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mary rosenblum
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Hello all and good morning!
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mary rosenblum
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Welcome to our Tuesday Forum.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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I hope you all had a great
weekend. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Christopher tells me that he
has been asked to be a contributing editor to Wellnesswalkers.com a
christian ezine.
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mary rosenblum
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Way to go, Chris.
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mary rosenblum
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That will be great experience
for you.
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mary rosenblum
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I wanted to revisit the
subject of first person POV once more...
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mary rosenblum
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because I see a lot of it, and
so do most editors.
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mary rosenblum
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And it has some inherent
difficulties that most noice authors don't really recognize and thus don't
address.
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mary rosenblum
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Which means, their story
suffers.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the more difficult
things to do in first person is to show the setting to the readers.
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mary rosenblum
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One of the techniques that
creates powerful characterization is 'filtering'.
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mary rosenblum
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In other words, everything you
describe in the story is as if seen through the eyes of the Main Character.
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mary rosenblum
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Which is why POV is called
Point of View...it is the point of view of that character.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...if you want to show the
reader details that your POV character might not particularly notice...
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mary rosenblum
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it is much more difficult to
do so in first person, where any violation of that point of view is highly
noticeable.
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christopher dale
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that's kind of a tunnel vision
view. So other than using your five senses what else can you use?
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mary rosenblum
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Actually, you really only use
your character's five senses, chris. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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And that's it.
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mary rosenblum
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So it can be a real challenge
if you want your reader to see your really cool setting...
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mary rosenblum
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and that POV character has
seen this town every day of his life and doesn't particularly notice those
cool details.
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redhead68
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How often can you switch POV
without making the reader dizzy.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, redhead, if you do it
too often, you really do unseat your reader...BUT...
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mary rosenblum
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even once can be too much in a
short story...
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mary rosenblum
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depending on what you are
trying ot achieve.
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mary rosenblum
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If the success of the story
depends on the reader caring about what happens to your main character...
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mary rosenblum
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then even a single switch out
of that character's POV will cost you dearly.
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mary rosenblum
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We only care about that
character if we feel intimate to him/her...
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mary rosenblum
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and every time you change POV,
you yank your readers out of this character and distance them.
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mary rosenblum
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And it really shatters that
intimacy.
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mary rosenblum
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If the story is plot driven,
if we really don't have to care much about the characters in order for this
to work...
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mary rosenblum
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then you mostly need to make
your POV changes clear enough so that you don't lose your readers.
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mary rosenblum
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But if you want the reader to
care about what happens to your MC, then by all means, stick to that POV!!!
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paulplqn
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Stephen King does a change of
POV quite well in The Stand - between the protagonist and the antagonist.
It stops when the two meet.
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mary rosenblum
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Sure, it works. But because it
has worked in some instances does not automatically guarantee that it will
work for YOU.
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mary rosenblum
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'So and so did it' is never a
good reason to do anything.
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mary rosenblum
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It WORKED for so and so. Did
it work for YOU?
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mary rosenblum
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THAT is the real issue.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
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paulplqn
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Point taken. Also, teh length of
the work has to be considered as well.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, novels really tend to
work better with multiple POV.
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mary rosenblum
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THat is a handicap I've had to
overcome...coming to novel form as a short story writer...
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to like a single POV.
Have had to really get over that! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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A novella is much more capable
of handling dual POVs easily.
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mary rosenblum
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Even a novelette can take it.
It's much more problamatical in a shorter work.
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paulplqn
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So, the character in essence
discovers what you, the author, know or have set in place.
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mary rosenblum
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Right.
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mary rosenblum
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Think of it this way. You build
the set, and then you turn the readers loose in it, in the guise of the
POV.
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mary rosenblum
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But the readers only see what
the POV sees, so you have to manipulate your MC accordingly. :-)
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christopher dale
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Could you ask another character
what they see??? I'm thnkning, what if the MC is a blind person....
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christopher dale
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I would think that
"polling" the other cahracters, especially if the MC is blind,
may be a "trick" to getting other views?!?!? Or is that just
cheap???
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mary rosenblum
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Goodness, a blind POV is a
GREAT way to get all the visuals you want, easily.
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mary rosenblum
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Of course a blind person is
going to ask...
