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Plse can someone help me with a POV question. I am working on a novel which is told from 1st person POV, but, because of the plot, I am having doubts about whether the story is best told in this way. I have been reading around the subject, a real mistake, because now I am completely confused again. This is a quote from a well respected book on writing and is highlighting the disadvantages of first person POV, but it makes no sense to me at all, can someone explain it to me:
1. 'From the first person POV, faithful reproduction of diverse dialogues may be implausibe. Your first person may appear to be a theatrical genius with an amazing ear. On the other hand, to render almost every dialogue in one or two voices may be monotonous. Generally, it's better to err toward the interesting side - good reproduction of dialogue.'
2. 'We can't take an outside look at our carrier or POV, unless we place a mirror somewhere, and mirrors have been overused in fiction. Avoid them unless you find no other solution. (Compensate for the inability to look directly at your character by reporting her thoughts about her apperance.
Para 1 has me completely baffled, sorry if I'm thick, but it really has.
Para 2 I understand, but does it just relate to the narrator, as surely another character could comment on his or her apperance, thereby showing us something about them?
Sorry it's a long post, I'm just a bit fed up of getting bogged down in endless questions on POV. I know that someone much wiser than me will be able to shed light on this...
thanks
Lizzie
'
I don't know how your story is told, but this is working out well for me. I usually write in third.
eg I sat at the kitchen table watching Farmer George carve the turkey.
'Molly,' he said,'you just have to grab the bugger by the neck and dig in your knife.'
'Don't listen to George,' said his wife Sarah,' He dun't know one end of bird from t'other.'
I didn't like to intervene, but any moment the bird was going to end up on the floor. I smiled to myself knowing that in five minutes, they'd both be dead on the floor themselves.
Why would this be implausible? You can get an idea of the dialect. If the narrator is repeating what she hears- what is the problem.
I'm clearly thick too.
On point one, the author appears to be trying to make an issue where one doesn't exist. No one, to my mind, would argue that someone telling a story retrospectively would need to qualify every piece of dialogue with the words 'this is roughly what he said', or 'I think she spoke with that slight Kentish twang, but looking back it may have been a Dorset growl'. Even relating past conversations to our friends (ie day-to-day first person storytelling), we'll retell pieces of dialogue which may have an element of artistic license to them. If a story is told well, then a reader will hardly be worried about the plausibility of the teller having a photographic memory. Flick illustrates this well.
If a story is told in the present tense, then there's nothing to say about it. The teller is relating what is happening now. Even a goldfish could remember that.
On point two, you make a good point. There are various methods you could use to offer clues as to your narrators appearance. Mirrors are one, the thoughts of the narrator are another, external dialogue another. Ask yourself how much the reader would need to know, though. Personally, my current novel is written by a narrator suffering from anorexia, so staring in the mirror, obsessing about his body shape etc, are part and parcel. Even so, I don't believe I've offered any clues as to hair colour or the shape of his nose, and the physical descriptions I've offered convey as much about his mental state as his actual appearance. I think that when telling a story in the first person, it's best to let the reader form the appearance of the character in their own minds as much as possible.
Hope that gives you something to think about.
This seems to be the time to show, not to tell. Read a book which is entirely written from the first person point of view. Go to trafford.com and read the first chapter of Writers in Revolt.
Meanwhile I will put something on Exercises which might stop you going round in circles.
Regards, Patty
I have copied a chunk from my non-fiction book, The Emotion Curve where I use Writers in Revolt for examples. I hope it shows rather than tells. It's on Exercises.
Have fun, Patty
Cheers
Lizzie
JD Salinger - Catcher In The Rye
Martin Millar - Ruby And The Stone Age Diet
Stephen King - Rita Hayworth And Shawshank Redemption
DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little
Try and read at least a couple of them, just to illustrate how varied the first person perspective style can be.
Thanks so much for those, I am off to the library now to search for them.
I must develop the ability to read critically, I love my books so much and therefore find it hard to analyse them, but I will work at it now as it seems a shame not to learn from the experts.
Cheers,
Lizzie.
I find the whole point of view side to writing both frustrating and fascinating. I've posted many times on here about it, mostly to air my uncertainties about what point of view to use for my novel. It began with a 3rd person (past tense) viewpoint, then the main character of the story changed, and with that the viewpoint. I kept it under the same style but very quickly realised that 3rd person just wasn't having the affect I wanted. As it stands, I am now writing it in under a first person (present tense) viewpoint. I considered past tense, but I want events that happen to my main character to affect him here and now. I want to show his immediate thoughts on everything, instead of him being allowed to think everything through and then recite his version of events. Doing that would make it look and sound far to polished. I want the rough edges and the sudden, heat of the moment thoughts and feelings.
In some ways, I see first person (past tense) narratives as using recycled emotions. By that, I mean the lead character has had a fair while to think things through, thus maybe not allowing for the truly confused mindset that I am looking for in my story. Im not, however, silly enough to say that first person (past tense) doesn't have its uses. All short stories I have written use this style, and for future stories of mine, I'm sure I'll be using it. But for my novel, it just won't work. In some ways, it pleases me to be able to say that. To know in your head what would and wont work for a particular story or character shows that youre learning all the time about how different viewpoints will affect every last sentence of a story.
So whilst the vast array of options regarding viewpoints can leave you feeling lost, the one thing you should always realize is that you never stop learning. Thats the advantage of writing, I think. Every time you feel you have made a mistake with a particular aspect of it, you gain more and more knowledge.