Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #12

[McKenna]

Don't Forget Whose Story It Is


Viewpoint.

That's what this section -and the one to follow- are all about.

Viewpoint is perhaps the most-discussed aspect of fiction, yet the one most often screwed up. But perhaps you will never have serious technical problems with the teqchnique of viewpoint again if you will simply follow the advice that heads this page.

Figure out whose story it is.

Get inside the character -and stay there.

That's all there is to it. Except that in its simplicity, viewpoint has many angles to its application.

I'm sure you realize why fiction is told from a viewpoint, a character inside the story. It's because each of us lives our real life from a single viewpoint -our own- and none other, ever. The fiction writer wants her story to be as convincing and lifelike as possible. So she sets things up so that readers will experience the story just like they experience real life: from one viewpoint inside the action.

Each of us is the hero of his own life. The next time you are in a group of people, take a moment to realize how you see everything and everyone around you as interesting -but essentially as role players in your life. Then try to observe others around you ...try to imagine how each of them sees the scene in exactly the same way, from their own unique viewpoint character.

It matters not whether you choose to write the story first person: "Worried, I walked down the lonely street..." or third person: "Worried, she walked down the lonely street." The device is the same. You let your reader experience everything from inside that viewpoint character.

In short fiction, there will usually be a single viewpoint per story. Changing viewpoint in a short story, where unity of effect is so crucial, usually makes the story seem disjointed. In a novel, there may be several viewpoints, but one must clearly dominate. That's because every story is ultimately one person's story above all others, just as your life story is yours and yours alone. It's a fatal error to let your viewpoint jump around from character to character, with no viewpoint clearly dominating, in terms of how much of the story is experienced from that viewpoint. Life isn't like that. Fiction shouldn't be, either.

To put this in other words: even in a novel of 100,000 words, well over 50 percent -probably closer to 70 percent- should be clearly and rigidly in the viewpoint of the main character. That character's thoughts, feelings, perceptions and intentions should unmistakably dominate the action. When you change the viewpoint -if you must- it should be only when the change in viewpoint serves to illuminate for readers the problems of the main viewpoint character.

Where do you put the viewpoint? The easy and obvious answer is that you give the viewpoint to the character who will be in all the right places to experience the crucial stuff in the plot. (It's pretty clear, for example, that if you want to tell the story of a mountain-climbing expedition in Tibet, you can't very well put the viewpoint inside a child who never gets outside Topeka, Kansas.)

Beyond this, however, other factors must be considered. Readers like to worry through their stories. They'll worry most about the viewpoint character. And what are readers likely to worry about most? Whether the character with the most important goal will reach that goal. Therefore it follows that you should give the viewpoint to the character who has the goal motivation that makes the story go ... the character who will be in action toward some worthwhile end ... the story person with the most to win or lose in the story action.

This character - the one threatened at the outset who vows to struggle- will be the character who ultimately is most moved by what takes place. That's why some fiction theorists say the viewpoint should be invested in the character who will be most changed by the story action.

To sum up, then, this is what I meant when I say you mustn't forget whose story it is:

• Every story must be told from a viewpoint inside the action.
  
• Every story must have a clearly dominant viewpoint character.
  
• The viewpoint character must be the one with the most at stake.
  
• Every viewpoint character will be actively involved in the plot.
  

Probably since the dawn of time, beginning writers have wrestled with these principles, hoping to find a way around them. They seem harsh and restrictive. But after you have worked with them a while, you will find them to be very useful in focusing your story. A storyteller has plenty to worry about without wondering whose story it is, or from what vantage point the reader is supposed to experience the story! And, even more to the point from a practical standpoint, you might as well accept viewpoint as central -perhaps the central- device of fiction. You can't escape it. It's simply at the center of how fiction works on readers.


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Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #1

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #2

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #3

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #4

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #5

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #6

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #7

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #8

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #9

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #10

Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes, #11

 

[TheEarl]

Of course some smartarse will always point out books like 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' where the story is told, not form the perspective of the main character, nor even from the secondary character, but from a third character who's is of the outskirts of these two vibrant lives, envying what they had.

Although in mitigation, TGBHF is bloody hard work to read.

The Earl

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Recently I've been toying more and more with Third-person omniscient wanderer and the various delusions, rabid penguins, and the sentient version of a Communistic suffusion of yellow like to force me to believe that it works fairly decently.

