This can be difficult because it’s awkward to step
outside of oneself and describe ourselves.
In third person subjective and first person narrative voices, we follow
the main character along and share in his or her thoughts at the story
progresses. But how can we reveal
important details about our main character or describe him or her without
sounding awkward or forced? Many writers
use revealing devices such as having their character stand in front of a
mirror, but this is an over worn cliché that you should avoid. You can give bits of description through the
dialogue of other characters. What do
they say about the character or how do they react to him or her? You could also
reveal a character's emotional state through a description of the weather.
Many
writers find the single viewpoint narrator makes for cleaner and more engaging
writing. The reader gets invested in the
main character’s perspective and follows the story more closely rather than
meandering from viewpoint to viewpoint of different characters. Still, if you like writing from multiple
viewpoints, you’re not alone. But it’s a
good idea to limit one viewpoint per chapter rather than include two viewpoints
within one chapter. That can confuse the
reader and also break their reader’s trance—interrupting the flow of the story.
Great tips, Lisa! I tend to write drafts in multiple pov's then later switch to one narrator. I'm not sure why, but this seems to help me tell the story in more depth.
ReplyDelete