Point of View
If ever I am mad enough to attempt another novel, IT WILL NOT BE WRITTEN IN A LIMITED SUBJECTIVE POINT OF VIEW!
I thought that moving from first person to third (subjective) would be an improvement, that it would expand my language options, which it did, but it can get frustrating. Frustrating for me. I have to keep coming up with varying ways of conveying relevant information and action while doing so only from the scope of one character.
Once I enjoyed writing within constraints. Today, I don't. God, I'm lazy.
I seem to remember reading an interview with Camilla Gibb in which she discussed the differences between the writing of her first and second novels. Mouthing the Words was highly subjective, while The Petty Details of So-and-so's Life was, if I recall correctly, omniscient (yeah, my books are still in boxes, so I can't check. But I bought on craigslist an old custom-made-for-someone-else massive oak bookcase! It's over 7 feet all! And wider than I am tall! It's uncertain whether or not it's going to fit through the front door, but it was such a deal! So, yeah, then I'll be able to unpack the rest of the books. If we can get it inside at all). Anyway, I believe she discussed those constraints in point of view, and said that she didn't want to write another first person novel, and deliberately chose omniscience for the second book. I think I'll do the same, if ever I reach such a point. I'm not sure what pov her third novel is in because I haven't read it yet.
Any readers have thoughts on limited vs. scoping points of view? As both writers and as readers.
Cheers.
posted by j-love @ 9:17 p.m.
5 comments
5 Comments:
I love writing short stories in the first person. Once I've got the voice down, it just takes over and it feels a bit as though the story writes itself. I think it would be a very different proposition to write a whole novel in the first person though. That voice would have to be an awfully engaging one for me to want to inhabit it for the length of a novel. The third person subjective seems like the answer to that, though I can certainly imagine the frustrations that you describe. Third person omniscient has a still different set of difficulties associated with it though. My sense is that it can be quite challenging to draw the contemporary reader in with third person omniscient narration. I think many readers have grown accustomed to and expect the intimacy of a subjective perspective. I'm just thinking on the page here though, and probably should give this more thought before I make any grand pronouncements! After you've finished this novel, you might want to experiment with different viewpoints in some short stories. The short story is a fine form for trying new things out without having to invest too much in each one right out of the gate.
I've been waffling on that very issue with my novel -- part of it is in 1st, part in 3rd. I can't seem to settle down. I keep hoping that I'll hit the magic tipping point that will tell me what direction to take.
One thing I will say is that I think you have to have a compelling voice to make a case for 1st person over 3rd. And I would generalize by saying I think it is hard to sustain such a voice
(as a writer and as a reader) for a whole novel. So, I really essentially agree with what Kate said. I respectfully disagree that contemporary readers would have problems with 3rd person. Quite a few books not only have 3rd person, they have multiple Ps O V.
I am trying to get a handle on what I'm trying to accomplish in the novel. I'm thinking that could be a guiding force as to which voice may help achieve it.
LK,
I don't think that contemporary readers have any difficulty embracing third person narration. Rather, I think they have a preference for third person subjective over third person omniscient. Third person is fine so long as it keeps them close to the point of view of the main character or a group of characters. But third person omniscient (ie. distant, eye of God narration) comes off as a bit old-fashioned to some. I don't feel that way myself. I'm just extrapolating from what I perceive as trends in popular contemporary fiction and also from the responses that I've gotten to experiments in perspective in my own stories.
Thanks, Kate, for that clarification. Good point!
I get the creeps writing in first person too long. The novel I'm writing is in third person limited and has multiple points of view (I'm taking a risk, I know, especially when I shift POV in sections), but I love living in my characters' minds.
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