ROUND ROBIN – POINT OF VIEW

What is your favorite POV to write and/or read and why? This month’s question gets a lot of people hot under the collar.

Writing mainly in the romance world, my favourite Point of View (POV) is third person and of the female protagonist. But, in novel length work, I will have a few chapters, or part of each chapter, written in the POV of the main male protagonist.

Why do I choose this one?

Okay, for centuries (since time began) other people have told and will tell you what you think. It drove me crackers as a child without agency and in a male dominated world that has been very slow to change, it continues to do so.

Enter the writing habit. Why would I want to silence my female characters by having their world viewed in the omniscient author voice? Why would I want to use the second person which always strikes me as being a description of happening more suited to journalism? Why would I want to use the first person which leads to all sorts of tangles trying to get enough information onto the page?

This is not to say that I haven’t read and admired many works written in both first and second person – it simply isn’t my choice.

Holding the POV steady is challenging. When I taught creative writing, it was one of the issues many people found very hard to get a handle on. There is a temptation to allow other characters to make observations on their circumstances rather than allow the protagonist to tell us so that we understand what she thinks about them.

“Mary-Jane knew that if she turned the cake plate she could choose the meringue as it would be nearest to her.” is fine but: “Alice watched Mary-Jane turn the cake plate. They’d been told by their mum to take the cake nearest. Alice knew Mary-Jane would grab the meringue again. It was so unfair, but mum never seemed to notice.” Let’s us into the world of two siblings vying for their mum’s attention (and meringues).

Introducing some space for the hero allows the reader to support the heroine but also to see how she might be misunderstanding the guy. It enrichs the overall text by allowing us to see how the hero rounds out – what he’s like among his friends, family, colleagues.

Now, is Georgette Heyer my favourite historical romance writer? Could be. Does she change POV to the extent she might be accused of head-hopping in some places? Could be.

Ah well!

How do you do POV?

Only a few robins chirping this month but I’m sure they’ll all have interesting points to make.

Connie Vines http://mizging.blogspot.com/

Helena Fairfax http://www.helenafairfax.com/blog

A.J. Maguire http://ajmaguire.wordpress.com/

Skye Taylor http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_th

It’s Edinburgh; it’s August

So, as we used to start our Facebook posts, how’s August shaping up? Have I managed to knit every day?

Yes! I now have two completed vests for the Woman’s Weekly charity knit and 13 completed days for the CHAS Challenge, together with the back of the largest size vest.

Have I progressed the serial?

Yes! A knotty problem that has been acting as a mental block has been shattered. Phew!

Have I been festivalling?

Oh yes! Highlights? I’ve much enjoyed the new shorter formats.

Drama – Thrown at the Traverse. Thought provoking piece about identity.

Music – The Magic Flute was superb.

Clowning with point – Food. Clever, clever, clever – and thought provoking.

Socialising – Yes, although sadly our first lot of guests had to cancel because of illness.

Moving around this crowded city? One of the local arterial roads is being re-surfaced. Much needed, of course. Actually, we have such a good bus network in Edinburgh we’ve been little inconvenienced since we worked out a plan.

Scottish weather? Got wetter going to the corner shop one day last week than I have out and about.

How’s your August going?

Anne

DIARY OF A WRITER – AUGUST PROMPT

What can I say?

Writing it isn’t. I have long tried to have a story published in Woman’s Weekly magazine and have only ever made it onto the letters’ page. Fillers, as that kind of short is known, were a favourite market of mine. I enjoyed rather a lot of success over the years.

But, I have used their knitting patterns from time to time. This one was published a few weeks ago and I’ve already made one vest and am started on a second.

Enter the Knit Every Day in August fundraiser for Children’s Hospice Association Scotland.

I haven’t done a fundraiser as I am not much of a feature on running 10ks or cycling anywhere. But my granny taught me to knit when I was three – yes, it was probably a diversionary tactic, but it has been a much loved hobby ever since.

It’s never very quiet around here in August but there’s no minimum number of rows required so I’ve signed up. Some lovely folk have offered me sponsorship and if you would like to do that, thank you. There’s a link from a pinned post on my Anne Stenhouse Graham facebook page.

I’m not pressing though. I know people have their own charitable projects and also that life is squeezing some people’s incomes rather hard.

Writing news – the serial is one instalment further on and one pending. A friend who lives in Canada sent me some useful information earlier in the week. It’s about the area we both grew up in. I also found writing the most recent round robin post about character arcs of some value.

I was paid for two stories this month. The outline of my August above should provide a prompt for another. Maybe something to do with time management.

We have Festival tickets!

There is a fantastic production of A Streetcar Named Desire currently running at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre. Pitch perfect – go!

How’s your August?

Anne