I've been out of office for the past few weeks. While I'm not ready to share my story yet (and I don't even know if I will be any time soon, or at all...) I did want to come on here and tell all of you a little bit about why you haven't heard or seen from me for a while.
Are you team Visual Brain or team Word Brain?
Being an author is a lot of work. Hard work. Weeks, months, and sometimes even years have gone into writing that book you're so proud of. But that's not all. We have to write while staying present online (preferably well before your book release date is remotely close), doing offline marketing, online marketing, plotting your next story, working through yet another editing round, and don't forget regular home life, other hobbies, family, friends, maintaining a healthy lifestyle and sleeping at least 7 hours a night... the day simply does not have enough hours to fit everything in.
Happy International Women's Day!
I want to start this entry with stating that I HATE the word "female author". Because there's no such thing as a "male author" in our day-to-day conversations. I have been contemplating what I want to call myself ever since I started my authorpreneurship (more on that later). In my opinion, "woman author" sounds as dumb as "female author", maybe even more so. Nobody alive in the 21st century uses the word "authoress" anymore, and I don't even think "writress" is a word (judging by the people who messaged me when I called myself a writress a while ago). So I'm still coming up with the right name and until then... I'll just use "author". Because I am one. An author who happens to be a woman as well.
I am so happy you're here, because today I am going to tell you something that can make or break the way your story is received: its point of view (POV). Simply put: the eyes through which the story is viewed. Your story's point of view is groundbreaking, because it determines exactly what your readers knows, sees, and feels. There are three different POVs: first person POV, second person POV, and third person POV. All of these options have their pros and cons. After reading this blogpost, you will know exactly which POV might fit your story best. Ready? Let's go!
I know, I know, it's February 15. Valentine's Day has come and gone. According to my Instagram feed, yesterday was the start of many new romances and engagements. Which means that lots of romantic dates are on the horizon for most of us! Now that everything is opening up again and spring is in the air, the sensible thing to do is to go for a walk, eat out or do a fun activity together. However, we all know the feeling of simply wanting to stay in and doing something fun together at home. While it's all fun and games, romantic movies are not necessarily the best option for a date night at home.
Every story needs structure. There, I said it. Don't come at me, pantsers, I promise you will agree with me as well after reading this blogpost. Because even if you don't like to plan a thing for your stories, you should at least use this amount of structure...
People who know me know that I am a planner. A die hard, no-nonsense, make-use-of-every-hour-of-every-day kind of planner. I plan work- and social-related things every day, keep track of countless lists in color coded maps on my phone, in my laptop, in my notebooks. I have to regulate my emotions every time the things don't go as planned... Long story short: I love structure. I could name dozens of reasons why. I'm a Virgo, I'm the oldest child, I have the memory of Patrick Star and I can't for the life of me remember the thousands of things I still want to do if I don't write them down. But the truth is, it wasn't always like this for me...
Imagining what our characters look like is one of the most fun things about inventing people to write about. More often than not, we have an exact idea about what our characters look like. It's not weird if your first instinct is to want to describe every single detail that is a part of your character, but...Please don't do that.As much fun as it is for us to see our characters before our eyes, it's the same way for our readers. Just think about it. I bet that if you are anything like me, you've yelled at a film adaptation for not casting the right actor for that one character. Do you know why that is? Because your mind came up with a version of that character all by itself.If you really want to describe physical characteristics, focus on distinctive features that tell us something about your characters. Like, for example:• A birthmark• Scars• The way they wear their hair, scarf or other headwear• Wrinkles, pimples or crows feet• Their postureAlso, remember that physique isn't everything. There are tons of ways to give your readers a clear image of the character you're writing. These are things that you could weave into your story as well:• The sound of their voice• How they smile and laugh• Their scent• How they use their hands while talking• How they make eye contactI promise you, your characters will come more alive once you ditch the detailed physique charts and start envisioning your characters standing right in front of you.
Today, I want to talk to you about who inspired the main character of my next book. My Slavic readers will probably know (about) her, her name is Morana. She is the Slavic goddess of death, winter and dreams (nightmares, to be exact), and I have always been fascinated by her. A few months ago (after I already wrote about 30K words on my first draft) I decided to not only name my main character after her, but to use Morana's story as an inspiration for my book. You can read more about that here.
People often think that the most important thing about a story character is the way they look or what their name is. That is so far from the truth that it hurts my writer heart. Of course, it's nice to fantasize about our own characters! It's one of the most fun parts to do as a writer! And yes, part of fantasizing about our own characters is to imagine what they would look like, what they would like and what they do in their free time. But, and this might be a little bit controversial, I believe that you don't need to know all of those things to write a good story character.
