Deep POV--Lesson 1.4 3rd Person Single, Multiple, Omniscient
Jun 27, 2021 18:47:12 GMT -6
Post by ScienceGirl on Jun 27, 2021 18:47:12 GMT -6
The Different Third Person POVs and Tenses
In this section, Nelson points out that 3rd person is the most commonly used viewpoint, telling from "he, she, or it's" angle. Third person single "requires the author to remain inside one character throughout the story." Third person multiple does the same, but changes the POV character between scenes. This is a great POV for a romance or thriller because you can see the villain and hero's thoughts or watch a love story unfold between two protagonists. In third person omniscient, the narrator becomes a character and tells the story from a god-like figure in a sort-of bird's eye view.
The difference between all of these strategies is the distance the reader feels from the character. Omniscient has the greatest narrative distance. On their own, all of the third-person angles do not sufficiently provide the intimacy of first person. With deep POV, such intimacy can be achieved.
Nelson also mentions that tense is an important factor in this intimacy. In first person, the best intimacy comes from staying in present tense. If the character "I" already "did" everything, the story loses that sense of walking through the plot as it's happening. With third person, better intimacy comes from past tense. Otherwise the reader watches another person do the actions instead of slipping into their headspace. It's a subtle difference, but when a writer is trying to sell a story to an already saturated and skeptical audience, these subtle differences can really matter.
Obviously the choice to write in any one of these POV angles and tenses is up to the writer, and there's no law forbidding a second-person omniscient written in past tense, but it is important to consider the market if you actually want to make money in this buisness.
First Person vs. Third Person Thoughts
Regardless of which third-person angle is used, the deep POV is inserted into the story as thoughts, and if the writer isn't careful the scene can become stilted. Consider your own thoughts throughout a given scenario. Maybe I'm admitting to my own craziness, but my thoughts are often random and come in the form of a question. A lot of times I interrupt myself or have fragmented or even single-word sentences.
It's hard to evaluate your own thoughts. When you become conscious of them, you tend to start thinking in proper sentences. When I'm alone, I sometimes speak my thoughts out loud. Sometimes I journal. So here's a picture of the inside of my head on one of my whiny days.
And now, those same thoughts, treating them as if I were a characer to be written in third person.
I can't think of a moment in my whole life when my thoughts stayed focused and concentrated on one particular thing. You'll have a more realistic feel if you let characters become distracted on occasion. Don't get too carried away because readers won't like that, but it does help add word count to your stories and help you flesh out believable, imperfect protagonists.
In this section, Nelson points out that 3rd person is the most commonly used viewpoint, telling from "he, she, or it's" angle. Third person single "requires the author to remain inside one character throughout the story." Third person multiple does the same, but changes the POV character between scenes. This is a great POV for a romance or thriller because you can see the villain and hero's thoughts or watch a love story unfold between two protagonists. In third person omniscient, the narrator becomes a character and tells the story from a god-like figure in a sort-of bird's eye view.
The difference between all of these strategies is the distance the reader feels from the character. Omniscient has the greatest narrative distance. On their own, all of the third-person angles do not sufficiently provide the intimacy of first person. With deep POV, such intimacy can be achieved.
Nelson also mentions that tense is an important factor in this intimacy. In first person, the best intimacy comes from staying in present tense. If the character "I" already "did" everything, the story loses that sense of walking through the plot as it's happening. With third person, better intimacy comes from past tense. Otherwise the reader watches another person do the actions instead of slipping into their headspace. It's a subtle difference, but when a writer is trying to sell a story to an already saturated and skeptical audience, these subtle differences can really matter.
Obviously the choice to write in any one of these POV angles and tenses is up to the writer, and there's no law forbidding a second-person omniscient written in past tense, but it is important to consider the market if you actually want to make money in this buisness.
First Person vs. Third Person Thoughts
Regardless of which third-person angle is used, the deep POV is inserted into the story as thoughts, and if the writer isn't careful the scene can become stilted. Consider your own thoughts throughout a given scenario. Maybe I'm admitting to my own craziness, but my thoughts are often random and come in the form of a question. A lot of times I interrupt myself or have fragmented or even single-word sentences.
It's hard to evaluate your own thoughts. When you become conscious of them, you tend to start thinking in proper sentences. When I'm alone, I sometimes speak my thoughts out loud. Sometimes I journal. So here's a picture of the inside of my head on one of my whiny days.
It's a zillion degrees hot in this room. Why is the dog licking my toes? Where's her chew toy? Lint roller back behind the TV. Vacuum cleaner. It needs emptied. Ceiling fan. That's better. I need to take all those cups downstairs. Where are my glasses? That sun is too bright. Close the blinds. I smell chocolate. What is Dana (my daughter) doing now? Ah. Making poptarts. Belt on the bed. Spoon in the floor. Dryer kicked off. Ugh. I'm not in the mood to fold clothes. Fly. Did Matt leave the door open last night? Did he finish mowing? He needs to take out the trash before we leave. Wonder if Austin gets off work at 7 or 9. What am I fixing for dinner tonight? Do I need to go to grocery? Is it already 10:30? I need to shower and change so we can get on the road.
It was a zillion degrees hot in this room. Why was the dog licking her toes? Where was its chew toy? Lint roller back behind the TV. Vacuum cleaner. It needed emptied. Ceiling fan. That was better. She needed to take all those cups downstairs. Where are my glasses? That sun was too bright. Close the blinds. She smelled chocolate. What was Dana (her daughter) doing now? Ah. Making poptarts. Belt on the bed. Spoon in the floor. Dryer kicked off. Ugh. She was not in the mood to fold clothes. Fly. Did Matt leave the door open last night? Did he finish mowing? He needed to take out the trash before they left. Wonder if Austin got off work at 7 or 9. What was she fixing for dinner tonight? Did she need to go to grocery? Was it already 10:30? She needed to shower and change so they could get on the road.
I can't think of a moment in my whole life when my thoughts stayed focused and concentrated on one particular thing. You'll have a more realistic feel if you let characters become distracted on occasion. Don't get too carried away because readers won't like that, but it does help add word count to your stories and help you flesh out believable, imperfect protagonists.
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