https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/05/how-t … e-readers/

#20. I'm guilty as charged

427

(63 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Naw, I get stuck all the time. Usually when I do, I muck around with [L o r r a i n e]'s story because it's just a senseless man-vs-alien free-for-all and can be written on autopilot. She's kind of my healing character when the others break my head.

I switched tracks though, because I'd sorta like to have J3nn@ hit print in December. That timeline is a little ambitious, but I think I can do it or come close to it

428

(63 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

No... I'm stuck is a better word. I flipped to a different project while I wait for my brain to solve it

429

(20 replies, posted in Close friends)

Rachel Parsons wrote:

not quite that bad.

"Bad" was about the last thing I thought. My boss would likely have agreed though he might have asked what it had to do with the sales report I was supposedly working on.

Images of Africain American women and women of colour in positions of strength can be hard to find. Best to just accept what you get or rewrite the scene

430

(20 replies, posted in Close friends)

heh... chapter  9 has put an end to me browsing from work (my boss can see my screen albeit from a distance)

431

(3 replies, posted in Close friends)

In reply to your other question, I mostly troll deviantart for royalty free or stock images.

I don't think cursing will work unless you're Heather

Hard to judge. Personally, I leave tons of things I think are zany in my early drafts and don't make a final decision until I can see the entire story

433

(8 replies, posted in Close friends)

I'm near the end of the marketing phase for [K i m]. This phase always seems to feel like starting a fire. You rub sticks together, kinda fan the sparks, before long, there's a tiny flame going and you have to feed it baby fuel until the blaze is satisfying. Sometimes when the fire doesn't burn hot you ask yourself if you used woo much wind or too much fuel, or maybe you're supposed to do it on one foot. Who knows. Anyway, she's at the "sparks" stage so time for the fuel (GoodReads Giveaway) and see if it catches.

While I wait for that pot to boil, I'm back to whacking away at development projects. I also find marketing interesting but exhausting. Zzzz.

Applying to your example:
3rd, omniscient/normal:

The elderly man wore an ankle-length black cassock... He often joked the Pope might drop by

The elderly man wore an ankle-length black cassock... Possibly in case the Pope dropped by.

3rd, omniscient/close:

The elderly man wore an ankle-length black cassock... In case the Pope drops by?.

The elderly man wore an ankle-length black cassock... as if fearing a pop in from the Pope.

3rd, subjective:

The elderly man wore an ankle-length black cassock... In case the Pope dropped by.

Note to your question, last example went past perfect instead of present. The narrator's assertion is part of the tale.

Here's an example of doing what will get you tagged for head-hopping on this site, but is really just a subjective narrator

Carrik smiled at Killashandra, daring her to contest his restraint in front of the witness.  (...snip...) Carrik, fully aware of her dilemma, had the audacity to offer her a toast as he took the traditional sample sip of the wine.

Crystal Singer: A Novel (Crystal Singer Trilogy Book 1) (pp. 12-13). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Looking closely, we see the narrator is not in Carrik's head as several of these statements later prove to be false.

Hope this helps

oops posted by accident. Editing.

re your italics question, I would like to side-step it and mention there are different kinds of 3rd person narrators, which affects your choice.

I often use "3rd person subjective" which is wildly unpopular on here and will get you told off. My [L 1] short is one such story. Your 3rd person subjective narrator can sit on the character's shoulder and narrate character thoughts seamlessly without needing to switch to italics. It's borderline having the character narrate the story.

Comparatively, [K i m]'s story is 3rd person omniscient so there's a bit more distant. I'f I was going to do inner thoughts, I would definitely switch to italics or risk what Charles called "an uninvited intrusion into the narration". I might also use "(italic)XYZ, she thought" [which Temple would correctly label filtering]. I also use "likely" and its class of words in my 3rd person omniscient to show the narrator is only guessing.

436

(30 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

SPOILER SPACE



grievance : Cersei. She deserved a better send off. There's a good vulture article on it (same article acknowledges we're all armchair quarterbacking this series).

