To: You
From: Plot Blueprint - Alicia
Date: May 15
RE: Monthly Memo
Hi, everyone! I hope everyone is hanging in there during this dread time.
To keep us all focused on writing and improving, I’m doing an email class on Powerful Pacing, with much wisdom on how to get your story events moving at just the right pace to keep your audience involved.
Interested in attending one of my revision-demonstration settings, where I edit in real-time on screen? That is, I edit YOUR donated passage and explain what I’d revise and why. It’s fun and not as brutal as it sounds. Right now I’m doing these for free (yeah, I’m getting kind of bored… J), and I want to keep each to 3-4 writers so we can get through all in 2 hours.I’ll record the session so you can have that for later. Anyway, if you’d like to do one in the coming weeks, email me at: Plotblueprint@gmail.com
Of course, enrollment is quite limited as this is very hands-on.
Here’s an article about POV, which is an obsession of mine since I wrote a book – The Power of Point of View-- about just that—the complex writing element of character point of view. (Email me at plotblueprint@gmail.com if you’d like a completely free e-book version. I just got the publication rights back last year! Yay! I thought I’d never “own” that book again. Now it’s mine to give away—to you, if you want it.)
How to Individualize Your Character's POV by Alicia Rasley
Characters are only as strong as their point-of-view allows them to be. Get your characters in shape by following this advice.
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Once you’ve chosen a primary point-of-view character, you need to get to know her from the inside out. Keep in mind that readers want an experience, not just a view. They want to see the story through that character’s eyes.
In order to create an authentic narrative voice, begin by asking yourself some key questions about your POV character: How does this person perceive the world? How does she come to understand her environment? What does she choose to notice and to ignore, and why? What does she want to do with what she learns?
In addition to defining your character’s emotional and intellectual dimensions, POV reflects perceptual ability, which varies depending on a person’s sensory and cognitive skills—the way we take in and use information.
Perception and Point of View
Most of us have one or two dominant senses. For example, I’m an auditory, not visual, person. I can see you every workday, and I can’t describe you. But after a couple of phone conversations, I can recognize a voice anywhere. So if I were the POV character, I would not note my future love interest’s looks, beyond a vague realization that he’s handsome. But his sardonic tone, the nervous catch in his voice as he greets me, the deliberate pace of his speech—these I would take note of.
Think about your own perceptual strengths and weaknesses. Which of the five basic senses is strongest for you? Can you actually taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke? Can you distinguish the perfumes of every woman in the room? Can you tell just by the tone of a friend’s voice how he’s feeling? Do you love to touch different fabrics? Are you overly sensitive to color, to the point that you’re unable to work in a yellow room?
Now apply the same sort of questions to a character, and you’ll start to individualize that POV. Identify her dominant sense, and then think about how that will affect how she narrates a scene. A visual person will focus more on what she sees: She was so intent on that garbage truck backing up that she missed what Judy said. A tactile person will always be touching things and reporting on the texture: Betty grabbed the doorknob.The brass was cool and smooth under her hand, and it wouldn’t turn. A little of this goes a long way, but even a few focused sensory references can convey how this character takes in the world around her.
The Various Modes Of Perception
Sensual perceptivity is not the only way to “absorb” the world. There’s also temperament (optimist/pessimist, emotional/rational) and personality style (problem solver, logician, competitor and so on). Learning style also affects perception. You’ll notice that schools these days tend to offer different methods of instruction because they recognize that children have different learning strengths. For example, a teacher will provide an assignment sheet but also read it aloud in class, so that both visual and auditory learners will understand it.
Visual people learn more through their eyes; they have good visual memory, are intrigued by color and motion, and will watch a video to learn how to build a bookcase. Kinesthetic learners need to participate in the lesson.
Think about how your character learned (or didn’t learn) in school. And consider the character’s profession, for we usually choose to do what we are naturally attuned to. Artists tend to perceive the world through their most developed sense, which will probably be the one they use in their art. An engineer will try to understand the logic, the structure, of what he’s perceiving. A lawyer is a negotiator and a talker, and she’ll acquire knowledge mostly through questioning and listening.
