Tag: #Writing
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Note: As I like to say, I am not a trained writing teacher; I am a fellow writer sharing my thoughts and experiences as a writer with fellow writers. The following mini-blog is about choosing your POV character.
So, you’ve created interesting characters and you have a story to tell. Great! Have you chosen a point of view character yet? If so, did you choose the right one? I learned this lesson the hard way when I realized a third of the way through a story that I chose the wrong character. The character I picked made a good, solid supporting character, but was not the right choice for point of view. This can happen when you have an ensemble cast of characters and any one of them could be the main or POV character. When you have five or six strong, solid, well developed characters, it is easy to pick the wrong POV character. I know; I did it, myself.
I have since learned to think more about the story I want to tell and putting more thought into determining which character should be the main and / or POV character. You can have multiple POV characters as long as you don’t do too much head-hopping, because chances are the audience will not like it. I try to keep multiple POV to two characters; definitely not more than three. As a rule, the main character is generally a POV character, although the two are not necessarily one and the same. Example: POV character is an outsider observing at a distance, like an investigative reporter, or an associate, or an analyst.
Know your characters, know your story. Before you type a single word on the page, plot and plan from beginning to end. Think things through. That’s why I always recommend doing an outline. (I will blog about that topic at a later date). A common mistake among newer writers in particular is establishing a POV character early on, then midway through the character’s role is diminished and are seldom heard from again. Another common mistake is a secondary character becoming a POV character several chapters in. The audience will wonder why this character was in the background for several chapters, then comes to the forefront. And believe it or not, I’ve read things where character arcs were not thought out well enough and there were holes leaving me wondering what happened to such and such a character. Mistakes like these mark a writer as amateurish, and you may lose your credibility with the audience. They may not read another single thing you ever write.
Some other helpful hints are the following:
Which character is the focal point? Which character has the most to gain or lose? Which character has the highest stakes? Which character changes the most over the course of the story; that is, whose character arc is the most profound? Chances are that is the character you want not only as your MC but for POV as well.
That’s all I have to say today. I hope you found this informative and helpful. As always, thank you for taking the time to read my mini-blogs. Likes and comments are always appreciated and welcomed. Please consider subscribing to my page. As a general rule, I usually follow back. Until next time…
Ray
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If you use auto-tune, you can’t call yourself a singer; Elvis, The Beatles, The Bangles, Heart, and Pat Benatar did not use auto-tune. If you use AI to create stunning pictures, you can’t call yourself an artist; Rembrandt and Picasso had only their art supplies and their talent. If you use AI to doctor your photographs, you can’t can’t call yourself a photographer. Ansel Adams and Henri Cartier-Bresson had only their cameras. If you use AI in your so-called professional writing, you aren’t a writer. As a novelist myself, I shall never use AI in any way in the creation of my works. And here’s something else to ponder: If your dream is to write screenplays or songs, even poetry, AI may become your stumbling block. Members of the writing guild beware. If they can use AI to write stories they won’t have to pay a writer. While AI has many useful applications, if we as artists don’t remain vigilant, content creators with genuine talent just may find themselves outside looking in. I am opposed to the use of AI in art of any kind.
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Social commentary vs. political commentary. Why do so many people confuse the two, or believe they are one and the same? As a writer of fiction who likes adding social commentary to add a bit of flavor to the story, or use it in subtle ways to support the theme of what I’m writing about, I thought I’d tackle the subject in a mini-blog.
Recently, I was on a social media fan page where the page owner and administrator posted that they didn’t want real world politics on the page, that it was a page intended to celebrate the franchise. In this case, it was a Star Trek page; I’ve seen similar things happen on other pages. Someone would post something and members would bring real world politics into the conversation. Many people find that annoying, including myself, which is why I don’t permit real world politics in any group or page I manage. So, I don’t blame the page owner for doing so. There was immediate backlash with people saying Star Trek was and still is political in nature. That brought up a question in my mind. Do people equate political commentary with social commentary? If so, why?
Political commentary involves politics, government policies, and matters pertaining to government; social commentary involves things like poverty, class struggle, racism, equality, equal justice, war, etc…in other words, human interest stories or social commentary. Thus, those who argue that Star Trek “was always about politics” I can confidently say they are wrong; Star Trek is about social issues that pertain to everyone regardless of political affiliation, race, creed, or social status. That is the definition of social commentary.
Since this mini-blog turned out shorter than I anticipated, I’d like to take a moment to say that if you are a writer, and want to add social commentary to your work, make the commentary come through by way of your characters’ words, actions, and situations, and avoid long winded speeches by a character and / or exposition narratives. Nobody likes to be preached to. If somebody wants to hear a sermon, they’ll go to church. I find that preachiness in a lot of books and in particular, TV and movies, and it annoys me no end. You’ll go further by putting your characters in situations and action where empathy for said character will happen spontaneously without the sermon. Whether you are a character driven writer, a plot / action driven writer, or a combination of both, like myself, subtlety gets better results than heavy handedness. I can’t tell you how many books and movies I never finished reading / viewing because I felt I was being preached to rather than entertained. You’re not going to get any kind of message across without the entertainment. Note: I am not a certified teacher of writing; I’m just a fellow writer passing along some advice. What you do with it is your own business.
That’s all I have today. And, as always, thank you for reading. I welcome you to comment below, give this piece a like, or subscribe to my blog.
Best wishes and may peace be with you.
Ray
Ray Rogers, Novelist 