Hi RWA-WF World! I’m Cynthia D’Alba and I’ll be here every fourth Monday of the month. Remember that anything I write during my blogging time is my opinion. Feel free to point out the errors of my ways. This month and next, I’m tackling one of the hardest concepts for new writers to grasp – Point of View.
I’ve heard POV described many different ways from many different authors and lecturers. I’ve thought about it, read books conscious of how the author is using points of view, and I’ve finally decided this is how I view POV. I’m not saying I’m right nor am I an authority on the subject, but for me, these varying levels of POV work for me. Maybe they’ll work for you, too.
Now I’ll be honest with you. When I first started writing, I had no idea what the abbreviation “POV” meant. Even after I heard the phrase “point of view” all the ramifications of being in a character’s POV meant very little. The first story I wrote (which I must confess, I thought was BRILLIANT, at the time…not so much now!) had five (yes, you read that right…FIVE!) POV changes in the first ten pages and two of them were dogs. Sigh. I had so much to learn. After hearing about, reading about, and trying to write good stories with clean points of view, I’ve decided that POV can be different depth or levels.
For the examples in this month’s blog, I’m pulling from Chick With A Charm, Vicki Lewis Thompson, ©2010.
LEVEL ONE: The first explanation for point of view –and what I consider to be a level one understanding—was one we have all heard…point of view like looking through the lens of a camera. What you see through that lens is what your character sees. If your character can’t see it, then you can’t write it in character POV. Well, that’s a beginning but it’s far from everything POV can entail.
This example is from Griffin’s POV: Lily, dressed in a tight black top, skinny jeans and boots was already on her way to their table with smiles for everyone and an extra wink for Griffin. This is what Griffin is seeing. Level One POV. A description of scene in front of him.
LEVEL TWO: This tier engages the character’s senses other than sight, pulling from the other four senses to draw a more complete picture of the character is experiencing in addition to sight.
In this example, we are in Lily’s POV: From inside the shower came the sound of a washcloth slapping against wet skin. She can’t see the action, but she hears and interprets what she hears or what she thinks she’s hearing.
LEVEL THREE: But to really get into your character’s POV, we need to dig a little deeper. How does your character interpret the sensory input from levels one and two? If your character grew up active in scouting, spent many nights camping under the stars, cooking over an open flame, the smell of wood burning might evoke a pleasurable mood. However, if your character’s home burned down and she lost everything in the fire, the smell of wood burning might evoke a flight or fight response, so a romantic bonfire becomes something much different. Or if your character is a fireman, the smell of burning wood might spring him/her into a call to action.
This is one of the reasons we writers spend so much time learning about our characters’ histories. Without knowing your character, you can’t know how he/she will interpret the sensory inputs from level one and two.
For Level Three, I have two examples. Continuing with the scene from Level Two above, (after Lily hears the washcloth slapping against wet skin) Her libido perked up, but she told it to calm down. The reader is getting Lily’s response to the auditory stimulation.
For the second example, we’re back in Lily’s POV: But as she climbed the stairs, cradling the mammoth vase and surrounded by the heavenly scent of roses, she realized she’d have to call Griffin. Lily perceives the scent of roses as heavenly. They evoke a sense of pleasure, of caring. For someone else who’d had a prior negative experience with roses, such as smelling the roses at a loved one’s funeral, the scent of roses might evoke dread or even fear.
Next month, we’ll talk about digging deeper into POV by getting into your character’s head.
Join me then.
Until then, drop by my other blogging gig… http://cynthiadalba.wordpress.com/
Cyndi, love the picture! That’s very cool.
We had our chapter meeting on Saturday, and a friend was reading a book by someone we both know. The POV in the book is in first person. Though my friend liked the book, she complained that the several times the writer had phrases like “my brown eyes flickered.”
That bothered my friend. People don’t think of their own eye color like that. I wondered whether a non-writer would catch it, but I think they would unconsciously. It would pull them out, though they wouldn’t know why.
I’m a beginner at this and am unpublished. Thank you for your explanation of POV. I recall the first time I read about POV. I, too, had no idea what people were talking about. Now I understand what is means; however, your digging into the levels of POV was very helpful. Also, Edie’s comment about “my brown eyes flickered” is something I was guilty of doing and my mentor quickly caught that one!
Cyndi,
The view through the camera lens is great. But also pointing out how the character’s background is important since what they see, smell, etc., can conjure up such differnt emotions. Great point! Thanks!
Thanks for all the comments. I apologize for the late response on my part. We left Florida on Monday morning to drive home to Arkansas after 4 months of Florida Snowbirding!
I hope my “view” of POV helped. Like I said, it’s how I use it when I write or critique.
And Edie – stuff like “my brown eyes” Drives Me Nuts! I’m not sure WHAT color my eyes are. I always write “green” in all the official blanks, but seriously, it’s the last thing I would think about myself. ARGH!!!
Thanks for the comments. I hope next month to continue this chat.
Hey, Cynthia! It’s fun for me to see my book used as an example for POV. And thanks to our discussion the other day, I *finally* understand deep POV, which I think is what you plan to cover next time. If I’ve ever done it, it’s been totally unconscious, which is too often my writing technique, LOL. Oh, and I love the picture, too. Do you own a pair of boots like that? If so, I wanna see them in Nashville, girl!