel.  I wish I had a title to give you, but like naming my first child, it probably won't happen until after it's born.  Sorry to disappoint. I hope you enjoy this post and I hope you will follow this series on my writing adventure.  My next installment will be about all the many wonderful things I learned at ANWA- If you are attempting to write too, you won't want to miss it!