Choosing a Viewpoint Character | Novel Writing Help In most cases, the viewpoint character of a novel (the one whose eyes we witness the events through) is the same person as the novel's protagonist (the central character, or the one the whole novel is "about"). (You will find an article on choosing the protagonist in the section on Creating Characters. For most novels, though, the choice is an obvious one. In fact, the central character is often the spark that ignites the novel in the first place.) And so, given that you know who your novel's protagonist is, and given that the protagonist is also the viewpoint character in most novels, the question of who to choose has conveniently resolved itself. Well, mostly... There is still the issue of choosing viewpoint characters who are not the novel's protagonist. There are two circumstances under which lesser characters - that is, non-protagonists - will become viewpoint characters... 1. The question is: Which of your lesser characters should you choose to be a viewpoint character? 2. 1. 2.
The 7 Narrator Types: and You Thought There Were Only Two! - bekindrewrite Photo by Charles Hutchins There are all kinds of narrators–going way beyond simple first or third person. Here’s a little study of the different types. First Person 1. Relatively straightforward, this is a story the hero narrates. …I take up my pen in the year of grace 17–, and go back to the time when my father kept the “Admiral Benbow” inn, and the brown old seaman, with the saber cut, first took up his lodging under our roof. 2. Someone close to the protagonist, but not the main hero. “Dr. Third Person Third person omniscient This type knows all, peeking into the lives of major and minor characters, reading everyone’s thoughts. Third person limited This type knows only what the main character, or characters, know. The following types can fall into either omniscient or limited: 3. A detached third person narrator sticks to telling the story, and never inserts his own opinions—never slips in an “I” or a “me” except in direct dialogue. 4. Somewhere in Between 5. 6. “Lemony?” 7. Example:
Empowering Writers "Teaching Voice in Writing" - Empowering Writers We’ve all heard teachers talk about “voice” – how a piece of writing somehow has it – or doesn’t. Often referred to as “author’s voice, it is a frequently misunderstood concept, an illusive quality that often seems difficult, if not impossible to teach. In fact, some people feel that authors are either blessed with the gift of “voice” or not, or they believe that writers can only discover their voice through writing a lot. Download – “Teaching Voice in Writing” Lesson Download – “Setting the Tone” Lesson Download – “Setting the Mood” Lesson Let’s begin with a definition of “voice”. The term “author’s voice” has no place in narrative writing. This is precisely why “author’s voice” does not apply to narrative writing. And, voice involves not only what the main character says and thinks – the “voice” of this character might better be thought of as a lens through which the reader experiences every aspect of the story. Let’s look at an example of “voice” in a fictional setting.
How Do You Teach Voice in Writing: It's Easier Than You Think written by: Trent Lorcher • edited by: SForsyth • updated: 4/2/2012 Out of all the writing traits, voice presents the biggest challenge for students and teachers. Not anymore! How Do You Teach Voice in Writing? References Teaching experience. Lesson Plans: Fine Tune Your Writing Focus Writing that lacks focus confuses readers. Writability: Voice: You Are Not Your Characters For much of my journey as a writer, I was aware of this thing called voice. I knew what it was, for the most part, and the theory behind how to develop it (that is, write and read a lot). I knew that an author's voice was different from a character's voice, but it wasn't until I started writing in first person that I came to realize that one can overpower the other. In my case, my writer voice was way overpowering my character's voice (a problem, especially in first person) and this revelation forced me to stop and rethink how I view voice. You see, your writer voice develops naturally over time—it's something that threads together with every word you write and every sentence you read. It evolves gradually, naturally into something that is you, into your mark on the page. But the character voice — that's an entirely different battle, because your character's voice is not the same as your voice. What he's hitting on here is golden advice for any writer: we are not our characters.
Finding Your Character’s Voice - The Loft Literary Center During a summer workshop I recently taught, a student lamented that all the characters in her short story were too similar. “No matter how hard I try to make them different they all sound just like me,” she said. This is one of the most common questions I’m asked. Finding a character’s voice can be tricky. First, let’s talk about what we mean by “voice.” Here are seven elements of voice that can help make your characters sound unique. Style: This is what people think of first when they mention voice. Tone: To me, tone is similar to style, but contains the overarching feeling of a story. Personality: I often think of memorable classic characters like Holden Caulfield from The Catcher in the Rye or Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird as having unique personalities. Perspective: Speaking of outlook, a character’s voice is reflected in his or her perspective. Authenticity: A character’s voice should always ring true. Consistency: A good voice is consistent throughout a story.
How Do You Find a Character's Voice? Finding a character’s voice and personality comes easy to some, and with difficulty to others. In fact, even for those of us who don’t struggle with this issue, some characters are just more enigmatic than others. So what can you do? In a couple of #writetip auto-tweets that I send out periodically (we’ll debate the merits of auto-tweeting later) I mention a process of interviewing your characters to get at the heart of that person’s character traits. In the past, I’ve taken a number of approaches to this problem that usually wind up being a type of exploratory writing: short stories, stream of consciousness, random scene from current project, etc. Interviewing Your Characters Before we dig into this further, I need to say this is not my idea. Orson Scott Card, in his book “Elements of Fiction Writing: Characters & Viewpoint”, calls it “Interrogating the Character.” My process is very similar, but I begin with a stock set of questions that I plan to ask. The Questions Who are you?
Writing Tips #85: Nine Kick-Ass Excercises to Find... How to Find Your Character’s Voice This week’s video touches on a few of the differences between authorial and character voices and offers suggestions for finding a unique sound for each character’s voice. Agents agree: the single most important factor in getting their attention is a strong, unique, and personality-heavy narrative voice. Voice is what defines both your story and your narrating character. Think of voice as kind of like your story’s unique fingerprint. Voice is much debated—and much misunderstood. We can perfectly understand a character in our heads and in our outlines, but when we actually start putting him onto the page, his personality—and thus his voice—can prove elusive. So how do you figure it out? Tell me your opinion: Do you struggle to find unique voices for each of your characters?
Writing Exercise: Character and Voice | D.B. Jackson Developing our writing voice for a story or a character can be incredibly difficult; it can also be quite rewarding when we get it right. The key for me is stepping out of “myself” and forcing myself into the psyche of my character. I want to feel her emotions, I want to consider the world as she would, not as I would. And so part of writing with an effective voice comes simply from knowing my characters as thoroughly as possible — and this could be a post on it’s own. Very briefly, I spend a good deal of time developing backstory for my characters, sometimes simply in bullet form — facts relevant to who and what they are, what they look like, what they do for a living, what religion they follow, etc. — and sometimes in more detail, using short fiction to bring depth and richness to their pasts. Part of writing also is an act of empathy — and again, I can write more on this in future posts. Best of luck with the exercise.
Getting Into Character: Fiction Writing Exercises Fiction writing exercises for developing characters. Writers are not actors, but sometimes we need to get into character. To truly understand the nature of a character, a writer must step into that character’s shoes. You can use character sketches and descriptions while you’re creating a character, but the character will remain two dimensional until you can get into the character’s head and understand what makes him or her tick. It’s harder than it sounds. Tips for Getting Into Character Many artists and creative people talk about entering “the zone.” When you’re getting into character, it’s best to be in the zone. Fiction Writing Exercises for Getting Into Character Exercise #1: Chat Launch your word processing software and start a conversation with your character. Before you start, you might want to come up with a list of questions to ask your character. Your chat might look something like this: WRITER: You’re just sitting there, doing nothing. CHARACTER: I don’t know what to do.