There’s also a less obvious perceptive mode—a sixth sense—we call intuition. It’s probably a combination of superior emotional intelligence and hypersensitivity to external stimuli, but what it means is that you can sense the emotion, intent and fears of others. You can figure out if they’re telling the truth or lying, if they’re trustworthy or not. This is a wonderful “extra” sense to bestow upon certain types of characters, like cops and journalists, who have to make quick judgments. To display this sense in POV, imagine how it feels to know something instinctively, and show it that way. For example, a character’s stomach might knot up, or the nerves in his arms might go on alert, when someone intends harm.
Perception as a Party Game
Now consider how these ways of perceiving will be exhibited in the narrative. Imagine a group of characters with lots of different perceptual abilities arriving at a raucous party and having to make sense of the chaos.
A problem solver sees the world as a set of problems to be solved. She will walk into party and notice what’s wrong—the music is too loud, the ice has run out and a girl is sitting alone in the corner crying. But though the problem solver focuses on problems, she’s no pessimist; rather, she’s busy devising solutions—turning down the stereo, sending her boyfriend into the kitchen for more ice, and comforting the weeper.
A competitor sees life as a game. When he enters the party, he will choose a side—that weeping girl has already been cut from his team—then scout the opposition and ascertain the prize. He likes to know the rules ahead of time, and he expects a fair outcome: The swift ought to win the race, and he ought to get the most beautiful woman.
A materialist will scan the crowd and see diamonds and Rolex watches, calculating the net worth of the party and never noticing the human tragedy in the corner.
These are examples of only a few perception types. You’ll come up with more on your own. Just remember, less is more. Few people are both visually and auditorily superior, and logical besides. So, instead of using all five senses in a scene, consider that the more evocative viewpoint will have one dominant perception. A musical character would close his eyes to better hear the song of his lover’s sighs—and never even see the fire in her eyes.
How Perception Can Change a Scene
Use your knowledge of the POV character’s perspective modes to make his narration of every event unique to him. This contributes to the authenticity of the scene, strengthens a reader’s investment in the story and reveals character. Here are some examples of how perception might affect a POV character’s experience of the scene and what details you choose to reveal about him.
A deliberate, judicious character will think before speaking, so you’ll likely show that thinking:
Herbert waited until they were alone. He chose his words carefully, knowing the wrong word could mean beheading. “I would not want to offend Your Grace, but the duchess—it is said in the kitchens, mere rumor, perhaps, that she is spending more time with the stable boy than perhaps most ladies of her station would do.”
He waited for the duke’s response, and when there was none except for that cold stare, Herbert realized it was not time for further revelation.
An impulsive person’s thoughts will be chaotic and action oriented, and often the action will come first and the thought after:
Herbert took the duke’s arm and pulled him toward the window. “Come and see this. You’ll want to see it.” Well, he reflected, His Grace might not actually want to see it, but a cuckolded man deserved to know the truth.
He didn’t see it coming, but he felt it—the duke’s glove. Fist enclosed. As he went down, he thought, Kill the messenger, why don’t you? And then he didn’t think anymore.
A pessimistic person’s thoughts will prophesize doom:
Herbert watched the hard-faced duke enter and cross to the back window. Oh, woe. The duke would see his wife and the stable boy, right out there in the stable yard. There was no avoiding it. He didn’t even bother to try to divert the duke’s attention—what good would it do? No matter what, he would get blamed for it. It was his job around here. Whipping boy.
An optimist’s POV will show an expectation of the best:
Herbert watched the duke enter and cross to the window. That could be trouble. Then again, maybe it was for the best. Maybe the duke would see how unhappy his wife was, take pains to win her back, and give her the child she wanted so badly. Then the old castle would ring with the joyous sound of laughter and childish voices!
