Writer – Mythic Scribes Test Site

Mastering Multiple POV in 6 Steps

Multiple POV storytelling has a bad rap.

Sure, the practice of splitting a single narrative across multiple characters’ perspectives has a long history. And its popularity continues to expand as our society grows ever more distrustful of singular truth, in favor of individual realities.

But multiple POV writing is not without its critics—and some of them are quite loud. Many writers and readers complain about poor or confusing execution. Others cite their traditional literary tastes. Why hop between multiple character’s minds, they argue, when you could tell a story more simply through one pair of eyes?

How to Spot Your Weaknesses as a Writer

by Alice Leiper

There’s a question that crops up on writing forums a lot: how do I improve my writing?

And quite often, the most common advice is “read and write lots”. Which is perfectly fine advice. Knowing what’s good and practicing your craft are great ways to imrpove.

But there’s only so far that advice can take you. At some point you’re going to need to follow a third piece of advice:

Know your weaknesses.

By identifying weaknesses, you can work harder on improving that aspect of your writing rather than just practicing everything and hoping for the best.

Assessing Your Writing – How Do You Know When It’s Good?

by Benjamin Clayborne

As writers, we ask ourselves this question at one time or another: How can I tell if my work is good?

This is the wrong question. The right question is, “How can I tell if my work is good enough to accomplish my goal?” And that, of course, depends on what your goal is.

If your goal is to sell a novel to a Big Six publisher, you’re going to have a very different standard than if your goal is simply to entertain a small audience on the Internet, or even if your goal is simply to finish NaNoWriMo.

If you’re writing a novel with the goal of finding an established publisher, then the novel only has to be able to impress at least one editor enough that she is willing to give you a contract.

So how can you tell if it’s good enough for that to happen?

Finding your Writer’s Voice

by Dave Robison

One of the fundamental challenges confronting every writer is “finding their voice”, their unique expression in the field or medium in which they’ve chosen to express themselves. When Alasdair Stuart – editor of The Hub e-zine and host of the horror podcast Pseudopod – was asked to identify the quality that defines the stories he’s drawn to, he sited, “a strong confident authorial voice. That feeling of, for want of a better word, swagger. If you can hit that point where you are in absolute control of your story… but it’s still you, then that really makes me sit up and take notice.”

We all strive for that effortless grace and utter conviction that transports our readers to the worlds we’ve crafted. It can’t be faked, applied, or forced. It just is, and the way to achieve such prose is NOT necessarily to write more.

Knowing What You Want

by Benjamin Clayborne

Question Mark | Image via Wikipedia — Do you know what you want?

It’s hard to know how to get started as a writer. Should you write short stories or a novel? Should you stick with one genre, or try several? Should you get an agent and submit to traditional publishers, or try the self-publishing route?

The answers to those questions depend entirely on what you want. A full-time career as a writer? Financial stability? (That’s a tough one to achieve by writing!) Fame and respect? To simply be able to say that you finished a novel-length story?

Some people say “I want to be a writer!” without really figuring out what that means. Other folks just want to be able to say “I’m a writer” at cocktail parties and high school reunions. They might not even need any publication credits; simply having tried makes them feel like a writer.