Category: Writing Life

Amazon Rewrites the Rules of Book Publishing – NYTimes.com.

These are ever changing times.

I was reading the November 2011 issue of “The Writer” magazine and discovered this software that will eliminate the need for notebooks, post-its and index cards.  The name of the software is Evernote and the best thing about it is that it’s FREE.

Evernote is a program that lets you keep all of your research on one site and it automatically syncs across all of your computers and devices.  So, you can create a note on your laptop, refer to it on you smartphone or blackberry and then pull it up again on another computer.  Never be without your notes again when inspiration hits.

I downloaded it yesterday and I have already added all my notes and web pages for my current novel.  The only glitch is that I can’t get it to clip webpages.  However, the website has a tutorial video and other ways to help introduce you to the product.

To all my writer friends, give it a try.  Evermore, so you can remember everything!

When I initially finished my novel, Moment of Truth, it was written in the first person voice of the main character. Based on advice from my editor, I decided to reedit the story and write it in third person. Third person has its advantages in that it allows you to write “outside” of the story and add more layers to secondary characters. This method has been a struggle for me and I have finally figured out why.
This story, Adrienne’s story, revolves around her life and the consequences of her decision to marry the wrong man. All of the other characters are important but Adrienne is the center of the conflict. It is her voice in my head. The best way for me to tell it is from a first person point of view. But how do I include and add more depth to the other characters? The answer came to me by reading another book.
I am the type of writer that reads constantly. I not only read for pleasure but to study technique. I try to take note of everything from sentence structure, descriptions, how the author foreshadows the ending, dialogue, etc. It is routine for me to read three to four books in a week the entire time I am writing my own story. I just finished reading “Sing You Home” by Jodi Picoult. I enjoy all of Jodi’s books and this one did not disappoint. (If you haven’t read anything by her I suggest you pick them up.) But what stood out to me is the way she told the story. She used the first person point of view for all of the main characters in alternating fashion. The main focus of the story centers on Zoe Baxter’s life but the other characters each tell their story. The reader gets to see the issues from their point of view as well. It was a revelation to me.

This weekend I began to restructure my story. I am removing the third person edits and going back to my initial work. I am still working out which character will speak in each part of the story. I have my blueprint and I feel good about the direction.

Simply, thank you!

I was playing around with some photo software and came up with the concept for my book cover. So, what do you think?