Same situation, same role—but a different type of character in each POV. It’s not just the action that shifts with the change in character, but the very narration of that action—the word choice, the attitude, the sentence construction, the perception, the value system (the first Herbert values his position; the next values the truth; the next values his martyrdom; the final values babies and marital harmony), the analysis of what’s going on, and the level of connection to reality.
What about your own character? Let’s try some quick questions, and you can free-write the answers in the character’s first-person POV just to get a sense of who this is:
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EXERCISE
Look at your own character, one who will serve as the viewpoint characters-- the readers' "eyes and ears" in the story. For one viewpoint character, consider: (I'm using YOU meaning the character-- try free-writing in the character's own voice-- "I learn best by...") (You don't have to answer ALL these questions.)
1. How do you learn best? Observation? Participation? Trial and error?Rumination and cogitation? Consulting experts? Writing?
2. How open are you to new ideas and information? Do you change your mind frequently, based on what people have told you? Are you a traditionalist, deciding on the basis of "what's always been"? If someone is arguing with you, are you more likely to change your mind or dig in your heels? What if the arguer is right?
3. When you walk into a party, what do you notice first? The mood? The people? The decorating? The things needing to be fixed? The background music? The food on the buffet table? Whether you fit in?
4. Is one sense more highly developed than another? For instance, do you tend to take in the world primarily through vision? "I'll believe that when I see it!" Or are you more audial? Do you determine if a person is lying by the tone of voice? Do you love to talk on the phone? Don't forget the sixth sense-- intuition. (This aspect can give you all sorts of plot leads-- a visual person might need to learn that appearances can be deceiving; an audial person might learn about a murder because she's been eavesdropping. Remember also that an artist's narration of a scene will use very different terms than a musician's will.)
5. Do you usually notice problems around you? What is your response? Do you write an angry letter to the editor? shrug and move on? Analyze what's wrong and how to fix it? take it as evidence that the world is falling apart? What about problems within yourself?
6. Would you say you were an optimist or a pessimist? Would your friends agree? How would you react if your life suddenly took a turn for the worse? Are you prepared for that? Do you notice when your life is going well? Does that make you happy?
7. Are you more interested in the past or the future, or do you live in the now? Are you one to keep holiday traditions? Do you reminisce about days gone by? Are you sentimental about objects, like your mother's handmirror or your first baseball glove? How hard would it be to move from your present home? How long would you keep in touch with your friends back in the old town? How long would it take you to make new friends?
8. How do you decide if you can trust someone? Experience with others? with this person? First impressions? Intuition? Do you test the person somehow? Or are you just generally disposed to trust or not to trust?
9. Are you a deliberate, careful speaker, or do you talk without thinking first? Do you like to verbally analyze situations, or do you keep your assessment to yourself until you reach a conclusion? Do you use slang, or do you use diction your English teacher would approve? Do you consider yourself fairly eloquent? How do you get across your meaning when you have to explain something difficult to someone else?
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NOW read over what you just wrote, and list 5-10 "hallmarks" of your character's POV, such as (example) "visual... problem-solver... pessimist... dark view of humanity... expects the worst... looks for trouble... wary and curious... always "on the lookout"... oddly sentimental about some things... speaks slowly and distinctly, as if talking to children."
The next scene you write in this character’s POV… try reading that list over BEFORE writing. What happens?
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Here’s a fun article about the time (for a contest), Arthur Conan Doyle chose his 12 favorite Sherlock Holmes stories. It gives a real sense of his understanding of how his own stories work, for example:
“The Lion’s Mane” … is hampered by being told by Holmes himself, a method which I employed only twice, as it certainly cramps the narrative.
It’s intriguing that he vastly prefers what is now considered an “old-fashioned” technique, of having the first-person narrator (Dr. Watson) be a non-protagonist (though certainly Watson is an active character).
Hang in there, everyone! Let’s not forget that now more than ever, the world needs good stories well told. J
Alicia