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mary rosenblum
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although...bear in mind...that
someone blind from birth...
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mary rosenblum
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is not going to be as
interested in a description of a landscape...
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mary rosenblum
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as someone who remembers what
a landscape looked like before she lost her sight!
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paulplqn
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To have a complete story mapped
out or outlined is very important, especially when you write from a single
point of view.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, it can certainly reduce
the rewriting, paul. But people do work very differently and some people
don't outline ahead of time.
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mary rosenblum
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It's not wrong....just
generally means you'll do a lot more rewriting to get the final story. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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I don't even work the same way
twice on stories.
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mary rosenblum
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I'm working on one now where
I'm plotting as I go, knowing where I mean to end up.
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mary rosenblum
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And at the same time, I'm
working on one that I have roughed out scene by scene.
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paulplqn
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Nor do I. I can start stories
well, but have a hard time to figure out my ending.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, endings really do need
to derive from your beginning, so often, even if you do know your ending,
I've found that the end can change as your story develops.
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christopher dale
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-= Ok - biting tongue long
enough - I agree with Paul.. My storyboarding (There it is -
self-promotion) helped me see problems early on, and, along with a
timeline, helped keep me on track. So I could focus on the story and not on
the basics - they
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christopher dale
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were already mapped oyut. So I
didn't have to think them up! :-D
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, it's one good method. But
essentially, what works for you works.
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redhead68
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What is the longest short story
you have done Mary?
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mary rosenblum
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I can't give you the exact
length, red, but I"ve published novellas, that's over 18,000 words.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble'
next to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
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jackie7777
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How do I effectively show it
without telling?
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mary rosenblum
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And there's the sixty-four
dollar question. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Basically, first person IS
telling.
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mary rosenblum
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Because your POV character is
telling the story.
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mary rosenblum
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So it's a question of how do
you make the scene and action vivid to the reader.
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mary rosenblum
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And create the pace and level
of tension that the story demands.
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paulplqn
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My problem with endings is...if
I can think of it, how much of a surprise can it be?
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mary rosenblum
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Let me slip this in first...
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mary rosenblum
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paul...a magician knows how he
does his trick. People still flock to see the show.
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mary rosenblum
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You ARE a magician here,
surprising the reader with the rabbit in your hat, even though YOU know how
you did it. :-)
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redhead68
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Can you say something like She
felt like a car just double parked on her heart, or is that just telling?
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mary rosenblum
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Well..it's first person, so
you'd use I. I felt like a car just double parked on my heart.
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mary rosenblum
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Yes it's telling, but it's the
character talking.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a matter of having your
POV tell us details and personal insights that are compelling and keep the
story moving briskly.
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mary rosenblum
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And also show the readers what
you need to have them see. e
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paulplqn
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What might the sensation itself
be recognized? That might help tell what "a car double parked on my
heart" fells like. Comments?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, paul, that was taken
entirely out of context, so who knows. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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But I'm sure if you read it in
the context of the scene, the meaning would become obvious.
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mary rosenblum
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Remember that context is
everything...
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mary rosenblum
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you can get away with cryptic
comments on the part of the characters if the reader knows what is going
on. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Taken out of context, the
dialogue can be utterly confusing.
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sweett
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For a first person personal
narrative, would dialogue be a good way to grab your reader and thereby
lose that sense of being told?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, dialogue is really about
the only way to 'show' in first person.
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speckledorf
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We know the person telling the
story survived the mystery/horror or conflict. Is there a way to increase
the tension in such a story?
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mary rosenblum
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Ha...we DON"T always know
if the person survived, speck.
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mary rosenblum
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Only if the story is told in
past tense.
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mary rosenblum
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I tend to use present tense
for my rare first person stories.
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mary rosenblum
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If you use present tense, you
give the effect of the character talking to himself/herself as the events
unfold..
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mary rosenblum
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and at any moment, we might
turn the page, find a blank space, and a terse note that this is the last
page of the diary...found outside the dragon's den. Or what have you.
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tami74
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Can't you do that in past tense
as well....
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mary rosenblum
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Not as effectively. Tense is a
funny thing.
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mary rosenblum
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In fiction, it is nearly
always an invisible tense...and thus used for most fiction outside of
literary mainstream.
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...in first person
narratives it DOES constantly remind us that this person survived.
