Repost from My Blog
Hey everyone!
I just wanted to repost an entry from my blog (Randy Bandit's Musings) because I figured it might be worth discussing among our group.
POV Problem Solver
Once upon a time, I stated on this blog that one of the keys to good writing is reading a lot (Steven Barnes, see his link off to the side, believes you need to read at least one level above what you write--and I agree). I always say this because it helps you to avoid cliches, helps you to see other writers' ways of dealing with plot issues, and inspires you on the occasion that you need a reminder of why you saddled yourself with such a challenging professional goal. Recently, I figured out something else though, something that was probably common sense to every other writer but me.
I won't declare this to be a hard and fast rule, but I will say that the congress of my mind has met and decided to abide by this rule until such time that it sees fit to do away with it.
Randy's New Rule of Writing: If you're writing a book in a particular point of view, then read only works written in that point of view until you finish your first draft.
I can see people shaking their heads now, but let me explain.
I read a lot--I mean, A LOT, so when I'm working on a story in first person, and I read a very well-written story in third person limited or omniscient, I get jealous and want to do my story the same way. (As I admitted a while back, I often obsess over POV when I begin writing.) For example, I was working on a current book, took a peak at some Toni Morrison, and immediately felt the urge to turn my first person POV into a third person POV, under the assumption that I could only be taken seriously as a literary writer if I could insert all of this addition information and tell my story in such a fable-styled way. So I would write, using that POV, writing more complex sentences--which in all honesty would probably alienate the audience of my first novel. Then I would pick up an Ernest Gaines book and think to myself, "I can still be literary while writing from a first person POV." And this ocillation would continue on, totally reliant upon whatever book I managed to pick up on any given day. That's when it hit me: read only books using one particular point of view, if only to reduce the temptation to flip-flop back and forth.
Now I have several books in my libary, resting on the shelf, waiting to be read, and guess what? They're all consistent with the POV of my current project. And that seems to be making my job of writing a little more focused and less painless.
Writers out there, what do you think about this suggestion? Let me hear from you.
I just wanted to repost an entry from my blog (Randy Bandit's Musings) because I figured it might be worth discussing among our group.
POV Problem Solver
Once upon a time, I stated on this blog that one of the keys to good writing is reading a lot (Steven Barnes, see his link off to the side, believes you need to read at least one level above what you write--and I agree). I always say this because it helps you to avoid cliches, helps you to see other writers' ways of dealing with plot issues, and inspires you on the occasion that you need a reminder of why you saddled yourself with such a challenging professional goal. Recently, I figured out something else though, something that was probably common sense to every other writer but me.
I won't declare this to be a hard and fast rule, but I will say that the congress of my mind has met and decided to abide by this rule until such time that it sees fit to do away with it.
Randy's New Rule of Writing: If you're writing a book in a particular point of view, then read only works written in that point of view until you finish your first draft.
I can see people shaking their heads now, but let me explain.
I read a lot--I mean, A LOT, so when I'm working on a story in first person, and I read a very well-written story in third person limited or omniscient, I get jealous and want to do my story the same way. (As I admitted a while back, I often obsess over POV when I begin writing.) For example, I was working on a current book, took a peak at some Toni Morrison, and immediately felt the urge to turn my first person POV into a third person POV, under the assumption that I could only be taken seriously as a literary writer if I could insert all of this addition information and tell my story in such a fable-styled way. So I would write, using that POV, writing more complex sentences--which in all honesty would probably alienate the audience of my first novel. Then I would pick up an Ernest Gaines book and think to myself, "I can still be literary while writing from a first person POV." And this ocillation would continue on, totally reliant upon whatever book I managed to pick up on any given day. That's when it hit me: read only books using one particular point of view, if only to reduce the temptation to flip-flop back and forth.
Now I have several books in my libary, resting on the shelf, waiting to be read, and guess what? They're all consistent with the POV of my current project. And that seems to be making my job of writing a little more focused and less painless.
Writers out there, what do you think about this suggestion? Let me hear from you.
posted by Ran Walker at 3:03 PM
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