6 Questions to Ask Yourself if a Point of View is Necessary for Your Novel

I've read many novels where the book had one or more point of views that just seemed there. They didn't add any special element to the story or enhance the plot and seemed to even bog down the story. Every element to your story should point toward the main plot. If they don't then they're sandbags on the story. Tackling more than one point of view can be very challenging. It isn't easy to get all of the point of views to flow together. 

My favorite example of an excellently handled multi point of view story has to be the Lord of the Rings. Each point of view directs toward the main plot. Each one weaves expertly together. All of the point of views are necessary, and I can't imagine one taken out. Another great example is Stranger Things. The point of views seem unrelated then they all coalesce for a stunning climax, each character has a prime role to play in the final battle. 

The Bloodstained Searchbar Tag & The Daily Quote Challenge

I'm very excited about these tags, especially since they're all going to be relevant to books and NaNoWriMo! Yays! My thanks to Melissa Gravitis @ Quill Pen Writer who both created and tagged me in the Bloodstained Searchbar Tag and thank you to Emma @ Creative Explorations and the Author @ To Write or Not to Write for tagging me in the Daily Quote Challenge!

A Book Review A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

At seven minutes past midnight, thirteen-year-old Conor wakes to find a monster outside his bedroom window. But it isn't the monster Conor's been expecting-- he's been expecting the one from his nightmare, the nightmare he's had nearly every night since his mother started her treatments. The monster in his backyard is different. It's ancient. And wild. And it wants something from Conor. Something terrible and dangerous. It wants the truth. From the final idea of award-winning author Siobhan Dowd-- whose premature death from cancer prevented her from writing it herself-- Patrick Ness has spun a haunting and darkly funny novel of mischief, loss, and monsters both real and imagined.

Writing Lessons from Movies: The Jungle Book (1967) versus The Jungle Book (2016)

The Jungle Book is one of my favorite class stories. I've loved the concept of a boy raised by animals ever since I was a little kid, especially in the mysterious land of India. However, even from a young age Disney's The Jungle Book nor any other versions of the Jungle Book seemed to capture the essence I always wanted it to have. Something was always missing, but I didn't know what it is.

When I watched the 2016 version of the Jungle Book back in April, I was absolutely blown away. I knew in my heart this was a movie Rudyard Kipling would be proud of. The movie added in all of the elements I felt like were missing in past movies. This is by far my favorite version of this story. (If you want a full review you can just out my review of the film on Geeks Under Grace.) This movie has so many great story elements that I just have to have a blog posts dedicated to it. I made this a versus edition, because I want to show how this movie built on the original animated film. Let's jump right in!

Interview with Silanoc (Starbloods)!

Silanoc

Me: 

Hey, everyone! It's time for this month's character interview! Today's is with one of the side characters from my high fantasy series Starbloods. If you want to know a little about him before we start, check out his bio. Now let's get started! *turns in interview chair to Silanoc* Good afternoon, Silanoc.

Silanoc:
*sitting straight, has a light British accent* Good afternoon, Victoria. How are faring?

Me:
Pretty well, thank you. Are you ready to get started?

Silanoc:
I am.

So Your Character Has These Various Injuries ...

Characters get all sorts of injuries, but we don't always experience these injuries. Nor do we want to many a time. I've gotten some interesting injuries, so I thought I'd make a post about it. Perhaps this can help you out if you have one of your characters with one of these injuries--or give you some plot bunnies on new ways you can hurt your characters. 

Warning: I will be showing some slightly graphic images of what these injuries look like. Proceed at your own risk.

So Your Character is From Slovakia ... Featuring Simona @ Girl with Cloudy Head

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last week's So Your Character is From China ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

This has to be the country I'm least familiar out of these posts so far. Before reading this post I knew next to nothing about Slovakia, only that it's a country in Eastern Europe. I know so much more after reading this post!

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Six-Question Character Challenge: The Villains of Starbloods

I've talked about my main characters for Starbloods a lot on the blog, but I haven't touched very much on the villains, so I'm taking the opportunity to do that. I swiped this tag from Sara Letourneau just for this purpose. 

Here's a brief explanation from Briana deSilva @ The Story Part, the creator of the tag:

The first prompt asks for a “contradiction.” In case you start wondering what this means, it’s basically this: every important character in your story should have something contradictory or seemingly inconsistent about their personality. We see this with people in real life, and it’s the mark of a rounded, three-dimensional character.

