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First-Person POV: The Good and the Bad
“The truth is, I hate not being the first person narrator all the way through! To paraphrase David Copperfield, I don’t know whether I’m the hero or the victim of this tale. But either way, shouldn’t I dominate it?” ― Anne Rice, The Queen of the Damned As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for third-person point-of-view…
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Wattpad, New Goosebumps Books, Woke Sci-Fi, and more…
$400M Fiction Giant Wattpad Wants To Be Your Literary Agent (Forbes) It’s not a revolutionary idea. Blogs, Tumblr posts and Twitter accounts have all been turned into additional forms of media over the years—with varying degrees of success. Wattpad’s greatest competitive advantage is, simply, its scale. It may never hit on the next Fifty Shades of…
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Mark Twain on Adverbs…
“Substitute ‘damn’ every time you’re inclined to write ‘very;’ your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be.” Mark Twain
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3rd Person POV: Pros and Cons
Maisie wasn’t sure if she was hearing voices outside her room or actually going crazy. Have you ever vacillated between which point-of-view to use for your story? I sure have. I’m a sucker for third-person and the old-fashioned feel of it (although, I want to be edgy enough to try second-person someday). Typically, I opt…
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French Bookshops Revolt, Dressing Your Characters, and more…
How do you choose an outfit for a fictional character? 5 authors explain. (Vox) I asked the authors of five buzzy novels to select one important look they’ve created for a specific character and dissect what the ensemble means to the character. How does she choose to dress herself, and what does that signify about…
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Waking Writer Wants to Hear from You…
In an effort to keep content fresh and interesting, I want to hear from you! What content are you enjoying the most and would like to see more of? Take the poll below. Your continued viewership and support is greatly appreciated! Berneta L. Haynes, Editor
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Feminist Dystopias, African Fiction, Harry Potter, and more…
Why are feminist dystopias so hot right now? An author sheds light (EW) Alongside fellow recent feminist dystopias like Siobhan Adcock’s The Completionist and Leni Zumas’ Red Clocks, Vox reflects ongoing conversations around the mistreatment of women through a near-apocalyptic lens. In this case, Dalcher imagines a near-future U.S. in which women have been banned from speaking more than 100…
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Fan Fiction, Authors Earning Less, and more…
How free should novelists be to imagine radically different lives? (The Guardian) My new novel may need justifying. Half of it is narrated by Sofia, a 17-year-old girl born in Cairo; I’m a 47-year-old man who has never lived outside the UK. More to the point, the story opens with Sofia arriving in Syria to…
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Racist Sci-Fi, Novels Steering Boys Away from Toxic Masculinity, and more…
Inside the World of Racist Science Fiction (NY Times) Most of the books are self-published. Others are distributed by small, activist imprints or the publishing arms of white nationalist organizations. They are sold online, at gun shows or person to person. This scattershot distribution system makes it hard to track sales, but the more popular…
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To Write Fan Fiction or Not, and more…
A Published Author Told Me To Stop Writing Fan Fiction — But The Lunar Chronicles Author Marissa Meyer Disagrees (Bustle) Undoubtedly this woman meant well — and there is, of course, some truth to her words. Unless you’re the rare exception, à la 50 Shades or After, odds were my Star Wars and Spider-Man fics…
Waking Writer
By Berneta L. Haynes
From the Editor
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