What Kind of Creature Are You?

I am a creature of habit. When I go to my favorite restaurant I usually order the same meal. If I’m daring, I might rotate between two different meals. When I vacation in a certain city, I tend to stay at the same hotel. I wake up at the same time every morning, whether I have work or not, and I essentially follow the same routine every day. Sounds a bit boring doesn’t it, but to me it’s comfortable. I like knowing what to expect, but I’ve got to be honest, sometimes it bores me too.

Sometimes I get in a rut and need to shake things up a bit, you know, live a little. So from time to time I’ll get wild and switch my brand of chocolate cupcake or order the Chalupa instead of a Chimichanga. I’m a wild and crazy guy.

I notice I get into similar ruts in my writing. The rut I noticed most recently is that I write everything in 3rd person. There’s nothing wrong with third person. I enjoy reading it and when I envision a story in my mind, I usually view it like I would watch a TV show or movie, which lends itself to 3rd person point of view. But I have to ask myself “Do I dare try something new?” My answer this week, is “yes”!

My first two completed manuscripts, including Defensive Tactics, and my current Work In Progress are all 3rd person so I decided to shake things up. This week I started another WIP in 1st person POV. I’m the last of the party animals. I have to admit, this new experiment makes me a little nervous. Can I do it? Will it suck rocks? Is it a total waste of my time? The answers are- I don’t know, I don’t know, and NO. I will never know the answer to the first two questions if I don’t try, but regardless of whether it turns into a publishable manuscript or not, my new 1st person WIP is not a waste of my time because it is forcing me to stretch and grow and experiment. So far I love it.

A couple of years ago I started writing Defensive Tactics because I was curious if I could write a novel. It was an experiment. I had never written anything before, unless you count college papers, which I don’t. I wrote my second manuscript, Crater Lake: Battle for Wizard Island because I love adventures and treasure hunts and I wondered if I could write a mid-grade fantasy that my kids would enjoy. My kids love it but the publishing jury is still out. In both cases I took a chance to try something new.

There is comfort and safety in sticking with habit and the familiar, but there can be excitement, challenge and reward in broadening horizons.

I have a couple of questions for you.

1- What kind of a creature are you?
2- What kind of ruts do you get into? Writing? Reading?
3- How do you get out of it?
4- How many WIP do you have going at the same time?

I would love to read your answers and learn from your wisdom.

Tense and Point of View

By Nichole Giles

Obviously, no two people think exactly alike. So how do we expect that our readers will all think the way we do? Like the same things we do? Prefer to read your story from one point of view or another? I think I’ve had the third person versus first person point of view discussion at least two-hundred times. Every time with a different person. Predictably, no two authors, editors, or agents share one exact opinion. And that’s totally and completely okay.

But what about tense? I’ve done the past tense thing for a long time, because, is there any other way to tell a story? Just to be clear, though, I’m talking about active past tense. As few as possible “was, had, did” words. Still, books I’ve written up to now are told very much in a “this is what happened” type manner.

Recently, I’ve been reading a lot of bestselling YA books that have been written in present tense. Most I’ve seen are done in first person, but this week I read a couple that are done in third person present tense. It’s different. Makes the plot and actions feel so much more immediate, more urgent.

And I like it! A lot. In both first and third person, present tense is becoming the hot new thing in YA lit.

Not everyone can write in present tense and have it read smoothly. Not everyone has the ability to create that sense of urgency that this particular style demands. And that’s okay too. We all have our own style, and our own stories, which each demand a different point of view, a different tense.

But if you have an urge to try something new, here are a few tips I’ve given myself while I experiment with this new trend.

1. Keep it short and simple by using as few words as possible.
2. Internal dialogue is extremely important, so make sure to include lots.
3. Remember that it’s okay to skip over large passages of time as long as the reader knows you’ve done it.
4. Read as many books done in this tense as possible.

Give it a try. It may not be for you, but it’s certainly a great writing exercise everyone should try.

A short aside here. Not everyone likes reading present tense and it does take some getting used to. If you’re the type of person who absolutely abhors it, that’s great. Our differences are what make us unique, what make our work ours. But I do recommend that you try writing a simple paragraph in this manner, just to shake things up and give your brain something new to work on. Stretch your writing fingers.

To learn more about what I’m doing these days, check out my personal blog. Or for more writing tips, come visit the LDS Writer’s Blogck, where I post every Thursday.

That’s it for now, folks. Until next time, write on.

Nichole