Writing In The First Person

Many people don't, but I absolutely love writing in the 1st person--a lot! And I love reading books written that way as well. The main reason is because, to my tastes, the protagonist seems to come alive so much more brilliantly. When forced to concentrate on the internal thought process of one character, said character usually turns out more dynamic and interesting, someone who readers can rally behind and care about. You can almost taste their emotions, feel their pain, and when they bleed we bleed.

But here's my predicament now. Along with RED STRAIN (3rd person thank the Lord), I am currently penning the follow-up novel to JEWEL in the 1st person. The protag is a female (Tracey from JEWEL) paranormal investigator. At first I thought I could pull it off without too much difficulty. I'm married, understand women, well, at least in theory, and after all everyone has the same kinds of emotions, right? Wrong!

Every good book has a degree of sexual tension. I don't care if you are the prude of all prudes or the king of porn, we all like sex. And if you say otherwise you're a liar liar pants on fire!

Anyway, you can now understand my predicament. What runs through a woman's mind when she's aroused, feels amorous, or otherwise just wants to tear off a chunk? For men it's easy; I can just write from experience. But I know that women differ. Some are simple to understand, others more complicated, and others, well, impossible at all to predict. So where does that leave me?

To help alleviate some of my worries, and it does stay true to her personality from JEWEL, I've made Tracey to be a tomboy. She chews, cusses, hangs out with men mostly because most women (according to her) are bitches or worse. And that all helps, but...

Any feedback from my female fans would be most appreciated here. My wife has been a tremendous help of course, but she is only one woman, and well, I'd love to see varying view points on how to handle this delicate situation. Because you all know what will happen if I don't nail this dead on (ahem).

So please, feel free to respond in any way you feel inclined. Please share your thoughts on the female psyche. Thanks!

Funny Thing, Rejection

As a matter of course, I keep up with a number of websites, blogs, and e-groups (many of which are mentioned on my "links" page). Admittedly, these perusals tear me from valuable writing time, but there is also the argument that they help me to get better--which leads me into my next topic.

Rejection. I've been reading a lot of blogs and group discussions lately on rejection: rejection from agents, editors, publishers, you name it. The tone and flavor of these discussions have been a bit ranty for my tastes. People, rejection is our friend! If it were not for rejection and discriminating professionals in the literary community, the market would be flooded with so much junk and rubbish that our work (the quality stuff) would go largely unnoticed. Rejection raises the bar, motivates us to mature and grow as writers, and assures us that when we are ready there will be a slot open for us.

So, next time you get a rejection letter, and you will no matter what level you are at, just concentrate on what can be gleaned from it. How can it help you? And also remember that everyone, yes everyone, has been rejected. Even King was rejected a multitude of times before he got his first book published (Carrie I think). Did King get upset and quit writing? No...he improved and persevered.

Use rejection as a catalyst...