Writers in the Storm

Becoming Your Point-of-View Character

November 6, 2015 by • Marcy's Blog, Writing • Tags: , , , • 2 Comments

Becoming Your Viewpoint CharacterBy Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)

Point of view frustrates a lot of writers–new and old alike. Today I’m over at Writers in the Storm sharing one of my best tricks for how to avoid point-of-view errors. I’ll give you the secret here: You have to become your viewpoint character.

For an explanation of what the means and tips on how to do it, please join me at Writers in the Storm for “Becoming Your Point-of-View Character.

Sneak Peek: I’m blog traveling the next couple of weeks with guest posts on other sites, but I’ll also soon be starting a new series here about handling time and transitions in our writing. I’m really excited about this because I see a lot of writers I work with stumble over how to manage the passage of time. It’s a crucial element for pacing our fiction and writing scenes that work hard in our plot. If you have a specific question that you think would tie in to this topic, please send it to me through my contact page. 

Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Point of View in Fiction is now available! (You might also want to check out Internal Dialogue or Showing and Telling in Fiction.)

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Image Credit: Hannah Gleghorn/freeimages.com

5 Techniques for Amazing Internal Dialogue

August 6, 2015 by • Marcy's Blog, Writing • Tags: , , , , • 2 Comments

InternalDialogueMarcyKennedyBy Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)

If I took a survey asking writers what the most important elements of fiction were, I’d probably end up with a few consistent answers—plot, characters, dialogue, showing rather than telling.

We might not automatically think of including internal dialogue on the list, but we should.

Internal dialogue is the heartbeat of fiction. It serves practical purposes, like helping us control our pacing, but it serves deeper, more subtle roles as well. Without enough internal dialogue or without strong internal dialogue, our fiction can end up confusing and emotionless. We have people randomly acting, like we’re watching a TV show without any sound.

Unfortunately, too much internal dialogue or poor internal dialogue can make our fiction feel immature, slow, or claustrophobic.

So to help you develop the right kind of internal dialogue, I wanted to share a few of my favorite ways to make sure my internal dialogue is enhancing my story rather than detracting from it.

If you’d like to read the rest of this post, please swing by Writers in the Storm where I’m guest posting about internal dialogue!

Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Internal Dialogue is now available from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, or Apple iBooks.. (You might also want to check out Grammar for Fiction Writers or Showing and Telling in Fiction.)

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The 12 Best Hashtags for Writers

November 21, 2014 by • Marcy's Blog, Writing • Tags: , , , • 0 Comment

By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy)

Hashtags are one of the best things about Twitter. (In case you’re brand new to Twitter, a hashtag is the # sign followed by a term.)

Normally, your tweets are seen only by people who’re following you, but if you add a hashtag, everyone who’s watching that hashtag sees what you’ve tweeted. If we’re using Twitter to build our author platforms, making connections with new people is one of the key things we want to do.

But hashtags on Twitter do more than just build our author platform. When we know which hashtags to follow, they can be amazing learning tools, provide us with inspiration and motivation, and help us keep up-to-date on the industry.

So today I’m going to share the twelve best hashtags for writers at Writers in the Storm!

Upcoming Attractions: I have one more guest post about Twitter at Kristen Lamb’s blog that I’ll be sharing with you. From that point on, I’ll be returning to writing craft posts for the foreseeable future. Also, keep an eye out closer to the end of the year. I’ll be asking you what your biggest writing struggles are so that in 2015 I can focus on the topics that you need help with the most!

Interested in more ways to improve your writing? Grammar for Fiction Writers, is now available from Amazon, Kobo, or Smashwords. (You might also be interested in checking out Mastering Showing and Telling in Your Fiction.)

Both books are available in print and ebook forms.

I’d love to have you sign up to receive my posts by email. All you need to do is enter your email address below and hit the “Follow” botton.

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