Comments | cupidsbow: Viewpoint Techniques 102, by cupidsbow

cupidsbow

Viewpoint Techniques 102, by cupidsbow

Dec 29, 2007 19:31

Viewpoint Techniques 102 by cupidsbowToday I want to talk about a story's point of view from a nuts-and-bolts technical perspective. I don't mean in the broad strokes of the narrative voice: first person, second person, etc., or whether the viewpoint character is outside or inside the story. These aspects are viewpoint 101, if you will, and any decent book ( Read more... )

discussion, links, sga, essay, writing

Comments 20

greenjelloforst December 30 2007, 06:10:56 UTC

very well written and thorough! i'm awful about pronoun confusion in my writing; normally i'll be able to catch it, but won't be able to fix it properly, and the paragraph or sentence will turn out awkward. definitely saving this. :)

cupidsbow January 13 2008, 03:25:35 UTC

I'm glad it was helpful. :)

lavvyan December 30 2007, 08:32:05 UTC

Thank you very much for writing this, and especially for the examples! Theoretical discussions usually lose me about four paragraphs in, so having something to use as a reference helped me a lot in understanding this. Now I'm going to check out your recommended books on writing, because I've found that German ones don't help me at all, at least not with fanfiction. Writing in German and writing in English is just too different, although the underlying rules should be the same. I guess. But still, I cannot transfer one to the other, which bothers me. So, checking out.

Also, I'll have to get you to beta for me more often. You're amazing. :)

cupidsbow January 13 2008, 03:26:35 UTC

You're very welcome, and I'm glad it was useful to you. Also, you flatter me; I really have had betas who are much better than I am. They are just hard to find!

lavvyan January 13 2008, 18:32:23 UTC

I'm just flattering you because I'm going to ask you to help me again and want you to say yes. *g*

Seriously, though: you're one of the three most helpful beta-readers who ever agreed to take a look at my stuff. Your advice was spot-on and made the story that much better.

cupidsbow January 13 2008, 18:45:50 UTC

Well, if I have the time I'm happy to beta for you, but I often don't. Just so you know. And now I'm going to bed, as it's 3:30am. *blinks blearily* Night!

Thread 5

Viewpoint Techniques 102 maxinemayer December 31 2007, 06:24:29 UTC

Thank you so much for this LJ refresher course viewpoints and how to make them clear to one's reader! Greatly appreciated!

Also, I went to your post "Books on How To Write" and recommended a book for you to recommend to your students (after you've read it, of course!).

Happy New Year! Love, max
PS - I've also tagged the stories you used for examples - I'll read them as soon as I can!

Re: Viewpoint Techniques 102 cupidsbow January 13 2008, 03:27:18 UTC

You're very welcome, and thank you for the recommendations. As soon as Summer School is over, I shall check them out.

crysothemis January 3 2008, 05:47:39 UTC

This is a very nice primer on managing POV. I bow before your thoroughness and clarity!

As far as the whole pronoun thing goes, I think this sentence is key: the reader will think all the uses of "she/her" refer to C, rather than A or B, just because C is the main topic of the paragraph.

Because of course pronouns do not necessarily refer to the last person named. It's closer to say that they refer to the focus of the current phrase. And to make things even more complicated, you can use pronouns to (subtly) influence that focus. For example ( ... )

cupidsbow January 6 2008, 16:43:06 UTC

It makes perfect sense, and thanks for adding such a useful clarification and example.

Ironically, I went looking in one of your stories for an example for the pronoun section, but I couldn't find the bit I was looking for. (Don't ask me which bit; my brain has been overdosed on Christmas cheer since then :) So your comment is especially welcome.

crysothemis January 7 2008, 18:32:33 UTC

Cool. I have to say, your writing meta/advice is among the best I've ever read. Clear but in depth, with a real sense for the subtleties. You synthesize and explain ideas very well (and cite your sources in a way that makes me want to read them *right now*).

/gush

cupidsbow January 13 2008, 03:27:56 UTC

*blushes* Okay, you can come by any time. ;)

aleathiel January 4 2008, 19:23:47 UTC

Just a passing note to tell you that I love it when you write this kind of post. Even when it's all things I knew, it makes me think about them again. And specifically. Sometimes I suffer from writing too much without thinking and I think that thinking more about how I write would force me to improve. So thanks, as always.

cupidsbow January 13 2008, 03:28:56 UTC

As always, you're welcome. I love talking about writing with other people who love it too. :)