I would say that consistency of POV is what is most important. If you are wandering, keep wandering, if you are focused stay focused, if you the evil puffin army eats your rutabegas nuke Iceland. Consistency is important.

 

[McKenna]

Of course some smartarse will always point out books like 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet' where the story is told, not form the perspective of the main character, nor even from the secondary character, but from a third character who's is of the outskirts of these two vibrant lives, envying what they had.

Although in mitigation, TGBHF is bloody hard work to read.

The Earl

There are exceptions to every rule, no doubt.

In the book, the author actually points to The Great Gatsby as a novel where ambiguity prevails about who the main character is. From Bickham, "Even in a novel like The Great Gatsby, the character Gatsby ultimately is not the most important character. Nick Carraway is the one who is finally moved ...changed ...made to see a different vision of the world, and so decides to go back to the Midwest at the end of the story. Nick is the narrator, the viewpoint character, and finally the story is his, and the meaning derived from his sensibilities, whatever the novel may be titled."

 

[McKenna]

Recently I've been toying more and more with Third-person omniscient wanderer and the various delusions, rabid penguins, and the sentient version of a Communistic suffusion of yellow like to force me to believe that it works fairly decently.

I would say that consistency of POV is what is most important. If you are wandering, keep wandering, if you are focused stay focused, if you the evil puffin army eats your rutabegas nuke Iceland. Consistency is important.

I was glad Bickham pointed out the part where moving into different points of view isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that we should concentrate 70 percent of the point of view from one character.

For a writer who likes to get inside her character's heads, this works for me. It means I can still visit supporting-character's thoughts, while continuing the story and creating the action around my main character.

But overall, yes, consistency is very important. Nice call, Luc.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

I was glad Bickham pointed out the part where moving into different points of view isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that we should concentrate 70 percent of the point of view from one character.

For a writer who likes to get inside her character's heads, this works for me. It means I can still visit supporting-character's thoughts, while continuing the story and creating the action around my main character.

But overall, yes, consistency is very important. Nice call, Luc.

Yeah, the thing is I don't think you need to overdominate one character. I have been playing with a form where the narrator consistently wanders around randomly around muliple main characters and various secondary characters sometimes in-chapter, mostly-between chapters and it seems to work. The thing is that even with something that open to screwing up, one must be consistent with that style so that it all makes narrative sense.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I suppose this one pretty much guarentees I'll be a failure at writing fiction.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

I suppose this one pretty much guarentees I'll be a failure at writing fiction.

As evidenced by how few people worship the ground you write on. I mean it's only most of the forum.

 

[impressive]

I suppose this one pretty much guarentees I'll be a failure at writing fiction.

And the obligatory:

PFFFFFFT!​

Green for your panties!

 

[rgraham666]

I suppose this one pretty much guarentees I'll be a failure at writing fiction.

Oh pffft!

You're damn good Colleen. Who gives a good goddamn about the rules anyway?

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Figure out whose story it is.

I think this is actually a good advice. Just that one line, though - not the rest of the stuff.

Figure out whose story it is, and keep it in mind throughout. If you want to deviate from it, go ahead. As long as you are aware of what you're doing.

Colleen knows whose story it is.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

As evidenced by how few people worship the ground you write on. I mean it's only most of the forum.

When I first started posting,long long ago, a very kind and very knowledgeable woman took a fancy to my work. I shan't give any details of her life, save that she had made a living for a while writing erotica.

While she loved my work, her first note told me the style I use went out of favor 100 years ago. After a heroic effort to convert me to a first person author, she gave up. But she still encouraged me to keep writing.

One reason I avoid self help writing books is because they give the same advice on third Omni. Don't.

 

[lil_elvis]

At least this explains some of the trouble with my current piece. First try at 3rd person omniscient.

What to include, what to omit, beyond the main character. That's the bitch.

No wonder editing it's such a nightmare - the temptation to over-write is ever present.

 

[impressive]

One of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time (NOTE: I didn't say "best" -- I said "enjoyable" -- and depending on one's criteria, that COULD mean "best.") was Three Women by Marge Piercy. It wasn't 3rd omni, but each chapter was from the POV of one of the three women. Probably about the same # words devoted to each POV overall.