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mary rosenblum
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It's subtle, but it's real.
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mary rosenblum
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And it's HARD to do first
person in present tense. :-) Proofread for tense about five times!
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mary rosenblum
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But you do up the level of
suspense if you use present tense.
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mary rosenblum
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And editors who normally
dislike and reject present tense for third person, don't sem to mind it in
first.
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tami74
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Hurrying to rewrite current
assignment! Thanks!
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mary rosenblum
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-)
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mary rosenblum
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If you're going to use first
person in present tense, you do need to pay attention to making it really
seem as if this person...
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mary rosenblum
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is talking to
himself/herself..
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mary rosenblum
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which means tone and words
need to reflect the events...
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mary rosenblum
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stress will be very different
than a relaxed stroll.
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gwanny
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I just did an entire assignment
in first POV/past tense...hhmmmm, what to do now?
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mary rosenblum
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Don't worry about it.
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mary rosenblum
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Most mystery first person as I
recall is past, but then in mystery we mostly know that the MC is going...
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mary rosenblum
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to survive to do another book
in the series. :-)
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redhead68
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What about omnicent POV?
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mary rosenblum
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That's a very weak POV, red,
unless your readers don't have to care about any of your characters at all.
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mary rosenblum
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It distances us from all the
characters. We stand outside the story watching it unfold, and kind of
peering at this person's thoughts...now that person's...
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mary rosenblum
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and we don't really identify
with anyone at all.
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of literary mainstream
is done this way, because we're not supposed to care about any particular
character.
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redhead68
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Sorry, I mean can you start with
omnicent, then sort of zero into 3rd?
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mary rosenblum
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You can. Some stories start
with a highly dramatic action scene and no particular POV....but you're
probably better off to use cinematic rather than omniscient there, red.
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mary rosenblum
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Because when we begin reading,
we are looking for clues...whoe story is this?
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mary rosenblum
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The minute we find ourselves
hearing someone's thoughts..we say Aha!!! POV character.
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mary rosenblum
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And if that is NOT your Main
Character, you have misled your readers. Bad start!
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shelli
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What's the difference b/n
Cinematic and Omniscient?
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mary rosenblum
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In omniscient, you know
everything about all characters...we know what John is thinking and feeling
and doing, now we look at Karen and know what she is thinking and feeling
and doing.
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mary rosenblum
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When we know what a character
thinks and feels we are INSIDE that POV.
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mary rosenblum
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In cinematic ...yes, related
to cinema...we are seeing the scene as if through a camera.
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mary rosenblum
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We don't know what anyone
thinks or feels we ONLY see what they do.
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mary rosenblum
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That way, we are not inside
any one POV.
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mary rosenblum
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It's an excellent way to
briefly show a large action scene...say a battle...
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mary rosenblum
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where any one character's POV
is too limited to take in the entire landscape.
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mary rosenblum
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It TOTALLY distances the
readers from the characters, though. You literally pull back into the
distance so that you can see everything.
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shelli
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Does Cinematic technique create
more tension, in your opinio
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mary rosenblum
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Depends on the situation,
shelli.
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mary rosenblum
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If we see a threat to our
beloved POV approaching...yes, it generates tension.
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mary rosenblum
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If tension is generated by a
conflict between two characters, pulling back to cinematic will decrease
it.
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paulplqn
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I think Clive Cussler starts all
of his stories with a cinematic view. It introduces the focus of the
protagonist's search.
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mary rosenblum
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Some writers use it almost as
a prologue to bring us into vivid action or set a strong fantasy/sf
universe...
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mary rosenblum
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and then 'zoom in' to a single
POV.
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mary rosenblum
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A lot of writers who do screen
plays and prose both use it...can you guess why? :-) Noticed how a lot of
movies start?
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mary rosenblum
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However, it tends to be a VERY
clunky start if you are in first person.
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mary rosenblum
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Narrative really CLUNKS when
it falls in a first person piece.
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mary rosenblum
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That transition between
narrative and first person voice is like driving over a curb at about sixty
mph...everything hits the ceiling!
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mary rosenblum
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I wouldn't do it unless you
are REALLY convinced the story will be a failure without it, and even then,
if you bump the reader hard, you're going to have trouble.
