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WOW! Women On Writing
Classes & Workshops
Spotlight Newsletter: Learning Point of View
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Greetings!
Point of view can be one of the trickiest things to master. When I started working on my novel I wrote it in first person. Then I read a book on viewpoint by a famous (unnamed) author who said first time novelists might be better writing in third person to avoid telling (the dreaded Show vs. Tell). So I rewrote the entire novel-- yes, the entire novel--in third person. And when I was finished I reread it... What a mess! It had so many construction problems I had to put it to bed for a while and start on something new. Sound familiar? If you're having problems with viewpoint, or want to avoid having them before your novel turns into one awful mess (like mine did), you should consider Diane O'Connell's interactive workshop Mastering Point of View. It starts Monday, April 4th and is limited to 15 students, so make sure you reserve your spot today. In the article below, Diane shares some tips on POV that you won't want to miss. We're calling this newsletter a "Spotlight Newsletter." It's a brand new newsletter where our instructors teach you a mini lesson for free or share advice related to their class topic. We hope you find it helpful! You'll also also want to check out our upcoming classes in the section below for more classes that are starting soon. Happy writing! Angela Mackintosh  Angela & Marcia Classroom Managers WOW! Classes & Workshopsclassroom@wow-womenonwriting.com
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Are You a Head Hopper? By Diane O'Connell
One of the biggest mistakes first-time authors make when they are writing in the third person is to play "brain billiards" with their characters' thoughts--hopping from one person's mind to another within a scene.
The situation often goes like this: all the point of view (POV) characters are gathered in one place, say a party or funeral or business meeting. The author wants the reader to know what each of the characters is feeling about the situation at hand. That's perfectly understandable. But the author has us drop in on each of the characters' thoughts for just long enough to get a glimpse into his or her thinking before we're off to another character. The result is a scene that doesn't belong to any one character.
And that's a problem. Why? Think of being at a party where everyone is talking over everyone else. You try your hardest, but it's nearly impossible to follow the thread of any one conversation, which makes you feel disoriented. So you start thinking about when it will be time to go home.
Head hopping in a scene is disorienting to your readers, too, which takes them out of the "fictive dream" you've created. And the last thing you want is for them to start thinking when your scene will be over. So what can you do?
Choose one character whose POV you will stay with throughout the scene. This should be the character affected most by what's going on. If you want to convey other characters' thoughts and feelings, you can do that through dialogue and action. Here's what I mean:
Let's say we're at a party and you've decided to give the scene's POV to Victor. Another character, Charley, is bored to death. He can sidle up to Victor, and say, "This party really blows. Let's get out of here."
Or suppose Annette spots her ex at the party and is trying to get his attention. Instead of writing, Annette was dying for Brad to notice her, you can have Victor see Annette across the room, adjusting her dress and flicking her hair over her shoulders. You write: Victor had seen those moves too many times to count. He scanned the room to see whose attention Annette was angling for. Bingo! He should have known it was Brad.
In both cases, we get to know what's going on in the non-POV characters' heads without having to head hop. And the scene remains firmly in one characters' point of view--just as it should be.
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Mastering Point of View
Workshop Length: 8 Weeks
Price: $150
Materials Needed: None required. Instructor will provide all materials and lesson plans.
Start Date: April 4, 2011
Limit 15 Students
What's the secret every successful author knows and most new authors don't? It's how to use point of view (POV). In this interactive workshop, New York book doctor Diane O'Connell will show how truly understanding and mastering point of view can fix an ailing manuscript and turn a decent but lackluster novel into a page-turner.
You will learn:
- The biggest mistakes authors make with POV--and how to avoid them
- How to use POV to liven up description, dialogue, and action
- The advantages--and drawbacks--of different POV choices
- How to choose your POV characters
- How to use POV to increase suspense and tension
Once you know how to use this technique, you'll never write the same way again.
Visit the Classroom Page for a complete listing, testimonials, and what you'll be learning week by week.
About the Instructor: Diane O'Connell has been a New York publishing professional for 25 years and has worked as an editor at some of the top publishing houses, including Random House. Since forming Write to Sell Your Book, she has helped dozens of writers become published authors--including a first-time novelist who got a $500,000 two-book contract from Bantam after working with her. Diane is also the author of five traditionally published books, including the groundbreaking, critically acclaimed Divorced Dads: Shattering the Myths, which was the subject of a 20/20 report by John Stossel. Her mission is to help authors develop their talent and improve their skills so they can achieve their dreams of publication.
Click here to reserve your spot in MASTERING POINT OF VIEW!
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Upcoming Classes & Workshops
Extended Deadline: Empower Your Muse, Empower Your Writing Self by Kelly L. Stone. The start date says March 7th, but this class has not started yet. Kelly is extending the start date a week from now pending further enrollments. This class is $125 for 4 weeks. Register (If you have any questions, please contact us at classroom@wow-womenonwriting.com)
March 21
Writing a Middle-Grade Novel (NEW!) | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 20 Students
March 30
Breaking Into Magazine Writing with Regional Markets | 5 Weeks | $125 | Limit: 10 Students
April 4
How to Write Children's Picture Books and Get Published (NEW!) | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 15 Students
Journaling for Holistic Wellness | 9 Weeks | $125 | Limit: 10 Students
See You at the Movies: Intro to the Craft of Screenwriting | 6 Weeks | $150 | Limit: 10 Students
All the World's a Stage: An Introduction to Playwriting | 6 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 10 Students
April 8
Spring Forward! Poetic Line, Breath, & Vision | 5 Weeks | $160 | Limit: 8-10 Students
April 13
Social Networking for Writers: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and More! | 4 Weeks | $100 | Limit: 20 Students
April 25
The Gatekeepers: All About Agents and Editors | 4 Weeks | $179 | Limit: 10 Students
April 29
Blogging 101 and More: Start a Blog, Make it Unique, and Keep it Going | 5 Weeks | $125 | Limit: 20 Students
May 2
Short Fiction Writing | 8 Weeks | $175 | Limit: 8-10 Students
Click here to see all of our upcoming workshops
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