jumping in the deep end...
Written on Wednesday, May 07, 2008 by haleigh
So I've been thinking about point-of-view.
I thought I was pretty solid on POV - no major slips into the wrong one, no head hopping, none of those pesky "she thought's" or "she said to herself's". Basically, none of those mistakes that I used to make.
But yesterday morning I was re-reading sections of Pamela Clare's Unlawful Contact (I had gone to my neighbor's house to let her puppies out and found her borrowed copy so sat down with it - not to get off-topic or anything). And once again, I was blown away by the depth of her POV. I mean, she gets way down in there. As a reader, you're so far inside those characters head's that it creates an almost visceral reaction.
And what I really want to know is how in the world she does it!
I'm pretty sure a big part of it is knowing your characters so well that you, the author, are that deep in their heads. Because really, if you're not that deep, no reader will be. Right?
I think I'm getting there. But then again, I've been saying that for a month now. On the bright side, I am slowly falling in love with my heroine.
And it's about damn time! I thought I was going to have to kill her again. I've written seven scenes now where she dies. Cole holds a gun to her head and shoots her. She gets hit buy a bus. Their plane crashes (Cole, of course, miraculously survives, because let's face it, he's hot).
I pulled each of these scenes out of my WIP and put them in a file called "SHAE DIES."
It was therapeutic.
But now I'm starting to think that I like her. I'm warming up to her. Now I just have to get further into her head.
Any ideas?
(And Christie.....I'm still ahead of you!)
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writing
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That's right honey. Rub it in good. I love when you pour salt on it.
I absolutely love how you think of ways to kill your heroine. You'll find a way to tolerate her eventually.
I know how you feel about POV. I'm solid. We both know I'll never try third person again so first is what I write through. For me, third person is nearly impossible to get into as first. There's just something about knowing someone that intimate that you could write anything through her eyes and make it seem real. I can't achieve that in third person. I know you'll do it.
And PS. You might wanna check your link to my blog. I changed my addy.
And PSS. You won't be smiling when I'm kicking your ass again.
So after I wrote this post, I was reading a book on "Characters and Viewpoints" and it had a whole chapter on how to get deeper into a character's head.
It was great info.
They had little charts for "deep penetration" vs. "light penetration."
Seriously.
But it was really good info on how to (in 3rd person) filter everything through the attitude and thoughts of your pov character. But you're right - it's harder to do in 3rd person.
I don't know why I'm so anti-1st person. But you do it brilliantly! Very deep penetration. LOL.
And PS. I already changed your link address. I am SO on top of things (snort).
And PSS. You'll have to catch me first.
You two crack me up. :)
Hal, you write in 3rd right? I think the best way to get close to your character is to write actions they do. If they feel something, turn it into a physical reaction.
ie, her stomach clenched, she couldn't catch her breath, blah blah.
And you all still trail me....
Well, just saying....
*grinning* I might trail y'all but I have four books outlined. And I'm writing right now. And if I would stop working on images, I'd be ahead of you both. It's my goal to be ahead of you both by this time next month. Watch out chicas.
And I love how we talk about POV and you talk about penatration. Seriously, you can't go five minutes, can you?
*laughing*
Outlined?? You have four books outlined? Since when do you outline?
And yes Christie, you trail me. Did you see my word count for this weekend? 4,000 words baby.
And Marnee - I'm up to 47% Rub it in now, but I'm catching up!
And yes, I write in 3rd - thanks for the advice!
(by the way, it wasn't me to started calling it penetration - that was the title of the freakin chapter in this book! It was written by a man - go figure)
I know. It's like the world is coming to an end.
I couldn't help it. I had to do something. I didn't have time to sit down at the computer and write four books in a day. So I broke my rule and wrote outlines for the books with things that I had planned. Like my second book which had a huge plot hole no longer has that hole. It's perfect. Now if I could only get the time to write. It sucks to be down to just one computer.
xox