Which Point of View is best?

Which point of view is best for your story? That can be a very difficult question, and one which may not have a clear cut answer, but, there are some points of view which will undoubtedly suit your story more so than others. Many beginning writers make the same mistake when it comes to POV. What is that mistake?

They default to first person. Let me be clear: first person is usually the wrong answer. In fact, the only time when you should use first person is when you can hear the character speaking to you. No, I’m not crazy, ask any author. The characters speak, and unless your main character offers up an undeniably unique or interesting voice, do not write in first person. Writing in first person only lends something extra to your story if their voice is SPECIAL. (Read my other post about Harry Potter to see why Rowling did not use first person.) So which POV should you use?

You’re left with two POV’s (really three, but we’ll get to that). You can choose third person limited, where you follow one particular character and know only what that character knows, or third person omniscient, where the narrator knows all, and therefore, so does the reader. You may, of course, tweak the POV’s. Sometimes you can write in such a way that the narrator does not know what anyone is thinking, but be cautious, this method can easily go wrong. So which is better?

For a beginning writer, and frankly, for most people in general, third person limited is the way to go. It is versatile, does not give you more information than you need to know, and is simply easy to use. You can experiment and do some different things with this particular POV, but the main thing is, for beginners, it is easy to work with, and much more difficult to screw up than the others.

And the last POV, which is almost never used, is second person, where the narrator says: You walked over to the bench and set down your bag. It’s like they’re speaking directly to the reader, and in some cases they are. Most writers, even the best, will never use this POV, but I figured I’d mention it for fun.

The message: stick with third person limited POV until you’ve practiced writing a good deal, and then try out the others.

How Reading Leads to Better Writing

Reading is equally as important as writing. I’m not exaggerating. And I can’t tell you how many people I know who expect to become published, or who write regularly, but rarely or (gasp) never read. Well, why is it so important?

Let’s face it: You are not the first person to try and write a novel or book. (I hope that revelation was not a shock to you.) Others have done it, and very likely, others have done it better, some even better than you ever will, but that doesn’t mean your book can’t still be good or contribute something different. It is to say, however, that there is something to be learned from reading other writers’ work. What can you learn?

There’s loads to learn, and not just from the best books written. You’ll learn just as much from reading the toilet paper of the literary world as well. You can read the bad books to discover what not to do. And you’ll be able to pick up on it pretty easily. There are some books where you just know that you can do better, where the author decided to use passive voice, absurd dialogue denotations, and drew similes so disgusting you nearly hurled. But seeing these bad things teaches us something: the next time we do something one of these bad authors did, we’ll recognize it more readily and won’t be as likely to make that mistake again.

But the good books help, too. Of course you’ll learn loads from reading Charles Dickens and Earnest Hemingway, but it’s not all about literary fiction. In fact, it doesn’t have to be about literary fiction at all. Literary fiction is not the best, even if the critics might think so. You should read the best authors in the genre where you want your book published. Don’t let someone else tell you which types of books are better. You can’t write without reading, and if you don’t have time to read, don’t bother writing. You need to be able to compare your work to something, and your writing will never improve unless you read lots, at least (and I mean a minimum) of fifty books per year.

Reading is your most important tool when it comes to improving your writing. Someone who writes without reading is no better than someone who performs open heart surgery without going to school. Trust me, that’s not a hyperbolic comparison. Please read.

Don’t agree with me? Have something to contribute? Let me know in the comments.

Dialogue Tips: Part I

Certainly one of the most difficult parts of writing fiction is the dialogue. How do we speak? And how do we make sure our characters sound realistic? Well, here is Part I of Dialogue Tips:

The first thing is, how do we denote our dialogue? You might not think the denotation of who says what is all that important, but it is extremely important. In pretty much every case, you should use “said” to denote your dialogue, or perhaps the equally plain “ask” if it was a question. Perhaps you were taught to use words like “exclaim”, “squealed”, or “screeched”. You should never use these words. Why?

The answer is pretty simple. If the reader cannot tell that the character is screaming, exclaiming, or “insert absurd dialogue denotation here”-ing from the dialogue itself, then the dialogue is not good enough. There should be no need to use any other word aside from “said”. Your dialogue should convey whatever emotion the character is experiencing. If the character is yelling, it should be apparent simply from reading his quote.

