First Person

I have been reading Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress. It is an interesting book. However, I don't quite agree with the chapter on First Person Viewpoint.

Now, I've never been very fond of first person. Even though I have some stories/novels in the first person it tends to be a very frustrating point of view. But at the same time I don't think the book did the viewpoint justice.

The book considers first person to be an artificial viewpoint. That people don't tell whole stories that way.

What I think that it misses on the topic of first person is that what it does best is draw the reader into one character. They get to see the action through the character's eyes, and in some ways experience the adventure vicariously through them.

I choose first person for the stories that I do for a reason. Like in my dreams it is one thing to watch someone else with mutated dna have fire come out of their palms. It is a very different experience to have it come out of my own palms as well as ice while the character I'm interacting with copies the actions. It is a different reading experience. Some stories work best in first person and that's why they should be written that way.

The Dream

I was in a chat room when some asked a question that got me thinking. This person wanted to actually talk about writing on a writing web site (shocker) and asked why we wrote? What made us have that desire?

I wasn't sure how to answer that question. Why do I write?

Sure I have that dream where I would like to see my books in print but even if that never happens I would be okay. I enjoy taking stories from my imagination. I love writing about my characters and the things that they go through.

In some ways I live through my characters. There is so much they can do that I can't.

Part of it is also a crazy need to get the stories out of my head. So many characters talking and wanting to be heard. It feels like my job to be their outlet. Maybe I'm just crazy.

What is your motivation?

Writing Leads

This is kind of exciting news and it shows that putting in hours of searching online can indeed pay off.

I have received three responses to freelance jobs. 

1. Textbroker.com

Don't have much on the how to of this site yet. Filled out a portfolio but need to do their writing sample.

2. Demand Studios

A freelance web site where authors first fill out an application then set up a profile. The jobs are selected by the author, then they have a certain timeline to write it. Many of the articles are how to's and such.

3. EmpowHer

A female health website which sent me an email in response to an author request. Authors write 2-5 articles a month (flash fiction size). 

I might actually make a little bit of money from writing. That is going to feel great.

Freelance

This is a topic that has interested me in the past. Because of the economy and current family financial situations it is something that I am considering again. I started to look for freelance writing jobs so that maybe I could get paid to write.

First thought - this is very confusing.

Where does one start?

How does freelance work?

Is there tax stuff involved?

I found a web site that had links to many options for viewing, both bidding and emailing requests.

http://www.freelancewriting.com/freelance-writing-jobs.php

I bid on a couple of jobs for writing articles and even a few ghost writing jobs.

When to write...

Some people are morning lovers. They enjoy waking up at the crack of dawn, watch the sun go up with a cup of coffee (or juice). I am not one of those people.

I don't write in the morning because I have a hard time functioning in the morning. My body likes to be asleep in morning more so than at night.

For my, the most productive writing time is 8pm to midnight. I can write during the day as well, but have a harder time not getting too distracted by the internet. I could close down the wireless connection but am not strong enough to do that. Like to have my internet available all the time.

The best time to write depends on the individual, but this works for me. Of course, if I get a job and have to work grave yard (which is possible) then that might change.

Today's picture book - The Princess' Purple Pants

topic choice

Today's topic  is how to choose a topic. 

I haven't written today's picture book yet because I'm not sure what to write. I have a list of ideas for children's books so it would seem that I wouldn't have this problem. However, when there are options it can sometimes be hard to make a decision.

This can happen often in writing, at least for those of us that have many ideas and only a certain amounts of time. With 40+ book/story ideas there are times when it is difficult to choose what to work on next.

Is there a solution?

Other than consider the options and choose, I'm really not sure. Decisions have to be made at some point and so that's how this goes.

Today's Book will be - I Want to be a Princess

Research

When it comes to writing, some stories require research and others do not.

For example: Yesterday's picture book about a girl and her imaginary friend did not require research. I wrote from my thoughts and that is it.

Today's picture book required research. I could have done without it but then I might have had an inaccurate character. The story is about a penguin and my friend who loves penguins will know if I write something that is not correct. So, I have done research as to type, location, diet, etc.

Research isn't easy and sometimes it isn't very fun. It depends on the writer, the subject and whether the writer really is interested in the subject. Some people even like research too much. There should be enough time spent on research to have a good, correct story but there is the risk of spending too much time researching. There has to be a limit so that the story can get written.

Today's picture book - Penny the Penguin

The Vocab Question

The first day of picture book writing week went well. I wrote "Flowers For Mom" yesterday. While writing it I came across an interesting issue. Towards the beginning of the story I had an issue of a word. I wanted to use the word "bouquet" but wasn't sure if it would be too difficult of a word.

Vocabulary is a good question when writing for children.

I asked a friend on writing.com about the word. She has a children's book published which is why I figured she would know the answer. And the verdict was; okay. It is a good idea to put in a couple of new words for children, especially if it might be a story that is read aloud. Just don't go overboard with the difficult words.

Today I am writing Hazel & Lilly. It's a story about a girl and her new imaginary friend.

Every Day

I have been trying to find the right way to start of this blog. Instead of doing an introductory post I have decided to get right down to business.  The goal of this blog is to talk about writing and that's what I'm going to do.

Write Every Day

Okay. This is a very difficult task and one that I rarely succeed at. The closest to writing every day for one month that I have accomplished is last month. I wrote a poem every day, except for one day that I didn't have Internet access, so I wrote two on the next day. I never write fiction every single day. Not even during National Novel Writing Month.

So this first week of May I am doing something unprecedented for one week. I am going to write a children's picture book, one a day, for the whole week. This is known as National Picture Book Writing Week.  http://paulayoo.com/blog

I have written one children's story in the past. This is going to be a challenge.

May 1st

Flowers For Mom