Writing Tips #3- Nuggets of Wisdom on Deep Point of View

When I asked my writer friends for writing tips, I had no idea what they would send. I received lots of general advice, but also a few tidbits that I categorized. Today's post compiles ones on deep point of view.

I was first introduced to this concept during Lorin Oberweger's  Free Expressions seminar. Lorin generously gave me permission to post this excellent handout, and in this blog I share some of my experiences at that workshop. Now I consciously look for how authors portray their protagonists' point of view. 

To me, deep point of view is about filtering my character's world through her unique lens. Getting inside her skin and psyche. Feeling her anguish, fears, conflicts, joys, and thrills. Being as "up close and personal" as possible. 

Even if that character happens to be a mouse.

Image found on imgfave.com

Here are some tips on how to accomplish this:

"Write from inside your character's head. You have to see what he sees and feel what he feels. If you want to fully pull a reader into your setting and story, this is vital. I write fiction, but I think this also applies to non-fiction, at least to some degree." Kathy Cannon Wiechman, author of Like a River.

"As the POV deepens, it becomes easier for the reader to completely immerse themselves in the story, in the character, and to forget that it is actually fiction. 

"But how to achieve that? One good starting point is by taking away the “telling” part of thinking and saying, of seeing and watching, and simply “showing" us that instead.

"Here are a few examples using passages from my middle-grade novel What Flowers Remember.

• When our tears ended, Mama unwrapped me and pushed herself up from the couch. “How about I get us some toast with honey.” 
• Mae reached back down into the bag. “That’s why we have gliiiitterrrr!” She sang the last word, stretching it out and draping it all over the room. 
• Mrs. Williams folded up a nearby magazine and swatted him on the arm. “Sometimes it’s as if you were raised in a barn.” 

"Not a single “said” or “thought” in any of those…and while you might easily see where they could be added, why? Would it make the passage better? I’d argue no. 

"I was mindful of trying to eliminate speech tags where I felt it worked, replacing them with body language or movement or some other action. All of which works to help readers not just understand what is happening, but to better visualize it." Shannon Wiersbitzky, author of The Summer of Hammers and Angels.

"Always consider the character’s needs, not the author's. What does the character see, feel, hear, think and how does she react. And to paraphrase both Donald Maass and Bruce Coville—although not sure they expected it to come together in quite this way—don’t take the obvious emotion first. Give readers the unexpected emotion--or the unexpected mix of emotional reactions--from the character, but don’t forget to let the reader know why the character is having that reaction. That doesn’t require a flashback, or even an explanation right then, but do make sure you give the reader what they need to know when they need to know it. Martina Boone, author of Compulsion.

"When writing point of view, imagine your main character is looking through a camera lens. The objective viewpoint would be seeing the world around him with a wide-angle or panoramic lens. The subjective viewpoint would be looking at things with a macro-lens, and taking lots of selfies." Christine Kohler, author of No Surrender Soldier, explains more about objective and subjective viewpoints in this article.

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Next week I'll be reviewing and giving away an ARC of Kathy Wiechman's debut novel, Like a River. After that will be two more posts in this "Writing Tips" series. The next is on story making and the last one is on revision. If you want to chime in on either topic, leave me a comment or send me an email at cbaldwin6@me.com. If I use your nugget, I'll add your name for  a drawing to receive this book:

Writing Resources Part II- and a Giveaway!

Congratulations to Janet Brantley who won Phyllis Naylor's book, "The Craft of Writing the Novel."

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Just as there is a large number of writing blogs to choose from, there are also many books to help writers improve their craft. I have selected a few of my favorites as well as two on my "to be read" shelf. 

My mentor Rebecca Petruck recommended the first two; they accompany me whenever I travel.

Lisa Cron advertises that this book answers the question, "What does every brain crave in a story it hears?" And it does. The back of the book blurb states, "Each chapter of Wired for Story zeroes in on an aspect of the brain, tis corresponding revelation about story, and the way to apply it to your storytelling right now." Don't believe me? Read this excerpt.

Although Save the Cat was originally penned for screenwriters, hoards of novelists now use Blake Snyder's book to plan and outline their stories. This six minute cartoon demonstrates the 15 different beats that are central to Snyder's manual. His model is so popular that other writers have adapted and published worksheets for novelists based on his book. Trust me. You'll want the book too.

