My protag is a human sorcerer and his love interest is a demon. Most of the time the demon character maintains a human appearance, but her true form is a monstrosity which resembles the lovechild of a Preying Mantis and a dragon. The overall tone I'm shooting for is sort of John Hughes flick feel, mixed with demonology, black magic, and savage monster on monster battles. 

In any case, the two characters never get it on when she's in her true shape. Still, I'm worried that, because of her inhuman nature, there could be an underlying "ick" factor that might turn readers off. Any thoughts or suggestions on how I could make this work? Thanks in advance!

I did Camp NanoWriMo this year. Just finished. Final word count 80,042 in 28 days.

I'm actually pretty pleased because, while far from being perfect, I feel like the text reads like an average first draft rather than the frenetic-oh-god-must-make-words-now explosion on paper that my last Nano ended up being. I've even allowed my girlfriend to read it, in all its rough and unfinished grandeur.
Now it's back to the drawing board for the next project. No rest for the wicked. 

A practicing psychologist I know has told me that writing by hand actually opens up different pathways in the brain. Because of this, thoughts are configured differently when writing through this method. I've experimented with it and found that, for me, it does work really well for stream of conscious type writing or brainstorming. But at the end of the day word processing is much easier and more efficient for me.

Do whatever works best for you. Write. Write lots. 

Hey all,

How would you feel about a character admitting that he reached his breaking point? Would it make you think less of him? Or would it make that character seem more human and thereby more easy to relate to?

Here's the gist of the character's situation, just for context:

So, the story is winding down and almost at the climax. But just before my protagonist gets into a pinch. He's assaulted mentally and spiritually and basically made to suffer incredibly by a host of spirits from his past. (It's been done before, plenty of times but I feel why reinvent the wheel when it rolls just fine?) Anyway...

I made it a point to note that the character suffers so much from this experience that he admits to himself, if given the opportunity, he would quit his quest entirely to make this suffering end. The character is a very tough and brave person, especially considering that he's pretty much a "normal" guy that'll bleed just as easy as you or me. But I felt that reaching a breaking point or experiencing "ego death" as Joseph Campbell might put it, would be a good thing for the story and the character's development.

Or do you think readers would appreciate it more if he remains hellbent for leather and refuses to make this concession? After all even "normal" guys and gals are supposed to be more driven and motivated to solve their problems than the rest of us. That's why we write stories about them in the first place, right? Anyway, just trying to see what ya'll thought. 

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Thanks so much for your response! It's been very insightful. I've pre-ordered Locked Within and can't wait to check it out!

2440 words this morning, bringing my total for this draft up to a little over 26K.

Hey there all,

So I was helping to seek some advice regarding POV. When writing from 3rd person limited, I've found that I like to include minor characters' POVs from time to time, just to freshen things up. These are usually "one shot" scenes written from the perspective of minor characters ranging from innocent civilians caught up in a slaughter, to the protagonist's mother, to the family cat.

I do it because it seems to be more interesting to tell that bit of the story from an otherwise unexplored angle. In the case of the protag's mother, it felt more visceral to see her son in pain through her eyes than to stick with the protag's POV. She doesn't have a major subplot dedicated to her POV, but I just thought the particular scene worked better when seen through her eyes.

I just ask because I feel like I don't see a lot of this in the published books I read. Therefore, I'm wondering if it's something to avoid. It seems like everything I can remember reading in recent years will include the POV of the main protagonist and usually a handful of secondary characters, each with their own well-defined subplot.

So, are there any thoughts on this? Is it kosher to use a few one-off viewpoints that belong to characters that don't have their own major subplot? Or from a reader's (and a potential publisher's) standpoint, do ya'll think this is something to avoid? Thanks in advance for any advice!

I personally am not a fan of wands, especially in a world with heavy combat magic if that is the case in yours, because their really is nothing very threatening about them.

Maybe, maybe not...This could make a nice "wand." After all, it's essentially the same thing as your typical wizard's wand: a wooden stick. This one's just a bit bigger. And it has the added bonus of being useful for adjusting unwelcome attitudes.