Tense and POV explainations

[Chicklet]

Hey there,

I've been writing this story for some time, working on it from a couple different POV's. It's 3rd person, but it's limited to only seeing through a couple character's POV. Does that make sense? The more I think about it, the more confused I get.

Can someone please give me an explaination of things that make sense? What exactly is 1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person while we're at it? I know this is grade school stuff, but my mind has become one big scrambled egg (especially evident since I tried to say 'has becomed')

Okay, please please please humor me.

The different tenses, too, while we're at it.

-Chicklet

 

[lyricalcandy]

I read an article just yesterday or the day before in the Writers Resources section that explains what you were asking for very well. Unfortunately I don't remember which one it was, but I think the subject comes up in several of them, so you should browse that section of the site and I'm sure you'll find something helpful. (I posted my first story recently, its still pending, I read an article and then went through and edited the whole thing so it will be pending for a few more days I'm guessin)

 

[Chicklet]

AAAAAAAAAAAARGh

 

[Rainbow Skin]

First person: principal POV is I. This can be solo ('I slid it into myself and began to writhe'), or with 2nd person ('I slid it into you and watched you writhe'), or with 3rd ('I slid it into him...'). Common.

Second person: principal POV is you. Same possibilities as above ('You slid it into yourself and writhed', 'You slid it into me', 'You slid it into her'). Rare. A predominantly 1st person story may of course have 2nd person sentences.

Third person: principal POV is she, he, or they. Normally a story will be entirely 3rd person, though you sometimes get ones where there is a 1st person narrator framing it, an observer who says directly 'I watched their affair bloom and wither', but mainly narrates it like an impersonal writer, not intruding.

This is compatible with quite specific POV. The impersonal narrator can be omniscient about everyone's feelings and doings and describe them all equally; or can be inside the mind of just one person: 'She sighed to herself and wondered what Jim wanted.' Both these approaches are common.

Harder is to switch 3rd person POV back and forth: to narrate what Helen was thinking and seeing, then switch to Jim's inner dialogue in the next paragraph. Easy enough if you become omniscient and mix them - 'She secretly felt it would never work, but he was equally confident in his own heart that they could do it' -, but can be confusing if you want each thought to be from a separate, private POV.

Plurals. First person can also be 'we'. This can be exclusive (I and some other person/people) or inclusive (I and you). Exclusive is uncommon: 'We got in our cars and went to visit the girls'; inclusive is common, by switching between 1st singular and 2nd: 'We caressed each other for what seemed like hours.'

Second plural: Can include 1st, 2nd, or 3rd participants: 'You caressed me for hours, one of you at my head and the other at my feet'; 'You caressed each other...'; 'You caressed the Patterson twins, one of you taking Bobby and...'.

bell rings

Next lesson we'll be dealing with tense.

 

[TheEarl]

IMHO There are two types of 3rd person: Limited and omniscient.

Omniscient allows full view into the heads of all the characters and allows all thoughts to be seen by the reader.

Limited allows the reader into one head at a time. Facts can be held from the reader with this viewpoint and quite often the action only takes place in 2 or 3 heads.

The Earl

 

[Why]

Chicklet:

Can I suggest you get a copy of Orsin Scott Card's "Characters and Viewpoint"

It is well worth it.

 

[Chicklet]

Why: is he the same as "orson scott card"?

Rainbow: thank you = ) eagerly awaiting next lesson.

 

[Why]

Why: is he the same as "orson scott card"?

Rainbow: thank you = ) eagerly awaiting next lesson.

Oooppppssss... Typo, sorry... The I is next to the O and I have fat fingers (Well, that's my excuse and I am sticking to it)

Yes, Orson Scott Card, Hugo and Nebula award winner. The book is well worth it.

Gives sections on constructing characters, inventing characters, what makes a good fictional character, emotional stakes, hero and the common man, the comic character, the serious character, transformations, voice, presentation vs representation, dramatic vs narrative, first person narrative and third person.