FutureTense

When the main narrative thread shifts POV indiscriminately, either frequently or without suitable cues such as scene breaks. Considered rather poor form as the reader is left seasick and confused by the need to continually adjust to a new POV. Almost guarantees the reader won’t be able to identify with with the characters.

The cause is usually a lazy author, or one who is clueless and unable to perceive the effect on the reader. The cure is easy. Pick a POV. Change it as seldom as you can within a scene. Mark changes with a formal break. Use both the appearance of the text and markers within the world of the characters such as tempo, specific internal dialog or visuals and give the reader a chance to immerse deeply into specific characters for blocks of time. that are long enough to appreciate the trip.

This was taken from a discussion in Broad Universe

The Internet Review of Science Fiction, a “forum for the serious exploration of the literature of the fantastic,” is looking for articles and essays. If you have something interesting to say, check the guidelines and drop them a line. [writehemisphere]

Reviewing the literature is a time-honored way to meet people, learn the good from the bad, and build a reputation for yourself as you grow your writing career. But there are down sides. Will the editors hate you forever? Will your fellow writers avoid you at conventions or try to mold your opinions for you ahead of time? What is your responsibility to your readers and the science fiction community at large?

Jim Van Pelt started a list of links to SF reviews over at Speculations forum, the Rumor Mill. Now the topic has grown into a discussion by writer/reviewers as to how they balance the two halves of their existence without ending up in the La Brea tar pits. [writehemisphere]

Holt Uncensored offers this list of “10 common probelms that dismiss you as an amateur.”

There are some of the usual suspects such as “empty adverbs” and “‘to-be’ words” but there are also a couple that you would only think about after looking at lots of manuscripts.

A reference guide to the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.

If SF is on its last legs, historicals are flat and fantasy is also suffering.

Harlequin, a dominant force in the world of romance, has started a new line–Luna–that features fantasy works with a strong romance component. Tor will also be starting a cross-over line, spicing its traditional fantasy and SF with romantic elements because romance novels are doing great whereas the more traditional genres are waning. Women readers are doing the buying and no one knows where male readers disappeared to.

Maybe its those 99 channels of programming on cable. Or maybe Buffy, the Vampire Slayer has upgraded their expectations.

When the audience’s insatiable appetite for SF fare meets a Hollywood that doesn’t dare make a movie without proving that it will be succesful in advance, Philip K. Dick has acquired in death a stature he never possesed in life. [genreneep]