Take the February 750word challenge. The website 750words.com challenges writers every month to write every day that month and make it at least 750 words.

Now, think about it. February only has 28 days; except this is a leap year, sorry. Still, that’s one day less to win this challenge. You can write 750 words for 29 days straight, right? Take the challenge!

And here’s the Table of Contents from January’s writing challenge, in case you skipped any or want to repeat one.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

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For the last two days, we have focused on point of view in your story or novel. Your writing tasks for today–for your “750 words each day in January”–is to practice POV.

Today, focus on 3rd person point of view.

3rd person POV

A 3rd person POV pulls back from the position inside the character’s head to be right beside the character. You see what s/he sees, hear what s/he sees, know the thoughts of the character. But the pronouns are he or she.

Coach scribbled something on his clipboard and she leaned over to see that he was scratching out Jimmy’s name and writing Dave instead. No! He couldn’t sub in Dave, he was lousy at passing. Mary glanced up at the stands, where Jimmy’s mom waved around a video camera. Where had she borrowed it, Mary had no idea. His mom just said, it was Jimmy’s big game, his big break and she had to get it on film. Mary rubbed her temple, the headache still nagging. She wondered about the red pill Jimmy had given her, would it help ease the headache? Or would it make her loopy.

Watch your pronouns: he and she, not I.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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Yesterday, today and tomorrow, we are focusing on point of view in your story or novel. Your writing tasks for the next 2 days for your “750 words each day in January” is to practice POV.

Today, we’ll focus on 1st person point of view.

1st person POV

When the camera resides inside one character’s head and we hear that character speaking it is 1st person: the pronouns used are I, me, my. This POV is great for character novels where the inner life, the emotions, the personality are up front and center.

Coach scribbled something on his clipboard and I leaned over to see that he was scratching out Jimmy’s name and writing Dave instead. No! He couldn’t sub in Dave, he was lousy at passing. I glanced up at the stands, where Jimmy’s mom waved around a huge video camera. Where she had borrowed it, who knows? She just said, it was Jimmy’s big game, his big break, she had to get it on film. I rubbed my temple. Headache still nagging. That red pill Jimmy gave me, would it help? Or would it send me loopy?

Remember: Generally, you must stay in ONE POV choice at a time, not switch. You’ll probably find exceptions to the rule, but it’s a good rule for most situations. If you want to switch within a story, you would switch when you start a new chapter.

Go! Think Like a Writer in first person POV.

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Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

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For the recent discussion on focal length of your scene, I accidentally confused a reader. I wrote:

A scan is a way to show a crowd scene economically, yet in an interesting way. It involves a series of small zooms: the quarterback’s mother is taping the game with a new video camera that she borrowed money to buy; the coach’s pencil is hovering over two names, trying to decide if he’ll start the injured quarterback or his backup; the head cheerleader is trying to shake off a headache and wondering if that red pill the quarterback gave her would help or not. In a short paragraph, you get the complexities of the crowd!

READER wrote in to ask about point of view, or POV. When we dip into each person’s head this way, it is omniscient POV. Of course, you can do scans in any point of view, so that’s not the problem. Instead, READER wanted a clearer explanation of POV.

So, your writing tasks for the next 3 days for your 750 words is to practice POV. I’ll explain them here and then ask you to take a day for each POV. Even if you know this, it’s still good to go back and practice Thinking Like a Writer.

When you think about POV, you could ask a simple question: where is the camera?

Omniscient POV.

For the omniscient POV, the camera is overhead, looking at things from an overall perspective and it’s an all-knowing camera. It knows what every character is thinking and can dip in and out of any perspective at any point. The SCAN that I wrote above is omniscient.

1st person POV

When the camera resides inside one character’s head and we hear that character speaking it is 1st person: the pronouns used are I, me, my. This POV is great for character novels where the inner life, the emotions, the personality are up front and center.

