Yesterday, we talked about Point of View, and started a discussion over on Voices. Be sure to let us know if you have any POV questions. To recap, point of view refers to the character “telling” the story. We can only know what he/she sees, hears and feels. If the story is being told in first person, then the protagonist does most of the talking. 🙂 A story can have more than one POV in first person, but the character voices must be unique. In third person, the author has more opportunity to open up the story and allow the reader to see the action from different “angles.” Talking to my Thomas Nelson editors once, I learned they like third person because of the versatility where sometimes first person can […]
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The Power of Point of View Part 1
Continuing on our “Hero’s Journey” today we’re going to talk about Point of View. Why is point of view important, and how does it effectively help or harm our work? Today I’m going to talk about “why” and tomorrow I’ll go into “how” of POV. First, for any newbies, WELCOME to MyBookTherapy! Glad to have you. Join Voices and hang out on the forums for interactive writing help. Second, the acronym POV stands for Point of View. Point of View – what is it? It’s the view or perspective of the protagonist or secondary characters. Perhaps the story view of the hero or the heroine. There are several types of point of view writing. Limited Third Person, Omniscient, Narrative, First Person, even Second Person. Now, some of this goes to […]
Read the RestStakes not Steaks
So, I say to Rachel, hey, we’re going to talk about Stakes this week on MBT, and she says, Nummy, I like mine rare! Ha ha, very funny. No, I’m not talking about a T-bone, or Sirloin. Stakes are those things that make us see what we could lose. It helps us stand at the precipice and say, is it worth it to step over into the unknown? (Reminds me a lot of that scene in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade where Indy has to step out in FAITH. What a great scene!) Stakes are those things that drive the story, that make the reader say, hey, I care about this story, I want to know what happens. They might not even be as big as we know starting […]
Read the RestThe power of metaphor in a scene
I first discovered the power of metaphor during my premarital counseling. We were using what (I think it was in a Gary Smalley book) was called, “Word Pictures.” The idea of taking an object or an event and using it as a symbol for something else. Okay, we as writers aren’t dumb. We get the whole metaphor idea. But sometimes we forget its power in a scene. And, I’m not talking about a direct metaphor where the main character in the scene spells it out for the others. I’m talking about the subtle metaphors that betray emotions, or revelation in the scene in the background. It’s similiar to subtexting, only in description. For example, in my newest book, I put the opening scene on a beach, the sky darkening as […]
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