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mary rosenblum
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So how do you get your
character to give the reader the visuals you need to give?
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
|
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mary rosenblum
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There are some good techniques
to force your character to notice things he/she really wouldn't notice on a
normal day. Such as his/her own appearance.
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jackie7777
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Narrative being the author and
first person being POV?
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mary rosenblum
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Yes, in first person,
narrative meaning the author...
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mary rosenblum
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Since first person is also
narrative...but in the character's voice, not yours.
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shelli
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So, would you say that the
Cinematic view would work best if used in the very beginning of your story?
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mary rosenblum
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Not necessarily. That is where
it is often used. Use it only when you really need to show a bigger scene
than any one character's POV can give you.
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redhead68
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Like fixing her hair in a miror?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep...although that's nearly a
cliche and many readers will smile at you.
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mary rosenblum
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But you CAN give your POV
reason to think about his/her appearance.
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mary rosenblum
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Have that POV compare himself
to someone.
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mary rosenblum
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Maybe this other person is the
same age and looks way younger. Our POV might think about that ten pounds
of belly roll, or his graying hair or how it's really thinning on top and
maybe he should think about that new treatment.
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redhead68
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ok how about putting her lenses
in in the morning?
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mary rosenblum
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Well, yes, but did YOU stop to
examine your features while putting on YOUR lenses this morning? I didn't.
:-)
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mary rosenblum
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I was yawning, thinking about
the story I'm working on, dripped some solution on 'em, popped 'em in,
swiped the mirror with a cloth because...
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mary rosenblum
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it needed cleaning, and if I'd
had a second nose, I doubt I would have noticed. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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If I'd been thinking about my
age, how I look compared to my sister, something like that...I might have
examined myself critically...
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mary rosenblum
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but not this AM.
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shelli
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But it makes you think...which
is the point, right?
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mary rosenblum
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What's that, shelli? Not sure
where you interjected this.
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mary rosenblum
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Give your POV a REASON to
notice things..that's where you have to 'trick 'em' sometimes.
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mary rosenblum
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Why should she notice the same
Main Street she always walks?
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mary rosenblum
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But now she's being
transferred.
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mary rosenblum
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Suddenly she LOOKS at the
street, really seeing the details for once...
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mary rosenblum
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because she's going to leave
soon.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes a shock will make us
see details.
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mary rosenblum
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You find out your mother just
died...you walk in the front door and the house looks strange, as if you've
never been here...
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mary rosenblum
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because you're life has just
changed...you aren't quite the person you were when you left...that death
has changed you.
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shelli
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Sorry, about lenses, whatever
the action, writing makes people think about it is that there are doing...
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mary rosenblum
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Oh yes, it does, shelli. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Writing is like using a
magnifying glass on reality. You start seeing so MUCH when you write...
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redhead68
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what if a girl suddenly notices
someone else in the same outfit, only this person looks better!
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mary rosenblum
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Great idea, red!
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly.
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mary rosenblum
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And another neat trick is to
let your POV compare a newcomer to himself/herself.
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mary rosenblum
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She was about my height and
had my short crop, but her hair had a gorgeous auburn tint and was thick,
rather than baby fine. I was jealous.
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mary rosenblum
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Now we know several details
about our POV. And if I'd said: She was tall, about my height...
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mary rosenblum
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we'd know she's tall, too.
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speckledorf
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What about the
"stranger" in the store window as they are walking down the
street?
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mary rosenblum
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You mean catching a glimpse of
her reflection and thinking it's a stranger?
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mary rosenblum
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You can do that...she notices
something that she hasn't noticed before.
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speckledorf
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Right...sorta like...how did I
get so old...etc. Or is that overdone like the mirror?
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mary rosenblum
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It gets done all the time, but
it doesn't seem to be as noticeable as the 'look in the mirror' thing.
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mary rosenblum
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It's a matter of how you do
it...even the mirror works...
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mary rosenblum
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if you give your POV a reason
to notice . (How did I get this old?)
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mary rosenblum
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What is clunky is when the
character looks in the mirror and INVENTORIES her face.
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mary rosenblum
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When did YOU last do that,
huh?
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mary rosenblum
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Gee, I think as I'm brushing
my teeth, I have blue eyes, high cheekbones, not a bad mouth, pretty
straight teeth and fair skin.
