I woke up at 6:30am this morning, thanks to my alarm clock cat who refused to go into sleep mode. But, after dragging my body out from under the bed covers, I'm glad to be up. The sun is shining and the world is a beautiful place. I really don't want to waste the daylight hours in sleep.
Today I have a busy day. I'm entertaining the Board for my writing group at noon. We have a lot to discuss, so it'll be nicer to sit on the deck and enjoy the weather while we eat and make decisions. Tonight is bible study and since it's the last night, we are having a pot luck with pizza, salads, and desserts. Pig out time!
I suppose it's a good thing that I've been running up and down the stairs so much the past couple of days.
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On Writing:
I've been working with a new writer who has a great voice and really knows her characters. However, like a lot of new writers, she has a problem with POV (point of view). At one time, it was okay to do some head-hopping, but in today's literary world, not. The first thing an agent or editor will ding a writer on is incorrect usage of POV.
I woke up thinking about why writers head-hop when they begin writing. I did it, and so has most everyone else I've spoken with. Stepping back, my take is that the author knows his/her characters so well, that they know what they are thinking and what they are doing during every second of the scene. They are in each character's head so deeply that it is easy to write in both POV's. Is this a bad thing?
Not really. A good book is only as good as its characters. Story is driven by the characters, their thoughts, reactions, and actions. So, this is a good thing. The trick is to learn which character's POV is the one to stick with for a scene. Choose the character who has to most to lose or gain from the scene. Then show the other characters thoughts and emotions through their actions. Once this is accomplished, you'll have a winning story that will meet the editor/agents criteria for a great read.
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Showing posts with label POV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label POV. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Dear Author: "Can you help me understand POV changes?"
Some of my newer writing friends are baffled when they receive feedback that they've changed POVs. What does that mean?
POV (point of view) is probably the easiest and hardest thing to explain. POV comes from what the character is seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, hearing, or thinking. In fiction, editors want to know what is happening in a scene from ONE character's point of view. The temptation for the writer is to show the scene from every point of view because we, the writer, know what's going on in each character's mind.
Let's look at an example from my romantic suspense novel, FOXFIRE. Tyler is a vet and Grace is his office assistant. She accompanied him to an elderly man's home where Tyler had to euthanize the man's dog. Grace has a dog named Tiffany. She is filled with grief after the incident. After Tyler brings her home, they sit together in her living room. Below is the wrong way to write the scene:
Grace sat in the rocker.
Tiffany came out of the kitchen, her jowls dripping water. She walked to Tyler and leaned against him. He ruffled her fur, thinking again about the poor dog he'd had to euthanize. He wished he could have saved the old man's pet. (This indicates that the scene will be in Tyler's POV because we know what he's feeling know through his thoughts.)
Grace felt awkward. What could they talk about to avoid the issue forefront in both their minds? (Now we see what Grace is feeling. Hmmm. So, Tyler can't be privy to her thoughts unless he's a mind reader. We've clearly switched POV to Grace at this point. This is a no-no. It is called head-hopping.)
He met her gaze. "The first time I had to euthanize an animal, my dad was with me. Later we sat and talked about it. He helped me understand what I'd done was the humane thing." Tyler shook his head. He wanted to walk over and hug her. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her. (Again we've switched POV back to Tyler! Grace wouldn't know that Tyler wants to hug her. That's what he's thinking about out.)
Grace swallowed. The lump kept rising in her throat. She wouldn't resort to tears in front of Tyler. She bit the inside of her mouth, a trick that always worked. She watched Tyler's fingers absently stroking Tiffany's ears. (Again another POV switch. Now we are in Grace's head. We see what she sees, feel what she's feeling.)
"I suppose you get hardened to it," she said.
"Never."
****************
Okay, now that we've seen the wrong way to write the scene, how can we write it to show both POV's without doing that head-hopping thing? How to do it? Remove any instances where we are in Tyler's head and reveal his emotions through dialogue. Here is the scene only in Grace's POV:
Grace sat in the rocker.
Tiffany came out of the kitchen, her jowls dripping water. She walked to Tyler and leaned against him. He ruffled her fur and she dropped to the rug at his feet.
Grace felt awkward. What could they talk about to avoid the issue forefront in both their minds?
