Tag Archives | third person point of view

Point of view ponderings.

By on April 7, 2010 in Writing

First person. Third person deep. Third person distant. Third person limited. Third person express. Second person. Omniscient. Future tense. Past tense.

Yikes. Stop the rollercoaster I want to get off. And I was just kidding there is no third person express pov. I made that one up. But it sounds like it could be one. Doesn’t it?

We have so many choices. Different writers prefer different point of views. I thought I liked 3rd person deep pov. I don’t know why. I guess it’s just the one I started with and old habits die hard. But my past few manuscripts, after starting in 3rd person, I ended up switching over to first person. And once I did that, the story came alive for me. All of a sudden I had freedom to add in the type of narration that I enjoy writing and reading the most.

But I’m tackling a new story. And I realized that first person was just not going to work. (I don’t think.) Not with what I wanted to do. There were certain sides to the story that had to be told. But I still wanted the freedom that first person narration offered.

So, I discovered third person distant pov. I’m only revealing one character’s thoughts (no head hopping), but I’m taking advantage of the narration to add in my style and my humor. And I’m finding the freedom to reveal important clues and pieces of the story without constantly worrying about breaking that 3rd person deep pov.

Will it work? Will I do it right? Heck, I don’t know. Ask my crit partners in about a month when I start submitting. But I do feel great about one thing. I’m growing. I’m stretching my writing abilities, which means I’m going to learn. And that is the place I want to be.

What p.o.v do you prefer? And why?

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Have you fallen out of a tree today? (a book review)

By on March 17, 2010 in book reviews

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell out of a Tree by Lauren Tarshis.

A super smart girl tries her best to enter the social world of her peers with disastrous results while grieving her father’s death.

This is the new cover to be released this year.

 

 

 

 

 

Ten reasons to love Emma-Jean:

  1.  The reader feels the emotion even though the character isn’t blubbering. No gimmicks.
  2. A quirky genius of a girl protagonist with a well-rounded cast of secondary characters.
  3. Ms. Tarshis does an excellent job of switching over to another girl’s pov that doesn’t break up the story, but deepens it.
  4. An example of  3rd person pov writing that works. The author’s telling of the story and word choice reflects Emma-Jean.
  5. Ms. Tarshis never tells us what Emma-Jean is like: we slowly figure it out through Emma-Jean’s dialogue and actions. Great showing.
  6. You can’t help but root for a girl who has no clue why middle school girls are so complicated.
  7. Ms. Tarshis never manipulates the reader through gimmicks or fancy prose – a simple story that cuts straight to the heart.
  8. We see important secondary characters experience an emotional arc, not just Emma-Jean.
  9. It’s a short read, not padded with extra prose and filler scenes.
  10. It’s a good cry.

And here’s the companion novel, which I haven’t read yet, but I know exactly where it sits on our library shelves!

What book have you read that not only knocked your holey socks off but would be a great book for fellow writers to study excellent craft?

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