Writer's View: The Power of a Word

"What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet."

-Juliet Capulet, Romeo and Juliet

The age old question, pondered by the love-struck Juliet from her balcony, so many years ago. What power does a name have? Wouldn't the person or object be the same if it were called something else?

Anne Shirley answers the question for us, with her infamously funny and childish rhetoric when she claims that "[she doesn't] believe a rose would be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage."

While changing the name of a rose might not actually change how it looks or smells, calling it a skunk cabbage would most certainly change how we feel about the flower.

For that reason, yes, there is power in names and words. Juliet's pondering was thanks to her love interest being the enemy of her household, but even she would surely agree with Anne Shirley.

Writer's View: PoV Switches

Point of View switches can be powerful tools, if done correctly, or incredibly jarring and disrupting when done poorly.

A Point of View switch is when the author switches the story to another character's perspective. This can be done in both first person and third person, although generally it's less necessary in third person, but more difficult in first person.

An example of this is in The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini. In the first book in the series, Eragon, the reader follows solely in a single point of view; that of the main character, Eragon.

Writer's View: Point of View

I've read and written a lot of stories in my life, and one thing I noticed very early on is how different a story can feel when you shift a Point of View (PoV).

One of my earliest memories of reading a first person PoV was around 6 or 8 years old, when I was reading Goosebumps.

Goosebumps books are famously written in first person PoV from the protagonist's (although sometimes they end up being the antagonist, but that's for another day) perspective. It's a very easy and effective way to place the reader in the middle of the story and elicit the feeling of fear that is desired when reading a scary story. This started me down a path of noticing how PoV can change the entire feeling of a story, and I began to experiment with it myself.

Point of View can be a very effective method of creating different emotions in a reader. It's also very useful to signify they type of story you're telling. There's many different types of PoV, and PoV switches, but I want to talk about some popular ones and how they effect the story.

STARK CONTRAST: Sneak Peak!

I think it's time for a little sneak peak of Stark Contrast! If you're wondering where you can get your own copy, check it out on my website here! 

Writer's View: Character Development

There's a lot of things to think about when writing a story; be it a novel, a short story, even a movie or television show.

If your story is fiction, there's a good chance that all of your characters are created in your own mind. The writer is the god of the universe they are creating, and because of that, they are entirely responsible to make sure the characters are properly fleshed out.

I'm talking about character development.

A Guide to Understanding the Writer in Your Life

I am a writer. And I am very aware that I don't see the world like most people.

It's been brought to my attention time and again that I see the world through a different lens than most people. I don't know if it's because I am a writer that I see it this way, or I am a writer because I see the world differently. Perhaps it was a learned behavior, or perhaps it was written in the stars from the dawn of time. Who ever really knows with these things?

Having a writer in your family can be hard (I assume, I am the writer in my family, but I've been told it's difficult). So I came up with a list of things that writers go through, so that those of you that are wondering what's going on behind those tired, crazy eyes of ours can understand why we act like insane people. Because we're not actually insane, we only act like we are sometimes.

So here are 11 things that are things you need to know about the Writer in your life.

Valentine's Treat (The Elevator Scene)

Happy Valentines Day guys!

In honor of the day of love, I thought I'd share the infamous elevator scene from A State of Gray (all good romances need an elevator scene). Enjoy!

(And if you like what you're reading, and don't have the book yet, check it out on Amazon.com, it's available on Paperback and Kindle!)

Also, obviously, spoiler alert.