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mary rosenblum
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Uhuh. Sure.
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mary rosenblum
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Now you CAN give your
character a reason to do that inventory...
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mary rosenblum
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She's about to go on a blind
date. Something.
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mary rosenblum
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But DO give her a good reason!
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redhead68
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Now I get it, try to put a new
twist on an old trick, right?
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, exactly.
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gwanny
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I think I prefer having a
supporting character describe the MC this way..." your hair is such a
beautiful shade of red. I was always envious of it.
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mary rosenblum
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That's probably the best way,
but sometimes you can't find a character who wants to say that, sigh.
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mary rosenblum
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It's much easier in a novel,
if you happen to have a reason to do a novel in first person.
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mary rosenblum
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Because you'll have a variety
of situations and someone sometime can make the comments you need.
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mary rosenblum
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In a short story with probably
a stronger dramatic arc and less time to do scene setting and backstory, it
can be a HUGE challenge.
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mary rosenblum
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One or two details are enough
if that's all you can do.
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mary rosenblum
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In my last first person, Skin
Deep, I think I maybe got in his age and height and that's about it.
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mary rosenblum
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It was pretty intense and
there just wasn't a good way to get more detail into the story.
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mary rosenblum
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This is the Tuesday Forum with
me, Mary Rosenblum, LR Web Editor, fiction and nonfiction writer. Today
we're talking about 'showing' in first person. If you're new here, remember
that you need to click on the 'Ask a Question' button or the 'word bubble' next
to the red question mark at the top of the screen, or use the ask a
question icon in order to ask a question. Your regular 'send' bar won't
reach me! You can also type /ask in front of your question to reach me
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mary rosenblum
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Do think about filtering as
you have your POV notice the landscape.
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mary rosenblum
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If your MC is not a gardener
for example, then do not have him name the plants in the garden he's
passing or recognize it as English Cottage Garden style.
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mary rosenblum
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-)
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mary rosenblum
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They're 'flowers', not
geraniums, delphiniums, or crocosmia!
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shelli
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Please define
"filtering"
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mary rosenblum
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Filtering is coloring the
details with your POV characters' life experience and world view, shelli.
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mary rosenblum
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If you ask four people to
describe a scene, you will get four different sets of details.
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mary rosenblum
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The gardener will notice the
plants mostly.
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mary rosenblum
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The dog lover will notice the
dogs walking with their owners, which the gardener just notices as a 'few
dogs'...
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mary rosenblum
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but the dog lover sees a 'a
cocker,a couple of German shepherds, and a Rottweiler'.
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mary rosenblum
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The old man who hates kids,
notices the 'bunch of punks hanging around'.
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mary rosenblum
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Each person's awareness
depends on his or her interests.
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mary rosenblum
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A GREAT example is this: Ask
three different family members to tell you what went on at the last family
gathering.
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mary rosenblum
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You'll have a MARVELOUS
example of filtering if it's like my family.
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mary rosenblum
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I begin to wonder at times if
we were at the same function! LOL
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gwanny
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but, the plant lover sees
dogwood blooms and lilacs right?
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, gwanny.
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mary rosenblum
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So you have to know your first
person POV very well.
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mary rosenblum
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What does HE see? What does
SHE notice.
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mary rosenblum
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It may not be what you want to
show readers, alas.
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mary rosenblum
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Too bad for you.
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paulplqn
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Mine too! LOL!! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Yeah, paul, family reunions
and those arguments about what really happened at Uncle Billy's wedding...
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mary rosenblum
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are a great way to understand
the concept of filtering.
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mary rosenblum
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In fact, there have been a
couple of very compelling stories..I read 'em years ago, alas, and don't
remember titles...
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mary rosenblum
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where the author did a
parallel plot construction and took two different characters through the
same..
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mary rosenblum
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events...
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mary rosenblum
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In fact...Scott Card did that
with Ender's GAme and his recent book where ...
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mary rosenblum
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the same events in Enders Game
are lived by a different character. BIG shift in perception.
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paulplqn
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Like untangling a school yard
fight. Different views of the same event.
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mary rosenblum
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Exactly, Paul.
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mary rosenblum
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So your POV needs to notice
what he or she would notice and not notice what isn't of interest or isn't
important to that person.
