Writing Glossary

Authorial Intrusion — when the writer addresses the reader directly, for example:   Dear reader, Miss Scarlett was quite remiss in meeting Colonel Mustard in the billiard room at all, but bringing the candlestick was pure stupidity.

eBook – A written work available through a file download.

Critique Group – writers who gather to offer opinions on the literary merits of each other’s writing with the intent of improving their craft.

DRM – Digital Rights Management – a means to limit the access or use of a digital file to a particular platform or in some other way, as defined by the content provider.

DRM-free – a digital work which has no access limitations (in theory-this is a hotly debated topic and beyond a simple definition)

eReader — An electronic device that displays a digital file for reading, such as an Amazon Kindle or Barnes and Noble Nook.

First person Point of View (POV) – a story told by a character using the first-person pronouns of I, me, my, mine, et cetera to describe the events as this character lives through them.

Head Hopping – when the point of view character shifts from one person to the next, without the appropriate break.

Point of View – the character or view through whom or which we experience the story.

Reflowable — text which shifts around to accommodate changes in the size of a screen, such as a webpage or an eReader.

Second person Point of View (POV) – rarely used in fiction.  Even more rarely used well.  Uses the pronoun of you and all its derivatives as the writer narrates events to you, as if you were a character in the piece.

Third person Point of View (POV).– the most common POV in fiction.  Uses the many third-person pronouns, including, he, she, they, and them.