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Marian Allen's Blog, page 448
January 9, 2012
Guest Post by F. A. Hyatt on POV
POV, of course, stands for Point Of View or "Whose head are we in?" Here's what regular guest poster Floyd Hyatt has to say about this element of fiction:
POINT OF VIEW
What you must know
by F. A. Hyatt
I have been reading several misleading (not to say ridiculous) "Guides" to Point Of View. While the subject can get complex, the important basics about Point Of View are simple.
Point Of View indicates who the storyteller or narrator is in a particular work, or fraction of a work. That is, whose NARRATIVE PERSPECTIVE the story is told from. It is uncommon for this perspective to change during a course of a novel. Usually, the entire work will be effected within at least the same CLASS of perspective, and common editorial advice is not to change perspective unless needed, nor more than once per chapter.
This is to keep the continuity of the reader consistent, and keep from popping him out of the story. It is not a rule of English grammar; it is a style convention of novel and story writing. The general classes of POV are below:
First Person POV
The narrator is some agent detailing what he sees. The pronoun 'I' features here: I said, I looked, It was apparent to me- these are all hallmarks of First Person Point Of View. Narrative voice may be that of an observer, or of a character, (lead character or not; in the Great Gatsby, by Fitzgerald, the first-person narrator is Nick Carraway and not the title character Jay Gatsby himself). The fundamental feature is that this puts the reader behind only one set of eyes. Narration may only disclose what is put before the narrator's view, or reported to the narrator, and tagged as such. For example, a first person narrator would not be able to recount what is around some blind corner he is not in a position to see, or to report on what is behind a door that is closed to him. It cannot skip from head to head , to disclose the thoughts of others. (Unless of course the narrator is say, introduced as a telepathic being, but in order to be still considered First Person Viewpoint, this would have to be rigidly limited, and the character voiced very strongly — this variation is sometimes called First-person Omniscient view.)
Second Person POV
This is the point of view used in text adventure games and children's Halloween tapes. "You walk into a room. You see a jar on the table. You begin to sweat." It is the voice of a narrator who walks behind only one person, and reports to that person his actions, or visualizations. Because it is a clinical and abstract viewpoint, its place in the novel is very confined, and for good reason, not normally employed.
Third Person POV or Omniscient POV
This type of narrator can flit from character to character, describing scenes viewed by multiple characters, detailing their private thoughts and emotional states, even if not apparent to other onlookers. It can report on the contents of locked chests, the positions of assassins waiting hidden behind closed doors, and so forth. This is usually formal narrative. Rarely can this type of narrator be characterized. The voice is therefore largely neutral. It does not normally belong to a character, save when the narrator is cast as a storyteller, 'Once upon a time' fashion. It is a neutral commentator in the root form. It allows an author to detail actions that happen simultaneously in different story locations and to different characters from one consistent viewpoint.
Novels are commonly written in third person, some in first, almost none in second.
There are several variations on these classes, often called VOICES. There is the Unreliable Narrator voice, for instance. – A narrator whose reporting is skewed by prejudice or belief, and who the reader understands to be making narration colored, biased, misinterpreted or wrong in perspective.
Choice of Perspective, or POV
One approach is to decide if your story requires knowing of simultaneous events occurring in different places. If it does, First Person POV would mean having to use multiple narrators, possibly changing the narrating character too often. This causes reader disruption, what is called "Head hopping". Alternately, it could mean writing much of the story in past tense, with the POV character reminiscing about things he learned of only later. Often this could require frequent scene changes or short chapter sections. Third or Omniscient would commonly be the best choice of POV for such a work.
If you are writing a text adventure (quite out of fashion in gaming, these days) then you will undoubtedly be writing in second.
If your story can be easily written from behind one set of eyes, such as is common in romances and detective stories, where identification with one hero or heroine is paramount, or where most events come before, or can be arranged to come before, one person, then First Person POV can be a plus, making for an easier identification with a particular character. Keep in mind that novels might be planned ahead to take advantage of multiple first person POV's by making each Narrator's section long enough to prevent head hopping.
