Here’s to Changes

Fat-free yogurt, pecans, and some m&m’s. Not a bad snack, right? I will take any little victory. I must conquer this monster I carry around with me. She’s a part of me in every conceivable way demanding much more attention than she deserves. I have rid myself of 17 pounds of high-maintenance demon. 58 pounds to go!

The house is sparkling right up. Office organized and shiny. Game room de-cluttered though in need of a coat of paint. Hallway and stairs vacuumed awaiting a shampooing. Our Eighth Annual Fourth of July BBQ is three days away. It will be the first year in our new house. I want the house to show off for our guests. Cleaning is not typically a top priority for me as my scattered brain pulls me in multiple directions. I’m trying to be better about the house.

I might be making too many changes at once, but I certainly have never been one for doing anything half-ass.

Yesterday, I successfully integrated the chapters already written for my fantasy novel into the new outline. One of the authors at ComicPalooza asked about what voice we use when we write. For some reason, this basic question had not occurred to me. I realized I was writing in third person omniscient pulling viewpoints and thoughts from whichever characters I felt like featuring from paragraph to paragraph. The problem? I never knew when to progress the story with description or when to guide the reader with dialogue. How much should be mystery and how many thoughts should I make public?

The author said he wrote in third person limited. Ding, ding, ding! Light bulb moment! I had never heard of that term yet somehow knew exactly what it meant. I should be writing from the mind of one person. As soon as I started changing my method, what to describe, when to add dialogue, how to move the scene along, all became self-evident.  I do intend on switching who we’re seeing the story through from chapter to chapter. I don’t know if it will work, but it is making the words leave my brain and appear on the screen. Thank you again, ComicPalooza!

I had to rework the chapters I had already written and change the plot details to fit my new voice and outline. Now that I have completed that portion, it’s time to move on to fresh chapters. Hopefully, the writing will come a bit easier.

A nod to one of my favorite series written in third person limited: