When you get an email with the subject line: You & Your Talented Client, the Sadist, it's not a surprise that the pursed-lip, squinty-eyed, Church Lady acolyte spam filter says "not so fast, bucko."
I've learned to comb through the contents every once in a while, and boy am I glad I did, cause here's one of the most interesting posts about Jeff Somers and The Digital Plague that I've seen in a while.
Dawn Metcalf is a writer herself so it's interesting to see what she has to say about first person POV and sympathetic/redeemable characters.
I particularly liked what she said here: "I can empathize with Avery Cates (even though I’d never want to meet an Avery Cates!) but it’s not because I can sympathize with him; it’s because in the pages of Somers’ book, I am Avery Cates."
I have a love/hate relationship with my Spam filter too.
ReplyDeleteI love the info about 1st person POV and the "I's" "Me's" and "My's"...I don't write first person except for children's books but I can see how that is annoying. Thanks for the advice!
As for The Digital Plague...sounds interesting. I think I may put it on the "to read" list for the summer!
Thanks!
Interesting..RE POV: it seems much easier to find a voice using first person. In my earlier writing, my first person short stories took on the tone of the main protagonist, which makes sense because you're seeing his/her world anyways. I.e., if the protag is a tween, it makes sense for the story to read like it's being told by a tween.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, I've had (possibly still having) a hard time finding a good voice with third, but I think third person narratives are taken more seriously, which is why I'm writing my first novel using third.
I stay away from 1st person, but some of my favorite books were written in the 1st person.
ReplyDeleteDammit! I knew there was a hook in that worm and I bit anyway. And now I'll be buying a copy of "The Electric Church".
ReplyDeleteKudo's to Dawn Metcalf for writing such a compelling review. I'll have to stop by the book store on the way home. I hope someday she will review one of my books once I'm published. And who could ask more of their agent. Well played, Ms. Reid.
That was some review. And all true!
ReplyDelete(Waving fangirl pom pons...)
Thanks for the link! I've never heard of this book before. I linked to it as well as Dawn Metcalf's post today.
ReplyDeletehttp://lcgant.blogspot.com
I also find it easier to get the voice of a character in first person. Sometimes, if I'm having trouble getting a third person character to come alive, I'll write it in first person and it never fails to perk it right up. Then I can re-write it in third person.
ReplyDeleteAnd what does this have to do with Avery Cates?
Not a thing. But I think I'll order a Cates book to see exactly now not nice this guy is.