I was waffling about POV for my novel, and this cemented it. The story is about ALL (4) of the main characters, not one moreso than another.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

One reason I avoid self help writing books is because they give the same advice on third Omni. Don't.

The hands down most common fiction-writing mistake newbie authors commit is to take self-help writing books too seriously and actually try to follow all the rules all the time. It's a sure way to mediocrity.

 

[Liar]

I've read some good novels and short stories which has been based around the different viewpoints of two or more characters pretty much equally represented. The whole idea was the tension and confusion of seeing the same thing through different eyes.

But the advise here is still good, I think. Picking one perspective and letting it dominate is the style you see most of out there, and for a good reason. As with most of the advise so far, it seems to be about ways to make story telling easier. A good novel can be written in other fashions too, but it's a more delicate balance act.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

When I first started posting,long long ago, a very kind and very knowledgeable woman took a fancy to my work. I shan't give any details of her life, save that she had made a living for a while writing erotica.

While she loved my work, her first note told me the style I use went out of favor 100 years ago. After a heroic effort to convert me to a first person author, she gave up. But she still encouraged me to keep writing.

One reason I avoid self help writing books is because they give the same advice on third Omni. Don't.

Ah yes, "modern" novels and their insistence on ripping off Salinger. *Sigh*. Personally I love 3rd person omni as a writing style for most of the time. It's so free. You can have the personal near 1st person treatment, the distanced third person action sequence, or a pan-thought shot all in the same work. So beautiful.

 

[Liar]

What to include, what to omit, beyond the main character. That's the bitch.

Never really given it much thought. I just write, and a voice in the back of my head goes "time to check out the other guy". Then after a while it goes "ok, that's enough, back to the main dish".

 

[fieryjen]

I think that stories where the viewpoints are shared equally between two characters can be just as good as others. Especially in erotica.

But otherwise, I think it's good advice. Once again, thanks for posting it!

 

[McKenna]

One of the most enjoyable books I have read in a long time (NOTE: I didn't say "best" -- I said "enjoyable" -- and depending on one's criteria, that COULD mean "best.") was Three Women by Marge Piercy. It wasn't 3rd omni, but each chapter was from the POV of one of the three women. Probably about the same # words devoted to each POV overall.

I was waffling about POV for my novel, and this cemented it. The story is about ALL (4) of the main characters, not one moreso than another.

Maeve Binchy plays around with this kind of thing -writing part of her novels from one person's POV, then writing the next from a different POV. I really enjoy her novels and style of writing. I feel like I get a more complete picture of a situation, as well as an intimate peek into the main player's heads.

 

[McKenna]

I suppose this one pretty much guarentees I'll be a failure at writing fiction.

*handing Colly a grain of salt*

You might need it, luv, when considering all of Bickham's advice.

 

[bridgeburner]

The problem I see most often when editing isn't so much changing POV from time to time, it's changing POV in the middle of a paragraph or sometimes even a single line. Or starting off from one POV and changing to multiple viewpoints. You think you're in the head of one character and all of a sudden you're forcibly injected into the head of another. Generally this is because the author doesn't truly identify with either of the characters more than the other, but only wants to move them around like dolls to create his fantasy.

I agree that multiple, equal POVs can be done quite well and I see it pretty often in mainstream fiction. Yes, you'll tend to get more of one person than another, but a 70/30 split seems a bit extreme. I'm always suspicious when people try to teach writing as if it were mathematics.

All in all it's a useful instruction, but I think Bickham's numbers can be tossed.


-B

 

[nushu2]

Tried a "third person compassionate" POV in my last 2 posted stories. It was a mix between third and first but it never went omniscient. It had the advantage of being in the head of the main character while still looking on, retaining a bit a aloofness. Like first POV, the main character was central to every scene and seen through her eyes but told in another voice.

I thought it worked well. There were plenty of female characters but I felt I could use the pronoun "she" with no confusion. Technically, I guess that agrees with #12.

 

[oggbashan]

Tom Clancy

Reading Tom Clancy's novels shows a good use of POV. He switches person and place within chapters but each change is clearly shown and related to a different part of the plot or sub-plot.

I used to write exclusively in 3rd person limited. When I switched to 1st I found that the story was much more immediate.

In one of my stories I switch between three characters viewpoints in the ending. It doesn't really work and is on my long list of 'must revise sometime'.

Og

 

[McKenna]

*bump*