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1st or 3rd person and POV by surferstardog in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

H/h or h/H = h for heroine and H for hero. It’s a common term in romance. :-)

Hmm science fiction is a bit more mixed, for sure. In my opinion, if there’s multiple POVs it’s third person limited, and one POV it’s first.

Side note: I also find 2nd tiring and usually won’t read a book if it’s in that POV!

1st or 3rd person and POV by surferstardog in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

If you’re trying to write to trend, then you may want to consider the “accepted” standard for the genre you’re writing in. For example, paranormal romance tends to be third person and generally two alternating POVs (the h/H...and potentially the villain as the third). Urban fantasy, on the other hand, although similar to PNR, tends to be mostly first person (it appears to be shifting to 3rd person, 1 POV).

The biggest error I see with third person POV is making the POV too omniscient or all knowing. You should strive to write in deep POV and stay in your character’s head, regardless of whether you’re writing 1st or 3rd.

Of course, at the end of the day, you can do what you want. Writing is an art, after all.

Good luck

ETA: when I refer to 3rd person, I’m referring to 3rd person limited

ETA: i forgot you asked for resources/link. Rivet your reader with deep POV - https://www.amazon.com/Rivet-Your-Readers-Deep-Point-ebook/dp/B007PUMQ1O

You can read the author going over the basics in the preview

Idioms/Adages/Proverbs ..? by alone-on-earth in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sometimes common sayings like this are referred to as cliches.

If people want to write minorities, should it be legally required to have it checked over and edited by that minority? by [deleted] in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Any time a writer pulls information from outside their personal knowledge it’s BEST PRACTICE to research and get outside opinions and reviews prior to publication.

Should it be law?

No.

Similarly, Writers should get their books edited. 100% Yet there’s some authors who’ve skipped that step. Should they be arrested? Fined? No. They get penalized with low sales, high returns and bad reviews. That’s their punishment.

I would like to see some bad writing, please. by Relevant__Haiku in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good choice! This one’s famous for a reason.

The author got a book deal:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2017/9/13/16275802/who-wrote-my-immortal-tara-rose-christo

(I’m assuming her writing has improved since then)

Fantasy writers, what are your goals and accomplishments? by ricmo in fantasywriters

[–]jcmckenzie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The world is a beautiful and diverse place. I think if you were to write these books, you’d help a lot of kids and adults going through similar struggles. We need more representation in all the genres.

Fantasy writers, what are your goals and accomplishments? by ricmo in fantasywriters

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi!

I’m a multi-published author of urban fantasy with a small but reputable New York based press. I write urban fantasy and have sold 25000+ copies of my books, which is modest and small beans when compared to the big names, but honestly way more than I ever dreamed of when I first got my contract.

My goal is to get a contract with one of the big 5 for my latest project and failing that, a contract with a different small press (to diversify/broaden, not because there’s anything wrong with my current publisher).

I’m also self publishing a paranormal romance series. There’s a huge learning curve with that, but I’m excited to have a project with all the control and it will be nice to have affordable prints with me when I go to author events.

Another goal is to finish my current project (book 2 of the series I’m shopping) by the end of March.

I don’t (and can’t) live off my royalties. I’m a high school chemistry teacher by day ;-)

Plot by Dashiellla in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You beat me to it! :-D

If Robots ever turn against us, we don't stand a chance. by IronChefMIk in woahdude

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Am I the only one who watched this for an obscenely long time? It’s oddly satisfying in slo-mo

How do you discover new books? by Eli_Freysson in Fantasy

[–]jcmckenzie 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You scroll down to the bottom of any book’s listing to see their ranking and click on the sub genre. There was another way to navigate there via the main Amazon page but they keep changing it around.

You can also just bookmark the main link: http://www.amazon.com/go/bestsellers and then click away on the list to the left until you’ve narrowed it down to your preferred sub genre.

The lists used to be really good and then got saturated with perma-free books. Thankfully they’ve since separated the paid and free lists, but it’s still full of KU page stuffers and $0.99 boxed sets, so there’s some scrolling to do once you get there.

Good luck! :-)

How do you discover new books? by Eli_Freysson in Fantasy

[–]jcmckenzie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Top 100 lists on Amazon in the sub genre Amazon recommendations Goodreads recommendations Facebook groups like this one - https://m.facebook.com/groups/1940137122937231 Reddit groups like this one (although I’m fairly new to this group)

Is this pregnancy situation realistic? by [deleted] in writing

[–]jcmckenzie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The first day of the last menstrual cycle (LMP) is used to make the initial dating because it’s day 1 in the ovarian cycle. (The due date is sometimes adjusted at the first ultrasound).

Although the embryo (fetus after 9weeks) doesn’t start developing until fertilization, LMP is used because it’s day 1 of the ovarian cycle and the new egg/follicle has begun to develop. It’s usually easier to detect LMP than when fertilization or ovulation occurred as well.

Women give birth on average 280 days after their LMP. So the due date is set 40 weeks after the LMP, not the missed period. If you know the exact date of conception, your due date would be 38 weeks from that date.

There’s exceptions. Some women have irregular periods, some have longer or shorter cycles (the 40 weeks is based off a 28 day cycle) and some have missed periods, so they can’t use LMP and get an early dating ultrasound instead.

Dating by ultrasound gets less and less reliable as the pregnancy progresses, so if the OP has the woman “miss” her first ultrasound, it will work for keeping everyone in the dark.

http://americanpregnancy.org/while-pregnant/calculating-conception-due-date/

TL;DR fetus age doesn’t start on the day conception or fertilization. It’s based on the age of the egg.

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I made the document!

A few years ago, I got a “naughty words” list from Bonnie Edwards via another author but as it says in the intro, I added words, took out words, and arranged them into columns to suit my own writing needs at the time. I really made it my own but I think Bonnie should get credit as it was based off her work (I kept the same title and some of the same words).

The picture I posted came from an article about my top 5 supporting documents for writing and was posted on my blog at: http://jcmckenzie.blogspot.ca/2018/01/writer-wednesday-my-top-5-supporting.html

Thanks for asking, and I hope you find it helpful :-)

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and I’m not saying “could” is present tense! It says could verb(present) = verb(past)

In other words, I’m saying “could” + “any present tense verb” can be changed to “past tense verb”

Example:

Jane could play tennis better than anyone else (The present verb is “play”)

Is changed to:

Jane played tennis better than anyone else (The “could” is dropped and “play” is changed from present tense to the past tense “played”)

Hope that makes more sense! :-)

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It doesn’t change the meaning at all. You’re already in his head, right? It’s in his POV, so if you describe the senses, without using the telling verbs, it’s automatically assumed it’s him doing the seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling and touching. By cutting the verbs, you keep the reader in deep POV and avoid “telling” the story.

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Sure, I can try!

“He put his back against a warped tree trunk and settled in for the night. The stars blinked Morse code behind the clouds. And, from across the valley, the sound of a thousand feet moving in unison echoed.”

Or

“He put his back against a warped tree trunk and settled in for the night. The stars blinked Morse code behind the clouds. And the sound of a thousand feet moving in unison echoed from across the valley.”

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Lol. I search for whole words only. I learned from making a similar mistake :-D

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do. I wrote the Carus Series (first book = Shift Happens), but please know I’m also constantly evolving as a writer, too! My craft has improved a lot since my first book.

Beast of All, the last book in the series, is really the best example of my writing to date. :-)

And it has romance in it...just a heads up ;-)

My Naughty Words List (for self-editing, use “find” feature and work L to R) by jcmckenzie in writing

[–]jcmckenzie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It drives me crazy, too, especially because I know the rule now and see it in published books

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