Tip 60

People seem to like it when I write about my feelings on this journey. The Vulcan in me resists, but the narcissist says "OK, as long as it's about me."

I've read through tip 60 in my 100-tip journey. On the one hand, I'm feeling pretty good about things. Most of these tips I know and practice. I'm not claiming mastery, but I am claiming bachelor-y (master's degree, bachelor's degree). I know 'em; I try to do 'em.

On the other hand (that's for you, Larissa and Tevya), some of these tips I don't have.

They've one called circularity, which is a great concept, but it's new to me and it's not in my book.

There's another one about viewpoint: specifically, writing narration from character viewpoint instead of narrator viewpoint yet in third person instead of first. For example, the story sounds like Winnie the Pooh instead of the English guy.

I see the point, but I haven't done it in Star of Justice. My narrator is the narrator. To be fair, the narrator sees things from Caissa's point of view (or POV), but it is generally a distinct voice and I use a distinct voice when I read it to mom. Is this a problem? Jeff the Marcher Lord Press editor/publisher admits this is a subtle skill. Is it a deal-breaker thing? I don't want to rewrite my entire novel to employ this subtle skill. I don't even know if I could. If this is the reason my story gets rejected, I'm thinking I'll submit somewhere else and come back to Marcher Lord with another story.

Am I just looking for reasons to quit and hide in my shell? Is the ongoing lack of sunlight making every flaw seem worse than it is? I'm thinking, you betcha. That coupled with the general fear of success may be working against me here.

Once again, I'm going to just keep going and see what happens. I was reminded tonight I should be praying about this before I do anything else. Proverbs 3:5-6 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." I once heard that translated as "tell God everything first and He'll show you the right way to go." Funny how we translate English into English. I don't know if there is a right way in this situation. Right now, I'm just looking for a way to keep going.

Sunlight helps. Thanks for the sun, Lord. Keep it coming.