Now there are exceptions, of course. Some of the best writers have used an occasional “squeal” or “bark”, but if you want to make your chances of being a successful writer as high as possible, you should steer away from these words (except on rare occasions when they are necessary).

“Come on, let’s get out of here,” Jack screamed.

“We need to leave, now,” Jack said. “They’re right behind us.”

Perhaps not a world class example, but you get the point. Be more specific in your dialogue, and the reader should know that Jack is concerned and yelling. You should not need to tell them Jack is yelling.

Keep checking back and I will post Dialogue Tips: Part II soon.

What makes the Harry Potter Series better than its rivals?

What is it that makes the Harry Potter series so successful? Why is it that, even though it really boils down to a battle of good versus evil, JK Rowling has managed to become the world’s first billionaire author? Well, there are a few definite reasons as to why this series was so successful:

1.      The Point of View Rowling employs to tell the story. The story is told from a third person limited perspective. For those of you who don’t know what that is, it’s when the narrator is extremely close to one particular character, and we know no other character’s thoughts, only Harry’s, and yet, Harry is not narrating the story (that would be first person). By using this perspective, Rowling is able to show us things as Harry sees them. We experience this new world and exciting magic just as Harry does, for the first time. But at the same time, Harry is a very plain person, so his first person voice would not lend anything extra to the story, so it’s better to stick with third person limited, as Rowling does. Which brings me to my next point.

2.      How relatable is the main character? Harry is extremely relatable, especially to younger kids when they pick up the first book. This is perhaps one of the most beautiful things Rowling is able to do successfully, and that is balance the relatability of the main character equally with the strangeness of the world. The reader can sympathize with Harry’s normal struggles (classes, unfair professors, bullies, love), and by establishing this connection with the reader, Rowling can then lead the reader into the strange and magical world of Hogwarts. Now the reader won’t feel so repelled by the peculiarities, because they’ve already connected with the normality Harry embodies.

3.      Appealing to multiple audiences. Again, this is something which is extremely difficult to do. To write a book which satisfies children’s desire for adventure, but also pleases an adult’s, let’s say, refined taste, is an extraordinarily hard task. The fact that Rowling has accomplished this means that her story is more than just the age old conflict of good and evil. She has created a world which is just as interesting for kids as it is for adults. She has addressed themes (love, acceptance of death) which are more appealing for adults, but has still not repelled the children. Such a balancing act certainly serves as a major way to explain why she has received (and is deserving of) so much respect and money.

So now that I’ve blathered on about what makes Rowling’s series so superb (there are many more things, and I think I’ll address them in a later blog post), the real question is: What can you do to improve your writing?

I’m not saying your book needs to mirror Harry Potter in any way, nor am I suggesting you need to follow these three tips. But if you want to heighten your chances of becoming a successful author and dream about the success of authors such as JK Rowling, then it is certainly worth considering their work and what they did in order to make their work so successful.

Again, while there is no need to do exactly as Rowling did, you do need to consider:

1.      What is your point of view and why did you choose it? What sets your point of view apart from the thousands of other authors?

2.      How relatable does your main character need to be? He needs to be relatable enough so that people care about him. If no one can relate, then no one is going to read the book.

3.      Who is your target audience? Keep them in mind while you write. If you’re writing for middle grade, don’t string the f-word throughout your novel.

If you keep these three things in mind while you write, you’ll be sure to improve your story, and while nothing can guarantee your success, you can do everything in your power to increase your odds of success.

The Evils of Passive Voice

I think at one point or another, some businessman or lawyer decided passive voice makes someone sound like they know what they are talking about.

“You will be arrested by the officer should you violate the terms of the agreement.”

“This task needs to be completed by you. It will not be done by someone else.”

For those of you who don’t know what passive voice is, it is when what should be the subject of a sentence becomes the object. For example:

The grass on the hills was blown by the wind and it rippled like the water in a pond.

In this sentence, if it were phrased in active voice, “the wind” should be the subject, and “the grass” should be the object, and the sentence should read as follows:

The wind blew the grass on the hills, and it rippled like the water in a pond.

