Ask Caryl McAdoo a question

Caryl McAdoo

Caryl McAdoo

Historical Mystery Contemporary Romance Historical Romance Romance Western Romance Historical Fiction Women's Fiction Christian Fiction Teen & Young Adult Children's Advice & How To Christian Nonfiction Religion & Spirituality
    • AllAuthor AllAuthor 5 years ago
       CurrentAllauthor
    • What's the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?
    • report
    • like
    • reply
      • Caryl McAdoo Caryl McAdoo 5 years ago
        Follow        Author
      • Because I was a professional editor for eleven years, I KNOW what women's problem is with writing good heroes! And it's hard to fix because THEY ARE NOT MEN and do not know what it's like to BE a strong man. I'm SO BLESSED not to have this problem because I write with my husband of 50+ years now. He went to Writers Workshop and learned the craft alongside me! He has the last word on anything masculine in our story, so I have fabulous heroes!

        The one thing women must do it give the men in their stories FEWER words to say. Ron used to critique those ladies by saying, "Go through your dialogue and cut your man's in half. Then go back a second time and cut it in half again!" He tells me, "Strong men don't explain themselves and they don't pass out information. Information is power, Caryl."

        Ron is my hero! The most Christ-like man I've ever known, he's a wonderful best friend, husband, and father to our children! He's a pretty good O'Pa, too, once the little ones get up to be a three-year-old. I am so blessed to have been together with him since we were sixteen years old, married since we were eighteen.
      • report
      • like
      • reply
      • Caryl McAdoo Caryl McAdoo 5 years ago
        Follow        Author
      • I believe it would be "Point of View" (POV), and also think it's the hardest of an author's tools to grasp. It's all about getting into the head of one character--usually the one with the most emotion at risk in the scene being written--and telling the story from THEIR perspective ONLY. This method allows the readers to get to know my characters in a deep relationship. It's why so many of my reviews say how much they loved the characters and could identify with them, wanted them to be in their family or at least neighbors!

        Most new writers want to write in omniscient POV which is being way up above the story, seeing all, hearing all, and knowing all. This method is TELLING the story, not SHOWING it, and it's BORING. The writer is keeping the reader at arm's length and not letting them get downright INTO the story to live vicariously through the characters.

        There are many other tools an author has today to write a good story like scene and sequel, active versus passive voice, motivation before reaction, character development, dialogue, and more. But most important to me is the POV--who's telling the story?
      • report
      • like
      • reply
      • Caryl McAdoo Caryl McAdoo 5 years ago
        Follow        Author
      • I've always loved English as a subject and enjoyed putting words together! Both my maternal grandfather and my mother wrote books, though neither of those was published, so I guess the desire came in the genes! I started writing a Biblical fiction in the mid -1980s with my husband. We had no computer, so wrote we hand-wrote the 380-page manuscript then paid to have it transcribed so we could submit it.

        After a series of rejections, we decided perhaps we should try to publish it ourselves and went to a printer who pointed us to the DFW Writers Workshop. A divine appointment to be certain! There, several mentors took us under their wings and taught us the craft of writing Creative Fiction. We were mentored from 1993 and got our first contract to publish in 1999--a non-fiction guide book titled ANTIQUING IN NORTH TEXAS.

        And so our journey began!
      • report
      • like
      • reply
  • Click to comment..

Error:

Warning:

To Boost your book promotion
Feature Your Book
on AllAuthor

How AllAuthor Promotes Your Books?

© 2024 Allauthor Product of LMN Technology Pvt Limited. All Rights Reserved. Privacy | Terms and Conditions | Contact Us
Advertising Disclosure: Please note that many links to retailers are affiliate links, which yields a commission for us. allauthor.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon sites.