The author should be aware that POV does not affect the necessity to be tense aware. Nor should the author confuse tense with POV. Besides POV, most novels tend to be consistent in narrative TENSE, as well. Books that begin in a very immediate, present tense, will attract comment if the voice passes into another, more reflective tense. Tense, unlike POV, is also a matter of grammar however, and must be adhered to as the prose dictates.
POV does not affect dialog. Dialog is what is quoted, or spoken aloud, regardless of who reports it, or what POV a story uses. In terms of dialog, think of the narrator's commentary as an unquoted, disembodied voice announcing the commercials on the Price is Right. Always consistent in tone throughout the show, but not necessarily involved in the game, or with the character's interjected quotes. Even when writing in pure First Person POV, spoken character dialogs including the POV character's dialogs, must be quoted,("") set off in their own paragraphs, and tagged as needed to identify the speakers.
Below is just one of any number of easily available descriptions of Point of View, and included here because it links to very good lists of classic works performed in each of the common styles, and validates to some extent, this summary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrativ...
Terminology Generally:
It is common, in a critique, to point out unusual shifts in the narrative mode, or POV. While important, be aware that not every reviewer will be a informed adviser in regard to POV. One common mistake is to routinely confuse TENSE with VOICE, or either with POV. Some may even confuse a change in writing style (another kind of problem) with a POV shift. In order to take advantage of review, it is important to know what these root terms are, and how they are used, in order to evaluate what corrections to your work are needed.
Look up these terms and their full descriptions, and be sure you understand them, before abiding by the "will" of your critiques. Then you will be more enabled to use the opinions garnered to correctly guide your work, and offer better help to others.
Critiquing POV:
The point of establishing a consistent narrative, or storyteller, is to provide clarity for the reader, to minimize logical inconsistencies, and provide an uninterrupted, believable reading experience. Some authors can achieve this without severe POV interpretation. There are many sub-categories of POV, and many "gray" area uses overlap. I am not overly mechanical when considering POV. My standard is, "Does it work in the story?" Does it bother, or confuse me? If not, I may point out the mechanical problem, but admit it didn't affect my experience of the story. Give a corrective example when citing a POV error.
These tips are offered to help establish some common basis for traffic between critique participants, not to limit the breadth of a critique. Look at them as a sort of basic vocabulary that can help you to better communicate what you see in a work to others.
Thanks, Floyd! I'm sure you'll have comments and questions, as always. Readers, if you leave a question or comment, please allow Mr. Hyatt a few days to respond. I promise you, he will. 
WRITING PROMPT: Write a paragraph from First Person, Second Person and Third Person.
MA
January 8, 2012
#SampleSunday – The Interrogation Scene
My sf/cop/farce FORCE OF HABIT is up at the Critters.org P&E poll for best sf/fantasy novel and for best mystery, I thought I'd give you another sample from it. So I will.
In this excerpt, amphibious siblings from the planet Gilhoo are on their way to question a woman from the planet Llannonn who has been mistakenly transported to the spaceship in place of Bel, who is missing on the planet. Tetra never uses contractions, because she's found that humans tend to believe everything said by people who don't use contractions.
"But, Tetra," said Quatro Petrie. "Don't you think you should have cleared it with the Captain before you told me all this? Sensitive, highly classified information–"
Ordinarily, Tetra refrained from interrupting Quatro's speeches, preferring to let him drone on while she employed the time with thoughts of her own. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and she interrupted him now.
"Do you know what the students call you, Quatro? What everyone calls you, since someone came up with it in the corridor one day?"
"I'm not interested in the feeble jests of the semiliterate."
After a step or two, Quatro asked, "What do they call me?"
"Pete the Clam," said Tetra. "Because of your reticence. It is legendary. The Captain would not object to my telling you something she does not want spread around. And your assistance is required, not to say essential. Now, just do as I instructed you, and then you can get back to your cross-sectioning."
The Gilhoolies were in sick bay. Tetra had dragooned Quatro immediately after leaving Captain Fazzaria in Clubroom locus B15.
"Dragooned" was the appropriate word: Tetra had taken Quatro to sick bay by way of the commissary. There, she had picked up two yards of gold bric-a-brac and a tube of quick-dry glue. Behind the closed doors of Dr. Vlador Frazni's office, she had cut the bric-a-brac into strips of various lengths and glued the lengths to Quatro's clothing.
