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What point of view should I use?

No Comments »23rd July, 2010; Category: Fiction, Novels, Writing a novel

An important aspect of writing a story that the writer needs to consider is point of view.

In my current project, a novel for children aged 10 – 12, this has been one of the difficult issues I’ve had to face. I started using the first person point of view. It didn’t work, so I changed the whole story to limited third person POV. That worked much better, but during reworking the novel I’ve found a number of places where I’d slipped up. My critiquing group was also tough on me and pointed out even the most subtle of changes in POV.

Aaaark! I though I had mastered it, but in practice it is very challenging.

I’ve written previously about this important topic:

Good writing.

I am writing a book

2 Comments »17th July, 2010; Category: Books, Goal setting, The Writer's Life, Writers

A recently over heard conversation went as follows:

“I am writing a book. I’ve made a great start: I’ve numbered all the pages.”

Consider the following:

  • Countless people say they are going to write a book.
  • Only a few ever begin the actual writing.
  • If you have started writing a book you are in rare company.
  • If you have actually finished writing your book you are in elite company.
  • If you have rewritten and edited your book you are almost unique.
  • If you have submitted to a publisher a well written, well edited and professionally presented manuscript, you are very special.

Don’t just say you are going to write that book.

Just get on with it.

Good writing.

Confessions of a sick writer

2 Comments »9th July, 2010; Category: Blogging, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel

I wrote a few days ago that I was near the final editing stages of my novel for children.

Now I have another hurdle has come my way: illness. Sure, it’s only a head cold with lots of sneezing, a dry throat and the beginnings of a nose like a tap that cannot be turned off. It is the season for colds and flu here in Australia, and we’ve had some bitterly cold weather of late but that doesn’t bring much comfort in the midst of the discomfort.

I am trying to edit my novel for children, now in its 7th draft. Concentrating on the editing process is challenging enough; having a head that feels like it’s stuffed full of wool doesn’t help the process. I guess I should sit back, relax and get better as quickly as I can. Then I’ll be able to fully concentrate on the task in hand.

Can’t help wishing for someone to take over for a few days so I can relax and recover. In another life – when I was a classroom teacher – I wouldn’t hesitate to get a relief teacher in to take my place, knowing that would not only hasten my recovery but also be fairer to the children in my class. They deserved to have a teacher who was least willing to be there, be reasonably competent and certainly not sneezing all over them. Where are the relief writers? Never mind.

One thing about blogging is that you can write posts ahead of time, scheduling them to appear over a period of days or even weeks. I often write blogs in blocks of time, writing 5 – 10 in one day and scheduling them to appear at set intervals. During that time I can then go on with other writing tasks. This time however, I don’t have any scheduled to appear here. Sigh. (I do have some on my other blogs – see sidebar for links to them.)

I’d better get back to that editing.

Good writing – and good health.

I’m back: Editing my novel

No Comments »7th July, 2010; Category: Master of Arts course, Novels, The Writer's Life, Writing a novel, Writing Hints

I’m back!

It has been a while since my last entry here.

Sorry about that.

I’ve been a little overwhelmed with life for a while now, but things seem to be getting back on track again, one step at a time. I have several large projects on the go which are taking – no – demanding my attention. I’m starting to chip away at them but the task sometimes looms far too large.

Having one of the coldest periods on record here in South Australia is not helping either. It is very tempting to linger in bed on these crisp, frosty mornings… and then linger some more. And my good wife spoils me by bringing me a hot cup of tea in bed some mornings. Bless her.

One of my major projects at present is finishing off my novel for children (I’ve written extensively about the process here.) I am currently working on the 7th draft and it is getting near to the final shape and form.

The editing and rewriting I am doing in the 7th draft comes from the comments made on my manuscript by my supervising lecturers. Both are experienced writers and editors and their help has been invaluable in shaping the novel into its present form. One thing I have found interesting is that their comments and suggestions are remarkably similar, even though they read the manuscript independently. They have been very picky, very critical of every word, sentence and even the whole structure of the story. This is good because it is helping me to produce the very best writing I can achieve.

Find a good critiquing friend

I would recommend that every writer find a trustworthy friend who knows about writing and how to do it well. Then get this person to critique your work. It could be a fellow writer, a neighbour, a member of a writers’ group or even someone who does this for a living. Paying someone to do this can be money well spent. I haven’t had to do that yet, but I have received much help from my lecturers (who get paid to do this) and from my writers’ groups (They do it because they like me! And I “pay” them by commenting on their writing).

Find a good editor

Along with finding someone to critique your writing I would suggest that your writing will benefit from good editing. You need to find a good editor. It can be the same person who critiques your work doesn’t have to be. I’m not talking about editors who work for publishers here. That stage comes later, after you’ve submitted the very best work you can do, and the publisher has accepted your piece for publication. I’m talking about someone with a good eye for picking up typos, spelling errors, punctuation boo-boos, grammatical blunders and structural flaws. Such a person can help you polish your work until it is perfect – or as near to that as you can. Publishers are more willing to accept your work if you make the effort to get it near perfect – so their editor has as little to do as possible.

Further reading:

  • Writing a novel – the process I went through to write a novel for children as my thesis paper for my Master of Arts.
  • Editing – more articles from my archives about the editing process.

Good writing.

Book review: new edition of a popular bird field guide

No Comments »28th June, 2010; Category: Books, Events, Non Fiction, Reviews
Simpson and Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia 8th edition

Simpson and Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia 8th edition

Many of my readers here possibly do not know that I am a passionate birder. In fact, I write a very popular birding blog called Trevor’s Birding (click here). It is one of the most popular of its type with many hundreds of daily visitors. Heaps of photos too.

One of the essential tools of every birder (bird watcher) is a reliable field guide. These books illustrate each of the bird species found in a particular country or region. I have about 10 such books covering Australia, south east Asia, the Indian sub-continent and Europe.

In Australia we are blessed with a number of great field guides. With over 500,000 copies sold since the first edition in 1984, the Simpson and Day Field Guide to the Birds of Australia has proved to be one of the successful guides. Today sees the publication of a new, fully revised and updated 8th edition.

I’ve written an extensive review of this guide on my birding blog here.

The guide has been published by Penguin Books Australia.

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