Month: April 2018

True Colors

Interviewing Sawyer + Some Quote Images From True Colors

By on Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Hello, Readers!

I have had some requests to share more from my novella, True Colors, so today I have a character interview and some quote images at the end of the post. I think you’ll enjoy it! 🙂

Thank you so much for joining me today, Sawyer. Would you mind telling the audience a little about yourself?

W-well, my name is Sawyer and I live in Shano. I’m 19 and I’m really – *spills glass of water all over the floor* – um, clumsy. Sorry about that.

Alright, thank you, Sawyer. Let's get into the questions.
Who is the person you most enjoy on your journey and why?

Well, Alina and Astrid are both nice, but Astrid is kinda quiet and annoyed a lot because of Connor. I’d say Alina. She’s really nice and pretty funny. She radiates happiness and life and she believes in me, which is something I really appreciate. 

Who do you dislike the most?

Uh… *looks around to make sure Connor isn’t nearby* That would be Connor. I don’t know what his problem is. He’s like a volcano. He punched me in the eye for no reason and he yells about everything. I don’t think he likes me, but whatever. I don’t want to be friends with him anyway.

What is your greatest fear?

*sighs* That I’ll always be clumsy and afraid…

How would you like to die?

I’ve never really thought about dying before…but I guess I’d like to die doing something right. I don’t know what, but since I’m always making stupid mistakes and don’t seem to get anything right, I’d like to die having done something right. I don’t know it sounds kinda dumb…

What is something you really love?

Other than gardening? *clears throat awkwardly* I know it sounds dumb, but I really do like gardening… I get teased a lot for that. But I really like hanging out with my family. They’re pretty great.

Thank you for joining us, Sawyer! I'm sure we all look forward to seeing more of you around here.

Now who is ready for a few quote images from True Colors? I had so much fun making these – I think you’ll like them! 😀

This last one looks like a poster to me… I kind of want to print it out… XD

Talk to me!

What did you think of Sawyer? What are some questions you’d like to ask my characters? Which quote image was your favorite? What would you like to see more of on JaclynnMarie?

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The Writing Life

An Inside Look At What Writers Go Through

By on Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Hello, readers!

When I wasn’t a writer, I know I always thought of writers as very inspiring people who were super wise, never had a problem thinking of stories, and thoroughly enjoyed the writing process.

But as I slowly became a writer myself, I soon realized that all of those ideas were so far from the truth

You may think we have it all together, but really…. we’re lost.

You can often find me lying around the house moaning and groaning because things in my story aren’t making sense, laughing like a maniac because my characters aren’t obeying my outline (therefore not heeding my commands), and maybe crying because the story feels like such a mess and I don’t know how to fix it.

We’re writers, right? Don’t we always want to write? Isn’t that all writers do, anyway?

How I wish it were so! 

There are more days than I’d care to count when I simply do. not. want. to. write. It’s like pulling teeth just to get me sitting at my desk, my laptop turned on, and my document opened. Can’t I just go watch my favorite show? Please? 

It’s not that I hate writing – I love it! But there are days when it’d be easier to get me to wash the car than to sit down and write. And that’s all because writing is hard. 

*screams* 

That’s me going through writer’s block. 

Whenever going through writer’s block you will find me a very different person. I quite literally go insane, become slightly depressed, and honestly have no idea what to do with myself. I feel so lost and like I have no brain. Writers block attacks me often and it is most certainly a form of torture, but as long as no one has any powers to possess poor, unsuspecting writers with writers block, we should be okay…..I think. O_O

It’s crazy just how true this, but I mean – when we’re writing we are becoming our characters. They really are a part of who we are.

If I write a character’s death I can become very depressed and my heart will ache for the rest of the night.

If I’ve been writing a lot of fight scenes, you’ll find me more serious and grumpy afterward.

If I wrote something super awesome and powerful, I will be completely giddy and hyper. You’ll think I just had way too much sugar than should ever be consumed in one sitting.

So the truth is – we writers don’t have it all together. We’re not all-wise and constantly full of inspiration. We often shout and scream and wail and cry, but in the end – wait why am I quoting Downton Abbey?

We also don’t always know what to say and have to use dictionaries, thesauruses, and the like to help us mold our sentences to the best that they can be.

Writing isn’t easy. It takes discipline, patience, and a lot of emotional energy out of you. But even with all the pain and tears of writing it is a beautiful thing that brings a smile to my face and makes my heart soar.
It’s something I love doing and something I will never let go of. <3 

Talk to me!

Were any of these facts new to you? What has been your perception of writers? And if you’re a writer, how do you relate to these facts? Do you have any more to add?

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Writing Advice

The Pros and Cons of Switching POV’s

By on Tuesday, April 3, 2018

Hello, readers!

I haven’t always been one for switching point of views (POV’s) in my stories, but when writing the second draft of True Colors, I knew that I really needed to do it. I needed to be able to step into Connor and Astrid’s minds and really be able to feel what they were feeling and see what they were seeing. 

It was hard at times because most of the time I wanted to stay in one mind through the book, but I know that overall it was good that I chose this route. Here’s why:

Switching POV’s allowed me to delve deeper into my character’s feelings and helped me understand each of them better. 

In my original draft I only wrote from Connor’s POV because he is the main character, but coming into the second draft made me realize how important it is to understand Astrid’s side, too. This story isn’t just about Connor – it’s also about the relationship he and Astrid share and in order for me to better develop that it just made more sense for me to write from both of their POV’s. That way I’m not only understanding Connor’s perspective and feelings, but Astrid’s as well. 

Without doing this, I didn’t know Astrid’s overall feelings toward him. I had an idea, but I didn’t understand her thoughts and feelings half as well as I did when I wrote from her POV.

Switching up POV’s also aided in adding more to my story. I was not only able to delve into their backstories a little more freely, but I was also able to write scenes that didn’t exist before.

For example, in my first draft there is a scene where Astrid learns a great secret and she won’t share it with Connor and he goes off, angry that she won’t share what she’s learned. This scene is more bent on Astrid’s perspective, so you don’t get to follow Connor and see where he ends up. 

But in my second draft I wrote the scene entirely from Connor’s POV and I felt like it was so much more powerful and beneficial to the story to be able to fully grasp his emotions and follow him when he walks away and see what he does. It’s such a huge part of the story that is the beginning of the end, so seeing Connor’s POV is way more beneficial. 

 

Switching POV’s definitely has it’s downside, though. I found myself (though completely unaware at the time) not switching POV’s enough or maybe even doing it too often because I wanted to see the other’s perspective.

I think in this draft I ended up making Astrid too big of a character because I was having too much fun with her. I don’t want to make Astrid bigger than Connor because overall this is Connor’s story. 

It’s so easy to get caught up in learning more about your characters through this method, so just be careful to keep the POV’s organized – like every other chapter or something like that. This makes it clean and your reader won’t be like – hey, it’s been stuck on __’s POV for four chapters now, what happened to ___?

So it definitely has it’s cons (and obviously I still need to work some things out in my book), but overall I think switching POV’s is great as long as it benefits the story. 

RECAP




  • Switching POV's can help you better understand your character



  • Switching POV's can aid in adding more depth and new scenes to your story



  • Switching POV's can assist in telling your character's backstory

Talk to me!

Do you switch POV’s in your stories? Do you like reading books with different POV’s? Why or why not? 

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Psst! Writers, be sure to check out this awesome giveaway at Story Embers! You could win five books to help you master your craft and also a free writing course! Check it out by clicking here!

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