"Remember," she said. "Very soft-spoken. Very gentle. Restrained."
"Should I smile?"
Quatro had a smile, which he practiced in front of a mirror, and used in the classroom when pointing out pupils' deficiencies and flaws. He labored under the delusion that it put the students at ease.
Tetra had seen this smile, and had seen young persons whom it had stricken. "By all means," she said.
Now she led Quatro to the quarantine rooms. She gave Batista his lines and had him change places with Antonioni.
Inside Freldt's quarantine room, Batista pretended to wipe a dew of fear from his brow.
"I pity you," he said.
Freldt looked up from her discviewer. She put the show on pause and took the translation plug out of her ear. She needed a break just now: Bambi stood at the edge the Big Meadow for the first time and the tension was nearly unbearable.
"The Captain has some questions and she wants some answers for them," Batista said.
"No response," Freldt said. "Don't ask."
"I'm not asking. It isn't my job to ask. Asking is somebody else's job."
The door opened, and Quatro came in dressed in khaki trousers, now with gold bric-a-brac down the outside seams, and a red turtleneck, now with gold trim around the neck and cuffs. He wore his favorite off-duty wig, one of short curls the color of weak apple-cinnamon tea. It set off the blue-green of his eyes, though he would have eaten worms before admitting such a thought ever occurred to him.
Batista shrank from him. "Quatro!"
"Leave the room," said Quatro, very soft-spoken, very gentle, restrained.
"My orders–"
"Your orders are to leave the room, Ven," said Quatro.
"Now leave, before I take the trouble to remember your name." Quatro was no actor, and he spoke without inflection. The effect was chilling.
"She isn't to be left alone."
"But she won't be alone, will she? I'll be here to keep her company. I'm sure we'll find something to occupy our time."
And he smiled.
Batista left the room.
"No response," said Freldt, with considerably less emphasis than before. "Don't ask."
Quatro only looked at her.
Freldt felt cold sweat popping out in places no sweat of any temperature had ever popped before.
"The Captain thinks you don't answer our questions because you don't understand Allesesperanto," Quatro said. "Do you understand Allesesperanto?"
"Of course I do."
"Good. I hate it when I get impatient with someone, and lose my temper, and then find out they simply didn't understand the question. Especially when it's too late for me to apologize."
He crossed the room to Freldt and took the discviewer control out of her hand. She gave it up to him, avoiding his touch and scrunching away from him into the corner of her bed. He pressed a button, and the viewscreen went dark.
"A sad show," Quatro said. "They kill his Mother."
WRITING PROMPT: An innocuous character has to intimidate someone.
MA
January 7, 2012
The Big Absurdity
Mom and I just finished watching THE BIG LEBOWSKI, which got me thinking about Theater of the Absurd. I wasn't sure why, so I went looking. I found plenty of write-ups and discussions about it, but I think it's fitting that I refer to the material I found at WiseDude.com.
Theatre of the Absurd was a term used to refer to a set of plays written primarily in France from the mid-1940s through the 1950s. In these plays, the dramatists used illogical situations, unconventional dialogue and minimal plots to express the apparent absurdity of human existence. There existed no formal "absurdist movement" in the theatre. Dramatists whose works fell under the category had a pessimistic vision of humanity struggling vainly to find a purpose in life and to control its fate.
If you've seen LEBOWSKI, you know that it isn't fully absurdist, and you know why. The rug really ties it all together. Since there is one element that the main character invests with meaning, it's more of an existential work than an absurdist one.
I just went to the LebowskiFest website and signed up for their newsletter. I'm proud to say, as a native Louisvillian, that the 'Fest started in Louisville. Next time, I hope to attend some of the festivities. Especially if beverages are involved.
WRITING PROMPT: Take a character bowling. Is he/she good at it? What emotions does it bring out? How does he or she deal with the noise, the smells, the closeness of other people oblivious of everyone outside their lanes?
MA
January 6, 2012
Friday Recommends – Quick & Easy Cooking
New follower Dean has asked for recipes for a new cook, so I've scoured the internet (which is more than I've done to my sink) and come up with these links. How you all work me! (Points to anyone who gets the reference.)
First, a list of recipes "For the Beginner Cook" from Food.com. They have a bunch on that page and more in the sidebar. They look WOW.
