tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956475600408143951.post228449446231700346..comments2024-03-08T13:13:52.080-08:00Comments on A Mystery Writer's Notes From Tahoe: Is Your Character Development Too Much, Too Little, Or Just Right?Todd Borghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09953634573450944369noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956475600408143951.post-2651119432013599562015-07-20T17:51:34.475-07:002015-07-20T17:51:34.475-07:00Thanks for the question, Anonymous. There are many...Thanks for the question, Anonymous. There are many way to deal with POV issues.<br /><br />On a first book, I'd keep it consistent throughout the book. You will have enough problems to grapple within that first book. You don't need to complicate things by getting fancy with POV.<br /><br />I'd either choose First Person, Past Tense or Third Person ,Past Tense, and I wouldn't jump from one to the other. <br /><br />The advantages of First Person are that it makes many stories easier to write because you can simply put yourself in the character of the narrator and then tell the story as if it were your own. First Person is also very accessible to the reader. Readers are more likely to suspend their disbelief with First Person. Perhaps the biggest downside to First Person is that the narrator has to be very interesting to sustain a reader through an entire novel.<br /><br />The advantages of Third Person are that you can jump around from one set of characters to another. And you can just as easily change scene locations. A simple space break is all you need to go from a scene in the Rocky Mountains to a scene on the streets of Mumbai.<br /><br />As for past vs. present tense, the vast majority of novels are told in past tense. Readers are simply more comfortable with past tense. As such, it's hard to justify present tense.<br /><br />A critical thing to remember about character POV is to keep it consistent within any single scene. If you start a scene telling it from Joe's point of view, you have to stay with that. If you want to reveal Mary's thoughts, then start a new scene from her point of view. Changing character POV within a scene (what we call head hopping) is a no, no, because it makes it hard for a reader to get into a character's head and identify with that character. It's also disjointed and makes the story seem to jerk around from one character to another.<br /><br />Of course, some authors who want to be radical and experimental may write a novel in Second Person, Present Tense and fill their scenes with character POV shifts. They may succeed at getting someone to think they are very intellectual and avant garde, but they'll be lucky if they sell a book to anyone but their mother.<br /><br />Good luck!<br /><br />Todd Borghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09953634573450944369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956475600408143951.post-80431876470714687802015-07-20T17:34:23.444-07:002015-07-20T17:34:23.444-07:00Thanks, Dave! Glad to be of help.
ToddThanks, Dave! Glad to be of help.<br /><br />ToddTodd Borghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09953634573450944369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956475600408143951.post-76605490534459308022015-07-20T12:33:31.173-07:002015-07-20T12:33:31.173-07:00Thank you for more invaluable insights! After read...Thank you for more invaluable insights! After reading your response I was thinking how this should probably be common knowledge but much of it certainly is not, from a writing perspective at least.<br /><br />On a different note; what are your thoughts on character points-of-view? I ask because I'm in the process of writing what I hope to be my first book and I have more than one main character. I started out writing one in first-person and another in third, then changed them both to third-person (present) and am regretting the change. Is there a formula or rule-of-thumb to this or should I just go with my instincts? Thank you for your help!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5956475600408143951.post-25204384975664229822015-07-19T23:20:21.423-07:002015-07-19T23:20:21.423-07:00Listen to Todd. I have read plenty of books about ...Listen to Todd. I have read plenty of books about writing. Todd packs some of the most valuable advice from those books into a small space here.<br />Dave Stromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07788446744929846472noreply@blogger.com