Coach scribbled something on his clipboard and I leaned over to see that he was scratching out Jimmy’s name and writing Dave instead. No! He couldn’t sub in Dave, he was lousy at passing. I glanced up at the stands, where Jimmy’s mom waved around a huge video camera. Where she had borrowed it, who knows? She just said, it was Jimmy’s big game, his big break, she had to get it on film. I rubbed my temple. Headache still nagging. That red pill Jimmy gave me, would it help? Or would it send me loopy?

3rd person POV

A 3rd person POV pulls back from the position inside the character’s head to be right beside the character. You see what s/he sees, hear what s/he sees, know the thoughts of the character. But the pronouns are he or she.

Coach scribbled something on his clipboard and she leaned over to see that he was scratching out Jimmy’s name and writing Dave instead. No! He couldn’t sub in Dave, he was lousy at passing. Mary glanced up at the stands, where Jimmy’s mom waved around a video camera. Where had she borrowed it, Mary had no idea. His mom just said, it was Jimmy’s big game, his big break and she had to get it on film. Mary rubbed her temple, the headache still nagging. She wondered about the red pill Jimmy had given her, would it help ease the headache? Or would it make her loopy.

The differences are subtle, but important between 3rd and 1st. 3rd person POV is the most common POV for storytelling and novels today. Use the 1st person POV when you have a unique character with a unique voice. One disadvantage of 1st POV is that you are limited to scenes where the character is present, so you must plot accordingly.

Today, practice writing a scene in Omniscient Voice.
Tomorrow, try 1st person and the next day 3rd. I’ll remind you on the next two days of the ways we are practicing Thinking Like a Writer.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Have you signed up for 750words.com yet? Or will you try doing 750 words on paper? I’ve just completed my 20th day of doing 750 words!

Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day in January to better Think Like a Writer. The next three days of Thinking Like a Writer are all connected and I’ll explain it here, then just remind you of the prompts for the next two days.

A scan is a way to show a crowd scene economically, yet in an interesting way. It involves a series of small zooms: the quarterback’s mother is taping the game with a new video camera that she borrowed money to buy; the coach’s pencil is hovering over two names, trying to decide if he’ll start the injured quarterback or his backup; the head cheerleader is trying to shake off a headache and wondering if that red pill the quarterback gave her would help or not. In a short paragraph, you get the complexities of the crowd!

As always, start with the basic sensory details list, but this time you skip around. You can do full details for the coach, the quarterback’s mother, the quarterback, and the head cheerleader if you want; or you can do partials for each, but focus on getting great “telling details.” If you’re rusty on doing sensory details–and you have to fill out your 750 words anyway–go ahead and do the full sensory details list for each. Then you’ll have a wide selection to choose from as you Think Like a Writer.

And when would you use a Scan?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day in January to better Think Like a Writer. This is the second day of three days of Thinking Like a Writer about scenes. Here’s the first post to remind you about panoramas, zooms and scans.

Zooms focus in on tiny details. The pencil stub the coach is using to put check marks by player’s names on his clip board, the taped thumb of the quarterback, the aching toe of the head cheerleader. Usually, you’ll need to include sharp sensory details: what the character sees, hears, touches, tastes and feels (not emotions, but temperature and texture). Avoid the cliched details and include interesting and different, but telling details. In the picture here, don’t forget to include a description of the callous, the whorls on the palm and such.

Start with the basic sensory details list and go from there, as you Think Like a Writer!

And the question today is when would you use a Zoom?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Port Townsend. Photo by Dwight Pattison, c. 2008. Please do not copy. Click to see a larger version.

When you describe a scene of a novel or story, it is important to think about the focal length. Taking a cue from filming, you can think of a couple ways of describing a scene: zoom, pan, scan.

A panorama is the wide-angle view. Think of a football game and you’re sitting on the top of the bleachers with the view of the field and parking lot laid out in front of you. You see the pageantry of the blue and red teams, the yellow school buses, the bustling food stand. It’s an overview, a view from a distance, from overhead.

A zoom, however, focuses in on tiny details. The pencil stub the coach is using to put check marks by player’s names on his clip board, the taped thumb of the quarterback, the aching toe of the head cheerleader. Usually, you’ll need to include sharp sensory details: what the character sees, hears, touches, tastes and feels (not emotions, but temperature and texture). Avoid the cliched details and include interesting and different, but telling details.