Lots of new cooks are students, so you might look into Student Recipes, if you can stand the "I think this funkiness will appeal to students" design of the web site. It looks pretty good, actually, very well organized and easy to use. On the first page, in the pictures on the left side, the middle picture in the bottom row, the picture of the toast with butter on it, is labeled "Quick" and takes you to a page of many quick and easy recipes. I plan to check this one out at greater length. Dude.
[Note: Did you know that if you're on Twitter and you mention Lebowski, Dude, the Duderino or Duder, you automatically get a reply quote from THE BIG LEBOWSKI? I found that out yesterday.]
You can usually count on About.com to help you out, and this was no exception. They have a Busy Cook site with a Quick and Easy section.
AllRecipes has three sections that I've found so far: Quick and Easy Recipes, New Quick and Easy Recipes and Convenience Cooking.
The Food Network has some recipes it calls Quick and Easy, but their idea of quick and easy may not be mine. They don't claim they're cheap, either.
Last but I hope not least, check out my Alligator Sandwiches here on this blog. As I explained to Dean, they aren't really recipes for alligator sandwiches. I just call them that because they're so quick and easy you can make them when somebody says, "Let's eat! And let's make it snappy!"
Enjoy your weekend!
WRITING PROMPT: What is your main character so obsessed with, all his or her dreams contain some reference to it?
MA
January 5, 2012
A True Tale of Serendipity and Thrift
Once upon a time, two fairly simple people got married, intending to live out in the country, which they did.
One of their wedding gifts, given to them by one of the husband's sisters, was a glass cocktail shaker with a silver top and four tiny cut-glass cups.
The wife put the shaker in a cabinet and forgot about it, and used the cups to hold small amounts of ingredients for cooking or small amounts of sauces for dipping or tiny bouquets of wildflowers gathered by the couple's children.
So, thirty years passed.
One day, the husband said, "The juice I mix in this plastic pitcher always settles. What I need is a pitcher I can shake."
THE END
Don't you just love a happy ending?
WRITING PROMPT: Write about a forgotten wedding present that comes in handy in an unintended way. Yes, I've seen CASTAWAY. ~grin~
MA
January 4, 2012
From the CPP Culinary School
CPP stands for "Container, Paper and Plastic". See, I learned how to cook from the recipes on food containers or printed in ads. I still check out the containers for recipes. Food packagers (and, let's face it, food manufacturers) pay people good money to come up with recipes that make those foods appealing, so why not try them?
Here's one I tried over the holidays and really liked. It was on a can of store-brand cranberry sauce. It's vegan, if you use vegan margarine, as I did, but not gluten-free, unless you have a gluten-free flour you can substitute. Maybe powder some oatmeal and substitute that?
CRANBERRY-CRUNCH
1 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup butter or margarine
1 can (14 ounces) jellied cranberry sauce
ice cream [or whipped topping]
Preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, mix together oats, flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly [the butter, I assume, not you]. Press half of the mixture into an 8″ square baking dish. Spread with cranberry sauce. Top with remaining crumb mixture. Bake 45 minutes. Serve warm with ice cream. [or whipped topping]
I really liked this. It's not too sweet, which was refreshing after the sweet-laden holiday. I think it might be good heated in the microwave and eaten like cereal for breakfast, maybe with a little vanilla almond milk. Mmmmmmm!
WRITING PROMPT: What does your main character habitually eat for breakfast? Or DOES your main character eat breakfast?
MA
January 3, 2012
If Pounds Were IQ Points
If pounds were IQ points, I would have reached my 2012 goal weight over the weekend.
First, I finished a very bad book. Not bad as in "naughty", but bad as in "This is so stinky, it makes Limburger cheese smell like little pink rosebuds."
And, Mom and I finished watching that movie we started last week.
Because I try to limit my negativity on this blog, I've posted the review of the book at Goodreads.
I promised I'd finish the movie review here, so here goes:
Did it get better? No, it did not. It got worse. By the time we realized how bad it was getting, we had become too stupid to work the DVD controls, and we watched it to the bitter end.
How bad was it? If GODZILLA (the Matthew Broderick one), JURASSIC PARK, ATTACK OF THE KILLER TOMATOES and the prolog of 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY moved in together and in-bred until there was only one baby, this movie would be it.
