An actual writing question from me...don't be shocked.

[Borscht]

First. Lauren, I am sure you meant no offense but pointing out to me that most everything you said was in English I took as rude, even if in jest. . .

LOL.

Hey, thanks for making me spit beer through my nose.

Good point about Shakespeare though. I always thought that making kids read his plays as though they were novels was a particualarly refined form of torture.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Well, I tried to post my input during the technical problems we were having.. Twice I failed, so the third time is the charm But it shall be even more brief yet.

From play to story, I have always done "omni-presence third person" perspective. If you fail, at least it is a terrific writing exercise, as this is not a commonly used writing style. It is a fun exercise, and useful to try every now and then.

I'm currently working on a story in this perspective myself and am having a hellaciously fun time. (But my editor hates me )

My two cents and a half cents (don't you hate inflation?)

I'd love to know more about how you're doing this.

My comprehension level is nil these days.

 

[tolyk]

I'd love to know more about how you're doing this.

My comprehension level is nil these days.

Right.. I'm not even entirely sure how I'm doing it *laugh* I certainly can't explain it in text, at least not tonight. I've been away from the story for over a week now, I don't even know if I'll be able to pick up from where I left off, in the same POV, its a tough one. Going at it the next day was hard enough work, as I do recall..

Okay, first off, I was refering too it incorrectly. It is technically called "Third Person Omniscience".. but what I was calling it, I think everyone knew what I meant anyways.. And there is two versions of this POV as I will list here (these definitions are NOT by me... so don't blame me if they are confusing)


THIRD-PERSON OMNISCIENT NARRATION:
This is a common form of third-person narration in which the teller of the tale, who often appears to speak with the voice of the author himself, assumes an omniscient (all-knowing) perspective on the story being told: diving into private thoughts, narrating secret or hidden events, jumping between spaces and times. Of course, the omniscient narrator does not therefore tell the reader or viewer everything, at least not until the moment of greatest effect. In other words, the hermeneutic code is still very much in play throughout such narrations. Such a narrator will also discursively re-order the chronological events of the story.
(normal third person)


THIRD-PERSON LIMITED NARRATION OR LIMITED OMNISCIENCE:
Focussing a third-person narration through the eyes of a single character. Even when an author chooses to tell a narrative through omniscient narration, s/he will sometimes (or even for the entire tale) limit the perspective of the narrative to that of a single character, choosing for example only to narrate the inner thoughts of that one character. The narrative is still told in third-person (unlike first-person narration); however, it is clear that it is, nonetheless, being told through the eyes of a single character. A famous example of this form of narration is James Joyce's "The Dead" (in Dubliners). A narrative can also shift among various third-person-limited narrations.
(Kind of like using a first person that can switch between characters, almost.. heh)

 

[tolyk]

I actually found these usefull too:

DISCOURSE AND STORY:
"Story" refers to the actual chronology of events in a narrative; discourse refers to the manipulation of that story in the presentation of the narrative. These terms refer, then, to the basic structure of all narrative form. Story refers, in most cases, only to what has to be reconstructed from a narrative; the chronological sequence of events as they actually occurred in the time-space (or diegetic) universe of the narrative being read. The closest a film narrative ever comes to pure story is in what is termed "real time." In literature, it's even harder to present material in real time. One example occurs at the end of the Odyssey (Book XXIII, pages 467-68); Odysseus here presents the story of his adventures to Penelope in almost pure "story" form, that is, in the chronological order of occurence. Stories are rarely recounted in this fashion, however. So, for example, when the Odyssey actually begins, we do not find ourselves at the chronological start of the story but in medias res, when Odysseus is about to be freed from the isle of Calypso (which actually occurs nearly at the end of the chronological story which Odysseus relates to Penelope on p. 467). Discourse also refers to all the material an author adds to a story: similes, metaphors, verse/prose, etc.. In film, such manipulations are extended to include framing, cutting, camera movement, camera angles, music, etc..



HERMENEUTIC AND PROAIRETIC CODES:
The two ways of creating suspense in narrative, the first caused by unanswered questions, the second by the anticipation of an action's resolution. These terms come from the narratologist Roland Barthes, who wishes to distinguish between the two forces that drive narrative and, thus by implication, our own desires to keep reading or viewing a story. The hermeneutic code refers to those plot elements that raise questions on the part of the reader of a text or the viewer of a film. For example, in the Star Trek: TNG episode, "Cause and Effect," we see the Enterprise destroyed in the first five minutes, which leads us to ask the reason for such a traumatic event. (See the Lesson Plan on Star Trek for the clip and a class discussion of the scene.) Indeed, we are not satisfied by a narrative unless all such "loose ends" are tied. Another good example is the genre of the detective story. The entire narrative of such a story operates primarily by the hermeneutic code. We witness a murder and the rest of the narrative is devoted to determining the questions that are raised by the initial scene of violence. The proairetic code, on the other hand, refers to mere actions—those plot events that simply lead to yet other actions. For example, a gunslinger draws his gun on an adversary and we wonder what the resolution of this action will be. We wait to see if he kills his opponent or is wounded himself. Suspense is thus created by action rather than by a reader's or a viewer's wish to have mysteries explained.

 

[tolyk]

*bump* For ABs to actually read it.