Wow, so now the sentence is shorter, sounds better, and it is clearer to the reader exactly who is doing what. Now passive voice is not always wrong, but nine times out of ten, you’d be better off without it. Some people are better at naturally eliminating it than others. But if you eliminate the majority of passive voice in your writing, I can guarantee you it will immediately sound stronger.

This is one of those things where, although there is not one particular way to write so that your writing will be considered (there’s the good old passive voice finding its way into my writing) good, pretty much anyone can benefit from the elimination of passive voice. Especially if you’re relatively new to the writing scene, I highly recommend you review some pieces of your writing with a marker and circle any places where the passive voice appears. A good indicator of passive voice is the word “by”, although this is not always the case (as shown in this paragraph), and sometimes passive voice can be sneaky. But it’s your job to polish your piece to the best of your ability, and that includes the obliteration (maybe that’s an extreme word, maybe) of passive voice from your work.

Don't agree with me? Have something to contribute? Please comment below. I welcome any criticism as well as discussion.

Sight Should be the Least Important Sense

Oftentimes, when referring to description, we hear the phrase “word pictures”. Personally, I’m not a fan of these so called word pictures. The problem with painting word pictures is that a picture is very two dimensional. You can’t hear the birds chirping in the snapshot of Aunt Margie’s party, nor can you smell the burgers burning on the grill dad forgot to flip again. Word pictures only tell you what you’re seeing.

I prefer to create word experiences. When you step into my story, you’re not walking into a museum, hundreds of years removed from the events being depicted, no sir. I bring you into a time machine and bring you to the Civil War, not just lecture to you about it and show you some pictures and soldier’s uniforms. Let’s take an example. The first one is a word picture.

Bruce strode into the parlor, and Jack was just behind him. Jack shut the door behind them. Bruce stared in awe at the massive room before them. A statue of Jack’s great grandfather stood front and center, reaching towards the ceiling with one hand, and a sword pointed casually towards the ground in the other. Every wall was covered floor to ceiling in paintings, photos, and awards honoring the late Captain Archibald Smith.

Bruce inched towards the statue and stepped onto the thick, plush carpet, which covered every inch of the floor, as well as the two spiral staircases on either side of the imposing statue. Several small tables leaned against the walls, and upon each one stood an ornate crystal vase filled with roses, carnations, and tiger lilies. A chandelier, whose splendor went unparalleled, coruscated as it hung from the wood paneled ceiling. So many doors were there in the room that Bruce felt he could spend days exploring the house.

Yes, perhaps that was an extreme example of a word picture, and I daresay most people would not go that far, but it gives you an idea of how many writers think they are supposed to write. Now most people do not care about all of those ridiculous details, and much prefer if you note a couple of key details instead of rambling on about the cracks in the walls and crumbs on the floor beside the bobby pin which fell from Jane’s head. Here is an example of a word experience:

Bruce strode into the massive parlor with Jack at his heels. Before them stood a statue of Jack’s great grandfather, whose one arm reached for the chandelier on the ceiling, and whose other casually held a sword. Entranced by the statue, Bruce ran his fingers along the side of the figure. It was as smooth as marble and flawlessly sculpted.

Then Bruce heard the clattering of pots and pans in the other room, followed by the warm smell of boiling potatoes and freshly baked cinnamon buns. Jack’s mother called them for dinner, and the two boys headed for the door between the two spiral staircases.

Sure, I could have spent more time, thought of better similes or more appropriate descriptors, but that’s not the point. The point is, not only is the second scene shorter, but more events occur, and it’s more specific. No one cares about the wood panels, the portraits, the tables, vases, etc. Pick one, maybe two key things and focus on them. In these scene, Bruce notices the statue, and so that is the focus of the scene. Also, I bring in smell, hearing, and Bruce touches the statue. In this way, you’re experiencing what Bruce experiences, not studying the photo someone took of Jack’s parlor.

If you only get two things from this article, it should be this:

1.      Focus on specific, weird details instead of pointing out the innumerable obvious details.

2.      Sight should be last on the list when it comes to description.

Don’t agree with me? Have something to contribute? Please comment below. I’d love to hear from fellow writers or aspiring writers, or anyone who’s interested in this topic.