Help with POV

[TwiztedClown]

I was just wondering if there is anybody out there that is good at Point of View (1st, 2nd, 3rd person) that would like to help out with some of the stories on chyoo. If you see a problem in a thread, report the thread. Unless the story would be better/easier in a different POV, then just come on here and name the story and we will get in touch with the Editor to talk about it, unless the editor is already on Lit and checks this thread . Also, since I do not feel like making a new thread, If you see a thread that isn't very good, or good but lacking, report it. Thanks

 

[amalgam]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I would submit that 95% of the second person POV chyoos need reworking.

 

[jakelyon]

That is another thing that would be helpful is the ability to do a sticky thread so we could post some basic how to's for Chyoo, POV being one of them. Most of the new authors have no idea what the difference is between 1st and 2nd person POV. I know it took me a while to catch on when I started on the site. A couple of kind authors took the time to explain it to me until it clicked.

 

[TwiztedClown]

I am mostly asking if there is someone out there that is good at POV to help rewrite some of the POV errors. And I am asking the chyoo community to report any threads that need work or have errors in it.

 

[amalgam]

I'm trying to understand what you mean by "errors."

The main issue, I believe, is 2nd person. I don't know how you can not understand how 1st and 3rd person work. 2nd person, on the other hand, is challenging because the writer should describe the story without forcing thoughts and opinions on the reader, who is supposed to be in the role of the main character. Nearly every 2nd person chyoo is written as if it is in 3rd person. They continue writing away, telling me, the reader, how I am supposed to feel, what I am supposed to be thinking, the only difference being in the pronoun (you instead of he and she). Sometimes this is necessary, but there are better ways to do this than most people know.

The story, No Man's Land, is a prime example. It is, in fact, very well written, but plagued by a 3rd person writing style. The writer informs me at various times that I feel sad, ashamed, aroused, etc. My answer is "bullshit!" Please don't assume my attitude toward the situation!

When I said that 95% of 2nd person threads are written wrong, this is what I meant. 95% of 2nd person threads are also written correctly in that they use the term "you," wouldn't you say? We can use this forum to fix that remaining 5% with regard to pronoun usage, but it takes a lot more to fix that former 95% that I'm talking about. My question to you, Twizted Clown, is: are you referring to the 95% or the 5%?

 

[TwiztedClown]

I'm talking about fixing stories that have 3rd person on one thread, then 1st person on another thread or when a story says its 3rd person but turns out to be 1st. And when I say errors, I mean spelling and grammer. I'm talking about fixing whatever we can to make stories more readable. Because I know that when I read a thread that has a lot of spelling errors, I lose interest.

 

[amalgam]

Well anyone/everyone can pitch in to do that, then.

 

[artican]

I'm trying to understand what you mean by "errors."

The main issue, I believe, is 2nd person. I don't know how you can not understand how 1st and 3rd person work. 2nd person, on the other hand, is challenging because the writer should describe the story without forcing thoughts and opinions on the reader, who is supposed to be in the role of the main character. Nearly every 2nd person chyoo is written as if it is in 3rd person. They continue writing away, telling me, the reader, how I am supposed to feel, what I am supposed to be thinking, the only difference being in the pronoun (you instead of he and she). Sometimes this is necessary, but there are better ways to do this than most people know.

The story, No Man's Land, is a prime example. It is, in fact, very well written, but plagued by a 3rd person writing style. The writer informs me at various times that I feel sad, ashamed, aroused, etc. My answer is "bullshit!" Please don't assume my attitude toward the situation!

When I said that 95% of 2nd person threads are written wrong, this is what I meant. 95% of 2nd person threads are also written correctly in that they use the term "you," wouldn't you say? We can use this forum to fix that remaining 5% with regard to pronoun usage, but it takes a lot more to fix that former 95% that I'm talking about. My question to you, Twizted Clown, is: are you referring to the 95% or the 5%?

I have an objection to taking over someone's story to edit out this sort of writing habit. It may be against your personal tastes, but the author may have had some valid story points that he/she wanted to bring out through these thoughts. Editing them out or altering them may change what comes out of the story and may lose the author's original point to begin with.

That notwithstanding, I guess editing stories to be readable and grammatically sound would encourage more readers. I'd be up for clean up duty in that aspect, as long as it wouldn't completely compromise the original stories.

 

[amalgam]

I have an objection to taking over someone's story to edit out this sort of writing habit. It may be against your personal tastes, but the author may have had some valid story points that he/she wanted to bring out through these thoughts. Editing them out or altering them may change what comes out of the story and may lose the author's original point to begin with.

I, too, would be against it. It would require drastic changes in writing style, as I believe that the 2nd person POV is a style in itself (which I don't think is really being adopted, as I've already stated). There are far too many people writing this way to systematically "fix."

But at the same time, I think it a waste of time to correct other members' threads, even when we're just talking about breaches of POV or grammar/spelling. That responsibility lies with the writers and the editors. Why should we do what they should be doing already?

If someone comes on here and asks for proofreading or critical input, I'll be glad to give it, but I don't think that reporting threads is the thing to do.

But if it ends up happening, I would prolly help.

 

[artican]

That's another good point. Maybe the author would prefer the story to be grammatically unsound. We can't just assume that they would be fine with someone else editing their work can we? I understand the desire to fix these stories to encourage others to read and contribute, but in a way these stories are other people's property and tampering with that would be a sort of breach of privacy.

 

[Torg]

That's another good point. Maybe the author would prefer the story to be grammatically unsound. We can't just assume that they would be fine with someone else editing their work can we? I understand the desire to fix these stories to encourage others to read and contribute, but in a way these stories are other people's property and tampering with that would be a sort of breach of privacy.

More like a breach of copyright.

 

[artican]

I'm not sure if that would be a breach of copyright since the actual work isn't being copied, but altered. Copyright protects works from being used by others so maybe if another story were put up with all the same posts but only edited... yeah that's a nit picky thing. Sorry.