Monday 23 November 2015

Newbie’s Corner: Viewpoint





With Sharon Burke






One challenge encountered by many first time authors is writing effectively in viewpoint. If you are not sure what viewpoint is, pick a novel you’ve enjoyed and reread it. Try to identify which character’s experiences, feelings and insights you are seeing each part of the story through. This character is the viewpoint character.




Modern romantic novels generally contain the viewpoints of the hero and heroine, though switching between them can present traps for the new author. Another trap for the unwary is writing in omniscient viewpoint where the writer sees everything and knows what every character is thinking in a godlike way. Readers frequently find this irritating, but may not be sure why they feel this way. Some new writers “head hop” from one viewpoint character to another – also frustrating for the reader and a result you certainly don’t want to achieve. If you recognise these problems in your own writing, take heart. Many new writers have made the same mistakes.





The viewpoint most often used in romance novels is third person subjective. Romance author Valerie Parv believes this is the easiest viewpoint for new writers to handle. The writing is in the third person, but everything is portrayed through the experiences and feelings of the viewpoint character.



Cassandra Samuels writes in third person subjective in A Scandalous Wager. The viewpoints of the hero and heroine are used. Sometimes a scene break (***) is utilised to show a viewpoint change. Each viewpoint character’s thoughts are written in a distinctive voice, helping the reader to effortlessly adapt to viewpoint changes.


For example, compare the following extracts:

“Lisbeth couldn’t give a fig about tea. Had Oliver read her letter yet?
She looked out the window. The rain was still falling and it was cold, but no amount of shawls or heated bricks could comfort her.”

It is easy to identify that this extract is written is Lisbeth’s viewpoint.

On the other hand, the following is clearly the viewpoint of the hero, Oliver.

“Last night he had been committed to leaving, to rusticating in the country, to being forgotten. This morning all he could do was think about how he would never see Lisbeth again. And it bloody-well hurt.”

Valerie Parv suggests authors try rewriting a passage replacing “she” with “I”, then reread it to ensure it makes sense. If it doesn’t, the author may have slipped out of viewpoint. She also recommends remaining in the one viewpoint for several paragraphs or pages to avoid confusing the reader.

Clearly, viewpoint is a huge subject. If these ideas are new to you, try reading with an eye for viewpoint then try rewriting your work with viewpoint in mind.


Has the heroine in a romance novel ever thought or said something that caused you to immediately identify with her? What was it?

Love to Love: Watching our children grow up. Our middle daughter is currently teaching in the UK. It's wonderful to be able to talk with her on Skype. We are so proud of how well she is doing.



Love to Laugh: Very few books make me laugh out loud, but to me The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion is the funniest book ever written.



Love to Learn: Reading the Saturday Herald over a coffee with my husband is so much fun. We split the newspaper then share what we find out.


19 comments:

  1. Hi, Sharon!
    Viewpoint! It took me a few months of serious re-writing to get the viewpoint right in my first manuscript. By that time POV (point of view) became my least favourite three letters of the alphabet! But once I got it, I really got it. It really makes all the difference to the clarity of writing.

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    1. Hi Dee, it makes such a difference doesn't it. I first learnt about viewpoint when I was a member of BITB many years ago. Understanding it helped my writing enormously, and I finally understood why I was sometimes inexplicably irritated when I read certain passages from novels and short stories.

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  2. You make viewpoint so simple, Sharon, thanks! And great examples. I look at it as though I'm the character looking out from inside their eyes. What do they and they only see and hear and so on? No way to mix viewpoints that way.

    I'm a huge fan of Cassandra Samuel's 'A Scandalous Wager'. That Oliver is a terrific hero, and Lisbeth has backbone ++. I also love 'The Rosie Project'. I think I've read it three times now, and I laugh every time. I particularly love the scene in the reunion where Don and Rosie play bartenders. That book is an excellent example of first person, written completely from Don's viewpoint. Thanks for an entertaining post.

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    1. The bar tending scene is my fave in that book too Malvina. I actually would love to have the audio book read by the GS as he did a fantastic job at Conference when he was reading from the book.

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    2. Thank you Malvina. I love your idea of imagining you are a character to ensure you are writing in the correct viewpoint. That bartending scene from "The Rosie Project" is so funny.
      Cassandra, I agree with you - a copy of an audio book read by GS would be fantastic.

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  3. Hi Sharon. Thanks for such a simple and clear cut post on viewpoints, it's great. Oh, and I loved Cassandra's 'A Scandalous Wager', it was delicious. :)

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    1. Hi Nicole, thank you for dropping by. Wasn't "A Scandalous Wager" a fabulous book? Like Malvina, I fell in love with the hero Oliver and Lisbeth had so much spunk.

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  4. Thanks for an interesting post, Sharon. I can't stand head-hopping - it drives me bananas to be suddenly thrust into someone else's viewpoint, just as I'm beginning to empathise with the character whose head I'm in. I totally agree with Valerie Parv that you need to stay in one viewpoint for at least a few paragraphs, and preferably a few pages.

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    1. Hi Marilyn, head-hopping is annoying isn't it. It feels like you are getting an abridged version of everyone's thoughts without getting to know them at all. It certainly makes for frustrating reading.

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  5. Hi Sharon.

    POV seems so simple and yet it is quite hard to master. Luckily, I have two great CPs who make sure I don't slip up. :-)

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    1. Hi Cassandra, I agree with you. POV seems simple, but isn't nearly as easy to write as it looks. I think you need to know you characters really well to utilise it effectively.

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  6. Great post, Sharon. POV is such an important part of writing so it's a must to get it right so readers can fully empathise with the characters. I love the dual viewpoints in romance novels today, and especially love when you also have the villain's viewpoint in romantic suspense and paranormals. Much more rewarding reads then.

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    1. Hi Enisa, dual viewpoint is fun to read isn't it? I'll have to read more romantic suspense. A villain's viewpoint sounds intriguing.

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  7. Oh, and I love, love, love The Rosie Project. Laughed through every page, it's so funny.

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  8. And of course, I love Cassandra Samuel's A Scandalous Wager. Lizbeth and Oliver are such great characters and made very clear to the reader via Cassandra's excellent POV technique.

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    1. They are exactly the sort of characters I would love to get to know better. A Scandalous Wager is a real page turner.

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