Point of view (POV) consists of two rules of three and a sliding scale. What do I mean? Well to start with there are three POVs: I, you, he/she.
1) FIRST PERSON. I walked along the yellow brick road and pondered the meaning of life.
2) SECOND PERSON. You walked down the yellow brick road. You didn't want to but you did anyway.
3) THIRD PERSON. He walked down the yellow brick road and tripped over a red slipper.
The second rule of three is in the third person.
1) OBJECTIVE. Access to no-one's head. Purely descriptive.
2) LIMITED OMNISCIENT. Access to the head's of between one to three people.
3) OMNISCIENT. Access to pretty much everyone's head, or head-hopping if you prefer that term.
The sliding scale comes in the third person where the three categories are seriously played around with. Some authors do it better than others. Look at a few and see how they've handled it.
Silja Swaby, half Jamaican, half Finnish, is a marine biologist and author. Funded by Arts Council England, she has won competitions, and been placed in prizes and awards. She is working on a series of futuristic thrillers, featuring a female biologist whose quiet academic life takes a drastic turn. Silja has taken creative writing courses at Cambridge University and more recently Yale University, USA.
Silja tutors writers, gives workshops, and provides a critique service. She is happily unmarried and lives in deepest Somerset, UK.
Silja Swaby is pronounced Sil-yah Sway-bee.
Silja tutors writers, gives workshops, and provides a critique service. She is happily unmarried and lives in deepest Somerset, UK.
Silja Swaby is pronounced Sil-yah Sway-bee.
No comments:
Post a Comment