On the plus side, the costumes, sets, makeup, and many of the details were right on target. The worst of the acting was competent and the best of the acting was superb. The cinematography was beautiful. Great shots, great colors.
But. It. Was. STUPID. Stupid, as in STUPID stupid. Ask me to believe in a place where dinosaurs still exist. Okay. Ask me to believe in a one-of-a-kind creature who is apparently immortal and invulnerable, until he isn't. Okay. But ask me to believe that a size-4 Depression-starved girlie can be squeezed, squashed, shaken and torn loose from bonds she couldn't break with adrenaline strength and suffer no worse than minor scratches and bruises? Well…since you're holding a gun on me, okay, I'll buy that, too, just for the fun of it. But. There are so many motivations and coincidences in this movie that I don't believe, it would be churlish to list them all.
Okay, WHY do I not accept motivations and coincidences in a fantasy movie when I've accepted worse in this and other ones?
I think it's because my suspension of disbelief was broken by continuity and production errors that I consider unforgivable in a production that cost $207,000,000. That's 207 MILLION dollars that could have built how many homeless shelters? Fed how many hungry children? And it produced this? The smoke on a boat in motion trails it, people, it doesn't go straight up and then ahead of it. Entirely too much of going directly to needles in haystacks. Enough–I said I wouldn't list them all, so I won't.
My mother said, "Why does this keep reminding me of TITANIC?" I said, "Because it's too long and it's a disaster?" She thought that might be it. I don't remember if this was before or after the giant carnivorous penises ate the cook's head. As God is my witness, I am not making that up.
For a thoughtful and philosophical reading of how and why a film falls short of its potential, please read this one by Dafydd ab Hugh on Big Lizards.net.
I'm sorry if you loved this movie (or TITANIC, which I didn't see, so fuss at my mother, not me). I deliberately didn't name the film under review so you can pretend I'm talking about a movie you hated, too. If you disagree with my opinion, you can always blame it on all the IQ points I lost from watching this stinkbomb. Oh, wait….
WRITING PROMPT: Two people watch the same movie and have opposite opinions of it.
MA
January 2, 2012
Guest Poster Russell Brooks
I know I said I would finish my movie review today, but I lucked into getting a post from the fabulous Russell Brooks, thriller/mystery writer, essayist, blogger, actor and damn good-looking guy.
His bio says:
Russell Brooks is a former Indiana Hoosier Track Champion and Canadian Track Team member in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, and the 4×100 meter relay. He has written several essays on his blog, The Big Picture, one of which was published in the online Op-Ed section of the National Post in early 2009. His debut novel, Pandora's Succession, has received rave reviews from book reviewers, espionage and thriller fans. Unsavory Delicacies and the recently released thriller, Chill Run, have also been well received by thriller and mystery fans. Russell currently lives in Montreal, Quebec.
You can learn more about Russell Brooks at www.russellparkway.com.
The book description for Chill Run has one of the Best. First lines. Ever:
You know a publicity stunt has backfired when someone dies.
Starving author Eddie Barrow, Jr, will do anything to get a book deal with a NYC publisher. Even if it means getting caught by the media while engaging in S&M with a female celebrity as a publicity stunt. What Eddie gets instead are details of a billion dollar fraud scheme from a suicidal client who's fatally shot minutes later. Now on the run from the law and the killers, Eddie seeks help from two unlikely friends—an alcoholic and a dominatrix. With few resources, Eddie races to clear his name, unveil the fraud scheme, and expose the killers before he becomes their next victim.
So here he is, ladies and gentlemen: RUSSELL BROOKS!
The Switch
Is there a rule that says that authors must stick to one kind of story? No. Well, at least none that I was able to find. Those who are familiar with my previous works, know that they fall in the espionage/thriller genre. So many might be wondering why I didn't write another story dealing with spies, chemical weapons, government conspiracies, betrayal, and revenge? The answer is simple. I wanted to risk change.
"But aren't you worried about losing your fan base?" No, my true fans will read whatever I write. Besides, this will be a great opportunity to show that I can write a different kind of thriller and attract new fans.
