POV or how to screw up your voice

I recently turned in a proposal for a YA and decided to do it in 3rd person POV. I normally write my books in first person but thought it might be best to try this book in 3rd person so I could get some other character thoughts involved. I sent it to my agent who sent it back with a notation: "Your voice is muted. Your voice is one of your strengths." Its important to note she didn't say change it to first person, she merely wanted me to fix it.

And I tried. Several times. Finally I rewrote the chapters in first person and low and behold, it was 10 times better. When I am in first person, I get so much more the the character on the page. Her quirks, her humor, her angst, her deep thoughts. I thought I'd managed to do that when I was in deep POV but apparently, not so much.

So, if you are struggling with your manuscript and it isn't feeling vibrant enough (YA especially) consider switching POV to another character or go first person. Look at the difference. You can always change first person POV to deep 3rd person POV when you are done and I bet you will find your character more alive and personable.

New career opportunity...

I learned a new trade yesterday. I was tired of paying someone huge amounts of cash to lay tile in my house so I did our bar area myself. I picked up an inexpensive tile saw (around $70 at Home Depot) and a free DIY newsletter on how to cut and lay tile. And guess what? It was freakin' easy!

Not to say there aren't hard tiling jobs out there but knowing I could do this job myself made me feel like a Rock Star! Just need to grout it tomorrow. Next I am going to do a bar for the rec room. However nice it was to learn a new trade, I'm not giving up my writing career anytime soon. Cutting tile and such is hard work.

-Serena