Adam Blumer

Tackling the Most Common Point of View Problem

By Adam Blumer July 20, 2012 Fiction, Freelance Editing, Novel Writing, Weekly Post, Writing 2 Comments
Tackling the Most Common Point of View Problem

I’ve edited more novels this year than ever before. What I’ve observed (without pointing fingers at anyone in particular) is that a lot of inexperienced story writers make the same mistakes. One area of particular challenge is point of view. What is it? The term “point of view” pertains to the filter through which readers experience any particular scene in a story. Point of view occurs through the filter of the five senses and includes thoughts, memories, and really anything that can go on in a character’s head. One common rule of fiction writing today (which definitely wasn’t true one hundred years ago) is that point of view must remain consistent from the beginning of a scene (a slice of action in a story) to its end. What’s wrong with it? Readers want to experience story while “in the skin” not of the author but of one story character per scene…

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10 Common Misconceptions of the Wannabe Novelist, #3

By Adam Blumer March 9, 2012 Freelance Editing, Novel Writing, Novels, Writing 4 Comments

See Part 1 and Part 2.  #3: My novel must be pretty awesome—my significant other and friends certainly think so. This is faulty thinking; with few exceptions (consider the amazing story behind The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans) significant others and friends could never replace industry professionals. Ask any established novelists, and they’ll tell you. Because spouses, family members, and friends have the relationship at stake and don’t want to hurt our feelings, we can’t expect them to provide an impartial evaluation that will deliver the goods we need as authors. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should cut them off from our projects if they want to be involved. For example, my wife, Kim, a voracious reader, is always the first reader of my books. She always gives me great feedback beyond “This is wonderful because my husband wrote it,” but her review has its limits. Even someone…

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