Handling 3PL POV..... *Help*!

[Pure]

It seems that mhari may be saying something like what I was saying. That 3PL IS limited as to what the main guy knows. The author can have him/her in the dark, making wrong guesses about people. Unlike 3PO, there is no reason to let the reader in on things--what's really going on-- through 'superawareness' in the main character. It makes a good story is the reader is somewhat in the dark, gradually learns, etc.

 

[Mhari]

*nods at Pure* That's the way I like to use 3PL. But there's nothing written in stone that says it has to be that way. Each story, each character is different. So far, I have never had a character who has the capability to see more than the average person would see. Some of them, in fact, see less, or have a tendency to seriously misinterpret what they do see.

Then again, I don't write that cyberpunk crap that Raph enjoys. *ducks* I think that it is far more likely in a cyberpunk story that the viewpoint character would have some kind of "enhancements" that would permit superawareness.

*shrugs* YMMV, as with all things.

*waves at Lou* Hi back atcha! But I'll try to stay away from the controversy for now. That is, unless raph provokes me! *grins*

 

[raphy]

Like I said before, it's situational. Maybe super-aware was not the correct phrase to use. Let's just say that if my main character wasn't as body-language-aware as I made him in that scene in the car, he wouldn't have spotted that the person he was talking to was fighting not to cry .. And i would have missed out on a good opportunity for a ton of emotional impact content.

So I made him spot it.

I don't see that as a bad thing.

That's why most of my characters are skilled at reading body language - A lot of their antagonists are equally good at hiding their body language. It's due to a very very large influence on my writing from Alastair MacLean, who writes about wartime spies who are the most excellent actors and can make anyone believe anything, and who can ferret out a person's true nature from just an hour of conversation.

No, super-aware is the wrong word. Maybe I should have just said 'more aware than the regular person'. If you keep your mouth shut and your eyes open, you can learn all sorts of interesting things about people, if you're perceptive enough.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

One of the coollest challenges in writing is finding ways to have your characters show what they're thinking and feeling. It's pretty crude to have to just come out and tell the reader that Joe was angry or Merle was nervous, no matter what POV you're writing in. Everything a character does should mean something, and so should the way they do it.

Back when people smoked, cigarettes used to be great for describing emotions: the way a character holds it, inhales, flicks ashes, stubs it out, hacks and coughs, whatever. You could describe a huge number of human emotions with just cigarette behavior.

We don't have that anymore, but still there are a million things a character might do that reveal their thoughts and feelings. There are some places where you'll want to come out and tell us that someone feels a certain way, but it shouldn't ever be necessary in the sense that there's no other way to convey that information.

---dr.M.

 

[Guest]

Mab., that's a very good insight. I still smoke, but even if one doesn't they can still use smoking as you suggest, or substitute other general social actions (drinking, eating, driving, walking across a room, entering a room).

Thanks, Perdita

 

[wornoutkeyboard]

I totally agree Dr. M. I think I am so head-tripped over this whole 3PL thing that I find myself reaching (and stumbling) to get things conveyed without "telling" them.

Sometimes, I feel that because of the POV, I am just showing things because I am uncomfortable filtering it through another person's perspective. I really need to overcome this obstacle because it really is stupid.

*Lifting one leg as she sleps out of her cozy box*

I think that my plan of action is that I am going to just finish the damn thing...as horrible as the writing is. Once I am no longer concerned with telling the story...then I can go back and work on showing the story.

Granted...it is a lot of extra work. It really is easiest to do your best job the first time around and then edit it. But, I think my feelings about wanting to get the story out are being overshadowed by my insecurity with the POV. I know it will take more work...but I will get thru it.

~WOK

 

[Mhari]

I just read this, written by an author who writes exclusively in tight-tght-tight 3PL...dunno if it'll help or not:

"My only plan of how to structure my material was to plant an eavesdropping device in my main character's brain and follow her through her first weeks of action."

(She said this about writing her first novel.)

It might help to think of 3PL that way, dunno. Because I've never written anything in 3PO, I have no idea how hard it is to change from that to 3PL, but I imagine it must be rather daunting.

 

[raphy]

"My only plan of how to structure my material was to plant an eavesdropping device in my main character's brain and follow her through her first weeks of action."

(She said this about writing her first novel.)

That a Bujold quote, darlin'?

 

[Mhari]

That a Bujold quote, darlin'?

Heh. Who else? *grin*