He met her gaze. "The first time I had to euthanize an animal, my dad was with me. Later we sat and talked about it. He helped me understand what I'd done was the humane thing." Tyler shook his head. "I still have a hard time dealing with it. No matter how prepared you are, it always hurts to see life fade away."
Grace swallowed. The lump kept rising in her throat. She wouldn't resort to tears in front of Tyler. She bit the inside of her mouth, a trick that always worked. She watched Tyler's fingers absently stroking Tiffany's ears.
"I suppose you get hardened to it," she said.
"Never."
*****
This scene shows that Tyler must have had as hard a time with putting the dog to sleep as Grace did. But, it is strictly in Grace's POV.
I hope this helps a little with understanding how to use POV. Another trick is to write part of the scene in one POV and use a break *** and begin writing in the other character's POV. This is particularly helpful in love scenes.
Please feel free to ask any questions by commenting on the blog, or you can contact me directly through my website. I love to hear from my followers.
Thanks for stopping by!
POV (point of view) is probably the easiest and hardest thing to explain. POV comes from what the character is seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, hearing, or thinking. In fiction, editors want to know what is happening in a scene from ONE character's point of view. The temptation for the writer is to show the scene from every point of view because we, the writer, know what's going on in each character's mind.
Let's look at an example from my romantic suspense novel, FOXFIRE. Tyler is a vet and Grace is his office assistant. She accompanied him to an elderly man's home where Tyler had to euthanize the man's dog. Grace has a dog named Tiffany. She is filled with grief after the incident. After Tyler brings her home, they sit together in her living room. Below is the wrong way to write the scene:
Grace sat in the rocker.
Tiffany came out of the kitchen, her jowls dripping water. She walked to Tyler and leaned against him. He ruffled her fur, thinking again about the poor dog he'd had to euthanize. He wished he could have saved the old man's pet. (This indicates that the scene will be in Tyler's POV because we know what he's feeling know through his thoughts.)
Grace felt awkward. What could they talk about to avoid the issue forefront in both their minds? (Now we see what Grace is feeling. Hmmm. So, Tyler can't be privy to her thoughts unless he's a mind reader. We've clearly switched POV to Grace at this point. This is a no-no. It is called head-hopping.)
He met her gaze. "The first time I had to euthanize an animal, my dad was with me. Later we sat and talked about it. He helped me understand what I'd done was the humane thing." Tyler shook his head. He wanted to walk over and hug her. He wanted nothing more than to comfort her. (Again we've switched POV back to Tyler! Grace wouldn't know that Tyler wants to hug her. That's what he's thinking about out.)
Grace swallowed. The lump kept rising in her throat. She wouldn't resort to tears in front of Tyler. She bit the inside of her mouth, a trick that always worked. She watched Tyler's fingers absently stroking Tiffany's ears. (Again another POV switch. Now we are in Grace's head. We see what she sees, feel what she's feeling.)
"I suppose you get hardened to it," she said.
"Never."
****************
Okay, now that we've seen the wrong way to write the scene, how can we write it to show both POV's without doing that head-hopping thing? How to do it? Remove any instances where we are in Tyler's head and reveal his emotions through dialogue. Here is the scene only in Grace's POV:
Grace sat in the rocker.
Tiffany came out of the kitchen, her jowls dripping water. She walked to Tyler and leaned against him. He ruffled her fur and she dropped to the rug at his feet.
Grace felt awkward. What could they talk about to avoid the issue forefront in both their minds?
He met her gaze. "The first time I had to euthanize an animal, my dad was with me. Later we sat and talked about it. He helped me understand what I'd done was the humane thing." Tyler shook his head. "I still have a hard time dealing with it. No matter how prepared you are, it always hurts to see life fade away."
Grace swallowed. The lump kept rising in her throat. She wouldn't resort to tears in front of Tyler. She bit the inside of her mouth, a trick that always worked. She watched Tyler's fingers absently stroking Tiffany's ears.
"I suppose you get hardened to it," she said.
"Never."
*****
This scene shows that Tyler must have had as hard a time with putting the dog to sleep as Grace did. But, it is strictly in Grace's POV.
I hope this helps a little with understanding how to use POV. Another trick is to write part of the scene in one POV and use a break *** and begin writing in the other character's POV. This is particularly helpful in love scenes.
Please feel free to ask any questions by commenting on the blog, or you can contact me directly through my website. I love to hear from my followers.
Thanks for stopping by!
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