No list of recommended craft books would be complete without a book by Donald Maas. This is a follow up book to Writing the Breakout Novel and is stuffed full of writing exercises on building plot layers; creating inner conflict; strengthening voice, point of view, and theme; as well as heightening your protagonist and antagonist. The exercises are well worth your time and effort. 

Last week I mentioned how much I have learned from Janice Hardy's blog, Fiction University. In this book Janice has provided a step-by-step guide to planning a novel. I wish I had it before I started Half-Truths eight years ago! I'm particularly looking forward to working through her section on writing a synopsis--something that is very difficult for me to do.

This list would be incomplete without a book particularly for children's  writers. From the back cover:

Mary Kole's candid commentary and insightful observations, as well as a collection of book excepts and personal insights from bestselling authors and editors who specialize in the children's book market, are invaluable tools for your kidlit career.

I've heard fantastic things about this resource. I just need to find time to read it!

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This week's giveaway is a brand new copy of:

A description from the Writer's Digest website:

Successfully starting and finishing a publishable novel is often like fighting a series of battles. You not only have to work hard to shape memorable characters, develop gripping plot points, and craft dazzling dialogue, but you also have to fight against self-doubts and fears. And then there’s the challenge of learning to navigate the ever-changing publishing industry.

That’s why award-winning novelist James Scott Bell, author of the Write Great Fiction staples, Plot & Structureand Revision & Self-Editing, came up with the ultimate novel-writing battle plan: The Art of War for Writers.

You’ll find tactics and strategies for idea generation and development, character building, plotting, drafting, querying and submitting, dealing with rejection, coping with envy and unrealistic expectations, and much, much more.

With timeless, innovative, and concise writing reflections and techniques, The Art of War for Writers is your roadmap to victory.

Leave me a comment by Thursday, February 29 and I'll enter your name in this giveaway. If you are new to this blog, make sure you give me your email address! Post this on social media, become a new follower of my blog, or tell me your favorite writing craft book and I'll add your name twice. 

Writing Resources Part I- And a Giveaway!

Congratulations to Jan Brent, who won the audio CD of "A Secret Sky."

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If you are a writer you know the Internet houses more writing blogs then you have hours to read. Add to that the number of books about writing and you can be overwhelmed with just learning the craft! To help you out, over the next two weeks I plan to share some of my favorite blogs and books. And since I'm on a decluttering mission, I plan to give away a few craft books of my own.

After schlepping boxes of books from Charlotte to our rental home in
Greenville, I'm determined to divest myself of a
few more book before we move again!

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My top two blogs on writing craft, the publishing world, and the ins and outs of writing life are Janice Hardy's Fiction University and Writer Unboxed.

Janice Hardy appropriately named her blog "Fiction University." She consistently provides thought-provoking content about voice, character development, beginnings, world building-- you name it. I appreciate how each of her blogs links back to previous blogs on similar topics and her a once-a-week feature entitled, "Real Life Diagnostics" where readers submit a writing sample and she provides a critique. I've used her blog on writing scenes  over and over again.

On the other hand, Writer Unboxed is a blog featuring a host of well-known (as well as lesser known) writers with equally amazing articles about craft. Study the posts that pertain to your work; the comments are often just as informative as the articles themselves. I've used Donald Maas's recent article on Stirring Higher Emotions  to dig deeper into Kate and Lillie's negative--as well as positive--emotions. 

Writers Helping Writers is exactly that. Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman are co-authors of several thesauri that need to be on every writers' bookshelf. Another cool feature is that they highlight different occupations and/or talents and delve deeply into each one. A recent post on farmers gave me great insight into Kate's background making me think about aspects of her personality that I'd missed.

My list wouldn't be complete if I didn't mention two of my favorite children's writers blogs.

Kathy Temean is the regional advisor for SCBWI-New Jersey.  Her blog, Writing and Illustrating, offers a wealth of information on writing, illustrating, and publishing work for children and young adults. Every Saturday she invites a different illustrator to demonstrate their work--a frequent source of amazement to me! In addition, she interviews agents and hosts critiques from editors or agents.

Speaking of good blogs for children's' writers, Last summer Kami Kinard and  Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen hosted a month of blogs about character development on their Nerdy Chicks Write site. The daily lessons and worksheets were invaluable and I still go back and use them to probe my characters' psyches. If you subscribe to their blog you will receive information when registration for next summer opens up.

What do all of these blogs have in common? They are all free resources from writers to writers--with the sole purpose of helping you improve your craft. Pretty amazing! 