A scan is a way to show a crowd scene economically, yet in an interesting way. It involves a series of small zooms: the quarterback’s mother is taping the game with a new video camera that she borrowed money to buy; the coach’s pencil is hovering over two names, trying to decide if he’ll start the injured quarterback or his backup; the head cheerleader is trying to shake off a headache and wondering if that red pill the quarterback gave her would help or not. In a short paragraph, you get the complexities of the crowd!

For the next three days, we’ll focus on one of these ideas. Today, try writing a scene using a Panorama. Tomorrow, write a scene using a Zoom. And on the next day, write a Scan.

While you’re busy Thinking Like a Writer, when would you use each of these techniques? Leave me a suggestion!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Here’s another creative writing prompt for your 750 words, a challenge to write 750 words each day in January to better Think Like a Writer.

Today, spend your precious 750 words doing nothing but writing titles for stories that you might want to write. Every ten or so, stop and think about which ones you might actually like to read yourself. Think about what titles would make you pick up this story and read farther.

In his book, Stein on Writing, Sol Stein says you need some kind of imagery and it doesn’t hurt if it trips off the tongue sweetly. So, try a metaphor, make it rhyme, use consonance. Play with words today.

Not: Diego Rivera
But: The Fabulous Life of Diego Rivera

Not: As Others Are
Not: The World’s Room
Not: They Who Get Shot
Not: An Italian Chronicle
Not: The Sentimental Education of Frederick Henry
But: A Farewell to Arms (by Ernest Hemingway)

So, if you need to write a lot of Nots, go ahead. Search for one great title. Write titles; but think like a writer and a reader!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

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This month, I am trying to Think Like a Writer and write 750 words a day, practicing my writing, much like a musician plays scales daily.

Today, I will be a Grinch, a mean one.
Why? Because fiction is built on conflict: without bad things happening, the reader is bored. A bored reader equals failure!

Today, I’m going to fill up my 750 words with things that can go wrong in my WIP (work in progress). I’ll go from the totally ridiculous chain-saw massacre things to the kindergarten and tea party small things. Anything and everything that can go wrong.

If I run out of ideas, I’ll try a different scene. But today, I’m all Grinch: my heart is two sizes too small and mean and nasty. Don’t talk to ME today or I’ll snap off your head!

Lists. I don’t care if I write complete sentences or not.

Tip: If you’re using 750words.com like I am, after you write, click on the green image of the number of word you wrote at the bottom of the page. It will take you to your Stats. One of the stats is your state of mind: you’ll see a pie-chart that shows if your writing today was Affectionate, Self-Expressive, Self-Important, Happy, Upset, Sad, or Anxious. I am shooting for Upset, Sad and Anxious today. NO happy, NO Affectionate. GRRRR!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Have you signed up for 750words.com yet? Or will you try doing 750 words on paper? I’ve just completed my 36th day of doing 750 words!

If the first task of Think Like a Writer is to observe the world around you, the task of the fiction writer or the novelist, is to create, then observe the world of the story. The exercise is the same, but this time you draw upon imagination. What does your character see, hear, taste, touch, feel as s/he moves around in his/her world?

As a writer you can create this purely from imagination, or you can draw upon observations about places you’ve visited. For example, I spotted this praying mantis on the Great Wall of China.



Thinking like a writer means to notice the small things like this, because often, it is the smallest details that make a story come to life. Yes, I observed the usual things while climbing the Wall, but the praying mantis is one of the special things I remember.

Details of Your Story’s Setting

Today, think like a writer and create the sensory environment of your story. Like yesterday, write out what the characters See, Hear, Feel, Taste, and Touch. Then write a paragraph using those details; don’t feel like you have to use every detail you wrote, just select the ones that work; add anything else that occurs.

Does the story come alive better now?
What writing exercises or prompts do you use to make a setting fresher and more alive?

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wisdom, the Midway Albatross

by Darcy Pattison

Giveaway ends March 11, 2012.

See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win