The Motivational Editor

Helping Writers Go from Unpublished to Published

Debra L. Butterfield

Understanding Omniscient Point of View

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Omniscient point of view, the god-like view where the narrator knows all/sees all, has plagued me for a long time. I just couldn’t quite grasp how to write it.

Omniscient was the POV of nineteenth-century books. Later, as third-person limited came on the scene, omni-POV fell out of favor with publishers. I hear that it is recently making a comeback.

But there is an element of omni-POV that is essential and that many beginning writers often miss. So, let’s dive in and take a look at what omniscient point of view truly is.

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What Are You Telling Yourself About Yourself?

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The Bible says in Proverbs 18:21, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” The words we speak have power to create life or death in our lives or the lives of others. If you doubt that, remember how God created all that He created: He spoke it.

Now combine that with “faith comes by hearing” (Romans 10:17), and you gain a better understanding of how affirmations work and why what we say to ourselves is so important.

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Dealing with Overwhelm: Start with the Next Tiny Step

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Overwhelm can be paralyzing. And as I mentioned in my post “Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes,” fear can be an underlying factor to that overwhelm.

Today I’d like to talk about a method that has helped me move through my fear and get things done. It’s called the Next Tiny Step (NTS) and was developed by New Zealander Richard Ralston.

What is Next Tiny Step?

Here’s how Richard describes it:

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Are you feeling overwhelmed with publishing your book?

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Dealing with overwhelm

Publishing a book can pile on the overwhelm. Let’s face it, there are a lot of things to be done besides writing the book.

Actually any project can seem overwhelming when we consider all that must be done and think we need to do it all at the same time.

A good method to deal with overwhelm is to break your project into smaller pieces. A supervisor I once had taught me this. She called it the swiss cheese method—poking little holes in the project one at a time.

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Morning Pages – Creative Dribble or Creative Genius

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The Artist's Way and doing morning pages

I recently started the practice of writing morning pages every day before I begin my work hours. I asked myself a time or two whether they were a useful tool or a waste of time.

You’re probably asking, “What are morning pages?”

They’re a tool created by author Julia Cameron. She discusses them in her bestselling book The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. The book is a 12-week course in creative recovery. She says morning pages are:

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Success, Comparison, and Jealousy

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I am a writer. Stop the comparison game.

Last month, one of my Tuesday tip emails prompted a reader to contact me. She asked if I’d ever written about jealousy. She was referring to the jealousy we might feel when we look at the success of other writers in comparison to our own.

When I discovered I’d never touched on the topic, I decided it was time.

The Comparison Trap

I can’t stress enough how unproductive and self-defeating comparing ourselves is. I struggled with this issue a lot during my childhood (having a twin sister made it easy) and on into adulthood.

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Structuring Nonfiction

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structuring nonfiction

Last month we looked at structuring your fiction story. This month we’ll look at structuring nonfiction.

While nonfiction has no plot, you still must ensure that your topic flows in an organized manner from beginning to end.

Does your subject matter fit a chronological arrangement? Perhaps it better fits a topical structure or even a step-by-step flow. Maybe there are overall themes that serve as sections/parts for your book and specific topics that fit under each theme.

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How to Identify Misplaced Modifiers

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self-editing locating misplaced modifiers

This month I’m discussing misplaced modifiers. Boring stuff, I know, but it can make for some comical—or embarrassing—reading.

I think everyone understands the definition of misplaced; however, modifiers might be a bit elusive.

Merriam-Webster Online Unabridged Dictionary gives this definition: “a word or phrase that makes specific the meaning of another word or phrase.”

Modifiers give more depth of meaning to a word that either precedes it or follows it. I think misplaced modifiers are often difficult to spot because 1) we know what we mean when we write it; 2) we tend to put things in the wrong order; and 3) we often speak them in a misplaced manner.

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