V Is For Viewpoint
For the Blogging From A to Z Challenge I’m doing you all a huge favor and filling you in on the 26 Things To Hate About Writing.** I’m hoping by the end of April, I will have convinced all of you not to indulge in the wild insanity of becoming a writer. If I can save even one person from offering themselves up in sacrifice to the mad and fickle word gods, I will have done some good in this world.
Check out each letter’s post here.
[image error]VIEWPOINT
Who’s telling your story? You? Oh, the characters like to let you think that, at least at first. You give them life, create their story for them, and assign all their attributes, so you’d think they belong to you, right? No, because you’ve just created a Frankenstein monster that wants to trample the town, fall in love with the wrong person, eat paste, and veer wildly off the plot. If you think using first person POV helps, like you’ll feel more connected through the use of ‘I’ and ‘me,’ boy are you in for a surprise. You’re about to find out just how much you don’t listen to yourself.
You can also use third person—she, he, it. She, he, and it will still not listen to you. But, it’s still important to pick the right viewpoint for the story, because:
– Viewpoint is about more than just point of view. You need to tell the story through the eyes of the right character. Which one is it? The police officer? The criminal? The stray dog? The angry old widow with the pick axe? Choose carefully, or this story won’t work. No pressure.
– Choosing a point of view is important too. First person is more immediate, but limited, so if you’re the police officer you don’t know the widow is sneaking up on you with the axe. Third person is broader, and can shift from person to person, so we can know that the widow thinks the police officer is full of bees and they must be released.
– Experimenting with weird points of view like second person can be tricky, but sometimes you can pull it off if you’re clever enough. Just be careful not to sound like some bitter, bitchy blogger talking down to their readers about writing.
One of the worst things about writing is the pressure to pick the right point of view. This choice is important, because it sets the tone for the story. The viewpoint character also dictates what kind of story you’re telling. For this reason, the possibilities are varied when you use viewpoint as a tool. It may even help to switch viewpoints if a story is struggling, or try experimenting through the eyes of another character. And then, release the bees! Maybe tell the story through the many eyes of the bees? I would read that. Bee Cop: The Unleashing.
**Disclaimer: If you haven’t figured it out, these posts are pure satire and simply a humorous way to vent my writing frustrations. No offense is intended to anyone. Please, become or continue being a writer. It’s awesome, I swear. It’s super…duper, awesome…heh heh.
Filed under: A to Z Challenge, A to Z Challenge 2017 Tagged: blog hop, funny, writing
