Point of View

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Point of View: Building a House

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house made of books - Deposit Photos

In writing, there are many different forms, or structures, to choose from when you decide to write something new. Which one you use depends on the story you want to tell. It’s like building a house. Maybe you have one person’s story to tell, something that takes place over a fairly short period of time. You might choose to build a small studio apartment, where everything has its place and nothing that isn’t necessary is included. That’s a short story, usually anything up to 15,000 words. Maybe you want to tell the story of a couple characters, but still over … Read more

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Point of View: The Gauntlet Runner – Making of the Cover

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The Gauntlet Runner - J. Scott Coatsworth

It’s almost here. Just three and a half more weeks until the release of book two in the Tharassas Cycle, The Gauntlet Runner. This is the follow-up to The Dragon Eater, and I’m thrilled to be finally bringing it to you all. For my Point of View column today, I thought it would be fun to share the evolution of the cover with you. This one (like the first book) was created by my amazing friend and graphic artist Kelley York at Sleepy Fox Studio. We started with a pose and a rough approximation of the character: The pose isn’t … Read more

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Point of View: From the Top

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writer and notebook - deposit photos

Maybe you were a writing whiz in high school, and finished your first novel before you were eighteen. Or maybe you’re in your fifties (or seventies) and just discovered your great desire to pen fascinating stories that everyone will want to read. No matter when and where you start, you’ll need to learn the basics before your writing can soar. There Are (Weird, Contradictory) Rules The history of writing goes back almost as far as humankind, with ancient civilizations employing cuneiform and hieroglyphs to tell stories and communicate information verbally. And since you’re not (I’m guessing) Mesopotamian, you probably share … Read more

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Point of View: Plantsing

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plant growing out of a book - deposit photos

It’s an age-old debate. Plotter or pantser? Is one better than the other? Which one are you? A plotter is someone who plans out their entire story in advance. Plotters are known for making extensive outlines, doing deep dives into internet searches to pull together all the materials they will need, and making sure all their i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed before writing a word of the actual story. They are perfectionists, lovers of story arcs marked with specific “beats” that they plan to hit at exact points of the narrative to ensure their characters and plots reach … Read more

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Point of View: Sense & Sensitivity

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man reading book, surprised - deposit photos

As a writer, it’s important to stretch yourself—to write about things (and people) who are unfamiliar to you. It’s one thing to create a race of aliens that has nothing to do with the human race—then you can pretty much go hog wild with however you want to portray them (unless you unwittingly tap into some negative human stereotypes Jar Jar Binks, I’m looking at you). But what about when you’re writing about an existing human culture? I’m a gay man. I can write gay characters pretty much with impunity, because they’re not just what I know, but what I … Read more

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Point of View: Boys Who Like Boys

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Boys Holding Hands - Deposit Photos

Somewhere along the way, I lost the thread. I let the other side frame the debate, making my identity all about sex. I forgot that my identity as a gay man didn’t rest on sex, or sexuality, and it took a beautiful song to remind me. I was scanning through my Mastodon feed and ran across a video from 2021, made during the heart of the pandemic – a song called Boys Who Like Boys by an openly gay singer named Eli Lieb. Intrigued, I clicked on the link. I’d never heard of Eli Lieb before this. As I watched … Read more

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Point of View: (Re)writing the Story

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Reset - Red Button - deposit photos

Thirty years ago, I wrote a book called “On a Shoreless Sea.” It was a fantastic novel, or so I thought at the time – a clever blending of sci-fi and fantasy set on a generation ship. This was the one that would launch me to sci-fi writer fame and fortune. I printed out ten copies (yes, those were the days of the paper submission – so sorry for the grove of “copier paper” trees I slaughtered) and UPS’d them to the largest publishers in the biz. Then I waited. One by one, they came back, the last one arriving … Read more

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Point of View: Gardening is Writing II

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Scott Garden

Back in the before world, in 2019, I wrote a column for this space called “Gardening is Writing.” My premise was simple. Many of the same skills to grow a successful vegetable garden could be applied to writing as well. Then yesterday, I ran across a framed image at a Starbucks, of all places, that reminded me of the art I used to draw when I was in high school. I sent it to one of my high school art teachers, Laura Brouse (check out her current art – it’s amazing), who still has a bit of my art after … Read more

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Point of View: What I’m Working On

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writer - deposit photos

We’re just back from BayCon last week and my brain is still buzzing and not up for generating any BIG IDEAS for this week’s column, so I thought I’d do something I haven’t done in a bit, and share what I’m working on (personally and via Other Worlds Ink, our small press). The Great North First off is the rerelease of The Great North. It’s a future post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy loosely based on the Welsh “Valentine’s Day” legend of Dwynwen, but with a decidedly gay twist. The wonderful folks at Mischief Corner Books first published this in 2017, and I’m excited … Read more

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Point of View: Am I Narrow or Wide?

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arms wide - deposit photos

In indie publishing, we use the words “narrow” or “wide” to differentiate between two vastly different strategies. Selling narrow means utilizing only one vendor—typically Amazon—and essentially putting all of your eggs in one basket. It can have its own rewards, as with the ranking thing, but you are also subjecting yourself to the whims of one vendor. And if they ever decide to shut you down, which Amazon has done before, you are entirely at their mercy. If instead you decide to go “wide,” it means you are selling your books through multiple different vendors. I started out my indie … Read more