FaithWriters.com-Christian Writers Forum

Some quarters have just 10 random words or topics. Others are united by a common theme, which is usually obvious by the 2nd it 3rd week. In fact, I believe that now (unlike in the past) Deb might announce the theme straightaway. We're currently in a 'theme less' quarter. (When I first wrote this le...

Yep. That makes sense. I was just thinking of fairy tales where there is a narrator who makes comments like that. I can't say that I can think of any specific examples off the top of my head, but I know it's done sometimes. :) And yes, kids can definitely pick up more than we give them credit for a ...

Jan, would you say that, in general, it's more acceptable to have the narrator insert him/herself into the story for children's writing, and fairy tales? Using your example as a starting point, but making into a children's story, how acceptable is something like this? **** Now, you and I know that w...

How'd I do this time? Got it. It seems less likely to head hop when you use the "as if's" or "seem to say." Thanks, again. Lillian Exactly. Because, to use Jan's first example, it's not really Ben's thoughts. It's Jan's thoughts about what Ben MIGHT be thinking. Everything is st...

As you said, with third person, third person limited works best for the challenge due to limited word count. For me, 3rd person omniscient, where you hope from person to person, only works really well in fantasy/sci-fi. In fantasy and sci-fi, you are creating an entirely new world, and the only way ...

Oh boy. This is one of my favorite genres to write in, and I do it quite frequently. Lately, I've been doing poems based on Biblical stories, only because since the challenge changed to being judged by editors, I haven't placed with with anything but poetry or humor. Interestingly enough, Jan, I hav...

Jan, funny timing with this one. The other day, I was looking over some of the past lessons you'd done, and was thinking about this concept. I definitely agree. If a devotion is going to indicate that Christians need to improve in some area, then the author should include him/herself in that. Along ...

Oh my goodness. Really? REALLY?? I thought this entry was "terrible" at first. I just didn't turn out quite how I imagined, I thought it was "clunky" and I thought I repeated myself or the same idea too much. But apparently not! Wow. That was a nice surprise. *picks jaw up from f...

Congrats, Bea!! So happy to see you on that list.

Well. I wasn't really expecting that. Hoping? Yes. Expecting? Not really. Yay!

And a big CONGRATS to everyone else also! Way to go!

"Avoid starting a piece with dialogue." Why? What's wrong with using a bit of dialogue as a hook into a story? Okay. So Jan posted while I was writing this, and pretty much said what I was going to say, but I have an example of what Jan says about "meeting" the characters. When ...

Jane goes to the beach after the gaudy display of sunset has faded. She prefers the deepening sky, the long shadows of scrubby vegetation, the breath of waves on the shore. A blanket is in her bag, and a few ripe plums. She looks out on the water for a long time, mostly not thinking at all. There is...

Well, I am one who uses animals somewhat frequently. I have also used inanimate objects as my POV at least twice. I was going to to my "pebbles" story, but Jan already posted one she wrote from the exact same POV. So perhaps it's not as unique as I thought. I also did one from the POV of t...

Do you think it's safe to say that fantasy is commonly written in third person omniscient, maybe even more so than third person limited? To me, it makes sense in fantasy novels, because you need to get sense of an entire new world, and one character's POV isn't going to give you that whole world per...

Thanks, Allison! You've written here so long, and you've done so well, that I can count on you to have examples of almost every lesson I post. What a valuable service to the other participants! Yeah, but I just realized I didn't follow your rules either... I liked to three challenge articles, and i...