Please welcome InScribe member Adriana Marella-Wolfe today as our Guest Blogger on InScribe Writers Online.
How do I explore in a new direction with split themes or dual timelines? A split time novel must have multiple storylines in more than one time period. I am trying two time periods since I am a beginner. Dual timelines can be linear that bridges two time periods which bridges time and space.
Past publications in historical/contemporary fiction, poetry, and spiritual stories lead me to the next level. I am a late bloomer in writing. My spiritual fiction, Mystia, has been on pause. Plans to revive it are in the works. Resources navigate my path.
My InScribe writing group, with Sharon Hamilton and Sharon Heagy, aid me to identify where my spiritual fiction fits. Sharon Hamilton describes my work for Early Readers ages 5-10. She sent me to Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP). These resources have rebalanced my writing and business with positive critiques.
Illustrations are my next task. Choices are black or white, colourized, both, or none. At the conference, a cover illustration will sell a book in three seconds. I need the help of an illustrator, hopefully MaryAnn Ward to visualize my novel.
Social media and advertising are avenues to explore. Using the internet is new to me, since I am a people person. Instagram is the venue I use to keep track of views, followers, and promote my business. Advertisements through parish bulletins, word of mouth, and craft/trade shows are icebreakers for me. CANSCAIP was a godsend for me. I met other authors in the same field. It helped me with marketing ideas and writing a formula/synopsis for my spiritual fiction. I did not meet anyone who writes with dual timelines.
What have I done so far? I have self-published two spiritual books: A Time for God and A Time for Prayer; anthologies with Wascana Writers; newspaper articles in The Leader Post, Regina Sun, and North Battleford Optimist; magazine articles such as "Sisters of Charity" in FellowScript, Wascana Writers (freelance), and Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. My vision expands to a place where God uses my characters and me as instruments to connect with the reader.
What do I think will work for me? With my research at the Sherwood Village Library, the librarian finds two resources. First, one book online which I ordered—A Split in Time: How to Write Dual Timeline, Split Time, and Time-Slip Fiction by Melanie Dobson and Morgan Tarpley Smith, 2020. Three specific styles: staccato, sandwich, or sectional are recommendations. To me, staccato style is snapshots. Sandwich style is two in the present and one in the past, or the other way. Sectionals are the long version. My first attempt uses staccato and sectional. I will try staccato to refresh and add suspense. It helps me steer dual timelines.
With this resource, chapters are aligned with an ABA pattern. Present to past to present is my first try. I will weave them together. I need to reedit again to make it come alive for the reader.
The second resource from the library is The Memory House by Rachel Hauck, 2019. A split time theme and romance patterned contemporary, then historical. This book is on the way.
My InScribe writing group, with Sharon Hamilton and Sharon Heagy, aid me to identify where my spiritual fiction fits. Sharon Hamilton describes my work for Early Readers ages 5-10. She sent me to Canadian Society of Children's Authors, Illustrators and Performers (CANSCAIP). These resources have rebalanced my writing and business with positive critiques.
Illustrations are my next task. Choices are black or white, colourized, both, or none. At the conference, a cover illustration will sell a book in three seconds. I need the help of an illustrator, hopefully MaryAnn Ward to visualize my novel.
How do I incorporate business in writing? My home-based business, People of the Archangel Publications, is where I self-publish, copyedit, retreats/workshops, and author with craft/trade shows. I implement my tools into rural and urban areas booked by the librarian with the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild. God Moments is one of them by contract work.
People need to feed the spiritual side. My priest hires me to do a spiritual retreat, “From the Desert to the Promised Land” is another one of them. Biblical growth heals the wounds.
Social media and advertising are avenues to explore. Using the internet is new to me, since I am a people person. Instagram is the venue I use to keep track of views, followers, and promote my business. Advertisements through parish bulletins, word of mouth, and craft/trade shows are icebreakers for me. CANSCAIP was a godsend for me. I met other authors in the same field. It helped me with marketing ideas and writing a formula/synopsis for my spiritual fiction. I did not meet anyone who writes with dual timelines.
My adventure through the craft and business of writing is a teeter-totter. I will pray to God for the words to be an instrument to readers.
Adriana Marella-Wolfe is a retired teacher, wife, and mom living in Regina, most of her life. Adriana has a Bachelor of Education Degree, University of Regina, Laity - Archdiocese of Regina and People of the Archangel Publications - home-based business as a self-publisher, copyeditor, author with craft/trade shows. Historical/contemporary fiction, poetry and spiritual stories are published in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Adriana loves to travel, write, read, knit, and crochet.
Adriana Marella-Wolfe is a retired teacher, wife, and mom living in Regina, most of her life. Adriana has a Bachelor of Education Degree, University of Regina, Laity - Archdiocese of Regina and People of the Archangel Publications - home-based business as a self-publisher, copyeditor, author with craft/trade shows. Historical/contemporary fiction, poetry and spiritual stories are published in anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Adriana loves to travel, write, read, knit, and crochet.
Adriana, thank you for sharing how you are exploring new directions in writing. I like your description of the craft of writing as an "adventure". May God bless you as you adventure with him. Welcome to the blog!
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