I want to help you too. So, this week's giveaway is a gently used copy of:

Leave me a comment by January 22 and I'll enter your name to win a book by an award winning author. If you tell me your favorite writing blog, I'll enter your name twice. Make sure you leave me your email address if you're new to this blog!

A Time to Think

Congratulations to Linda Phillips who won a 10-page critique from Rebecca Petruck. For those of you who know me personally, Linda is my best writing buddy, friend, and prayer partner. But, I want to assure you that this drawing was not rigged--although I'm glad that Rebecca will help Linda with her current WIP, a middle grade book about a boy with learning disabilities.

If you follow this blog, you know that Rebecca has been sharing her revision process for her forthcoming book, Steering Toward Normal. (If you're just coming back from vacation, you can find Part I and Part II here.) 

I recently received Rebecca's editorial comments on my second full draft of Half-Truths. Now I'm following her advice and taking time to think about where to go from here. Here are a few snippets of her feedback to me, along with my current "to do" list. 

Rebecca:  Lillie’s anger is too strong and too consistent throughout. We need an arc.  We need to plan how and why Lillie’s anger will build, and if that really is the primary emotion we want to focus on. For me, I’m less interested in Lillie being angry than I am in her growing awareness of her own social circumstances and how that makes her feel frustrated, hopeless, depressed, galvanized, stubborn and eventually determined to be a part of the change.

My challenge: create a character arc that shows Lillie's "normal" life including her goals, what happens that opens her eyes to the world of white privilege around her (including meeting Kate, the granddaughter of her grandmother's employer), and how she tries to reach her goals.

Rebecca: Kate’s arc is disjointed and too much about Lillie’s arc. Kate needs more of her own story if she’s going to take up half of the novel. The elements are there, I think, but need to be developed. What is Kate’s internal journey? Then what events will hamper and what will help that journey? I don't really "see" her very well. 

My challenge: Rebecca is right. Even though Kate was the character I created first,  I haven't really figured out her story. For that matter, I don't have a complete sense of who she is and what she wants! As Rebecca said in the last post, "Character and plot are Siamese twins." In order for me to plan her character arc, I need to know her better. So, I'm going to take the time to ask Kate these questions and if I need more help, I'll make her answer the questions on Janice Hardy's blog on Character Tips too.

And while I'm at it, I'll probably do more work in Donald Maas's excellent book, 

Then, I'll take two really long pieces of freezer paper and stretch them out on my dining room table. I'll place one on top of the each other and start drafting each girl's character arc. I'll think about what are the important events in each girl's story and how one story will affect the other. From there I'll construct  my new chapter by chapter outline. (I guess this means that I'm a plotter, not a panster!)

And then, I'll start draft #3. Meanwhile, now I know why I bought two of these at the grocery store. I might need a lot!

Where Does Your Character Belong?

My sister, Barbara Federlin, has the distinction of being the only person to read the entire rough draft of my manuscript. As a result, she understands what I'm trying to do and her input is invaluable as I move forward.

When my sister visits, inevitably we end up in the
kitchen baking with our mother. I'd say
we look like we belong together!

She is also a re-evaluation counselor and has thought a lot about what motivates people's behavior, how past hurts effect present choices, and what hinders growth and personal relationships. 

In other words, good material for novelists to consider when creating layered characters. Recently we talked about "belongingness." She mentioned several questions that she uses when counseling people:

1. Where do you belong? 

2. Why do you belong in this group?

3. How do you feel about belonging to this group?

4. Who do you trust to talk to about your feelings?

5. How do your feelings and thoughts effect your interactions with other people?
6. What actions will you take as a result of these feelings, thoughts or beliefs?

These questions feel like the types of questions which Donald Maas asks in Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook, which I am slowly working through. And, they also reminded me of a point which Janelle Bitikofer made in a recent blog interview with Joyce Hostetter: 

"How many times have we heard from editors and readers that 

cardboard characters who have no emotional depth are boring and 

no one wants to buy books about them. It does seem so important to

ask ourselves, 'How does what's happening to our characters make 

them feel and think, and how does how they feel and think affect 

their behavior?'"

Take a minute to answer my sister's questions. First for yourself, 
and then for your character. You may learn a lot about your characters--and yourself.

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An excellent online resource for probing your character's psyche is The Character Therapist. Browse through the case notes on the right hand side of Jeannie Campbell's blog and you'll find that she has tackled many psychological issues that your character may face. Here are two blogs which I found particularly helpful: Character Flaws and Locus of Control.