Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 3

Point of view and environmental detail



Too often I receive a manuscript without
a strong and consistent point of view. Writers, particularly novices, tend to
shilly-shally about with point of view, narrating their story from a cool and
distant omniscient perspective so that the reader falls into Tina Toughie's
thoughts, and then Excellent Elizabeth's. And worse, the author then goes on to
describe the weather some fifty kilometres distant.





My comment to the author at that point
often reads: Who's story is this?





Is this Tina's story? If so, Tina
doesn't know what Elizabeth's thinking or feeling unless Elizabeth tells Tina.
Moreover, Tina hasn't a clue about the weather in Milltown 50 klicks up the
road, not unless she has access to instant news.





So, focus your point of view. Decide who
is telling this story, or chapter, and stick to it, so that every environmental
description, every thought, relates to that character. By doing so, you not
only allow the reader inside your character's world, but you build that
character.





I'd suggest you go even further than
that: become the character. By doing so you'll describe every action and detail
from your own perspective, using your own voice. It requires a willingness to
go deeply, much in the way good actors delve into themselves to bring life to
the character they portray. It's exactly the same when writing.





For help with point of view, I highly
recommend Orson Scott Card's Elements of Fiction Writing – Characters andViewpoint.





Comments? Questions? We'd love to hear
from you.

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