First Person: I was struggling. This first-person POV versus third-person POV thing had me confused. When to use which? Could the same book have both? Opinions flew at me fast and — dare I finish the cliché? — furious. Some said if I was to use both POVs in the same paragraph, it would prove […]

Telling a story is not the same as showing it. Telling, or exposition, is a mere recitation of the facts. Exposition is telling. To illustrate the difference between telling and showing, think of a trade show. You’ve got all the booths lined up and everybody is hawking something. Why do you walk by some tables […]

Tiffany ring or Tiffany-style ring? Yes, there is a difference, as Costco Membership Warehouse Club found out when they lost in court to Tiffany & Co., the jeweler made famous for inventing the four-prong setting showcasing jeweled stones. It seems the signage in the Costco stores did not use the phrase Tiffany-style rings to describe […]

A friend of mine I know in real life (nameless he shall remain because I do like him) posted a long whine on his Facebook page this morning. The whine was all about how he is “so tired of people putting words in my mouth, thinking they know how I feel, accusing me of things […]

All storytellers bump up against the same challenges: What world will their characters inhabit? Will the world be large or will the story focus on a narrow segment of it? If a narrow world, will there be a broad sampling of characters? What are the rules of engagement in this world? What outside forces will […]

A friend of mine, Marcus Dewan Williams, owns a highly successful independent bookstore. He posted this on Facebook: Too many self-published authors are putting out LOW QUALITY books. POOR cover designs. POOR typesetting. POOR grammar and etc. smh From the beginning Marcus has supported those who couldn’t get a publishing deal and went the self-pub route. […]