Note that this is probably the hardest of the prompts, so don’t worry if it takes some deep thinking. But please consider: if you can’t find any contradiction at all in your character’s personality, it’s probably a sign you need to develop him/her a little more. So, it’s a good exercise to do, no matter what.

The second prompt asks for a Meyers-Briggs personality type. If you’re unsure what type your character is, you can take the test on their behalf here.

Also, the fourth prompt asks how your character would slay a dragon. This is purely hypothetical; there are no dragons in my book, for example, so the prompt can be applied to any genre you want!

With that aside, let's begin!

A Book Review of A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes

Buy from Amazon!

Parvin Blackwater is dead.

At least that's what the Council and the world thinks. But her sacrifice tore down part of the Wall long enough to stir up hope and rebellion in the people. Now she will rise again. Strong, free, and fearless.

Parvin and Solomon must uncover the mysterious clues that Jude left behind in order to destroy the projected Wall once and for all. Meanwhile, the Council schemes to new levels of technology in its attempts to keep the people contained. Can a one-handed Radical and a scarred ex-Enforcer really bring shalom to the world?

So Your Character is From China ... Featuring Alyssa @ The Devil Orders Takeout & Grace Chan

It's time for this month's So Your Character is From Another Country! This is a monthly or bimonthly segment where I interview lovely volunteers from around the world to give you a firsthand account of being a citizen of their respective country. I'm hoping to encourage international diversity, break stereotypes, and give writers a crash course on how to write a character from these different places on our planet. If you haven't checked out last month's So Your Character is From Peru ... be sure to hop on over there and give it a read!

Out of the many SYCIFAC posts I feel like I'm more familiar with this one. I had Chinese friends growing up, so I was exposed to some Chinese culture, Chinese language, and authentic cuisine. My family spent New Years with our friends the Ma's and so we got to participate in some of their traditions. We also got addicted to dim sum. I've also watched a lot of Mulan and Sagwa. Not sure how much that counts, but I love those two characters. Alyssa and Grace are here to shed even more light on the subject! I'm so excited! 

Disclaimer: The content below may be culturally shocking to some. Each of these posts are as uncensored as possible to preserve the authenticity of the cultures of each of the interviewees.

(None of the Images are Mine)

Beautiful Books 2016 ~ Introduce Your Novel: Starbloods

NaNoWriMo approaches so it's that time of year again! Time for Beautiful Books! This is a link-up hosted by Paper Fury and Further Up and Further in! Instead of the usual character focus, this time it's about your whole book in preparation for NaNo! I've been participating in it for the last two years with Red Hood (Post #1, #2, and #3) and Subsapien: Hybrid (Post #1, #2, and #3). It's been great fun! I'm going at NaNoWriMo again with Cassia and I'm so excited to have her as my writing buddy, especially while writing a novel I've had for so long. If you'd like to participate, head on over to Paper Fury or Further Up and Further In!

So Your Character Has Synesthesia ... Featuring Liz @ Out of Coffee Out of Mind

The first time I'd heard about synesthesia was actually in a Good Mythical Morning episode. According to wikipedia, synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon "in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway." Basically, this means people with this phenomenon can do things such as hear colors or see sounds. I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome.

Why a Writer Should Travel: Quell Your Fears and Embrace Inspiration

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. 

~ Saint Augustine

I have a strong case of Bilbo Baggins-grade wanderlust. I adore traveling. I love going to places I've never been and see what all that place has in store. I've been out of the country twice, soon to be thrice. I've been to ten states. I've traveled to Paris, New York City, Edmonton, Miami, Philadelphia, Banff, and more. I've been as far south as Key Largo, as far north as Alberta, Canada, as far east as Ecouen, France, and as far west in the states as Missouri. I've traveled by plane, bus, car, and train. I've seen mountains so high you can see them from planes, oceans so vast that seem to stretch on into infinity, and caves so deep you don't know how far down they go. And I don't plan to stop there. 

All of this is to say that all of these experiences have massively shaped my writing. If I stayed in my little town of Perry, GA that I grew up in my writing would not be the same. I've seen many writers afraid to travel. I'm not talking about not financially able, but afraid to travel. I see many writers afraid to leave their bookworm caves, because it's a big world out there, they're just a little hobbit writer. But this hurts your writing. You're restricted by inexperience. Traveling has so many benefits for a writer and here are five that I believe are the most important.