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mary rosenblum
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If you want that POV to notice
clothing details, give him a reason...or her.
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mary rosenblum
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if she throws on jeans and a
tee shirt most of the time, it's going to sound utterly phony...
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mary rosenblum
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if she starts noticing clothes
by the maker name at a party...
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mary rosenblum
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when clothes haven't meant a
thing to her up until that point.
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texasrose
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The 4 gospels are a good example
of different POVs...
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mary rosenblum
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Yep, you could say that. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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That also means..
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mary rosenblum
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that you need to find other
characters to fill in the blanks for you.
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mary rosenblum
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If your POV is not a
gardener...
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mary rosenblum
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let the fussy neighbor lady
come over when he moves in...
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mary rosenblum
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and drag him around the yard,
pointing out the plants to him if you want to show us the garden.
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mary rosenblum
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Just don't let HIM wax lyrical
about 'em! :-)
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mary rosenblum
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To be honest, I spend a lot of
creative time figuring out how to get the details I want readers to have...
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mary rosenblum
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to them unobtrusively.
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mary rosenblum
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That is a BIG part of the
'work' aspect of writing.
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes it involves creating
characters and entire subplots in a novel.
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mary rosenblum
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I had to do just that in the
last novel.
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mary rosenblum
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I needed to give my MC a
reason to explore some cool public space I thought up and she was just too
darn busy with the plot to sightsee.
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mary rosenblum
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AND I needed to explain to the
reader how the 'live chat' system worked on that orbital platform. Without
intruding with an instruction manual!
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mary rosenblum
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So I created a character who
worked with the chat system and liked to play a wild ball game in
microgravity and had her bump into him...
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mary rosenblum
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and made him an important
subplot in the story..
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mary rosenblum
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just to force her to go sightseeing
and to find out how the chat system worked. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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Sometimes you stop and DO
that...
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mary rosenblum
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figure out a way to get that
information to the reader without intruding.
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bettyp
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any suggestions on how to really
get to know your MC POV
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mary rosenblum
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You bet, betty.
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mary rosenblum
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Write her biography.
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mary rosenblum
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No kidding. Start from birth.
Take your time.
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mary rosenblum
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What was her childhood like? Where
did she live?
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mary rosenblum
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What bad things happened to
her?
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mary rosenblum
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What cool people were part of
her life?
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mary rosenblum
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What was school like? Popular?
Nerd? Cheerleader? Outcast?
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mary rosenblum
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What does she do in her spare
time?
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mary rosenblum
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What does she think
about...everything!
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mary rosenblum
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Make a huge huge list and make
it consistant.
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mary rosenblum
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People are not random.
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mary rosenblum
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What happened to us as kids
affects our life choices and those choices keep affecting us, changing us,
and affecting future life choices, which affect us...you get the drift.
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mary rosenblum
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Characters are icebergs.
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mary rosenblum
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Only the tip of the iceberg
actually shows, but 4/5 of it is out of sight, under the water.
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mary rosenblum
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And you NEED that 4/5.
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texasrose
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Is intruding the same as
teaching or preaching in a story?
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mary rosenblum
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WEll, it's the same as
teaching or preaching OBVIOUSLY, texas.
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mary rosenblum
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I do a lot of preaching in my
stories. :-) But I do it subtly...or try to...so that the reader wakes up
at 2 AM and says...'gee...'.
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mary rosenblum
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{And I succeed because some of
'em blame me for ruining their sleep, heheheh]
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mary rosenblum
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BUT...if you get out the
soapbox and plunk it down onstage...
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mary rosenblum
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guess what? Your reader run
screaming.
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mary rosenblum
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Ideally, you story itself does
the teaching or preaching and your readers figure it out on their own. YOU
keep quiet.
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mary rosenblum
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Well, this has been another
fun Oregon hour. :-)
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mary rosenblum
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I'll post the transcript in
the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcript.
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mary rosenblum
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Drop in tomorrow for our
casual chat...same time, same place.
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paulplqn
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Would that "silent
preaching" be the theme of the story?
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mary rosenblum
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It's usually a bit more
specific than a theme, paul.
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mary rosenblum
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But usually reflects the
theme.
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mary rosenblum
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Have a good day, all!
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mary rosenblum
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And write well! :-)
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