Critiquing – Joseph Carrabis, Author Blog

An Experiment in Writing – Part 27: How to Read as an Author

I started taking writing classes and attended workshops – some recognizable and prestigious…or so they told me – since the 1970s.
In all that time – fifty years! – no teacher, instructor, writer, author, professor, wordsmithing professional gave me what I’m about to give you.

And boy did that piss me off.

I’m happy to learn I’m the village idiot and everybody else knew this, that what I’m about to share is intuitively obvious to the casual observer, except no author, writer, or wordsmither of any kind whom I’ve talked with knew this. It was revelatory to them.

So here it is, and I hope it helps.

Rita Mae Brown’s “Starting from Scratch”

Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me or schedule a critique of your work.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.

Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money.

All Experiments

An Experiment in Writing – Part 25: Accidental POV Shifts

I’m critiquing one of Liz Tuckwell‘s alternate history pieces.

First thing, Liz is a gifted author (I enjoy her work) and a regular member of RoundTable 360° (a monthly meeting of creatives from all disciplines where we discuss challenges all creatives face and support each other).

Anyway, while critiquing Liz’s piece, I ran into something interesting, something craft-issueish, and because I’m anal-retentive about writing craft, it stopped me.

The interesting thing was a shift in POVs (viewpoints):

Tully found it hard to enjoy the food when he was tasting it for poison. Each mouthful of honeyed pork or spiced dove might be his last. That also applied to the excellent Jyptian wine he had to try. How he hated Tremulous for suggesting Tully could be his food taster.

Tully found it hard to enjoy the food when he was tasting it for poison. is a good line in 3rdPLO (third person, limited omniscient) POV
Each mouthful of honeyed pork or spiced dove might be his last. is also a good line but is it in 3rdPLO or 1stP POV (and possibly even Deep POV)?
One of the great things about speculative fiction writing (and which definitely separates it from other genres) is 1stP POV is a limited viewpoint by definition in other genres, not so in speculative fiction. The latter allows a the full range from the character only knowing about themselves (but not being honest with themselves hence not being honest with the reader – the unreliable witness character) to having god-like abilities and knowing what’s going on everywhere everywhen. Each has its benefits and detriments.
That also applied to the excellent Jyptian wine he had to try. How he hated Tremulous for suggesting Tully could be his food taster. are both in 3rdP Omniscient.
Going from 3rdPLO to 1stPDeep is fine because that’s how people think, but!!! the abrupt pullback can cause confusion. Usually the steps we take down a well (or into a character’s psyche) must equal the steps we take up a well (or a character’s psyche). We can run in either or both directions, and usually the steps have to be equal.

Join us on the RoundTable. Reserve your space.

Liz Tuckwell’s website.

Deep POV

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Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me or schedule a critique of your work.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.

Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money.

Great Opening Lines – and Why! (March 2025’s Great Opening Lines)

I wrote in Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Part 3 – Some Great Opening Lines) that I’d share more great opening lines as I found them.

My last entry in this category was November 2024’s Great Opening Lines – and Why! (Nov 2024’s Great Opening Lines) which covered

This entry in the Great Opening Lines – And Why! posts is Kafkaish. I read The Complete Stories and Parables, and what I’d read about his work is true; either you accept his first line – which sometimes is amazing – or you don’t. If you don’t, read something else. If you do, you’re in. Here are some examples:
Continue reading “Great Opening Lines – and Why! (March 2025’s Great Opening Lines)”

RoundTable 360° Aug 2024 – “Yeah, but you’re an idiot” on BizCatalyst 360°

There is no power without authority. There is no authority without legitimacy. Therefore, in considering rejection, we have to consider the perceived legitimacy of the authority and/or the size and perceived credibility of the institution doing the rejecting.

“Yeah, but you’re an idiot” is led by children’s book author and humorist Mark O’Brien. With poet, editor, and publisher Clarabelle Miray Fields; cozy/mystery author Donna Huston Murray; Rick DeRobertis, Brooke Erol, poet and screenwriter Ken Weene; Nick Heap, Phil Williams;and me, boring and dull Joseph Carrabis, and others.

Watch on BizCatalyst360 and enjoy.

An Experiment in Writing – Part 19: Plotlines, Timeslines, Throughlines

I ran into a challenge with my work the past week or two. I had a long story (~9.5k words) originally penned (okay, typed) in 2013 (and I’ll bet I can find earlier copies in my notes somewhere) which I had revised once in 2016, three times in 2017, once in 2018, three times in 2019 (obviously odd years are my workier years), … and now have it at version 17 in 2025.

It got closer and closer. One big early challenge was getting the voice correct. Once I had that, the story flowed.

Kind of.

The story is told through multiple viewpoints with no single viewpoint lasting longer than two pages before another viewpoint takes over and again and again and again, with each viewpoint jumping back and forth through time (hence being non-linear).

The challenge was how to give the reader a linear sense of the story without sacrificing the non-linear requirement of the story.

This is a challenge I’ve encountered before, and the solution from before worked again.

Enjoy!

Think I’m onto something? Take a class with me or schedule a critique of your work.
Think I’m an idiot? Let me know in a comment.
Either way, we’ll both learn something.

Get copies of my books because it’s a nice thing to do, you care, you can follow along, and I need the money.