Lit Service Podcast

Publishing pros doing free first chapter critiques (submit if you dare!) and dispensing dodgy writing advice. litservicepodcast.wixsite.com/litnation

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Thanks to everyone who participated in our August contest! If you want to see who won, head over to Instagram - we're @litservicepodcast 🎧

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What POV do you prefer to write in and why?

I tend towards first person, because it makes it easier for me to get into my characters' heads 🧐

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We have a new episode for you! Stacy Whitman, founder and publisher of Tu Books, discusses diversity and #ownvoices with the Lit Service crew.

She is currently looking for submissions for the #NewVisionsAward, but submissions close August 31st so act fast!

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Happy #LitServiceTuesday! If you'd like to participate, head on over to Instagram - we're @litservicepodcast! . . . . . RULES - Hosted ONLY on Instagram - Post a picture with a caption fitting the prompt - Include the prompt graphic in your post (these will be available for download on our website) - Tag @LitServicePodcast and #LitServiceTuesdays

To increase your chances of winning: - Interact with our other posts during the week - Tag your friends in your posts and the prompt posts - Share the prompt in your story (be sure to tag us!)

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What are you reading today? 

[writingdotcoffee]

How Is Magical Realism Different From Fantasy?

If magical realism isn't straight-up fantasy, or any other speculative genre, then what, exactly, is it?

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TIL about a Jonbar hinge! What's a crucial point of divergence in your WIP?

In mine, the two protagonists have to decide whether to run from a terrible situation, or to remain in it. Without that decision, there wouldn't be a story!

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Are you caught up on our latest episodes yet? If not, this is your reminder to catch up before the next episode releases!

We recorded with Stacy Whitman last night, and had a great time talking about diversity in literature and #ownvoices - be sure to listen when the episode is released!

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Last semester, I had the privilege of hearing Christopher Husberg speak about writing, and about his books. The magic system he creates often relies on a highly addictive drug, and he said that writing addiction in an honest and sensitive way was one of his biggest struggles. How do you deal with writing about taboo topics like addiction?  

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Have you read any of the recent movie-to-book releases? (i.e. Wonder Woman, or any of these Star Wars books). I've heard good things about "Bloodline" but haven't read it yet. What do you think about books like this? Would you ever write one? 

Also my husband and I love Legos way too much. Especially Star Wars Legos. #Don’tJudgeUs 

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Happy #LitServiceTuesday! If you'd like to participate, head on over to Instagram - we're @litservicepodcast! RULES - Hosted ONLY on Instagram - Post a picture with a caption fitting the prompt - Include the prompt graphic in your post (these will be available for download on our website) - Tag @LitServicePodcast and #LitServiceTuesdays

To increase your chances of winning: - Interact with our other posts during the week - Tag your friends in your posts and the prompt posts - Share the prompt in your story (be sure to tag us!)

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We are excited to announce that we will be presenting at FanX in Salt Lake City!! Our guests will be Kathryn Purdie and Sara B Larson, two amazing authors. If you'd like a first chapter critique, check our submission guidelines on our website (https://litservicepodcast.wixsite.com/litnation) and submit by August 31st. And if you see us at FanX, come say hello!!

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Happy Saturday! What are you writing today? I'm working on my current project - it's a YA novel that I compare to X-Men crossed with Graceling 

[ao3commentoftheday]

If your story has different points of view, is it annoying to switch between them in a single chapter? Thank you!

I do that all the time, so I hope not! lol

seriously, though - as long as the switches are clear and don’t cause confusion you should be fine. I find it helps to use the horizonal rule in between viewpoints to show the flip in perspective. 

Note: don’t use stylistic breaks between viewpoints (or scenes) like a series of asterisks or tildes etc. If someone is using a screen reader, it will read out each symbol that you use. Also using indicators like “Character A’s POV” tend to break up the story and take people out the narrative. Or at least they do for me.

[cdelphiki]

Oh my God, please don’t use asterisks as a line break.  

“Asteriskasteriskasteriskasteriskasterisk” is the literal worst. As someone who uses almost exclusively screen readers anymore when I read more than a couple paragraphs at a time, I have quit reading stories because there were too many line breaks with a dozen or two asterisks, or OoOoOo, or underscores, or any assortment of characters.  It looks pretty, but it doesn’t sound pretty!

Use hyphens or a coded line break.  On Ao3, that is done with <hr >. Those just cause brief pauses in the reading, so they are perfect for transitions and breaks between scenes!  Listening to a minute straight of “underscore” without pause is grating.  

If you use Microsoft word to write, it will check your document for accessibility (meaning, whether a screen reader can read it) for you, and tell you how to fix any problems it finds!  On Mac, it’s under Tools > Check for Accessibility and on Windows it’s under File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document > Check for Accessibility

[ladyreyreigns]

@cdelphiki what’s your favorite screen reader? Do you have a recommendation for an iPhone?

[cdelphiki]

I actually use the one built right into iPhone and Mac.  

On iPhone it’s under General > Accessibility > Speech.  It’s as easy as having it on and then scrolling to where you want it to start reading, then gently dragging two fingers down from the top center of the screen.  (slightly lower than the very top, so you don’t drag down that menu. It takes a little practice to get it right every time.) That starts up the program automatically and gives you a little floating control panel where you can speed up, slow down, skip, rewind, or pause. You can change the voice from the same Speech menu, under Voices.  I like Alex from the American accents.  

On Mac it’s also in accessibility and you just highlight what you want to be read, then press option + esc.  You can change the voices on it, as well, in accessibility.  

I don’t use windows enough to have ever bothered with it.  Sorry!

[litservice-blog]

I didn’t know that about the stylistic breaks - thank you for sharing!!

[talkmagically]

This is the best explanation I could come up with for why it takes me so long to do updates sometimes when, at other times, I’m typing them up like clockwork.

[apollosflamingchariot]

also this:

[sauntering-down]

facts.

[p1013]

I’m like this with my original fiction, too.

[tzikeh]

You guys forgot this one:

[ladyataralasse]

Accurate AF

Also this entire thought process:

[image credit  Emily Chapman ]

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Do you have a favorite portmanteau? Share it with us! 

The funniest one I've heard recently is poltercat/catergeist (a cat that is also a poltergeist)

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Submissions are open yet again! Our next wonderful guest will be Stacy Whitman, the founder and publisher of Tu Books, which focuses on diverse middle grade and YA. She is also looking for submissions for the #NewVisionsAward!