"But you've never written a mystery before. What experience do you have with that?" Let's see, when I wrote Pandora's Succession and Unsavory Delicacies, I never owned a gun (still don't), shattered someone's trachea with my bare hands, poisoned someone, or unleashed biological weapons on a country. Hell, I've never even worked for the CIA. So I didn't have any experience with that genre either before I wrote those books. I had to research the relevant material and then let my imagination help me tell the tale.
Ironically, Chill Run was less difficult to write because I've gone through some of the dilemmas that protagonist, Eddie Barrow, Jr., went through. I'm sure many readers will be able to relate to a character who has problems paying the rent, who has a roommate that won't pay their share of the bills, with a cheating girlfriend, and the list goes on. Everyone loves a Peter Parker-type character (aka Spiderman). Now take Eddie, an ordinary young man in his twenties with big dreams that are littered with roadblocks. He's so desperate for success that he hopes to cash in on a BDSM scandal with a celebrity. It seemed like a good idea at the time, only he ends up being framed for murder after having learned the details of a billion-dollar investment fraud scheme.
Was I nervous about not releasing another espionage thriller? A bit. Do I regret it? No. Will I write espionage again? Of course. Will I venture away from espionage again? Most definitely. Some risks are worth taking. After all, variety is always good.
Thanks, Russell! I'm so pleased you stopped in to share your new book and your switch-up experience with me. In these days of "branding", it's nice to meet somebody else who just wants to write the story and THEN worry about where it's going to be shelved. Short-sighted? Maybe. Commercially nonviable? I don't even know what that means. ~sigh~ Anyway, glad to have you here, Russell, my friend.
Buy links to all three of Russell's books can be found on the Store Page of his website.
WRITING PROMPT: How does your main character feel about variety? Write a scene between someone who likes variety and someone who does not.
MA
January 1, 2012
#SampleSunday – Party Girl
Happy New Year! As always on the first of the month, there's a new Hot Flash up. And here's a wee story to start 2012 out right.
Party Girl
by Marian Allen
They weren't sure of the address–Adele's dreadful handwriting! They parked and walked, hoping to find it, somehow.
In the next block, a brownstone's ground-floor windows glowed warmly. They hesitated on its walk, unsure, though they heard music, saw the dancers.
The door opened, and a pretty woman of middle age leaned out and waved to them.
"Yoo-hoo! Hello! Come in!"
"Just like Adele, to have somebody else do her greeting for her."
* * *
As she took their coats, the woman reflected that, whoever this Adele was, she might have bad handwriting, but she also had lots of interesting friends.
WRITING PROMPT: Does your main character like crowded parties or not?
MA
December 31, 2011
It WILL Get Better If You Pick At It
Not in my novel
I have this novel. BIG novel. One of those Big Fat Fantasy Novels that sprawl all over the furniture and spill magic potions on the carpet and spit rainbows into the bathroom sink and don't rinse it out. HUGE novel. More characters than WAR AND PEACE. I have a two-page character list and three pages of genealogy.
Is it any wonder I've been repeatedly told (except by #4 daughter) to dial it back? (#4 daughter grew up with my reading this to her. She doesn't want to lose a word of it. Cutting anything out of it is like Sophie's choice for her.) (Note to Urban Dictionary: "Buy Sophie's Choice mugs and t-shirts"? Seriously?)
I've been futzing around, trying to steel myself to the deed without much success. Then I went looking for an outlining program, mostly to help me plan 2012′s NaNoWriMo, and found and started messing with yWriter5. This is not a commercial, because the program is free. But you knew that, when I said I'm using it, didn't you?
It's pretty complex to my brain, which it needs to be in order to be as flexible as it is, but I think I'm figuring it out, between the detailed help files and some fearless pressing of random keys.
THE POINT IS, I've been picking the Big Fat Fantasy apart, chapter by chapter, scene by scene. Just going through it in this level of detail is forcing me to think about my characters — who they are and why they are — and the movement and use of each. When I'm done — and maybe before I'm done — I'll have a better feel for what, if anything, can be pulled for other use or how I can tighten everything so nothing is lost but everything is shorter and better.
It feels good to actually dig back into this novel. I love it dearly, and want it to succeed. And to move out of my attic and get a job.
WRITING PROMPT: A character makes an impossibly difficult choice.
MA