The exchange between (Cersei and Jaime) is moving, but it also lands as though it were beamed in from some other show.

Cersei: haha! I'm the villain you've hated for years. Arya thinks she can kill me? Bring your worst
Later: *randomly trips down stairs and dies*

That's what I feel like they gave us

I rarely describe a character from their own pov. I think Tia hits chapter 16 or so before she gets one

438

(1,528 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)

Years ago, the Alberta government still handled all drivers' license renewals, new drivers' licenses, etc.

ew! Ontario went electronic.

We have a private company running our (only) toll road and it's been a nightmare. Botched data... private company withholding your driver's license for toll fees. Just about as awful as it gets

Actually, it's not the word module I'm chasing, but rather the words around it.

Consider:

Bob picked up the module and plugged it into the outlet

This tells us very little about what's going on

Bob picked up the power module and plugged it into the outlet

This tells us the module is providing energy

Bob picked up the drilling module and plugged it into the outlet

This tells us the module is a tool and it (probably) requires energy

Just seeking a sprinkling of words to help maintain the fictive trance. Otherwise, I'm stopping to try to think what's going on.

I think you've discovered the same with aliens. Some readers are happy to hear a few details and make up the alien around them. Some readers need coaching. Some need coaching and reminders. I'm probably in that last group. If I was reading a star wars book and saw "The Ewok wagged its tail" I'm off to google to find out if Ewoks have tails. Or, at the very least, I stop reading for a few seconds and think about it.

This it why I've suggest replacing module with something. It might help you see it with the confused reader's eye. "Bob picked up the electric something" will probably jump out at you and you'll know what words to put around it to clear the confusion

440

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

Although the original question has been answered, I should qualify my earlier statement which was slightly misleading.

I autoskip prologues when I'm browsing for new books to buy. If the author is a fave, I will read their prologues, preface(s), dedications, even the table of contents so I can get a thrill off the chapter names.

If the author is untried or unknown to me (I try to keep this group at 90% of my purchases), I immediately head for chapter one because I want to know how the (rest of) the book is written and who I'll be spending the next few days of my leisure time with. Prologues can't tell me that. I've been tricked into a few lemons by ignoring this rule.

I'd be curious if other buyers use this approach. Library doesn't count because you're not out pocket money on a borrowed book that turns out little better than a dead frog. Also curious your approximate consumption. I hover around 10 books per month, so not huge, but enough I have no budget for lemons

Ok... I'm going to go ahead and say it...

After 9 years of building alliances... trying to make bonds to take on the implacable foe... none of it ended up mattering.
Dragons? Resurrections? House Lannister?
All reader investment has been crumpled up like a sheet of paper someone will soon blow their nose in.

Prove me wrong.

442

(14 replies, posted in TheNextBigWriter Premium)

prologue = auto skip

Boston

My characters move around a lot so I've got filtering all over the place. *shrug* Some of narrators do it less. I see it in best sellers all the time (not that this should be a guide)

It's really still too early in the story for my observation

No need for a detailed reply to the review.

Important disclaimer: I could make such observations about just about any story (including current best sellers). That's why I suggested nothing to change

In "Hard Sci-fi" the world is expected to conform to known physics. Any breach must be explained in context of the known (and generally kept to a minimum).

Soft Sci-fi allows more leeway (eg magic or time machines or space bees (Spider Robinson)) so that might be the group to target

It is interesting that I was the only reviewer uncomfortable with the torture.

Yours is a complicated world

I'd only been suggesting a little danger so we know the church is not this impregnable bastion of goodness and light. Not sure you need a triple changer, but I'm willing to ride it out and give a better informed opinion once I see where you land

Dirk B. wrote:

Yikes! Someone on my Catholic forum quoted a Christian definition of atonement which states that Christ atoned for the sins of all humanity. That almost broke my trilogy. If there's no one left to redeem, then my ending wouldn't have worked. Fortunately, someone else clarified that it was only the righteous who were redeemed.

Thank goodness for sinners.
Dirk

Is this the group that has you questioning the deaths / market?